Author: completebodyneeds

Richard Alexander Murdaugh, the disbarred South Carolina attorney found guilty in 2023 of murdering his wife and son, won his bid Wednesday to overturn his conviction and get a new trial over comments the county clerk made to jurors. The Colleton County clerk “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility and his defense, thus triggering the presumption of prejudice, which the State was unable to rebut,” the South Carolina Supreme Court said in a per curiam opinion. “Our justice system provides—indeed demands—that every person is entitled to a fair trial, which includes an impartial jury untainted by external forces bent on influencing the…

A pair of South Florida wildfires that torched thousands of acres in the Everglades over the weekend spread Monday as fire crews worked to contain them. The Florida Forest Service posted on Facebook that the growing fires were producing smoky conditions with reduced visibility, but containment operations were increasing. No serious injuries or property damage has been reported. The larger of the two fires has spread to about 5,600 acres (2,300 hectares) with 30% containment in the undeveloped area southwest of Fort Lauderdale, officials said. The National Guard is assisting state and local firefighters. Fire rescue crews were also fighting…

New York State is providing financial assistance to a captive insurer and taking other steps to advance this form of self-insurance as part of an effort to lower insurance costs for operators of affordable housing. The state has made a $2 million loan to Milford Street Association, an organization with an insurance captive that is owned and operated by members of the state’s affordable housing industry. The loan is from Empire State Development (ESD) to the Milford Street Association Insurance Co. Milford Street plans to use the $2 million loan to increase membership in the captive by covering a portion…

Insurance brokerage IMA Financial Group, Inc. announced the completion of an equity recapitalization transaction. Oak Hill Capital and New Mountain Capital are each taking minority positions, with additional participation from HarbourVest Partners and a select group of prominent institutional co-investors. IMA employees will continue to own a majority of the company, with 100% of associates participating as shareholders. SkyKnight Capital and The Stephens Group will exit in connection with the transaction. New Mountain will exit its existing position and reinvest alongside the broader investor group. The transaction values IMA at $4 billion. The recapitalization supports IMA’s growth, investments in technology,…

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Ariel Re and McLarens. A summary of these new hires follows here. Ariel Re Taps Gallagher Re’s Sammons as Active Underwriter of Syndicate 2006 Ariel Re, the Bermuda-based reinsurer, announced the appointment of Richard Sammons as active underwriter of Syndicate 2006, following approval from Lloyd’s. Richard Sammons Sammons joins Ariel Re with nearly 30 years of experience across the Lloyd’s and global reinsurance markets, bringing extensive expertise in specialty underwriting, portfolio management and leadership. He has held senior roles at Gallagher Re and Hamilton Re, most recently serving as head of…

A federal judge cited “red flags” about a proposed $1.5 million deal between Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission to end the agency’s lawsuit alleging the world’s richest person waited too long in 2022 to reveal his growing stake in Twitter Inc. “I am not going to rubber stamp this settlement and I cannot rubber stamp this settlement,” US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan said on Wednesday, adding that details in the proposed settlement “raise red flags for me.” Sooknanan ordered attorneys for Musk and the SEC to answer questions by June 1 about how the parties reached the…

US efforts to end the war with Iran were dealt a setback after a commercial vessel was apparently seized by unauthorized personnel near the United Arab Emirates, increasing uncertainty over control of the critical Strait of Hormuz. The ship, whose identity wasn’t immediately clear, was taken 38 nautical miles off the UAE coast and is now bound for the Islamic Republic, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said in a statement on Thursday. The incident came amid an apparent uptick in vessels transiting the strait, which usually handles about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply. Its…

The use of the AI tool Grok to remove women’s clothing in images brought the issue of so-called technology-facilitated abuse to the fore. But it’s a problem that predates AI – with Bluetooth trackers, wearable devices, smart speakers, smart glasses and apps all used by abusers to control, harass or stalk their victims. This abuse has worsened as tech has become more embedded in people’s lives, and as AI advances rapidly. But governments have struggled to make tech companies design systems that minimise misuse, and to hold them accountable when things go wrong. Our own research has confirmed that technology…

Executive summary: With plans for an EU natural disaster insurance fund in the works, EIP’s founder and CEO Ross Sinclair explores the need to improve the speed of the payout process as an essential part of building climate resilience As climate volatility across Europe continues to increase, so too does the ongoing financial fallout from these extreme weather events. Storm Goretti, which tore through Europe at the beginning of this year, is the perfect example of costs continuing to rise even after the event has taken place. Catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS recently increased its initial loss estimate as a…

A small Texas county outside Dallas approved a one-year moratorium on new data center and energy storage developments, pushing back against the growing number of large-scale projects fueling the artificial-intelligence boom across the state. Hill County had been approached by several data center builders in recent weeks, and feared the potential impact to local water supplies and quality of life, County Commissioner Jim Holcomb said in a meeting Tuesday. The County Commissioners Court passed the pause after hours of negative testimony from people at the meeting. “The data center folks have found a sweet spot in a state that has…