Maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has ground to a near-complete halt, with no oil shipments going through in the past 24 hours, as the Middle East war disrupts the vital waterway. A review of shipping signals have confirmed only two commercial transits in the past 24 hours, the Joint Maritime Information Center said in note on Friday. Those crossings were cargo ships rather than oil tankers, according to the multinational naval advisory group that focuses on the Middle East. The escalating war in the region has prompted dozens of fully-laden oil and gas tankers to stay hunkered down…
Author: Awais
A group of 24 U.S. states sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday in the first legal challenge to his newly imposed 10% global tariffs, alleging that the president cannot sidestep a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated most of his previous tariffs on imported goods by citing new legal authority. The Democratic-led states, including New York, California and Oregon, argue the new tariffs, which Trump announced immediately after the high court ruling on February 20, are also illegal. The tariffs were imposed for 150 days under the Trade Act of 1974, which is meant to address short-term monetary…
Seafarers have the right to refuse to sail on ships passing through the Middle East Gulf, including the Strait of Hormuz, after the threat level for the region was raised to its highest level, the leading labor union and shipping industry groups said on Thursday. Around 300 ships are anchored on both sides of the Strait while the U.S.-led war against Iran escalates. Since February 28, nine ships have been damaged and at least one seafarer has been killed. As part of negotiated arrangements reached on Thursday between mariners and commercial shipping companies, known as the International Bargaining Forum (IBF),…
European Union countries gave the final approval on Thursday to a new climate target to slash greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2040, pressing ahead with the bloc’s ambitious climate agenda despite political resistance. The new climate target is a hard-fought political compromise, struck by governments and EU lawmakers last year. It is more ambitious than most major economies’ emissions-cutting commitments, including China’s. In practice, the target will require an 85% emissions reduction from European industries against 1990 levels. The EU will pay developing countries via carbon credits, so they cut emissions on Europe’s behalf to make up the rest, to…
The New York hospital giant is now out of network with plans offered by the Elevance subsidiary after the two failed to agree on terms.
Elementum Advisors, LLC, an alternative investment manager that specialises in collateralized natural catastrophe event reinsurance investments, has announced the promotion of employee Valerie Medelyan to the position of Chief Compliance Officer.Elementum Advisors continues to promote from within, as the firm that manages portfolios and funds of catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities (ILS) raises up performing staff and ensures a robust operational structure at the firm, as well as its future succession strategy. Valerie Medelyan has worked for the company for more than five years from its Chicago headquarters. She joined Elementum Advisors in 2021 as an associate counsel and…
More than 300,000 members at risk The stakes are considerable. BCBSM has 4.5 million members statewide, and the 300,000 patients at risk of losing in-network access rely on 16 facilities across southeast Michigan, including University Hospital, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Rogel Cancer Center, and Frankel Cardiovascular Center.
Still, USRM president Hamid Mirza had signaled during the Q4 2024 results call that Liberty Mutual was “primed to fight for market share in 2025 and beyond,” particularly in package business combining personal auto and homeowners, as reported by Carrier Management.
MINNEAPOLIS — Gabi has big brown eyes, pigtails, and a genetic condition that makes her bones brittle. They fracture easily, leaving the 2-year-old in such pain that her mother quit her job cleaning offices to stay home and cradle her in the one-bedroom apartment they share with six relatives. When federal immigration agents descended on their city, officers deported Gabi’s father and detained her aunt. Gabi was born in the U.S. and is an American citizen. Her best chance to stand, or even walk, someday is a complex surgery on her legs and feet that was scheduled for January. But…
Health100, set to launch this year, will collect patients’ data from across the healthcare ecosystem, help them find care and use AI to provide education and guidance, CVS said.
Our latest video features the opening panel discussion of the day at Artemis ILS NYC 2026, a session focused on the private insurance-linked securities marketplace, from our tenth catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference in the ILS NYC series, held on February 6th 2026 in New York.With over 450 people attending, ILS NYC 2026 was our busiest conference ever, with the majority of the insurance-linked securities market represented, numerous protection buyers, our biggest ever contingent of end-investors, asset managers and investors seeking education and contacts as they consider the asset class, as well as many of the ILS market’s…
A New York man who claimed he could not work because of an ankle injury sustained in his work as a painter collected more than $10,000 in workers’ compensation wage replacement benefits while concealing he was back on the job. Christopher Cronk, of Central Square, admitted to insurance fraud as part of his plea in Onondaga County Court, according to New York State Workers’ Compensation Fraud Inspector General Lucy Lang. Cronk was injured in March 2021 while employed by Cutting Edge Painting in Webster, and shortly thereafter began receiving wage replacement benefits that are intended to support injured workers who…
No confirmed cyberattack by Iran or its proxies has been linked to the strikes, designated Operation Epic Fury, but CyberCube said the threat could come through direct state action or deniable fronts – and urged carriers to move beyond routine monitoring toward a proactive footing across underwriting and exposure management.
The case was brought by Ashley Hernandez and Samson Dallas Shake, homeowners in Seaside, California, whose property was damaged on or about March 8, 2025, when a water supply line failed in and around their bathroom, rendering the home uninhabitable. State Farm denied the claim on March 31, 2025, citing the policy exclusion for water “below the surface of the ground.” According to the filing, the insurer reached that conclusion without ever inspecting the property or retaining a plumber, leak detection company, engineer, or contractor to investigate.