An explosion believed to have been caused by a gas leak reduced a western Pennsylvania home to a pile of rubble and injured five people. The blast just before 4 p.m. Wednesday near a high school in North Franklin Township …
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam warned of a “very dangerous situation” as protesters moved to shut down the Asian financial hub with a general strike on Monday after a ninth straight weekend of unrest in opposition to China’s tightening grip. …
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced that its risk management services subsidiary, Gallagher Bassett International Ltd., has acquired the assets of Llantrisant, Wales-based Adjusting Associates LLP. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Established in 2002 to provide loss adjusting …
AM Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A+ (Superior) from A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) to “aa-” from “a+” of the operating subsidiaries of Bermuda-based PartnerRe Ltd. AM Best also has upgraded the …
At Mexico’s state-run oil company, skinnier waists mean bigger bonuses. Under Petroleos Mexicanos’s new collective bargaining contract with its union, workers who meet certain body weight standards will receive a “health incentive” of 5,545.40 pesos ($287) a year. To qualify, …
On a tower in the Brazilian rainforest, a sentinel scans the horizon for the first signs of fire. Only these eyes aren’t human. They don’t blink or take breaks, and guided by artificial intelligence they can tell the difference between …
A tobacco farmer in Kentucky has pleaded guilty to conspiring to submit false claims on crop insurance policies. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Keith A. Foley submitted the plea July 22 and admitted to fraud totaling about $480,000. His plea agreement …
Police in North Carolina say an insurance adjuster found human remains at a house which was destroyed by fire last weekend. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say in a news release that firefighters responded to the fire at the home last Saturday. On …
Berkshire Hathaway’s GEICO auto insurer has joined the ranks of carriers using telematics to track and improve driver behavior—after resisting for years. Berkshire Hathaway’s GEICO has been one of the few among the top 10 largest personal auto insurance carriers …
Days before Saturday’s mass shooting that killed 20 people at a Walmart Inc. store in El Paso, Texas, another shooting erupted at a Walmart in Southaven, Mississippi. In that case, Walmart’s mandatory “active shooter” program may have helped save lives. …
