The global wind industry installed a record 165 gigawatts of new capacity last year, up 40% from 2024 and mostly driven by China, a report by the Global Wind Energy Council said, adding this still lagged the pace needed to hit a key climate goal. Renewable power made up almost half the world’s total electricity capacity last year. This year, oil and gas prices have soared due to conflict in the Middle East and countries are looking for alternatives to meet rising energy demand. The rise in wind capacity installation was driven by strong demand for new onshore wind, which…
Author: Awais
Fraudulent messages promising safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for cryptocurrency have been sent to some shipping companies whose vessels are stranded west of the waterway, Greek maritime risk management firm MARISKS has warned. The U.S. has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has lifted and then re-imposed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed before war broke out in the Middle East. Amid ceasefire talks, Tehran, which controls the chokepoint, has proposed tolls on vessels to safely transit. MARISKS on…
A Massachusetts woman has been arrested and charged with illegally collecting workers’ compensation benefits while being employed at a storage facility in Connecticut. The Connecticut Chief States Attorney’s office reported that Mackenzie Coonan, of Rutland, Massachusetts, was arrested by inspectors from the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Control Unit for allegedly not reporting income from another job while collecting the disability benefits. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, in March 2024, Coonan reported suffering a head injury while working in the warehouse area of the Staples distribution center in Putnam. Coonan claimed she struck the back of her head on metal shelving…
In a lawsuit filed on April 17, 2026, in the Southern District of New York, Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance Company and Redwood Fire and Casualty Insurance Company say three affiliated companies – Corbel Communications Industries LLC, Corbel Communications Industries of California Inc., and Citi Connect Industries LLC – owe $1,180,921.95 in additional workers’ compensation and employer’s liability premiums that turned up after post-policy audits. The two carriers are also asking the court to hold three individual defendants – Angelo Pino, Jr., Michael R. Pino, and Angelo John Pino – personally on the hook for the bill.
The final tally for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season ended up including eight tropical storms, one category 4 hurricane (Gabrielle) and three category 5 hurricanes (Erin, Humberto, Melissa). Only one event, Hurricane Imelda, fell into the intensity classes sometimes described as “moderate” hurricane (categories 1, 2 and 3). Is the near absence of moderate hurricanes in 2025 part of a long-term trend of changing storm intensities? The historical record provides evidence that minor hurricanes are being squeezed out by weaker tropical storms and the strongest hurricanes. The proportion of hurricanes reaching moderate intensities (categories 1 to 3) is shrinking. Over…
The refund system set up to allow companies to recover illegally collected tariffs from the U.S. government went live on Monday as thousands of companies rushed to file claims. “So far, so good” – though the system is a little glitchy, said Jay Foreman, CEO of toymaker Basic Fun, which had a team in its “war room” at its headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, ready to start filing when the system went live at 8 a.m. U.S. Eastern time (1300 GMT). Foreman said the system didn’t crash as some had feared it might under the onslaught of attempted submissions –…
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid by Bank of America and seven other major financial institutions to prevent American cities from banding together in a $12 billion class action accusing them of artificially inflating interest rates on a popular municipal bond. The justices turned away an appeal by the banks brought after a lower court upheld a judge’s decision to certify the lawsuit brought by Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Diego and other cities as a class action. The Supreme Court’s action paves the way for the suit to proceed as a class action. The other banks…
President Donald Trump on Saturday directed his administration to speed up reviews of certain psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine, which recently has been embraced by combat veterans and conservative lawmakers despite having serious safety risks. Ibogaine and other psychedelics remain banned under the federal government’s most restrictive category for illegal, high-risk drugs. But the administration is taking steps to ease restrictions and spur research on using the drugs for medical purposes, including conditions like severe depression. “Today’s order will ensure that people suffering from debilitating symptoms might finally have a chance to reclaim their lives and lead a happier life,” Trump…
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off the northeastern Japanese coast along the Sanriku region of Hokkaido and Iwate prefecture at around 4.50pm local time Monday (8.50am UK), with small tsunami waves already reported and a warning of the potential for higher waves imminently.Japan’s prime minister Sanae Takaichi is reported to have said that At this time, we have received a report that human and material damage is currently being confirmed, but from now on, we will receive detailed reports and address the disaster response.” Tsunami waves of up to 80 centimetres were detected at Kuji port in Iwate prefecture, while…
Then came the lawsuits. According to the filing, claimants have sued Quorum and its hospitals in several states. National Fire says Quorum has covered parts of the SIR in some cases – chiefly by paying defense costs for its hospitals – but is refusing to fully fund it, arguing instead that the subsidiary hospitals, or even the individual employees named as defendants, should pay. Those hospitals, the insurer contends, are “either unable or unwilling to pay.”
That observation has gained research backing. Work led by Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini has documented a roughly 400 to 500-mile eastward shift in tornado activity from its historical Texas-Oklahoma center, with higher frequencies now recorded across Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama.
Lloyd’s of London continued to demonstrate its attractiveness to investors throughout 2025, with individual syndicates delivering strong results, while the market has also seen an increasing number of new entrants and a growth in risk capital deployed through the market’s insurance-linked securities (ILS) structure London Bridge 2 PCC.The Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) and Insurance Capital Markets Research (ICMR) recently published its Lloyd’s 2026 Insights Report, which provides a detailed analysis of Lloyd’s and syndicates’ 2025 year-end results. “In 2025, Lloyd’s continued to demonstrate its attractiveness relative to other investment options, delivering strong returns, comparable levels of volatility and low correlation…
At its core, the bill raises the floor on how much capital captive insurers need to keep on hand. Pure captive insurance companies, previously required to maintain $100,000 in unimpaired paid-in capital and surplus, must now maintain $250,000 – or an alternative amount the commissioner sets with actuarial backing. Protected cell captive insurance companies face the same increase, from $100,000 to $250,000, with the same commissioner discretion. The most dramatic jump belongs to reinsurance captive insurance companies, whose minimum shoots from $10,000 to $1,000,000, with no room for the commissioner to set a lower alternative. Risk retention groups, previously bundled…
The Insurance Business Cyber LOB Report, “The U.S. Cyber Insurance Market: Evolution of Underwriting, Claims and Strategy,” provides a comprehensive view of the market across six chapters, covering market structure, underwriting performance, carrier scorecards, and the evolving cyber risk environment. It is supported by 20+ figures including premium, claims, and state-level data; and a full data appendix, enabling readers to benchmark performance and apply insights directly to underwriting, placement, and portfolio decisions.