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International News

China’s ‘iPhone city’ relocates 100,000 people after record rain, flood

The city of Zhengzhou in the central province of Henan saw 457.5 millimeters (18 inches) of rain fall in the 24 hours through 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the highest since records began for the city of more than 10 million people, the official Xinhua news agency reported. That included a record 201.9 millimeters in a single hour, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. The city’s airport said on its Weibo page it has temporarily suspended inbound flights.

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As cyberattacks rise, Cyber insurers are overhauling their strategies

Cyber policies are relative newcomers to the centuries-old insurance industry. The sector has exploded in the past decade — with premiums more than doubling since 2015 and totaling $3.15 billion last year, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Some firms are charging more for less coverage. Clients in US paid 35% more for cyber coverage in the first quarter than they did in the same period last year, according to broker Marsh McLennan. Demand for standalone policies surged 24% last year.
Wrestling with higher costs and more risk, insurers are tightening standards, boosting prices and slashing how much they’re willing to pay for a breach.

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Judge: $150M initially for victims in Florida condo collapse

That sum includes about USD 50 million in insurance on the Champlain Towers South building and at least USD 100 million in proceeds from the sale of the Surfside property where the structure once stood, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said at a hearing on Wednesday.

”The court’s concern has always been the victims here,” the judge said, adding that the group includes visitors and renters, not just condo owners. ”Their rights will be protected.”

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Prevalence of COVID-19’s Delta variant among specimens sequenced over past 4 weeks exceeded 75 per cent: WHO

“According to GISAID data, as of 20 July, the prevalence of Delta among the specimens sequenced over the past 4 weeks exceeded 75 percent in many countries worldwide including Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Israel, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore South Africa, and the United Kingdom,” the update said.

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From China to Germany, floods expose climate vulnerability

“Governments should first realize that the infrastructure they have built in the past or even recent ones are vulnerable to these extreme weather events,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor and co-director, Institute of Water Policy, at Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
. In Europe, climate change is likely to increase the number of large, slow-moving storms that can linger longer in one area and deliver deluges of the kind seen in Germany and Belgium, according to a study published https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020GL092361 June 30 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

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Over $157 billion deployed in last 15 months to fight Covid pandemic: World Bank

”Since the start of the pandemic, the World Bank Group has committed or mobilised a record USD 157 billion in new financing, an unprecedented level of support for an unprecedented crisis,” World Bank Group President David Malpass said.

”But we must still do more,” he said, adding that he remains deeply concerned about the limited availability of vaccines, which are critical to saving lives and livelihoods, for developing countries.

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World Bank provides $185million to Jamaica in storm protection

Dr The Hon. Nigel Clarke, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Government of Jamaica, said, “The Government of Jamaica has strategically prioritized Disaster Risk Financing to mitigate the adverse fiscal impact of tropical cyclones and natural disasters, thereby strengthening Jamaica’s economic resilience. We are pleased with the successful placement of this catastrophe bond, which adds an indispensable layer of disaster risk financing that complements our multi-layered approach. In this transaction, Jamaica benefited from the vast technical resources of the World Bank, and from the strength of its balance sheet. We are also grateful to our bilateral partners, the Governments of the United Kingdom and Germany, through the Global Risk Financing Facility, and to the United States through the United States Agency of International Development who provided financial support for the transaction.”

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