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International News

China, India miss UN deadline to submit plans for cutting emissions

The world’s two most populous countries are among dozens that failed to provide an update on their targets for curbing the release of planet-warming gases to the UN climate change agency by July 31, they said on Saturday.

China is the country with the world’s highest emissions, while India is third. The United States (US), which submitted its new target in April, is the second-biggest global emitter.

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Myanmar has the highest coronavirus mortality rate in Southeast Asia

In the last seven days, the death rate per capita in Myanmar has surpassed that in Indonesia and Malaysia and has become the worst in Southeast Asia. The country’s healthcare system was quickly overwhelmed by new COVID-19 patients.

Medical oxygen supplies are dwindling, and the government has restricted its private sales in many places, saying it is trying to prevent backlogs. But this has led to widespread accusations that supplies are being channeled to government supporters and military hospitals.

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Irish approves laws to make bankers and insurers more accountable

The new regime will apply to senior individuals in banks, insurance firms – excluding reinsurance companies – investment firms which are authorised to hold client monies or assets and third country branches of those categories.
The new laws will allow for additional fines and regulatory findings against individuals.

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Global hunger to rise in 2021 due to income losses from Covid-19 pandemic

Most of the additional people the USDA expects to fall into food insecurity this year are in Asia, which accounts for 72% of the increase. Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Indonesia will see particularly large jumps in the number of people without enough food, according to the report. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 21% of the global increase in undernourished people.

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Asian nations impose stricter COVID-19 restrictions due to Delta outbreaks

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has described Delta to be as contagious as chickenpox and could cause severe illness, the New York Times reported, citing an internal CDC document. read more
Detected in some 96 countries, the Delta variant, first identified in India, has become a concern globally, prompting even countries with advanced vaccination programmes such as the United States, Israel and Singapore to re-impose some restrictions.

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Record global InsurTech funding balloons to $4.8 billion in Q2, H1 2021 investment exceeds full-year flow in 2020:Willis Towers Watson

InsurTechs focused on distribution accounted for 55% of start-up deals, and for 10 of the 15 mega-rounds. Most of the distribution InsurTechs target reduced dependence on agent channels.

Of all Q2 deals, 73% were for P&C-related InsurTechs, while 43 companies raised funds for L&H technology. Funds were raised by companies from 35 countries, including new entrants Botswana, Mali, Romania, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

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