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Uber Unveils Uber Autonomous Solutions to Accelerate Autonomous Mobility & Delivery Worldwide 0

Uber Unveils Uber Autonomous Solutions to Accelerate Autonomous Mobility & Delivery Worldwide

San Francisco, CA (Feb. 23, 2026) – Uber Technologies, Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of Uber Autonomous Solutions, a comprehensive suite of unique services and capabilities that are already helping partners to build and successfully commercialize autonomous vehicles in multiple markets around the world. “Autonomous technology has remarkable potential to make transportation safer and more affordable,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO. “Innovation in autonomy is moving quickly, but meaningful commercialization will take much longer. For more than a decade, Uber has helped set the standard for on-demand mobility and built the capabilities that make ‘push a button and get a ride’ work at global scale. With Uber Autonomous Solutions, we’re externalizing these hard-won competencies for our partners.” Beyond just getting access to Uber’s leading demand marketplace, Uber Autonomous Solutions goes further—providing the capabilities required for true end-to-end commercialization, reducing cost per mile while increasing speed to market. They also bring comprehensive product development and support capabilities, designed to make autonomous trips more reliable for users and more economical for operators. “AV tech teams should be able to focus on what they do best: building software that can safely power an autonomous world,” said Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous...

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Los Angeles, US West Brace for Second Bout of Record March Heat

Article 0 Comments Los Angeles and the U.S. Southwest are set for a second record heat wave in two weeks as temperatures soar, potentially straining electric grids, melting snowpack and raising health risks. Tuesday’s high in downtown Los Angeles is forecast to reach 97F (36C), possibly climbing to 98F by Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Commercial forecaster AccuWeather Inc. said temperatures may rise as high as 99F, which would tie March 29, 1879, for the warmest March reading on record. Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings span parts of Nevada, Arizona and California, extending to San Francisco, with temperatures forecast to be 15F to 30F above normal. “The L.A. area really starts to fire up today,” said Tyler Roys, a meteorologist with AccuWeather. “Basically, it is record-breaking heat for many places.” Through next Monday, 450 daily high-temperature records may be broken or threatened across the US, most in the West, the US Weather Prediction Center said. An additional 334 record warm overnight lows also may be set or tied. The early heat will drive up energy demand as residents and businesses turn to air conditioning. It will also dry out vegetation, raising wildfire risk. A bigger concern is...

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Bank of America Agrees to Settle Claims It Aided Epstein

Article 0 Comments Bank of America Corp. has agreed to settle a proposed class action lawsuit on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein victims who accused the bank of aiding in the deceased financier’s sex-trafficking, according to a court record. The agreement in principle was noted Monday in the court docket in the case. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. Any settlement must be approved by US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan. A representative for Bank of America declined to comment. The bank has denied wrongdoing. The same lawyers who previously secured settlements with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG over Epstein ties sued Bank of America in October. While the earlier cases were over Epstein’s own banking relationships, the Bank of America suit mainly focused on accounts allegedly used by “his co-conspirators, associates and victims.” The timing of the agreement will likely allow Apollo Global Management Inc. co-founder Leon Black to avoid a scheduled March 26 deposition in which he was to sit for eight hours of closed-door testimony in the case. Details of the settlement are set to be filed with the court on March 27. According to the suit, Black transferred $170 million to...

London Market Brokers Favouring Digitally Advanced Insurers in a Softening Market: Guidewire 0

London Market Brokers Favouring Digitally Advanced Insurers in a Softening Market: Guidewire

