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International News

Hedge Funds remain an option for some insurers

The life/annuity segment raised its dollar exposure in hedge funds 5.8%, to $5.4 billion, and the property/casualty segment, 5.5%, to $6.6 billion.
Several qualities made hedge funds attractive to investors during the pandemic, including risk diversification and a low correlation to other asset classes. The hedge fund industry still lost approximately $44.5 billion in asset flows in 2020, according to the report, but that is nearly half the amount pulled out in 2019.

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UK COVID-19 BI claims exceed $1 Billion; About half of claims Paid

In total, 16,159 claims have been paid in full out of 37,702 claims that have been accepted by insurers for a final clearance rate of 42.86%.

Aggregate claims paid has risen by 7.9% since the last FCA report, which showed £701.4 million in claims paid. Insurers have made initial or final payments on 53.97% of BI claims that have been accepted by the carriers.
The payments are being made after the U.K. Supreme Court ruled in a BI test case in April. It found insurers are liable for the COVID-19-related business interruption claims of about 370,000 policyholders under policies written before the outbreak and never designed to cover pandemic claims.

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Global Covid-19 caseload tops 176 mn; deaths surge to more than 3.80 mn

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 29,510,410 cases.

The other worst countries with over 3 million cases are Brazil (17,452,612), France (5,803,012), Turkey (5,336,073), Russia (5,162,049), the UK (4,589,398), Italy (4,245,779), Argentina (4,145,482), Colombia (3,777,600), Spain (3,741,767), Germany (3,724,168) and Iran (3,039,432), the CSSE figures showed.

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Labour rights still fighting for recognition after ten years of ILO adoption

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated working conditions that were already very poor, the report says. Domestic workers were more vulnerable to the fallout from the pandemic because of long-standing gaps in labour and social protection. This particularly affected the more than 60 million domestic workers in the informal economy.

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Hong Kong watching Chinese nuclear plant after leak reported

Government data showed radiation levels in Hong Kong were normal Monday night, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said. Data on Tuesday from the Hong Kong Observatory showed radiation still normal.

A French company that helps manage the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong province said Monday it was dealing with a performance issue. It said the facility was operating within safe limits.

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India’s, Brazil’s Q1 GDP data suggest strong post-pandemic rebound: Moody’s

The economic outlook for both countries is quite uncertain because of the downside risks of potential third waves of coronavirus, said Moody’s.
As in Brazil, India’s mobility and economic activity will likely accelerate in the second half of the year as the pace of vaccinations accelerates. The government’s recently announced strategy to vaccinate 940 million people by December will support economic recovery.

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UK PM Johnson expected to delay Covid lockdown end by 4 weeks to July 19

On Sunday, the UK recorded 7,490 new cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths, with the seven-day average for cases up 49 per cent compared with the seven days before.

Scientists and health officials have called for a delay in lifting all social distance norms in order to allow the vaccination programme to gain further ground, with second doses for the older age groups and first doses for the younger population cohorts of over-25s now eligible for jabs.

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