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International News

Moderna Phase 1 results show coronavirus vaccine safe,induces immune response

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whose researchers developed Moderna’s vaccine candidate, called the results “good news,” noting that the study found no serious adverse events and the vaccine produced “reasonably high” levels of virus-killing or neutralizing antibodies.

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Afghanistan faces ‘catastrophe’ as COVID-19 cases grow: Red Crescent

Red Crescent Secretary General Nilab Mobarez said acute protective equipment shortages and difficulties in accessing remote regions were hampering its COVID-19 response. But it was expanding mobile health teams and adding thousands of community volunteers to try and detect and prevent the disease, which it said it expected to spread over coming weeks

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World Population in 2100 could be 2 bn below UN projections: Study

“These forecasts suggest good news for the environment, with less stress on food production systems and lower carbon emissions, as well as significant economic opportunity for parts of sub-Saharan Africa,” lead author Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, told AFP.

“However, most countries outside of Africa will see shrinking workforces and inverting population pyramids, which will have profound negative consequences for the economy.”

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Positive news on Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine could come Thursday:report

AstraZeneca’s experimental vaccine is probably the world’s leading candidate and most advanced in terms of development, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist said in June.

The company has signed agreements with governments around the globe to supply the vaccine should it be cleared for use.

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‘Tough day’ for Twitter after hack targets tycoons,stars,politicians

Shares in the social media company tumbled almost 5% in trading after the market close before paring their losses.

In the hours after the initial breach, some of the platform’s biggest users appeared to be struggling to re-establish control of their accounts. In the case of billionaire Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, for example, one tweet soliciting cryptocurrency was removed and, sometime later, another one appeared, and then a third.

Among other high profile accounts affected: rapper Kanye West, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, investor Warren Buffett, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and the corporate accounts for Uber and Apple . Several accounts of cryptocurrency-focused organizations were also hijacked.

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Six Harvey Weinstein accusers call $18.9 million New York settlement a ‘cruel hoax’

In a Manhattan federal court filing, the six women said accusers would receive just $11.2 million after deducting legal fees and costs, with typical awards of just $10,000 to $20,000, while shielding the defendants’ insurers from big payouts.

They also complained that the accord “absolved” Weinstein, his brother Bob Weinstein and the board of liability, while setting aside another $15.2 million to help cover their defense costs.

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Covid-19 Pandemic:Global reinsurnace capital shrinks by 6 % to $590 bn,tightening of reinsurance capacity expected:AON

Many reinsurers reported losses for the first quarter, driven by asset write-downs and the first installment of claims associated with the effects of the pandemic. The combined pre-tax loss for the 18 constituents of Aon’s Reinsurance Aggregate (‘the ARA’) that reported was USD3.8 billion.The average combined ratio was 103.2 percent, with USD3 billion of COVID-19 related losses recognized.

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