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International News

EU, U.S. sow seeds for climate cooperation, dodge coal’s end date – draft

The United States and EU are the world’s second-and third-biggest emitters of CO2, respectively, after China. A draft of their summit statement, seen by Reuters, outlines plans for a transatlantic alliance to develop green technologies and points to sustainable finance as an area for closer transatlantic collaboration. The EU and the United States will also “scale up efforts” to meet an overdue spending pledge of $100 billion a year by rich countries to help poorer countries cut carbon emissions and cope with global warming, the draft said.

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China asserting authority on foreign companies, calling on tech giants to share data

A growing sense among leaders is that data accumulated by the private sector should in essence be considered a national asset, which can be tapped or restricted according to the state’s needs, said people involved in policy-making. Those needs include managing financial risks, tracking virus outbreaks, supporting state economic priorities or conducting surveillance of criminals and political opponents.

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Pandemic boost for aging-linked stocks, pent-up medical demand and online insurance buying

The number of people aged 65 and over is projected to double to more 1.5 billion by 2050, greatly increasing their economic impact. The total spending power of the older population globally was about $8.4 trillion in 2020, according to World Data Lab. That’s expected to grow to $14 trillion over the next decade.

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G7 may reallocate $100 bln from IMF funds to COVID-ravaged nations

“The United States and our G7 partners are actively considering a global effort to multiply the impact of the proposed Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation to the countries most in need,” the U.S. president’s office said.

“At potentially up to $100 billion in size, the proposed effort would further support health needs – including vaccinations,” it said, adding that it would help promote a more sustained and inclusive global recovery.

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Brazilian judge orders Vale to pay victims’ families in 2019 mining disaster

The disaster in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state, killed 270 people in Brazil’s most deadly mining tragedy has hampered Vale’s performance for two years as it was forced to curb production amid new safety protocols.

Judge Vivianne Celia Ferreira Ramos Correa agreed to the request of the Brumadinho iron mining workers union that the compensation be paid to the estate or heirs of the victims of the disaster, according to the ruling seen by Reuters.

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Ships skip Singapore as China congestion snarls supply chain

“The delays have already resulted in pressurizing soaring shipping prices within China due to a lack of containers and increased export demand,” said Josh Brazil, vice president of marketing at project44, a supply-chain intelligence firm. “These high shipping costs are just one factor that may contribute to an additional looming threat to global inflation.”

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G7 to counter China’s BRI with big infrastructure project: US official

According to a Refinitiv database, as of mid-last year, more than 2,600 projects at a cost of $3.7 trillion were linked to the Belt and Road Initiative, although the Chinese foreign ministry said last June that about 20% of projects had been seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March, Biden said he had suggested to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, hosting the G7 summit, that democratic countries should develop their own rival scheme.

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