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International News

Big South African insurers face $232 million in claims from 500 virus-hit firms

Loss adjustment firm Insurance Claims Africa (ICA) is pushing a host of big South African insurers including Santam , Old Mutual, Hollard and HIC Underwriting Managers to make payouts under business interruption policies sold to its clients.They are firms in the hospitality and tourism industry now on the cusp of closure after virus restrictions brought their businesses to a standstill.

Ryan Woolley, ICA CEO, told journalists on Wednesday that its calculations showed the claims by the firms ICA is representing amounted to between 3.5 billion rand and 4 billion rand, though it had offered the relevant insurers reduced amounts to settle the matter.

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Facebook,YouTube,Twitter to face same EU rules on hateful content as broadcasters

“Online players will have to ensure, in a similar way to traditional media players,that users are protected against hate speech and that minors are protected from harmful content,” the Commission said.

“Online platforms must take action against flagged content, which incites violence, hatred and terrorism, and ensure appropriate advertising and product placement in children’s programmes,” it said.

The non-binding guidelines apply to social platforms where audiovisual content is seen as an essential but not principal part of their business. EU countries, which have until Sept. 19 to implement the rules, will have the final say on the list of companies.

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Global coronavirus cases rise to more than 11 million

The United States reported more than 55,400 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a new daily global record as infections rose in a majority of states. Several U.S. governors halted plans to reopen their state economies in the face of a surge in cases.

Almost a quarter of the known global deaths have occurred in the United States – nearly 129,000. A recent surge in cases has put President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis under a microscope and led several governors to halt plans to reopen their states after strict lockdowns.

Latin America, where Brazil has 1.5 million cases, makes up 23% of the global total of people infected. India has become the new epicenter in Asia, rising to 625,000 cases.

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SoftBank-backed Lemonade raises $319 million in IPO

Lemonade, started in late 2016, says it has digitized the entire insurance process, replacing brokers and paperwork with algorithms. It says it provides insurance policies to homeowners and renters in as little as 90 seconds and claim payments in three minutes.The IPO values Lemonade at $1.6 billion. That is less than the $2.1 billion it was valued at last year, after it raised $300 million in a funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank and which included insurer Allianz SE and Alphabet Inc’s venture capital arm GV. Lemonade has pursued breakneck revenue growth at the expense of widening losses.

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Insurers anticipated a pandemic but could have responded better,says exec

David Williams, managing director of underwriting and technical services at AXA Insurance UK PLC.said the industry’s response to previous virus outbreaks, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, and the H5N1 avian flu strain, was “why we’ve ended up in a situation where 98% of business interruption policies in the U.K. don’t include the impacts of COVID-19.”

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