NFL’s Rooney Rule Meets Biggest Challenge in Trump’s DEI Crackdown The most-recognizable diversity policy in sports is facing the biggest challenge in its history. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, is calling for the end of the National Football League’s Rooney Rule, a …
POSTED APRIL 27, 2026 6:00 AM |
Commercial Lines Rates Continue to Soften, Says Ivans Index Premium renewal rates in the first quarter 2026 decreased for all major commercial lines compared to the fourth quarter 2025, according to the Ivans Index. “Q1 sets an important baseline for 2026, with commercial rates continuing to soften as the …
POSTED APRIL 27, 2026 5:12 AM |
Trend of Fewer Insurance M&A Deals ‘Bottoming Out’: OPTIS Insurance agency mergers & acquisitions in the first three months of 2026 were down 6% compared with the same period last year. It was the 10th consecutive quarter of deal volume below the long-term trend line but, investment banking and …
POSTED APRIL 27, 2026 5:12 AM |
South Carolina Senate Votes to Suspend $1M Liquor Liability Insurance Requirement Eight years after South Carolina lawmakers forced a $1 million liquor liability insurance requirement on bars and restaurants, and one year after they tweaked the law with conditional coverage requirements, the state Senate is trying again. Senators voted last week …
POSTED APRIL 27, 2026 5:01 AM |
Former Ransomware Negotiator Pleads Guilty to Aiding Attackers A former ransomware negotiator has pleaded guilty to charges he helped a ransomware group extort tens of millions of dollars from companies. Angelo Martino, 41, of Land O’Lakes, Florida, worked for a cyber incident response company as a ransomware negotiator …
POSTED APRIL 27, 2026 5:01 AM |
Tornado Tears Through Oklahoma Town, Damaging 40 Homes Raeann Hunt scrambled to her cellar as a tornado bore down on her Oklahoma community. “It is headed right for us,” she recalled thinking, as she peeked outside, unable to contain her curiosity. Huddled inside the dark 8-by-8 foot (2.44-by-2.44 …
POSTED APRIL 27, 2026 5:00 AM |
CFTC Sues New York to Block Oversight of Prediction Markets The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued New York on Friday, accusing the state of invading its authority to regulate prediction markets by filing lawsuits accusing Coinbase Financial Markets COIN.O and Gemini Titan GEMI.O of promoting gambling. In a complaint …
POSTED APRIL 27, 2026 5:00 AM |
Water to Surge into Drought-Depleted Lake Powell But at Costs Elsewhere Canyons in eastern Utah will churn this spring with huge volumes of water—as much as 50,000 toilets flushing constantly at the same time—in a desperate attempt to maintain electricity generation for thousands of homes across much of the Western U.S. …
POSTED APRIL 27, 2026 5:00 AM |
People Moves: Alliant Appoints Cusack as President, Alliant Property & Casualty Alliant Insurance Services named Michael J. Cusack president of Alliant Property & Casualty. Cusack previously served as head of Alliant Specialty, responsible for overseeing 16 industry verticals and expanding Alliant’s specialty business across the U.S. Cusack has more than 35 …
POSTED APRIL 27, 2026 5:00 AM |
Maine Governor Blocks First State Freeze on New Data Centers The Democratic governor of Maine, Janet Mills, on Friday vetoed a bill that would have made it the first U.S. state to impose a moratorium on large new data centers, even as local opposition to the electricity-hungry facilities grows. The …
POSTED APRIL 26, 2026 6:30 PM |
Massive Ice Sheets Threaten Homes in Northern Michigan Large chunks of ice rammed into homes along Michigan’s Black Lake in the northeastern Lower Peninsula as constant spring rainfall and winter melt left many homes flooded and threatened to overflow stressed dam systems. Photos and video posted to social …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 4:52 PM |
Inszone Acquires Michigan’s James R. Vozar Insurance Agency Inszone Insurance Services announced the acquisition of James R. Vozar Insurance Agency. With offices in Athens, Quincy, and Union City, Michigan, this acquisition further strengthens Inszone’s presence in the Midwest and adds deep specialized knowledge in the agricultural sector to …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 4:45 PM |
A 50% Surge in Zombie Oil Wells Prompts Texas to Crack Down on Toxic Water Leaks Texas is planning new rules to speed up its response to so-called zombie oil wells after the number of sites leaking toxic wastewater increased more than 50% this year. Oil companies in the largest US crude-producing state are pumping so …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 4:40 PM |
