Author: completebodyneeds

A U.S. bankruptcy judge on July 7 approved a $46.75 million settlement for victims of a 2023 data breach at the genetic testing company 23andMe, which exposed genetic and other personal information of an estimated 6.9 million customers. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh in St. Louis said the settlement was fair and equitable, and in the best interest of a trust overseen by the company’s bankruptcy administrator. The settlement will be reduced by $14.29 million previously disbursed in connection with the breach, making the total additional payout $32.46 million. Related: Claimants of 23andMe Data Breach to Get $46.75M in Settlement…

Construction crews were pulled from a 37-story Midtown Manhattan building Tuesday morning after bricks were reported falling from the 21st floor, emergency officials said, prompting building evacuations and street closures in one of the city’s busiest corridors. Pedestrian and vehicular traffic was closed in a swath of Manhattan near Grand Central Terminal, a major transit hub, as police, fire and building officials respond to the scene. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a news conference that other buildings and a school have been evacuated while the site is secured. The Fire Department of New York received a call…

Sompo International Holdings Ltd. said it has a definitive agreement to acquire Service Insurance Companies, a monoline workers’ compensation insurance company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “Together with Service Insurance Companies’ seasoned leadership team and proven workers’ compensation platform, Sompo is establishing a top-tier flagship for our workers’ compensation business,” said Chris Sparro, CEO, North America, Sompo Commercial P&C Insurance. The acquisition of Austin, Texas-based Service Insurance will broaden Sompo’s underwriting capabilities, products, customer segments, and distribution channels, Sompo said. As a workers comp specialist and founded in 1982, Service Insurance brings claims expertise and a complementary focus…

Federal safety investigators said in a new preliminary report that they found no indication that engine failure caused the fiery crash of a plane on a skydiving outing last month in Missouri that killed all 12 people aboard, including several very experienced jumpers. The report issued last Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board also did not flag any other serious safety or mechanical failures that could have led to the crash, which happened just after takeoff on a clear day. The NTSB released the findings based on initial inspections of the badly damaged wreckage and flight records. The report…

A Qatari LNG tanker was at risk of exploding and a Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker was damaged near the Strait of Hormuz, sources said on Tuesday, after reports that Iran fired missiles at ships in the waterway overnight. The Al Rekayyat, loaded with liquefied natural gas, sent out distress signals seeking assistance after it was hit on its port side, one of the sources said. Another source briefed on the matter said the vessel was at risk of exploding due to a fire in its engine room. The crew were safe and were being evacuated. “Mayday mayday mayday. This is…

AXA XL, headquartered in New York City, appointed Matt Rodliff as chief claims officer, Americas, effective July 13. Rodliff succeeds Jim DiVirgilio, who has announced his retirement effective at the end of July. DiVirgilio served for 18 years at AXA XL, most recently as chief claims officer, Americas. He will continue to serve in an advisory role through the end of the year. Based in Boston, Rodliff joins AXA XL from Liberty Mutual, where he served as vice president, specialized claims responsible for leading multi-line specialty claims teams, implementing data-driven claims strategies, and improving operational efficiency and customer experience. In…

Europe’s bank watchdog will look at how exposed lenders are to heat-related risks, as temperature records keep getting broken. The European Banking Authority is currently developing ways to measure the financial impact of extreme heat, a spokesperson for the Paris-based authority said. The process may result in the inclusion of heat as a separate category in routine stress tests that gauge banks’ ability to withstand losses, the person said. The measure is the latest step by regulators in Europe, the world’s fastest warming continent, to address perceived risks to the banking sector from global warming. According to the European Environment…

ANV Group Holdings Ltd. (ANV), the insurance intermediary platform, has completed the acquisition of Iris Insurance Brokers Ltd., a London-headquartered specialty insurance distribution platform. The transaction, originally announced in March 2026, has received all required regulatory approvals. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Iris operates through three segments: a Lloyd’s wholesale brokerage, Blink Intermediary Solutions, and Vivid Underwriters. Together, they give ANV scaled wholesale and retail distribution across the UK, direct access to Lloyd’s specialty capacity, and a UK-based MGA incubator in Vivid that is highly complementary to ANV LaunchPad, the company’s US-based incubator launched in May 2026.…

The leader of an organized retail theft ring targeting high-end jewelry stores across Southern California was handed a 16-year prison sentence this week. From April 2023 to May 2024, Rodney Allen Flynt Jr. and his accomplices carried out thefts resulting in more than $1.5 million in losses to stores. Flynt pleaded guilty in March after a preliminary hearing, and was sentenced to 16 years and four months in state prison. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $1.2 million. According to California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, which pursued the case, this marks the longest sentence they have secured…

On a warm summer morning, two fire officials navigate an SUV along a narrow road that switchbacks high into the hills above the town of Fairfax, California, where thickets of trees conceal hundreds of homes. When the road dead-ends, they head back down through the same hairpin turns, pointing out where a wildfire would roar into the path of fleeing vehicles. “Most communities were not designed to accommodate every resident evacuating simultaneously,” said Dan Mahoney, chief of the Ross Valley Fire Department, which serves the town of 7,500 in Marin County. “In a lot of areas, there’s only one way…