Author: completebodyneeds

The Trump administration told a federal judge it will challenge the dismissal of its lawsuit against Harvard University alleging that the school violated civil rights laws by failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students after the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel. Justice Department lawyers notified US District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston on Thursday that they will ask the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to overturn his Aug. 13 ruling. Stearns determined the government didn’t sustain its claims that Harvard violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. He said the DOJ claims focused “almost…

A federal judge said on Thursday he would grant final approval to Bank of America’s $72.5 million class-action settlement with women who accused the second-largest U.S. bank of facilitating their sexual abuse by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said in Manhattan at a hearing on Thursday that the settlement would provide many victims with “substantial” compensation and “justice, even if partial.” He rejected an argument by three accusers that the deal was overbroad because it required them to give up related claims against the bank and other potential defendants without compensation. He also rejected the…

More than a year after wildfires devastated Pacific Palisades, a nonprofit is advancing a plan to tap the public debt market to create housing in the slow-to-recover Los Angeles wealthy enclave. Uplifters Foundation plans to build new $3 million houses in the disaster area by issuing as much as $250 million in municipal bonds through the California Public Finance Authority. While many nonprofit groups sell tax-advantaged debt to finance traditional affordable housing, the company plans to build multi-million dollar homes for purchase. “If it works, it becomes a model for other communities to pursue,” said Uplifters co-founder Steven Dietz, a…

Meta Platforms emerged from its biggest legal challenge in the U.S. with its core business intact. The social media giant agreed on Wednesday to pay as much as $18 billion over a decade and limit how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram under a sweeping agreement with nearly all U.S. states to resolve claims that it designed those platforms to addict children. Meta denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. While the headline figure is among the largest ever settlements paid by a technology company, it is unlikely to strain a business that earned more than $60 billion last year. The settlement…

U.S. health authorities have widened their probe into a cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce from central Mexico after detecting cases in three additional states, raising the total to 20 states, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Thursday. The outbreak, linked to iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants and sourced from Taylor Farms’ operations in Mexico, has grown to 11,458 cases, including 495 hospitalizations. Here are some details: The Food and Drug Administration said Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas have been added to the list of states since the last update…

Many small business wanting to grow by selling to customers in other countries learn the costs for trade shows, international travel, insurance, and market research can be an obstacle. Delaware has a program — The Compass Grant— that helps cover those costs. Administered by Export Delaware, a division of the Delaware Department of State, the Compass Grant offers Delaware small businesses up to $10,000 per year for international business development activities. Grant-funded activities range from exhibiting at trade shows to overseas customer visits to purchasing EXIM Credit Insurance, which helps protect businesses against the risk of not getting paid by…

A huge recall in China last week aims to address a long-standing fear of EV owners: potentially being trapped in their cars when the power fails. It also highlights how Beijing is now spearheading new auto safety standards for some of the world’s most advanced cars. Marking the largest recall to date in the world’s biggest car market, nine automakers including Tesla, Xiaomi and Leapmotor said they would fix a combined 4.3 million vehicles due to concerns that emergency buttons or levers inside cars that allow occupants to manually open a door can be hard to find. The move follows…

More than a dozen models of Chinese-made Zbtlink routers ship with at least two backdoors that could allow for invasive remote access akin to “surveillance,” according to new findings from cybersecurity firm VulnCheck. The two new backdoors — dubbed “Darklantern” and “Speakingstone” — preceded an earlier discovered backdoor called “Endlessdoors” on certain models of Zbtlink routers. The two new backdoors allow for the easy access to information about the network on which affected routers are installed as well as, in the case of Speakingstone, potentially for the redirection of network traffic, representing a significant security risk, VulnCheck said in a…

George Joseph, who founded Mercury General Corp. nearly 65 years ago, has died at age 104, the company announced this week. Joseph served as chairman from the company’s founding and led Mercury as CEO for 45 years, ending his time at the helm in 2006. After stepping down as CEO, he remained the company’s as executive chairman. George Joseph During his time as CEO, Mercury grew from a small California insurer with six employees and 90 agents into a large writer of private passenger automobile insurance. The company completed a public offering in 1985, and expanded beyond California beginning in…

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Guy Carpenter and QBE. A summary of these new hires follows here. Marsh Promotes Ward as CEO of Pacific, Guy Carpenter Insurance and reinsurance broker Marsh announced the appointment of Justin Ward as CEO of Pacific, Guy Carpenter, effective immediately. Ward reports to Tony Gallagher, CEO of Guy Carpenter Asia Pacific, and will relocate to Sydney from Singapore in July 2027. Justin Ward In this role, Ward will lead and manage Guy Carpenter’s broking organization in the Pacific region. He will further develop Guy Carpenter’s business strategy, addressing the evolving needs…