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Landslides Close Roads, Damage Vehicles in Pittsburgh Area

Landslides in the Pittsburgh, Penn., area closed roads and damaged vehicles. Allegheny County officials said Saturday a Duquesne Heights landslide prompted closure of a street and evacuation of a home after materials slid down a slope against the home. Another …

Judge Denies Wells Fargo Bid to Dodge Shareholder Lawsuit

A federal judge denied Wells Fargo & Co.’s request to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit triggered by the bank’s plummeting stock price after it admitted in 2016 to creating millions of fake accounts, starting the worst financial scandal in its modern …

Pennsylvania District Reopens After Fire Destroyed, Damaged Several Buses

Schools are reopening in a Pennsylvania district where a fire destroyed or damaged more than two dozen school buses. Classes were canceled after the fast-moving blaze broke out Friday at a Parkland school district garage in South Whitehall, near Allentown, …

Australia Orders Recall of 2.3M Vehicles with Takata Air Bags

Australia has ordered the recall of 2.3 million vehicles fitted with Takata Corp air bags that have been linked to deaths worldwide, in the country’s biggest compulsory product recall. The manufacturers of the vehicles will have to pay for the …

JLT Acquires U.S. Trade Credit and Political Risk Broker IRC

Global broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) has acquired International Risk Consultants (IRC), a U.S. broker specializing in specialist trade credit and political risk insurance. Based in Columbus, Ohio, and operating across U.S., Brazil, China and Hong Kong, IRC provides …

Earthquake in Papua New Guinea Causes ‘Massive Destruction’; Death Toll Rises

Whole villages were flattened and water sources spoiled by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 20 people, residents said on Wednesday as rescuers struggled to reach the hardest-hit areas in Papua New Guinea’s remote, mountainous highlands. The magnitude 7.5 …

Bees Endangered by Neonicotinoid Pesticides: EU Food Safety Regulator

Wild bees and honeybees are put at risk by three pesticides from a group known as neonicotinoids, Europe’s food safety watchdog said on Wednesday, confirming previous concerns that prompted an EU-wide ban on use of the chemicals. The European Food …

Commercial Insurance Prices Rise in Q4 2017, Reversing 4½ Years of Rate Cuts: Marsh

Average global insurance pricing in the fourth quarter of 2017 increased for the first time since Q1 2013, driven largely by global property insurance pricing following the third quarter’s large catastrophe losses, according to Marsh’s latest Market Index report. The …

Europe’s Storm Friederike (aka David) to Cost Insurers €1.5B (US$1.8B): PERILS

The initial insured price tag for Extratropical Cyclone Friederike, also known as David, is an estimated €1.5 billion (US$1.8 billion), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry catastrophe insurance data. The event caused significant property damage across …

Update: UK Prime Minister Rejects EU Draft Brexit Deal as Unacceptable

The European Union presented the U.K. with a draft divorce deal that Theresa May said no British prime minister could ever accept. The pound fell. Brexit talks once again look to be stuck around the intractable issue of the Irish …

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