INSURANCE NEWS

Blast Reported Aboard Small Cruise Ship in Portland Harbor

One person was injured and passengers were evacuated Wednesday after an explosion in the engine room of a small cruise ship docked in Maine`s Portland Harbor, officials said. The injured person, a member of the crew, was taken to a …
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Insured Losses From Severe Convective Storms in US Top $50B for 1st Time: Aon

Insured losses from severe convective storms in the United States continued to increase during the third quarter, surpassing the $50 billion mark for the first time on record and accounting for roughly 60% of all global insured losses, according to …
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New York’s Lawley Acquires Connecticut’s Shoff Darby Agency

Buffalo-based independent agency Lawley has acquired Connecticut-based Shoff Darby Companies, Inc., in what Lawley says is it largest acquisition to date. Lawley will add four locations and 75 employees in Connecticut, as well as increase insurance and benefit products and …
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Biggest Polluting Firms Failing on Short-Term Emissions Goals: Investor Pressure Group

Fewer than one in five of the world’s biggest polluting companies have short-term emissions reductions targets in line with keeping global temperature rises below 1.5 degrees Celsius, an investor pressure group said on Wednesday. The number of companies pledging to …
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Storm Babet Hammers Scotland With Warnings of Risk to Life, Flooding

The UK’s Met Office warned of the possibility of severe flooding and loss of life in the northern part of the country for a second day as Storm Babet continues to hammer the region. Parts of eastern Scotland remain under …
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Rhine River’s Low Water Levels Provide ‘Further Evidence’ of Climate Change

The cost of shipping fuel along the Rhine river has surged as low water levels curb barges’ carrying capacity following a hot, dry September. The river is fed by glaciers and rain. But Alpine ice flows are declining each year …
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Oil Tanker Sails to Israeli Red Sea Port to Avoid Conflict

An oil tanker is hauling a cargo of crude toward an Israeli Red Sea port that’s seldom used for crude deliveries after the nation’s main import terminal on the Mediterranean was disrupted by the conflict with Hamas. The shipment underscores …
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Ransomware Criminals Aiming at Third-Party Vendors in Hunt for ‘Big Game’

Ransomware victims have become less likely to pay extortion demands, but cyber criminals are changing their tactics by hitting third-party vendors and using data exfiltration instead of encryption when making ransom demands, according to a new report by cyber insurer …
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AIG’s CEO Sees Pandemic, Wars and Climate Change Among Biggest Risks

American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Peter Zaffino said the biggest challenge to the insurance sector over the last decade has been “unpredictable risks” including the pandemic, wars and climate change. “We’ve had 100 natural disasters reported through nine …
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Music Publishers File Suit in Tennessee Against AI Company Over Song Lyrics

Oct 18 (Reuters) – Music publishers Universal Music, ABKCO and Concord Publishing sued artificial intelligence company Anthropic in Tennessee federal court this week, accusing it of misusing an “innumerable” amount of copyrighted song lyrics to train its chatbot. The lawsuit …
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Family Alleges Negligence, Discrimination in Lawsuit Over Autistic Prisoner’s Death

Eleven days after 57-year-old Anthony Talotta arrived at a Pittsburgh jail, he died from what his family says was a treatable and preventable infection from a foot wound. Talotta, who had autism and developmental disabilities, had been brought to the …
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Washington Commissioner Fines UnitedHealthcare $500K

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler imposed a $500,000 fine against UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company for reportedly failing to demonstrate how it administers its mental health and substance use disorder benefits in accordance with state and federal laws. Half of the fine …
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