FTC Settles Case Against Anesthesia Company he U.S. Federal Trade Commission is settling its case against a private equity portfolio company it says was used to buy up anesthesiology practices and raise prices in Texas, according to court documents filed on Thursday. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT The …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 4:28 PM |
Study Finds ‘Alarming’ High Flood Risk for 17M Americans on Atlantic, Gulf Coasts More than 17 million people along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at the highest risk of being affected by flooding, with New York and New Orleans standing out, according to one of the most comprehensive studies ever of …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 2:12 PM |
Wildfires in Georgia and Florida Destroy 50 Homes and Force Evacuations Huge plumes of smoke blanketed swaths of the Southeast on Wednesday as crews battled rapidly growing wildfires that destroyed more than 50 homes in Georgia and forced hundreds to flee the drought- and wind-fueled flames. Some of the biggest blazes …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 2:03 PM |
Bayer Shareholders Keep the Squeeze on CEO Over Roundup Lawsuits As Bayer AG tries to draw a line under costly Roundup herbicide litigation in the US this year, shareholders are using its annual general meeting to make clear that the stakes are higher than ever — including for Chief Executive …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 1:43 PM |
Trump Says He’ll Probe Banks Over Response to LA Wildfires President Donald Trump said he would look into the actions of banks in their response to last year’s devastating Los Angeles wildfires following a meeting with that city’s mayor, Karen Bass. Trump said he met with Bass and other officials …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 1:27 PM |
Apple, Amazon Push Back on Stricter Emissions Reporting Rules Major corporations are pushing back against a possible tightening of emissions reporting standards that would have implications for the clean energy transition in years to come. More than 60 companies — including Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., General Motors Co., FedEx …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 1:19 PM |
NTSB Cites LaGuardia’s Runway Safety System in Collision That Killed 2 Pilots The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday a key runway safety system failed to activate before a March 22 fatal collision at New York’s LaGuardia Airport between an Air Canada Express jet and a fire truck that killed two pilots. …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 12:53 PM |
Marketplace 4 Insurance Buys Maryland’s Swann Agency Georgia-based Marketplace 4 Insurance announced the acquisition of Swann Insurance Agency, an independent insurance agency based in Columbia, Maryland. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition of Swann will expand M4I’s footprint in the Mid-Atlantic region. All Swann employees will join …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 12:10 PM |
Stock Markets Are Too High and Set to Fall, BOE Deputy Governor Tells BBC The Bank of England expects stock markets around the world to fall because current share prices do not fully reflect the many risks facing the global economy, Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said in an interview with the BBC on Friday. …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 10:51 AM |
Founder of Collapsed MFS Faces £1.3 Billion Creditor Claim Paresh Raja, the founder of collapsed mortgage firm Market Financial Solutions Ltd., is facing a £1.3 billion ($1.8 billion) lawsuit in the UK from creditors alleging he breached his fiduciary duties. Raja, who is already subject to a worldwide freeze …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 10:21 AM |
China’s 360 Hunts Software Flaws With AI, Echoing Mythos A large Chinese cybersecurity firm is using artificial intelligence to identify security vulnerabilities in widely used software applications, positioning itself as a competitor to Anthropic PBC, according to a new report. The company, 360 Digital Security Group, has in recent …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 10:02 AM |
UK Financial Sector Prepared for Mythos and Others, Says BoE Co-Chaired Group The Bank of England and other financial services representatives on Wednesday said the sector was prepared for developments around Anthropic’s Mythos artificial intelligence model and other emerging frontier AI models. Mythos is viewed by cybersecurity experts as posing significant challenges …
POSTED APRIL 24, 2026 9:54 AM |