Climate change is the main culprit for a record drought in the Amazon rainforest that has drained rivers, killed endangered dolphins and upended life for millions of people in the region, according to a study released on Wednesday. Global warming …

Piracy off Somalia’s coast has increased since maritime security was disrupted by Houthi militants’ attacks on ships in the Red Sea in response to the Israel-Hamas war. The Horn of Africa nation has recorded five assaults on commercial ships off …

Colombia declared a national disaster as wildfires spread through drought-hit forests and filled the capital, Bogota, with smoke. Environmental authorities reported 31 separate blazes on Thursday, after months of hot, dry weather caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon. Some …

AM Best announced it has downgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A- (Excellent) from A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings to “a-” (Excellent) from “a” (Excellent) of Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company (PMIC) and its wholly owned reinsured subsidiary, …

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily has uprooted trees and felled powerlines in Australia’s Queensland state, leaving tens of thousands without electricity or phone service as the state braces for further wild weather into the weekend. The storm has weakened to a tropical …

The Biden administration intends to announce its strategy on Friday for beefing up environmental scrutiny of applications to export natural gas, according to people familiar with the matter. President Joe Biden will order the Energy Department to halt reviews of …

Federal inspectors examining injury and illness records at a Fairfield food services warehouse found workers suffered severe injuries at nearly four times the average rate for their industry, with a high percentage of these injuries categorized as ergonomic musculoskeletal disorders. …

Several major Ukrainian state organizations on Thursday reported cyber attacks on their systems, in the latest wave that a source close to the government blamed on Russian intelligence. Ukraine’s state-run energy company Naftogaz said one of the data centers had …

A Brazilian federal judge ruled that miners Vale and BHP and their joint venture Samarco must pay 47.6 billion reais ($9.67 billion) in damages for a 2015 tailings dam burst, according to a legal decision on Thursday seen by Reuters. …

For the second time in three months, Houston plaintiffs’ attorney Eric B. Dick has been ordered to reimburse an insurer more than $100,000 for filing a “frivolous, groundless” lawsuit made “solely for the purpose of harassment.” Galveston County District Court …

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) said President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Donnell plans to retire in February 2025 after about 10 years with the organization. “It’s been such a privilege to lead this organization and this amazing …

XPT Specialty Names Binding and Brokerage Team XPT Specialty, headquartered in New York, N.Y., hired a production and underwriting team to serve Middle Atlantic and Northeast clients. The wholesale broker’s new team is led by Gregg Guerreiro, executive vice president …

GSK, Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies are urging a judge in Delaware this week to find that evidence plaintiffs’ lawyers want to use in about 72,000 lawsuits claiming that the discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer is not supported by …

Manmade warming has increased the prevalence and severity of concurrent drought and heat events, also termed hot droughts, across Western North America in the 20th-21st century, a new report shows. The authors of the report developed the Western North American …

Google on Wednesday reached a settlement in a patent infringement lawsuit over chips that power the company’s artificial-intelligence technology, according to a filing in Massachusetts federal court. The settlement comes the same day that closing arguments were scheduled to begin …

Los Angeles County agreed to pay $5 million to the founder and CEO of a software company who was briefly accused of stealing data on county poll workers in a case he said was pushed by conspiracy theorists. The Board …

Glenn Pomeroy, former CEO of the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), joined GeoVera as executive vice president of marketing and regulatory affairs effective February 1. GeoVera is headquartered in Fairfield, Calif. Pomeroy has over 30 years of industry experience, including eight …

Greater New York Mutual Insurance Co. signed a lease at the Empire State Building. GNY Mutual, which currently has offices on Madison Avenue, agreed to a 17-year deal for a full floor at the famous New York tower, with 52,116 …

Texas Mutual saw nearly 6% more severe injuries reported in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to an incident trends report released by the insurer. The construction industry reported the most serious incidents by industry in Texas in 2023. …

The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month upheld a 2022 decision against Church Mutual Insurance Co. in favor of Sugartown United Pentecostal Church in Dry Creek, Louisiana, which sits about 50 miles northeast of Lake Charles. …