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International News

Germany declares first-ever “cyber-catastrophe”

Hackers knocked out the IT operations of the municipality of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, on Tuesday, a spokesperson confirmed to Reuters on Saturday.The rural district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, with a population of 157,000, is for the time being unable to pay out welfare benefits. Its consequent catastrophe declaration is a formal step that allows it to call for federal help.

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Virus variants threaten global recovery, G20 warns

Differences in vaccination levels between the world’s rich and poor remain vast.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called the divergence a “moral outrage” that also undermines wider efforts to tame the spread of the virus.While some of the wealthiest countries have now given over two-thirds of their citizens at least one shot of vaccine, that figure falls to well below 5% for many African nations.

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Next pandemic risk: Woman dies after infection with two Covid-19 variants

The idea of multiple infections isn’t completely new. In January, Brazilian scientists reported two cases of Covid-19 co-infection, but the study hasn’t yet been released in a scientific journal. Researchers have also previously found evidence of people becoming infected with multiple strains of influenza. The cases suggest co-infection might be more common than currently known.

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G20 recognizes carbon pricing as climate change tool for first time

“It is the first time in a G20 communique you could have these two words ‘carbon pricing’ being introduced as a solution for the fight against climate change,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters. “We have been pushing very hard to have these two words … introduced into a G20 communique.”

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Amazon’s online store down for many users globally

Its online store showed error messages on several regional domains. Reuters could not access product listing on its domains including, the United States, India, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Singapore.More than 37,00 user reports had indicated issues with Amazon’s online store site, while about 280 users reported problems with the Amazon Web Services, according to Downdetector.

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Miller &Guy Carpenter announce new appointments 

Seema brings over 16 years of industry experience to Miller, joining from Mar Risk Services where she most recently led its marine team and held a position on the Board.
Guy Carpenter, LLC, a leading global risk and reinsurance specialist and a business of Marsh McLennan, announced the appointments of Matt Petka as Managing Director and Riley Underwood as Senior Vice President within its GC Access business unit, with immediate effect.

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