Author: completebodyneeds

Heat warnings have stretched across Canada this summer, from Atlantic Canada and southern British Columbia to the Prairies, central Canada and the Northwest Territories. During one mid-July heat wave, humidex readings reached up to 45 C across parts of southern Ontario and western Québec, according to Environment Canada. For millions of Canadians, those warnings changed day-to-day plans. For many workers, though, the workday continued on construction sites, farms and loading docks, and inside factories, warehouses and restaurant kitchens. The most visible workplace consequences are heat exhaustion and heat stroke. But heat also creates a less obvious and poorly understood risk:…

Hackers have found a software flaw in a brand of “cold” Bitcoin wallet — considered one of the safest places to store cryptocurrency — and are siphoning tens of millions of dollars in an ongoing attack. Late last week, Canada-based Coinkite Inc. notified users of its Coldcard devices that a security flaw in the keys that protect their Bitcoin had compromised some wallets. By Monday, more than 1,755 of the tokens worth some $110 million had been drained from roughly 5,000 wallets, according to Galaxy Research. Coldcard is a brand of hardware device that allows users to secure their Bitcoin…

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission has fined telecoms company KT Corp. 54 billion won ($37.43 million) for a leak of customer personal information, the commission said on Thursday [July 30]. Hackers stole more than 16,600 KT mobile service customers’ …

An Alabama city, long plagued with budget shortfalls, charges of corruption and a dwindling tax base, has lost its liability insurance coverage amid an ongoing financial and leadership crisis. Local and state news sites reported that the Alabama Municipal Insurance Corp. did not renew coverage for Prichard, a city of about 18,000 next to Mobile in the southern end of the state. Policies expired Aug. 1. The insurer, a Montgomery-based mutual insurance company owned by member cities, cited too many claims and a lack of response from city officials to inquiries from adjusters, WALA news reported. No bids for coverage…

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Aug. 3 that some older Ford cars and SUVs pose unreasonable safety risks because the timing belt may fail and cause them to lose power or engines to seize. The U.S. auto safety regulator upgraded a defect investigation into about 135,000 Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus and Ford EcoSport vehicles with 1.0L engines from various model years between 2014 and 2021. NHTSA said it had reports of 355 incidents that allege a low engine oil pressure warning light appearing just before a complete loss or reduction of motive power while driving. Ford, which…

Hundreds of structures have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, as wildfires rip through eastern Washington state in what Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown called “the worst natural disaster our region has faced.” As of about 2 p.m. New York time Sunday, the Old Trails incident had consumed 3,619 acres, the Fairview fire had grown to 1,056 acres, and the Autumn Lane fire had expanded to 3,351 acres, the Washington Department of Natural Resources said on its website. Over 10,000 residences have been evacuated, Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall said at an emergency press conference Sunday.…

American Family Mutual Insurance Co. has agreed to buy all outstanding shares of specialty insurer Bowhead Specialty Holdings for about $1.2 billion in cash. Under the terms of the transaction, each Bowhead stockholder will receive $34 per share in cash, representing an 11% premium to Bowhead’s closing share price on July 31, 2026. The transaction is targeted to close prior to the end of 2026. Bowhead’s board approved the transaction, said the company. New York-based Bowhead Specialty Underwriters is an affiliate of Madison, Wisconsin-based American Family Insurance, and it offers products through American Family Insurance on an admitted and surplus…

Homeowners can now obtain insurance quotes from Plymouth Rock Home Assurance through a “natural” conversation with ChatGPT the artificial intelligence chatbot created by OpenAI. The insurer claims it creates a “faster, simpler, and more accessible way to shop for coverage.” It eliminates the need to navigate multiple websites and complete multiple forms. The chatbot is now available across all states where Plymouth Rock operates, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and New Hampshire. According to the announcement, Plymouth Rock becomes the first U.S. insurer to offer home insurance directly through ChatGPT. However, it is not alone among insurance…

Europe’s biggest rivers, vital arteries for the region’s heavy industries, are drying up after the region was seared by a series of heat waves. As water levels in the Rhine and Danube fall toward record lows, that’s starting to disrupt the transport of chemicals, oil products and other goods, while boosting freight costs. Soaring temperatures are also curbing power generation at riverside reactors from France to Hungary, pushing up energy prices and straining Eastern European economies. Following the wildfires that ravaged France and Spain, it’s another sign of how climate change is taking its toll on the fastest-warming continent. The…

This article is part of a sponsored series by Vertafore. From staffing challenges to rising customer expectations and rapidly evolving technology, agencies are navigating more complexity than ever. Experienced employees are retiring, customer expectations continue to rise, and teams are being asked to do more without adding head count. At the same time, disconnected systems and manual processes make it difficult to keep work moving efficiently across the agency. As a result, agencies aren’t just looking for new ways to eliminate operational friction. The agencies that can adapt quickly, streamline workflows, and empower their teams will be best positioned to…