German insurer Allianz is insurance partner for the Games. Other...
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Singapore Reinsurers’ Association announces new executive committee for 2024-2025,unveils its new logo
The new members of the SRA are-Cindy Foo from Berkley Insurance...
Houthis intensify attacks on merchant ships, send drone boats packed with explosives into the Red Sea
Insurance industry sources said that additional war risk premiums,...
Olympics-Risk of COVID spread is ‘zero’, IOC chief says, amid rising cases
Just over a week before the July 23 opening ceremony, Tokyo reported 1,308 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, its highest daily tally since late January. Postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Summer Olympics have little public support in Japan amid widespread fears about a further spread of the coronavirus.
Critics on Thursday submitted a petition against the Games that has garnered more than 450,000 signatures this month, Japanese media reported. Organisers have imposed Olympics “bubbles” to prevent further transmissions of COVID-19, but medical experts are worried they might not be sufficiently tight.
Covid deaths and cases rise again globally, hurting return to normalcy
The World Health Organization reported Wednesday that deaths climbed last week after nine straight weeks of decline. It recorded more than 55,000 lives lost, a 3 per cent increase from the week before.
Cases rose 10 per cent last week to nearly 3 million, with the highest numbers recorded in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Britain, WHO said.
The reversal has been attributed to low vaccination rates, the relaxation of mask rules and other precautions, and the swift spread of the more-contagious delta variant, which WHO said has now been identified in 111 countries and is expected to become globally dominant in the coming months.
AXA XL appoints Sylvie Gleises as Country Manager, Singapore
Commenting, Xavier Veyry, CEO APAC & Europe at AXA XL, said: “Today’s businesses are faced with challenging economic conditions and evolving risks. The latest World Economic Forum Global Risks Report highlights extreme weather, climate action failure and human environmental damage as three of the top risks by likelihood. Clients need to look beyond current risks to ensure they are prepared for the risks of tomorrow, and there have never been more opportunities for AXA XL to partner with and make a difference to our clients and brokers.”
Top EU court says headscarves can be banned at work under certain conditions
“A prohibition on wearing any visible form of expression of political, philosophical or religious beliefs in the workplace may be justified by the employer’s need to present a neutral image towards customers or to prevent social disputes,” the court said.
“However, that justification must correspond to a genuine need on the part of the employer and, in reconciling the rights and interests at issue, the national courts may take into account the specific context of their Member State and, in particular, more favorable national provisions on the protection of freedom of religion.
FACTBOX-How Big Tech is faring against U.S. lawsuits and probes
The U.S. Justice Department sued Google in October, accusing the $1 trillion company of illegally using its market muscle to hobble rivals. A trial date was set for Sept. 12, 2023. A lawsuit by 38 U.S. states and territories accuses Google of abusing its market power to try to make its search engine as dominant inside cars, TVs and speakers as it is in phones. This was consolidated with the federal lawsuit for purposes of discovery.
Coronavirus outbreaks at the Tokyo Olympics
A number of cases have emerged involving athletes and other people involved with the Games.Postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Games have little public support in Japan amid fears about the spread of the virus.
Tokyo entered its fourth state of emergency earlier this week amid a rebound in COVID-19 cases that pushed Games organisers to ban spectators from nearly all venues.
WHO experts seek limits on human gene-editing experiments
Their recommendations, made after two years of deliberation, aim to head off rogue science experiments with the human genome, and ensure that proper uses of gene-editing techniques are beneficial to the broader public, particularly people in developing countries, and not only the wealthy.
Marine, aviation and transit insurance in Asia-Pacific to reach US$14.5bn by 2025, forecasts GlobalData
Japan and China, which are among the top five global markets, collectively accounted for 60% of Asia-Pacific’s premiums in 2020. China’s intricate presence in global supply chain and its growing airline and marine fleet are strong growth drivers for insurers.
Asia-Pacific has also seen several insurers withdrawing from MAT industry due to years of unsustainable losses resulting from both man-made and natural hazards and bottomed out premium prices which resulted in reduced market capacity.
Flooding affects parts of Europe after heavy rainfall
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert described the images from regions hardest hit by flooding as “terrible”.
“Even though not every event, not every flooding or local incident, is related to climate change, many scientists tell us that the frequency, the intensity and the regularity with which this happens is a consequence of climate change,” Seibert said.
U.S. drug overdose deaths rise 30% to record during pandemic
“We do know the primary driver of the increase (in deaths) involves synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl,” Bob Anderson, chief of the Mortality Statistics Branch at the health statistics center, said.