News
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August 12, 2025
AAIP Names 2025/26 Officers and Directors
The Austin Association of Insurance Professionals (AAIP) held their 2025 installation dinner on Wednesday, June 20th at The Oasis on Lake Travis in Austin, Texas. The 2025/26 Officers & Directors for AAIP were installed. AAIP President, Meghan We...
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August 12, 2025
Chemical Safety Board to Investigate Fatal US Steel Facility Explosion
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) said today that it is investigating the fatal explosions and fires at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works plant in Clairton, Pennsylvania, that occurred on Monday. Two people were kille...
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August 12, 2025
Judge Stops Hazardous Waste Shipments to Michigan Landfill
A judge has stopped government contractors in five states from sending hazardous waste to a Michigan landfill after a year of legal challenges by Detroit-area communities concerned about possible environmental impacts. Wayne County Judge Kevin Cox sa...
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August 12, 2025
Wisconsin Severe Storms Cause Flooding, Knock Out Power
Flash flooding canceled the final day of the Wisconsin State Fair on Sunday as continued heavy rainfall in half a dozen Midwest states forced motorists to abandon their vehicles, cut power to thousands of households and closed busy roadways. Organize...
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August 12, 2025
Texas Homeowners Question Whether to Rebuild After Floods
Brian Keeper doesn’t remember exactly when his family began spending holidays in Hunt, an unincorporated town on the banks of the Guadalupe River where they’d camp, swim, and fish. Sometimes they caught so many perch, bass, and catfish th...
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August 12, 2025
People Moves: BHSI Names QBE’s Masciovecchio as Country Manager, Switzerland; Hamilton Insurance Group Appoints Buckley as Group Chief Risk Officer
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) and Hamilton Insurance Group. A summary of these new hires follows here. BHSI Names QBE’s Masciovecchio as Country Manager, Switzer...
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August 12, 2025
Do Kwon Pleads Guilty to US Fraud Charges in $40B Crypto Collapse
Do Kwon, the South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind two digital currencies that lost an estimated $40 billion in 2022, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two U.S. charges of conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud. Kwon, 33, who co-founded Singapore-...
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August 12, 2025
Specialist Risk Group Acquires London-Based City Quarter Brokers
Specialist Risk Group (SRG), the London-based group of insurance intermediaries, has entered into an agreement to acquire City Quarter Brokers, subject to regulatory approval. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. City Quarter Brokers is ...
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August 12, 2025
Containment Grows Slowly on Megafire in California
Firefighters continue to slowly make gains a massive wildfire burning in two California counties, now the biggest fire in the state this year, reaching “megafire” status. The Gifford Fire is threatening more than 822 structures and has pr...
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August 12, 2025
CDC Shooter Believed COVID Vaccine Made Him Suicidal, Father Tells Police
A Georgia man who opened fire on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, shooting dozens of rounds into the sprawling complex and killing a police officer, had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicida...
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August 12, 2025
Chemours Must Stop Unlawful Pollution of Ohio River, Federal Court Orders
A federal judge ordered the Chemours Chemical Company on Thursday to immediately stop discharging unlawful levels of cancer-causing chemicals into the Ohio River from the company’s Washington Works plant in West Virginia. “Those pollutant...
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August 12, 2025
While LA Burned, Rules to Protect Homes From Wildfires Were on Hold
As wildfires raged across Los Angeles in January, a state official parried an email from a resident living on the edge of the conflagration: When would long-delayed regulations designed to protect high-risk homes like hers be implemented? “I do...
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August 12, 2025
Musk Says xAI to Take Legal Action Against Apple Over App Store Rankings
Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday his artificial intelligence startup xAI would take legal action against Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of breaching antitrust regulations in managing the App Store rankings. “Apple is behaving in a manner ...
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August 12, 2025
Finland Charges Eagle S Tanker Captain, Officers Over Cable Cuts
Finland’s national prosecutor’s office said on Monday it had brought charges against the captain and first and second officers of the Eagle S oil tanker over the cutting of undersea cables in the Gulf of Finland in December. The Georgian ...
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August 12, 2025
2 Dead, 10 Injured After US Steel Plant Explosion Near Pittsburgh
Two workers were killed and at least 10 other people hospitalized with injuries after an explosion at a U.S. Steel plant outside of Pittsburgh on Monday. According to Allegheny County Emergency Services, the explosion happened inside a battery operat...
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August 12, 2025
Update: Wildfire Briefly Shut Dardanelles Strait to Shipping as Europe Battles Infernos
Wildfires briefly shut the Dardanelles Strait to shipping on Monday, as extreme heat and strong winds fueled blazes across the Mediterranean. The Dardanelles — a vital maritime chokepoint for oil and gas from the Black Sea and Central Asia — …...
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August 12, 2025
Swiss Re Tackles Longevity Drug Impact With Life Policy Advice
Swiss Re AG issued guidance for underwriters on how to assess life insurance applications of people who show signs of using medications for longevity purposes. Metformin, traditionally used to manage type 2 diabetes, and rapamycin, an immunosuppressa...
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August 12, 2025
Typhoon Podul Set to Strengthen Before Hitting Southern Taiwan
Typhoon Podul is expected to intensify as the system tracks toward southern Taiwan, bringing heavy rain and damaging wind gusts before making landfall on Wednesday. The typhoon was 730 kilometers (454 miles) southeast of Taitung City, packing top sus...
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August 12, 2025
5-Year Cost of Litigation Funding to Commercial Insurers Could Top $25B
“Are you being serious?” Christopher Swift, chair and chief executive officer of The Hartford, was taken aback by a question from an analyst during the company’s second-quarter earnings call about the impact of litigation finance on...
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August 12, 2025
Liberty Mutual in First FCPA Settlement Since Enforcement Restarted
Liberty Mutual will give up $4.7 million in profit to settle a U.S. criminal bribery probe into an Indian subsidiary, in the Department of Justice’s first public enforcement action of a federal anti-bribery law it resumed enforcing in June. In ...
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August 12, 2025
Florida Woman Posed as Nurse and Treated Thousands of Patients, Officials Say
PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman is accused of posing as a licensed nurse and giving medical care to thousands of patients, authorities said. Autumn Marie Bardisa, 29, of Palm Coast, participated in medical services involving 4,486 people R...
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August 12, 2025
South Carolina DOI Pitches Rate Cut on Some Credit Property Insurance
The South Carolina Department of Insurance has proposed new rates for credit property insurance, holding the rate steady for household goods but reducing rates for other categories for 2026. Because rate decreases in recent years do not appear to hav...
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August 12, 2025
Legacy Risk Solutions Merges With Atlanta-Based PointeNorth Insurance
Florida-based Legacy Risk Solutions, a network of independent insurance agencies, has merged with PointeNorth Insurance Group, bringing more options for agents in commercial and personal lines. The combined firm will operate as Legacy Risk Solutions,...
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August 12, 2025
Neo-Nazi Leader Sentenced for Planned Maryland Power Grid Attack
The founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring with his girlfriend to plan an attack on Maryland’s power grid in furtherance of their shared racist beliefs. Brandon Russell, 30, was...
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August 12, 2025
FAA Proposes to Extend Newark Airport Flight Cuts Until October 2026
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it is proposing to extend flight cuts at Newark, one of the three main airports serving the New York City-area, through October 2026 as it continues to face air traffic controller shortage and …...