Waterloo, ON (Feb. 19, 2026) – How London Market insurers harness new digital technology to improve speed, integration and ease of doing business, is a major determinant on where brokers place their business, according to new research from Guidewire. The inaugural Guidewire London Market Tech Barometer – a survey of more than 250 insurance brokers who deal primarily with London Market insurers – revealed that nearly four in five (78%*) brokers surveyed say insurer technology plays a decisive or highly significant role in where they place risk. This is even more significant among senior brokers and director-level respondents, demonstrating that this is not merely an operational nice-to-have, but a strategic filter applied by experienced decision-makers. When asked to identify the single biggest impediment to modernisation in the London Market, reliance on outdated technology ranked the highest (24%). In a softening market, the survey suggests brokers are becoming more attuned to efficiency and increasingly favour technologically advanced insurers. Among the other key report findings: Firms not waiting for Blueprint Two: A considerable number of respondents (78%**) indicate that they are proceeding with their own technology strategies regardless of the Blueprint Two timeline. Among those moving ahead independently, 31% of respondents express...

Insurity Announces Billing-as-a-Service Now Costs Less Than Running Billing In-House for P&C Carriers and MGAs 0

Insurity Announces Billing-as-a-Service Now Costs Less Than Running Billing In-House for P&C Carriers and MGAs

Insurity has expanded Billing-as-a-Service, making the platform the most cost-effective and seamless way to manage insurance billing at scale Hartford, CT (Feb. 19, 2026) – Insurity, a leading provider of cloud-based software for property and casualty insurance carriers and MGAs, has announced major advancements to its Billing-as-a-Service platform, establishing it as a lower-cost model for billing than running operations internally. The expansion directly addresses the long-held belief that internal billing operations are the most economical option for carriers and MGAs. By centralizing payments, collections, and reconciliation on a single standardized platform, Insurity reduces the hidden operational costs, staffing requirements, and system maintenance burdens that often make in-house billing more expensive than it appears. Insurity Billing-as-a-Service is built on a cloud-native architecture with deeper enterprise-grade banking integrations and a modern user experience designed to support scale, performance, and evolving payment needs. Rather than relying on fragmented, customized systems that are expensive to maintain, customers operate on one shared services platform that supports direct bill, agency bill, and complex billing structures without bespoke builds. As volume grows, the cost per transaction declines, allowing insurers to scale without adding billing headcount or infrastructure. “Many smaller carriers, mutuals, and MGAs believe billing is cheaper...

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Stryker Attack Mirrors Tactics Used in Iran‑Aligned Hacks

Article 0 Comments While struggling to log in to their work computers last week, some employees of the medical technology company Stryker Corp. were met by an unfamiliar black-and-white cartoon figure: the logo of a shadowy pro-Iranian hacking group. The image that greeted victims of the crippling cyberattack, according to screenshots reviewed by Bloomberg News, represents Handala, a digital sabotage persona that seeks to disrupt organizations tied to Israel or the US military. The group said in an online post Wednesday that it attacked Stryker as retaliation for a US missile strike that allegedly hit an Iranian school. Neither Stryker nor any cybersecurity firms have confirmed that pro-Iranian hackers were behind the breach. Handala personifies recent pro-Iranian cyber activity, with tactics that have advanced from crude defacing of websites into more potent sabotage and well-timed politically motivated attacks. The group has focused on symbolic targets, breaching victims and then leaking data to maximize their psychological effect. If confirmed, Handala’s role in the Stryker incident would represent its largest incursion yet. The attack resulted in the deletion of data on some devices, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss the incident. The company said...

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‘Nation’s First’ Smoke Damage Standards Bill Wending Through California Legislature

Article 0 Comments A bill to create a statewide framework for handling wildfire smoke damage insurance claims is now making its way through California Legislature. The Smoke Damage Recovery Act, which primary backer Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said stems from the recovery process after the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires and smoke damage claims, is authored by Assemblyman Mike Gipson. Related: LA Fire Victims Suing City Utility for Billions Win Major Ruling The bill was first made public in February. Assembly Bill 1795 would require that homes contaminated after a wildfire are properly evaluated and restored to a safe and habitable condition. It would hold insurance companies accountable when those standards are not met. The record L.A. wildfires destroyed thousands of homes and left many properties contaminated by smoke. More than 42,000 insurance claims were filed following the fires, including more than 13,000 claims involving standing homes with smoke damage, according to the California Department of Insurance. Following the L.A. fires, Lara created the Smoke Claims and Remediation Task Force, which found wildfire victims were falling through the gaps in smoke damage inspection, testing and restoration rules. Related: Nine Claims Trends to Watch Through The Rest of 2026 The American...

