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Global stocks, sterling unsettled as new virus strain shuts UK

Analysts at BofA noted a huge $46.4 billion flowed into equities in the latest week, while the outflow from cash was the largest in four months. There were record flows into tech shares and large flows to the consumer sector, healthcare, financials, real estate and value stocks.

BofA chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett said a “sell signal” had been triggered for the first time since February as cash levels declined to 4.0% in the latest Global Fund Manager Survey.

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Hackers’ broad attack sets cyber experts worldwide scrambling to defend networks

“This hack was so big in scope that even our cybersecurity experts don’t have a real sense yet in terms of the breadth of the intrusion itself,” adding that it would take some time to fully vet all the agencies and targets.

The breach appeared to provide President-elect Joe Biden with an immediate headache when he takes office on Jan. 20. His transition team’s executive director Yohannes Abraham told reporters on Friday there would be “substantial costs” and the incoming administration “will reserve the right to respond at a time and in a manner of our choosing, often in close coordination with our allies and partners.”

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Brazil’s supreme court rules Covid-19 vaccination can be made mandatory

Bolsonaro has launched an attack on coronavirus vaccines, even suggesting that the one developed by Pfizer-BioNTech could turn people into crocodiles or bearded ladies.
“In the Pfizer contract it’s very clear: ‘we’re not responsible for any side effects.’ If you turn into a crocodile, it’s your problem,” Bolsonaro said on Thursday.That vaccine has been undergoing tests in Brazil for weeks and is already being used in the United States and Britain.

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Asia-Pacific life insurance market to reach $1.5 trillion in 2023:GlobalData

“Technology advancements is another area that has gained more prominence. Due to the social distancing norms and regulatory push, increasing number of insurers are shifting to digital platforms. In June 2020, Manulife Hong Kong launched a virtual face-to-face agency sales platform for most of its insurance product offerings,”Pratyusha Mekala, Insurance Analyst at GlobalData,

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Ransomware attacks on the rise even as cyber insurers scale back

Ransomware attacks typically involve the infection of computers with malicious software, often downloaded by clicking on seemingly innocuous links in emails or other website pop-ups and leaving users locked out of their systems, with the demand of a ransom to be paid to restore computer functions.
Paul Bantick, Beazley’s global head of cyber and technology, said that ransomware attackers were demanding more money than in the past and had also become more creative in ways in which they sought to extort money.

“COVID-19, coronavirus, vaccines, all these things, they have enabled people to target organizations,” Bantick said.

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Dutch court case claims Shell’s operations violate human rights

The case brought by the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth, Milieudefensie, links the oil major’s stance on climate change with human rights. The ruling will also have implications for Shell’s European peers as pressure mounts on polluting energy companies to step up the fight against global warming.

Over two weeks of court proceedings, lawyers for Milieudefensie have argued that Shell is violating human rights by extracting fossil fuels and undermining the Paris Agreement’s aim of keeping temperature rises below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Shell says it’s playing its part in addressing climate change, which can only be tackled through collaboration and not court action.

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