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International News

Facebook raises settlement to $650 million in facial recognition lawsuit

The social media giant reached a $550 million settlement in January regarding the same lawsuit, which started in 2015, when Illinois users accused the company of violating the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act in collecting biometric data.
In 2019, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court swatted away Facebook’s  claim that facial recognition data did not count as biometric data, stating that “development of face template using facial-recognition technology without consent (as alleged here) invades an individual’s private affairs and concrete interests.”

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Southeast Asia poverty to surge in ‘socio-economic crisis’:U.N.

“Without alternative income, formal social protection systems or savings to buffer these shocks, workers and their families will be pushed into poverty, reversing decades of poverty reduction.”
The region-wide economy was expected to contract by 0.4 per cent in 2020, it said, while remittances from Southeast Asians working abroad were likely to fall by 13 per cent or $10 billion.

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Gilead raises sales outlook to include COVID-19 treatment remdesivir

Demand for remdesivir continues to outstrip supply in many parts of the world.

Gilead’s chief executive, Daniel O’Day, on a conference call, said the company expects by the end of September to be producing enough remdesivir to meet real-time global demand.

Gilead said it still expects to manufacturer 2 million or more remdesivir treatment courses cumulatively in 2020, and its revenue outlook reflects expected sales of up to 1.5 million courses this year.

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Swiss Re reshuffles APAC management team

According to a Swiss Re announcement on Thursday, Sharon Ooi,currently managing director, head of P&C underwriting APAC, based in Singapore will relocate to Sydney to become head of Australia and New Zealand,

Sharon will replace Mark Senkevics who in turn will take charge of Ooi’s current role and lead Swiss Re’s APAC property and casualty (P&C) underwriting business from Sydney,

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