Persistent geopolitical tensions, rising shipping costs, and high...
Category:
International News
Latest
Coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, is finally preparing for long goodbye
Thanks to a combination of China’s energy insecurity — pushing...
UN adopts first global artificial intelligence resolution
The resolution is the latest in a series of initiatives - few of...
Insurers expect to settle over £1.8bn in Covid-19 related UK claims including BI policies
Today’s ruling had other bad news for insurers. Under the original judgement, cover for BI losses due to business closures during lockdown would have been based on a strict definition of lockdown, when closures were mandatory. The Court decided that this interpretation was too narrow and that cover should include closure instructions from a public authority, even if not backed by the force of law.
Customers who have made claims that are affected by the test case will be contacted by their insurer to discuss what the judgment means for their claim. All valid claims will be settled as soon as possible and in many cases the process of settling claims has begun, said UK’s Association of British Insurers.
Axis Capital rules out insuring Arctic Oil and Gas Projects
The move follows similar pledges from France’s AXA SA and Swiss Re AG and comes as indigenous tribes that live in Alaska and Canada push investors, oil companies and insurers to end their support for Arctic oil drilling.
N.Y. health insurer Excellus reaches $5.1 mln deal with HHS over data breach
Excellus reported in 2015 that hackers had gained unauthorized access to its computer systems, ultimately leading to the disclosure of more than 9.3 million individuals’ protected health information, the agency said.
Over 22 billion records exposed in data breaches in 2020: Report
One of the overarching themes of the threat landscape in 2020 was that threat actors relied on unpatched vulnerabilities in their attacks as well as chaining together multiple vulnerabilities as part of their attacks.
“Every day, cybersecurity professionals in India and the rest of the world are faced with new challenges and vulnerabilities that can put their organisations at risk,” said Satnam Narang, Staff Research Engineer at Tenable.
2020 was one of three warmest years on record: World Meteorological Organisation
The WMO pointed to sustained heat and wildfires in Siberia, diminishing Arctic sea ice and record-breaking hurricanes in the Atlantic as being among the climate events that most stood out in 2020.
The UN weather agency said that temperature is just one climate change indicator. Greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat content, global mean sea level, sea ice extent and extreme events are also factors.
Surging shipping rates pose new headwind for the global economy
Containers that once would have cost $2,000 to send across the Pacific are now being quoted as high as $13,000 for service before Chinese New Year in mid-February,
WHO team arrives in Wuhan to search for the origins of the coronavirus pandemic
Scientists suspect the virus that has killed 1.9 million people since late 2019 jumped to humans from bats or other animals, most likely in China’s southwest. The ruling Communist Party, stung by complaints it allowed the disease to spread, says the virus came from abroad, possibly on imported seafood, but scientists reject that.
Vaccines and masks: Joe Biden plan aims to break pandemic cycle
A more disciplined focus on vaccination is the new and widely anticipated game-changing element, but that’s far from the whole story. Biden is asking Americans to override their sense of pandemic fatigue and recommit to wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and avoiding indoor gatherings, particularly larger ones. That’s still the surest way to break the Covid-19 wave, with more than 4,400 deaths reported just on Tuesday.
35 Killed, hundreds injured after strong Quake in Indonesia’s Sulawesi
The powerful quake struck 6 km (3.73 miles) northeast of the town of Majene, at the relatively shallow depth of 10 km, just before 1.30 a.m., sending thousands of frightened residents out of their homes and fleeing for higher ground.
The earthquake and aftershocks caused three landslides, cut electricity, damaged bridges to regional hubs such as the city of Makassar, and damaged more than 60 homes, two hotels and the provincial governor’s office, where at least two people were buried under rubble, authorities said.
Initial information from the national disaster mitigation agency showed that 637 people had been injured in Majene, and two dozen in Mamuju.
No tsunami warning was issued but the head of Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Dwikorita Karnawati, told a news conference that aftershocks could follow, with a possibility that another powerful quake could trigger a tsunami.
UK Supreme Court hands businesses victory in COVID-19 insurance ruling
Six of the world’s largest commercial insurers — Hiscox, RSA, QBE, Argenta, Arch and MS Amlin — said many business interruption policies did not cover widespread disruption after Britain’s first national lockdown last March.
But senior judges said payouts should be triggered after scrutinising 14 non-damage insurance policy clauses — which cover disease, denial of access to business premises and hybrid clauses — in a resounding victory for policyholders and the regulator.