Yearly Archives: <span>2021</span>

Tennessee Governor’s Counsel Warned that Anti-Vax Bills Illegal

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s office warned lawmakers that their sprawling bill limiting COVID-19 restrictions would violate federal law that protects people with disabilities and put the state at risk of losing federal funds, according to records obtained by The Associated …

Arizona Attorney General Reaches $14.5M Settlement with JUUL

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced a settlement with e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. requiring the company to pay $14.5 million and make changes to its corporate practices to ensure JUUL products are not marketed or sold to youth in …

New York City Aims to Be First to Rein in AI Hiring Tools

Job candidates rarely know when hidden artificial intelligence tools are rejecting their resumes or analyzing their video interviews. But New York City residents could soon get more say over the computers making behind-the-scenes decisions about their careers. A bill passed …

Insurtech Startup Kettle Raises $25M to Expand Wildfire Reinsurance Protection

Kettle, the San Francisco-based reinsurance startup that uses artificial intelligence to better protect people from the growing wildfire risks of climate change, announced it has been reinsuring homes during the 2021 wildfire season and that it raised a Series A …

Thai Activists’ iPhones Targeted by ‘State-Sponsored Attackers,’ Warns Apple

BANGKOK – Apple Inc. issued on Wednesday alert messages to at least six Thai activists and researchers who have been critical of the government, warning it believed their iPhones had been targeted by “state-sponsored attackers,” according to activists and the …

North Carolina Homeowners Premiums to Rise 7.9% on Average

North Carolina homeowners will see insurance premiums climb an average of 7.9% next year, but that’s much less of an increase that a state rating bureau had requested, the state insurance commissioner announced. The North Carolina Rate Bureau had proposed …

Louisiana Kicks Off $11 Million Housing Program for Hurricane Laura

Nearly 15 months after Hurricane Laura struck, Louisiana is kicking off $11.3 million in housing repair and rebuilding programs for the southwestern city of Lake Charles while it waits for hundreds of millions in promised federal aid to arrive. Gov. …

Inflation, Loss Severity May Curb Nonstandard Auto Market’s Positive Momentum

Players in the U.S. nonstandard auto insurance segment may find that return to pre-pandemic norms, with greater loss-cost pressures along with elevated inflation and supply chain issues, may counteract recent positive market trends, AM Best reports. Also, smaller players in …

IncubEx, Led by Industry Veteran Eckert, Buys UK Insurtech Platform Insurwave

IncubEx Inc., a Chicago-based company that is chaired by industry veteran Neil Eckert and designs and develops new financial products in global environmental, climate risk and related commodity markets, announced the acquisition of Insurwave Ltd. Insurwave is an insurtech platform …

Reuters Special Report: Burnout: Firefighter Trauma Rises in Western States

Cal Fire Battalion Chief Miguel Watson wakes to the wind whipping through the trees. The whole night is ahead of him. He lies there and then, feeling restless, gets up and walks to his pickup truck. He listens to the …