Crews cleaned up downed trees and got electricity mostly restored for thousands of people this week after a powerful dust storm roared through the Phoenix area. The wall of dust towering hundreds of feet high dwarfed the city’s neighborhoods. Called …

A jury has awarded at least $2.2 million to a protester who was shot in the face with a less-lethal munition by a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy during a demonstration against police brutality in 2020. In the verdict last week, …

Heavy rain caused flooding and landslides Wednesday in parts of Southeast Asia, where at least eight deaths were reported in the aftermath of a tropical storm. Flooding occurred in several northern and central provinces of Vietnam, where seven people died, …

Kenya’s biggest publicly traded insurer by market value is planning expansion in African nations with low insurance penetration to augment and diversify revenue. Britam Holdings Ltd., which already has operations in seven African nations, will mostly focus on acquisitions rather …

Liberty Mutual Reinsurance (LM Re) and Safehub, a provider of seismic sensor and risk management technology, announced the launch of an earthquake parametric insurance solution, called “ShakeNet Parametric.” With capacity provided by LM Re and is triggered by the highest-resolution …

Canada’s record-breaking 2023 wildfire season led to a spike in air pollution in the country and in the US, erasing recent progress in cleaning up the air, according to new analysis. The wildfires, which burned 42 million acres of Canadian …

The wildfires that raged across Greece, Turkey and Cyprus this summer were 22% more intense and 10 times more likely than they would have been in a world without climate change, according to scientists. The extremely hot, dry and windy …

A Sierra Club employee filed a workplace misconduct complaint earlier this year with the board of directors alleging that then-executive director Ben Jealous engaged in sexual harassment and bullying. The employee’s complaint, reviewed by Bloomberg News, alleges Jealous made unwelcome …

Insurance industry rating agency AM Best on Thursday affirmed the financial strength rating of A+ (Superior) for the Allstate Insurance Group. The Oldwick, N.J.-based firm noted Allstate’s “favorable market position in the private passenger auto and homeowners’ markets” as well …

The US, Japan and South Korea pledged to intensify efforts to block North Korea’s use of overseas IT workers to raise money for its weapons programs, warning that Pyongyang’s operatives are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to evade detection. North Korean …

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — Rocking on his front porch overlooking the Mississippi Sound, former Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes questions how anyone wouldn’t want to live there. “People are always going to gravitate to the water,” he said. “And we have …

Aspire General Insurance announced the completion of a strategic debt financing agreement with Comvest Partners. The investment will enhance California-based Aspire’s capital position, enabling expanded capabilities, deeper market penetration, and continued innovation in insurance technology, according to the company. Comvest …

Since 2021, religious schools in Vermont have been receiving an increasing amount of money through Vermont’s school tuitioning program. But Act 73, Vermont’s wide-ranging education reform law signed into law in July, effectively halts that trend. Last week, the state …

IMA Financial Group, Inc., a North American insurance brokerage firm specializing in risk management, wholesale brokerage and wealth management, has named Dan Mize as its new Wichita market president, effective Aug. 15. Jeff Jamison, who previously held the role, has …

A Massachusetts couple was arrested this week for their alleged involvement in a scheme that defrauded at least 50 individuals or insurance providers of more than $700,000 through their insurance agency, BL Insurance Brokerage, LLC. Brendan Lawler and Lisa Lawler, …

Novatae Risk Group, the wholesale business of leading insurance brokerage World Insurance Associates, has announced that Richard Kerr, CEO, has left the firm effective Aug. 22, and its president, Nick Greggains, is assuming all of Kerr’s responsibilities effective immediately. Novatae …

Vermont Governor Phil Scott has submitted a formal request to President Donald J. Trump for a major disaster declaration to help communities in Caledonia and Essex counties recover costs for repairing public infrastructure damage caused by rainfall and severe flooding …

A telecom frequency outage prompted the Federal Aviation Administration Thursday to halt arriving flights at Newark Liberty International Airport for more than an hour, the latest tech issue to snarl flights at the airport near New York City. Flightradar24, a …

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at the brokers Guy Carpenter and Aon. A summary of these new hires follows here. Carpenter Taps Aon’s Goodman for New Role of Chief Client & Growth Officer Guy Carpenter, the reinsurance …

A former Alfa insurance agent in Georgia pleaded guilty Wednesday to using more than $200,000 from one policyholder to cover other expenses, including the premium payments for other insureds. Jeremy Lasseter, of Warner Robins, Georgia, near Macon, was indicted in …