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International News

Willis Towers Watson collaborates on world-first insurance protection for endangered Mesoamerican Coral Reef

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems and is home to 65 species of coral and more than 500 species of fish, as well as many other protected marine species. Coastal wetlands, lagoons, mangrove forests, and seagrass beds also protect against storms and coastal erosion.

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China permits Ant Group to operate a consumer finance company

In December, the People’s Bank of China instructed Ant Group to develop a rectification plan, and in April, it approved a series of steps. One of those includes Ant Group becoming a financial holding company, which could mean the company becomes regulated more like a bank. While that has not yet happened, the creation and operation of a consumer finance company is a big first step for Ant Group to resolve its regulatory issue

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U.S. cities hire specialists to counter climate change as impacts worsen

Since 2019 at least 30 U.S. cities have taken fresh action such as hiring specialists to combat the impact of extreme weather, including Phoenix, Houston, Louisville, Nashville, and Oakland, according to the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, based at Washington D.C.’s Atlantic Council think tank.

Many of those cities have created posts and initiatives to deal with worsening heat waves, seasonal wildfires or the effects of flooding, often with a focus on poor and minority communities, the group said.

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Helpless’ Sri Lankan fishermen count cost of chemical cargo ship wreck

The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid along with other chemicals and cosmetics, was anchored offshore when a fire erupted after an explosion on May 20.

Flaming containers filled with billions of plastic pellets tumbled into the sea from the ship’s deck as emergency crews sought to contain the blaze over the next two weeks.
Now there are fears some 300 tonnes of fuel oil remaining on board could leak from the ship.

The ship’s operators, X-Press Feeders, said on Friday there was no sign of an oil spill.

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Delta variant dominant in UK, may increase risk of hospitalisation

There were 5,472 new cases of the Delta variant reported in latest weekly figures, taking the total confirmed cases of the variant to 12,431, PHE said, adding it had overtaken Alpha, the variant first identified in England’s Kent, as Britain’s dominant variant.

The Delta variant is also thought to be more transmissible than Alpha, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that it could derail plans for lockdown restrictions in England to end on June 21.

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Suez Canal controlled ship speed before it blocked waterway, insurer says

The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, is still being held in the canal while both sides continue compensation talks. It became jammed in high winds on March 23, halting traffic in both directions for several days and disrupting global trade.

The SCA initially demanded $916 million in compensation from Japanese owner Shoei Kisen, but has since said it would be willing to accept $550 million, including a $200 million deposit to secure the ship’s release.

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39 lakh people displaced in India in 2020 due to climate disasters, conflicts: Report

The top three countries with high internal displacements last year were China, Philippines and Bangladesh, where over four million people were displaced, according to the State of India’s Environment Report 2021 released by the Centre for Science and Environment.The report stated that 76 per cent of the internal displacements globally in 2020 were triggered by climate disasters.

It said 4.05 crore people were displaced in the world that year, out of which, 3.07 crore people were displaced due to climate disasters and 98 lakh due to conflicts and violence.

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