Startup AiDash Raises $50M for Tech Using AI, Satellites to Spot Wildfire Risk
A California startup using artificial intelligence (AI) and satellites to spot fire and weather risks on power lines, AiDash, reported it had raised $50 million in new funding, reflecting Silicon Valley efforts to create products that help energy companies adapt …
WV Supreme Court Denies Insurers’ Appeal in Chlorine Leak that Damaged Plant
A group of 12 insurance companies cannot yet appeal a trial court’s finding that contamination exclusions did not bar coverage for a chemical plant that was damaged when 90 tons of liquid chlorine leaked from a ruptured rail car in …
Agency Salary Survey: Find Out Compensation Trends in This Year’s Report
Be a part of the industry’s favorite salary survey while learning more about agency compensation trends nationwide. We would like to invite ALL retail agency owners, principals, producers, CSRs — the entire agency — to participate in Insurance Journal’s annual …
Ring Will No Longer Allow Police to Request Users’ Doorbell Camera Footage
Amazon-owned Ring will stop allowing police departments to request doorbell camera footage from users, marking an end to a feature that has drawn criticism from privacy advocates. In a blog post on Wednesday, Ring said it will sunset the “Request …
Small Plane Crash in Florida Everglades Kills 2
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A small plane crashed in the Florida Everglades, killing the two people on board, authorities said. Their bodies were found Wednesday in the wreckage. The single-engine Cessna Skyhawk took off from the North Perry Airport …
GM’s Cruise Owns Up to Robotaxi Mess in Hopes of Returning to Roads
General Motors Co. blamed poor leadership for mishandling its Cruise robotaxi crisis, an admission the carmaker is hoping will help get its cars back on the roads. A report by the law firm Quinn Emanuel, hired by GM and Cruise, …
Mississippi Businesses, Cities Sue to Protect Dolphins From Louisiana Spillway
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Opening a spillway as a flood-control measure in 2019 sent polluted fresh water from the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico and killed bottlenose dolphins that live in saltwater, according to a new lawsuit. Several …
People Moves: Reinert, Murray to Anchor Everest’s Dedicated Private Equity Practice; Krupczak to Lead US Energy Property at Liberty Mutual
Liberty Mutual Insurance Appoints John Krupczak to Lead Property for US Energy Liberty Mutual Insurance announced the appointment of John Krupczak to the role of head of US Energy (Property), effective immediately. Part of the Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) business …
AM Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Farmers Mutual Fire of Pennsylvania
Ratings firm AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable of Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Marble, Pennsylvania. At the same time, it has affirmed the insurer’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer …
West Virginia Bill Would Allow Teachers to Carry Guns at School
West Virginia’s Republican-dominated Legislature pushed forward a slate of contentious bills Wednesday that would arm teachers, allow people to sue libraries over books that offend them and restrict where transgender kids can use the bathroom at school. Described by conservatives …
Climate Change Drives Amazon Rainforest’s Record Drought: Study
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 …
Houthi Attacks Awaken Somali Piracy on Ships Avoiding Red Sea
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 Declares National Disaster as Wildfires Spread Through Parched Forests
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 Downgrades Credit Ratings of Iowa’s Pharmacists Mutual
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, …
Australia Braces for More Wild Weather in Wake of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily
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 …
Biden Set to Halt Review of LNG Export Approvals on Friday
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 …
OSHA: Ohio Food Warehouse Exposed Workers to Ergonomic Hazards
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 Ukrainian State-Run Bodies Report ‘Large-Scale’ Cyber Attacks
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 …
Brazil Orders Vale, BHP and Samarco to Pay $9.7B in Damages for 2015 Dam Disaster
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. …
Houston ‘Hire A Dick’ Attorney Faces Another Six Figure Sanctions Order
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 …
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