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International News

Insurers warn government Canada’s flood mapping must not take a decade

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged sweeping climate action during his re-election campaign last year, including C$150 million ($112.2 million) for flood mapping. The federal budget is expected at the end of March.

“Flooding is by far the single greatest peril facing Canadians as a result of climate change,” Craig Stewart, vice president of federal affairs for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, told Reuters.

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WHO experts voice “very low confidence” in some Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine data

The document includes summaries of data from clinical trials in China, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
The “evidence assessment” document was prepared by the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) for its evaluation of the Sinopharm shot, authorised by 45 countries and jurisdictions for use in adults, with 65 million doses administered. The experts review evidence and give recommendations on policy and dosages associated with a vaccine.

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Egyptian court rejects appeal against detention of ship in Suez Canal

The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, got jammed across the canal on March 23 and remained stuck for six days, stopping traffic in both directions.

It has been held in a lake between two stretches of the canal since being dislodged on March 29, amid a dispute over a $916 million claim by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) against Japanese owner Shoei Kisen for compensation over the incident.

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Pharma has limited legal options if vaccine patents waived

Still, some vaccine producers, like Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc., might sue the U.S. to recoup some of their losses, said Matthew Howell, an intellectual property attorney at Alston & Bird in Atlanta. If the manufacture of the vaccine is done in the U.S., under the government’s authorization, there are avenues for compensation in American courts.

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AXA halts ransomware crime reimbursement in France

“The word to get out today is that, regarding ransomware, we don’t pay and we won’t pay,” cybercrime prosecutor Johanna Brousse said at the hearing.

Only the U.S. surpassed France last year in damage from ransomware to businesses, hospitals, schools and local governments, according to the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, estimating France’s related overall losses at more than $5.5 billion.

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United States’ biggest gasoline pipeline halted after cyber-attack

Hacking threats to critical infrastructure have been growing, prompting the White House to respond with a plan to try to increase the security of utilities and their suppliers.

The first leg of that effort, announced April 20, will address security holes in the electrical grid, before moving to other sectors, including the country’s gas pipelines and water utilities.

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