Unpacking views on fraud in insurance: Aviva & Nanos Research 0

Unpacking views on fraud in insurance: Aviva & Nanos Research

Toronto, ON (Mar. 9, 2026) – Canadians are concerned about fraud in the insurance industry, from the threat on a personal level to the industry-wide costs resulting from staged collisions, inflated claims, and more, according to the results of a new survey commissioned by Aviva and conducted by Nanos Research. Nationally, more than one-third of respondents (37.8 percent) ranked ‘Cyber crime/online scams/identity theft‘ as the most concerning risk influencing insurance; it was followed by ‘Auto theft‘ at 15.7 percent, ‘Home invasions‘ at 12.1 percent, and ‘Flooding‘ at 10.6 percent. No other risk was ranked first by more than six percent of respondents. For 3.7 percent of respondents, ‘Insurance Fraud‘ was the most concerning risk influencing insurance, with clear regional and demographic variations. In BC, fraud was ranked highest by respondents, 4.8 percent of whom selected it as the most concerning risk. Meanwhile, just 0.6 percent of respondents in Atlantic Canada ranked insurance fraud as their top concern. Ontario (4.4 percent), Quebec (4.0 percent) and the Prairies (2.4 percent) fell in between. In the context of ranking risks by concern over their influence on insurance, younger Canadians appear to be more worried about insurance fraud than seniors, with 6.4 percent of...

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Insurers Under Allstate Group File Louisiana Rate Decreases for Personal Auto

Article 0 Comments Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple announced this week that two insurers under the Allstate group have filed rate decrease for some personal auto policyholders. Temple has finalized the rate changes, the Louisiana Department of Insurance said. Imperial Fire & Casualty Insurance Company filed a 6% decrease on its Value Product, which has over 41,000 Louisiana policies and typically covers higher‑risk consumers by providing insurance options that meet state‑required minimum liability limits. IFAC also filed for a 2.9% decrease on its Mid-Market Product, which has over 32,000 PPA policies in effect and typically covers consumers who need liability limits above the state minimum Allstate North American Insurance Company’s rate change was for a 7.5% decrease affecting the company’s over 17,000 policies in Louisiana. Temple previously finalized ANAIC’s request for a 7.6% decrease in late 2025, bringing the company’s total rate change to an over 15% decrease since November of last year. “This is another positive development for Louisiana drivers, but our work is far from over,” said Temple in a statement. “We must continue strengthening our regulatory and legal framework so more drivers can experience the benefits of our reform efforts, and I encourage all Louisiana drivers to...

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Tornadoes Level Homes in Illinois and Indiana

Article 0 Comments Major storms that whipped up tornadoes in parts of Illinois and Indiana on Tuesday leveled homes, downed trees and power lines, and overwhelmed a 911 center south of Chicago with emergency calls, according to officials. “Please do not come here. Do not try to help right now,” Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran said in a video update in front of what looked to be a destroyed home in the small northwestern Indiana community of Lake Village. Multiple homes in the community were destroyed in an apparent tornado, and Indiana State Police Cpl. Eric Rot said people had been injured. He wasn’t able to provide an exact number or their conditions. Severe storms dumping rain and hail in parts of the Midwest were threatening to bring intense tornadoes, damaging winds and very large hail from the southern Plains to the southern Great Lakes, according to the National Weather Service. States from Oklahoma to Michigan were under tornado watches. Several tornadoes formed across northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, but the exact number won’t be available until officials conduct damage surveys, said Andrew Lyons, a meteorologist with the weather service Storm Prediction Center. He described this as a fairly typical...