Almost a Year After Idalia, Florida Village Ponders its Future on the Gulf
HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Lisa Bregenzer’s waterfront home was her “little slice of heaven.” She watched sunsets and migrating birds from the porch, the Gulf of Mexico in the distance. There, she felt close to God and her late …
North Carolina Man Charged With Threatening Insurance Agents Over Claim
First, a North Carolina man filed a claim with Farm Bureau Insurance. Then he threatened three insurance agents with violence when he wasn’t paid as much as he expected, according to state authorities and one of the insurance agents. Brody …
Ohio Supreme Court Orders City to Pay $30 Million Police Brutality Judgment
The Ohio city of East Cleveland must pay a $30 million jury verdict awarded to a man who police wrongly assaulted, arrested and detained, the state’s highest court has ordered. The victim, Arnold Black, went to court in February 2023 …
Vineyard Wind Incident Is Not First Time a GE Vernova Wind Turbine Has Come Apart
An incident at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind energy project this week that scattered shards of fiberglass across Massachusetts beaches was the latest in a series of failures involving wind turbines built by GE Vernova. At least one other GE …
Forest Fire Erupts at Major Military Range in New Jersey
BARNEGAT, N.J. (AP) — A fast-moving forest fire broke out Tuesday at a major military gunnery range in southern New Jersey, but no injuries or property damage has been reported. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service responded around 2:15 p.m. …
Few Residents Opt Out of Proposed $600 Million Settlement in Ohio Train Derailment
Few people ultimately opted out of the $600 million class action settlement Norfolk Southern offered to people affected by last year’s disastrous East Palestine train derailment despite the questions residents raised about the deal, lawyers said. The plaintiffs’ attorneys said …
More Reforms Needed to Tackle Shadow Banking’s ‘Hidden Leverage’: BoE Regulator
The booming non-bank financial industry has created excessive leverage that poses financial stability risks, and more reforms are needed to tackle it, including improving disclosure of positions, a Bank of England regulator said on Thursday. Non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), including …
Insurance Broker TWFG’s IPO Seeking $187 Million Gets Underway Today
Shares of Texas-based insurance broker TWFG, Inc. begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market today under the symbol TWFG. TWFG said it expects to realize gross proceeds of $187 million and net proceeds of approximately $168.3 million from the …
Insured Losses for Floods in Southern Germany Estimated at €1.6B: PERILS
The recent floods in southern Germany will cost insurers an estimated €1.568 billion (US$1.7 billion), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data. The floods, which hit southern Germany during the period of May 31 …
Study Urges Rethinking of Disaster Management in Era of Compounding Events
A new report warns that compounding natural disasters introduce new, interconnected, and complex risk scenarios — and points to a need to reimagine efforts that support disaster preparedness, mitigation, and recovery “in an era of intensifying extreme weather-climate events and …
Preservationists Rush to Save 150-Year-Old Lighthouse From Toppling Into Hudson River
HUDSON, N.Y. (AP) — The race is on to keep a 150-year-old lighthouse from crumbling into the Hudson River. Wooden pilings beneath Hudson-Athens Lighthouse are deteriorating, and the structure, built in the middle of the river when steamboats still plied …
Hard Market Conditions Expected to Ease in 2025 as Claims Inflation Softens: Swiss Re
Hard market conditions in the global non-life insurance sector will continue this year, but will begin to ease in 2025, as general inflation and claims inflation conditions soften, according to Swiss Re in a report, which discusses the macroeconomic factors …
Detroit-Area County to Pay $7M to Family of Man Killed in Jail for a Misdemeanor
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit-area county agreed to a $7 million settlement in the death of a man who was severely beaten by another man while in jail for a misdemeanor. Separately, a federal prosecutor announced Monday that the Wayne …
UK Lays Out Stronger Cybersecurity Defenses After Attack Crippled NHS Hospitals
The new UK government plans to strengthen the nation’s defenses against cyberattacks, a month after a ransomware hack crippled London hospitals and health care providers. Labour introduced the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill on Wednesday as part of its maiden …
Islamic Insurance Helps Cover Muslim Farmers Battling Climate Change
On his four and a half acres of land in central Pakistan, Izhar ul-Haq approaches farming as a science. He knows the precise acidity of the soil and the exact amount of brackish groundwater his crops can tolerate if mixed …
Russian Cybersecurity Firm Kaspersky Labs to Wind Down US Operations
Kaspersky Labs will gradually wind down its U.S. operations from July 20, the Russian anti-virus software maker said on Monday, nearly a month after the Biden administration announced plans to bar sales of the company in the country. Kaspersky, which …
World Bank Eyes First ‘Drought’ Bond in Next 12-18 Months
The World Bank is looking to issue its first drought bond in the next 12-18-months and broaden its offering of catastrophe bonds supporting countries suffering devastation from storms and earthquakes, a senior executive at the lender said. The drought bond …
Coalition Asks FEMA to Make Wildfire Smoke, Extreme Heat Eligible for Disaster Funds
A group of 14 attorney generals has formed a coalition to persuade the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to initiate rulemaking to update its regulations to recognize extreme heat and wildfire smoke events as eligible for major disaster declarations under …
FM Global Rebrands As FM
FM Global said it will now be known simply as FM. The commercial property insurer on July 17 unveiled its new name and “titanium” logo at the company’s midyear meeting. “We believe that by uniting our businesses under the FM …
Georgia Appeals Court Questions Insolvency Pool’s Subrogation in Comp Cases
Georgia employers and their workers’ compensation insurers can rest a little easier after an appeals court this week narrowed the circumstances in which a state guaranty association can seek reimbursement on claims paid after staffing firms’ insurance carriers become insolvent. …