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International News

Chinese insurance tech firm Waterdrop raises $230 million, plans U.S. IPO

Two sources with knowledge of the fundraising told Reuters that Waterdrop was valued at nearly $2 billion in the funding round. One of them said that Swiss Re itself had invested $100 million.

Swiss Re declined to comment on its investment size, but said the company’s participation in the round was part of its long-term commitment to China.

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Twitter privacy ruling delayed after dispute among EU regulators

Twitter had looked set to become the first big technology company to face a fine by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) under tougher EU data protection rules after it submitted the decision to other member states in May.

Under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation’s (GDPR) “One Stop Shop” regime introduced in 2018, regulators can impose fines for violations of up to 4% of a company’s global revenue or 20 million euros ($22 million), whichever is higher

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Russia vaccine roll-out plan prompts virus mutation worries

Sputnik-V’s developers, as well as financial backers and Russian authorities, say the vaccine is safe and that two months of small-scale human trials have shown that it works.

But the results of those trials have not been made public, and many Western scientists are sceptical, warning against its use until all internationally approved testing and regulatory hurdles have been passed.

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Japan ship deviated from shipping lane before Mauritius impact, data shows

It was not immediately clear why the ship appeared to deviate from its course. Tracking data for other cargo vessels passing close to Mauritius recently show them all sticking to the shipping lane.

The Mauritius coast guard had repeatedly tried to reach the ship to warn it that its course was dangerous but received no reply, Reuters reported this week.

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China govt-backed class actions take aim at corporate fraud – with limits

Under the new litigation process, either the courts or a regulator must find that a company has broken the rules, or the company must admit wrongdoing, before a class-action lawsuit can be launched.

In addition, class-action suits launched by individuals, not the CSISC, can only include investors who opt in, reducing the number of plaintiffs and the size of the claim.

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Insurer AIA’s new business drops 37% in first-half as pandemic hits sales

Insurers across the world have been hit by pandemic-related claims including for travel, business interruption and event cancellation, while economic slowdown and job losses have led to reduced demand for life insurance.

In Asia, insurance firms mainly rely on their army of agents for product sales, which have been dented by lockdown and social distancing measures put in place in various countries to contain the pandemic.

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Covid hit 20% of meat workers in No. 1 chicken exporter Brazil

Employees in the meat industry have been deemed essential globally as companies try to keep up with protein demand. But the workers face conditions ripe for the spread of disease, and outbreaks have emerged from South America to Europe and Australia. Brazil is the world’s biggest exporter of poultry and beef and a key supplier of pork.

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