eismology experts consulted by Google said turning smartphones into mini-seismographs marked a major advancement, despite the inevitably of erroneous alerts from a work in progress, and the reliance on a private company’s algorithms for public safety. More than 2.5 billion devices, including some tablets, run Google’s Android operating system.

“We are on a path to delivering earthquake alerts wherever there are smartphones,” said Richard Allen, director of University of California Berkeley’s seismological lab and visiting faculty at Google over the last year.

WHO decries ‘vast global gap’ in funds needed to fight coronavirus

Aug 10, 2020

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO was only “10% of the way” to funding the billions of dollars required.

“For the vaccines alone, over $100 billion will be needed,” Tedros said. This sounds like lot of money and it is.

“But it’s small in comparison to the $10 trillion that have already been invested by G20 countries in fiscal stimulus to deal with the consequences of the pandemic so far.”

Oil spill threatens ecological disaster as Mauritius declares emergency

Aug 9, 2020

“Thousands of species around the pristine lagoons of Blue Bay, Pointe d’Esny and Mahebourg are at risk of drowning in a sea of pollution,with dire consequences for Mauritius’ economy, food security and health,” Greenpeace said in a statement.

UK insurers set for large rise in business interruption claims,says GlobalData

Aug 8, 2020

While there have been some legal disputes, business interruption claims are still estimated to be very high, with the ABI forecasting over 75% of claims in 2020 to be business interruption related. However, strong regulation should help to protect leading insurers in the short-term

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