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Fosun said to revive sale of Hong Kong’s $1 billion Peak Re
Founded in 2012, Peak Re focuses on insurance including property...
Google pilots new programme to protect Android users from financial fraud
"As part of a continued strategic partnership with the Cyber...
AstraZeneca and Oxford say COVID-19 vaccine shows 70% efficacy
AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said that the lower first dose of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine meant more people can be vaccinated more quickly, as the British drugmaker unveiled interim late-stage trial results.
“Being able to vaccinate more people faster is a really a big plus,” he told a briefing.AstraZeneca said it would “immediately prepare regulatory submission of the data to authorities around the world that have a framework in place for conditional or early approval.”
The Astra vaccine does not require ultra-cold storage which may make it easier to administer than the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, which needs to be refrigerated at -70 degrees.
Surge in greenhouse gases sustained despite COVID lockdowns – U.N
Many scientists expect the biggest annual fall in carbon emissions in generations this year as measures to contain coronavirus have grounded planes, docked ships and kept commuters at home.
However, the WMO described the projected 2020 drop as a “tiny blip” and said the resulting impact on the carbon dioxide concentrations that contribute to global warming would be no bigger than normal annual fluctuations.
UAE eases limits on foreign ownership to attract investors
The presidential decree changing the corporate law helps the UAE “strengthen its leading position regionally and globally as an attractive destination for projects and companies,” state-run WAM news agency reported.
The reforms allow foreign entrepreneurs and investors to set up their own companies without involving local shareholders, the agency said.
42 failed airlines and counting: Wait for vaccine crushes industr
“The fourth quarter and the first quarter of next year could be equally terrible,” IBA’s Stuart Hatcher said in an interview. “Airlines will be trying everything to get through to Easter, when higher demand should coincide with the roll-out of the vaccine, but there comes a point when the money runs out.”
Biden names Kerry as U.S. climate envoy, emphasizing diplomacy’s role in the issue
Biden has pledged to reverse course on climate from President Donald Trump, who doubts mainstream climate science. Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate, and dismantled Obama-era climate and environmental regulations to boost drilling, mining and manufacturing.
While secretary of state under former President Barack Obama, Kerry, 76, called climate change “the world’s most fearsome weapon of mass destruction.” In travels from glaciers in Greenland to the Solomon Islands, Kerry has emphasized cooperation on tackling climate change.
$22 billion tech giant dream of China’s Ping An Insurance face headwinds
China’s tightening grip on fintech firms and an antitrust crackdown complicate Ping An’s bid to lift its valuation closer to those garnered by tech giants like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. The Shenzhen-based finance firm, which gets three-quarters of its revenue from insurance, trades at about 10 times 2019 earnings; Alibaba’s ratio is six times higher.
Ping An has pledged to plow more than $22 billion into research from big data to blockchain to make it more “tech” than “fin,” while carving out some of its units through public listings to maximize value.
Insurer Inigo raises $800 million from investors including QIA, CDPQ
In a statement, Inigo said that current conditions are ideal to launch a new insurance business, at a time when demand across a number of classes of insurance and reinsurance is high.
Inigo has chosen London as its principal base since it regards the overall insurance ecosystem offered by Lloyd’s as exceptionally attractive and believes it will best support the growth and development of the new syndicate.
UK FM says he hopes for a Brexit deal but not at any price
“If we don’t get a deal, why is that? It is because they are refusing to compromise on what are some completely reasonable and very transparent principles that we’ve laid out from the beginning. We are not asking for … super-special treatment.”
G20 leaders call for ‘affordable, equitable’ access to Covid-19 vaccine
“We need to avoid at all costs a scenario of a two-speed world where only the richer can protect themselves against the virus and restart normal lives,” French President Emmanuel Macron told the summit.
India to Brazil, Astra-Oxford vaccine is key to many nations’ Covid plan
he Astra vaccine costs a fraction of the price set by Pfizer and will be manufactured in multiple countries, from India to Brazil. It should be easier to deploy far and wide than other shots that need to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures. But if the U.K. partners can’t match the lofty efficacy levels Pfizer and Moderna delivered or roll out their inoculation quickly, the pandemic might continue spreading death and disease in countries relying on it.