A Thai-flagged cargo vessel was struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday shortly after departing from the United Arab Emirates, as regional tensions continue to disrupt one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes. Three people are missing. The ship, Mayuree Naree, a 30,000 deadweight-ton bulk carrier owned by Precious Shipping Pcl, was attacked while transiting the strategic waterway. Oman’s navy has rescued 20 crew members, who abandoned ship and evacuated in a lifeboat, and brought them ashore in Khasab, Thai navy spokesman Paraj Ratanajaipan said in a statement. International efforts are underway to recover three remaining crew members…
Author: Awais
Plymouth Rock, the northeast US regional insurer, has successfully secured its targeted $100 million in named storm reinsurance protection through its debut catastrophe bond, as the Tremont Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) notes have now been priced approximately 16% below the mid-point of initial guidance, Artemis has learned.Plymouth Rock underwrites auto and home insurance products throughout northeastern US states, with the company having underwritten over $2 billion in premiums across the region. The regionally focused insurer entered the catastrophe bond market for its debut sponsorship back in February, with a target to secure $100 million of collateralized and multi-year named storm…
Global COO Lynn O’Leary details lab-driven underwriting transformation
This analysis explores trends in how the cost of health care affects access to care in the U.S. using National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data through 2024. In 2024, about 1 in 6 adults (17%) reported delaying or not getting healthcare due to cost, including those who delayed or did not get medical or mental health care and those who rationed prescription drugs due to cost. Uninsured adults and adults who are in worse health are twice as likely to report that they or a family member had difficulty paying medical bills. The analysis is available through the Peterson-KFF Health…
If all goes according to plan for the nation’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund, a barren stretch of desert in Albuquerque’s plains will soon become a research center where scientists replicate nuclear fusion — the process that powers the sun and stars. The $1 billion project from startup Pacific Fusion seeks to unlock a new energy source, a bold goal for experimental technology that’s years away from practical breakthroughs. That didn’t stop the New Mexico State Investment Council, the sovereign wealth fund investing the state’s oil and gas revenues, from telling the firm to build big. When Pacific Fusion worried whether…
Data, said CRC Group CEO Dave Obenauer, is a more critical part of insurance than ever, with artificial intelligence leading to greater client coverage outcomes. Speaking recently at Zywave’s Casualty Insights Conference in New York, Obenauer said the casualty market is facing an unpredictable risk landscape, although rates have moderated. Insurers have recently reported improved profitability, but underlying loss trends tied to large settlements and social inflation – sometimes driven by third-party litigation funding or the lack of tort reform – continue to keep carriers cautious, he said. “We think our role is to be sure that, while rates are…
Almost one year ago, an Alabama dentist was captured on surveillance video setting fire to his dental office in Evergreen, triggering an explosion that destroyed the building and slightly injured the dentist. Last week, Dr. Douglas P. O’Connor was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He will likely serve three years behind bars, the Alabama attorney general said. “Alabamians put their trust in doctors to do no harm. Dr. O’Connor shattered that trust in the most deliberate way possible. He set fire to his own practice, endangered the lives of those next door and attempted to defraud his insurance company…
A move to allow Florida voters to decide if recreational marijuana should be legal in the state won’t be appearing on ballots anytime soon. The Florida Supreme Court this week declined to hear a petition from Smart & Safe Florida. The declination essentially upholds the 1st District Court of Appeals’ January ruling that allowed the disqualification of some 70,600 signatures on a ballot initiative. Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd last fall had directed county election officials to strike the petition signatures because they had been collected by non-Florida residents or were from voters deemed “inactive.” A circuit court had…
In June 2025, a federal judge approved the landmark $2.8 billion House settlement, clearing the way for schools to compensate athletes directly through revenue sharing, alongside name, image and likeness (NIL) deals. The settlement’s implementation marked a structural shift in how college programs operate, even as appeals continued over parts of the deal.
An investigation into cosmetic surgery chains by KFF Health News and NBC News has prompted consumer warnings from industry groups representing plastic surgeons and a call for more transparency around physician disciplinary actions in California. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, which represents 12,000 doctors, is now warning patients to “do their homework” before getting liposuction, a Brazilian butt lift, a “Mommy Makeover,” or other cosmetic procedures. “Plastic surgery is real surgery with real risks, and the risk of complications is never zero,” said Scott Hollenbeck, immediate past president of the plastic surgeons group. And in an exclusive interview, TJ…
Florida lawmakers who say they want to encourage construction of more affordable housing are trying to strip away powers Miami has used for decades to keep developments, strip malls and warehouses out of the Everglades. A land-use bill, HB 399, that passed the Florida House on March 3 and is being considered by the state’s senate calls for studying the possible elimination of the 78-mile-long Urban Development Boundary, which has delineated where Miami ends in the west and the Everglades begins since 1983. The senate is expected to vote on the measure on Wednesday. The Everglades are a vast subtropical…
A Rhode Island man pleaded guilty this week to failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income that he received from selling stolen catalytic converters to a Rhode Island scrap yard. U.S. Attorney Charles C. Calenda reported that Daniel Rivera pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns in U.S. District Court in Providence. Rivera is scheduled to be sentenced on June. Charging documents reflect that from at least January 2021 until November 2022, Rivera and others canvased neighborhoods and parking lots in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in search of unoccupied vehicles from which they could…
The UK Navy said three vessels were hit with suspected projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf on Wednesday, as the conflict in the region continues to menace shipping. The targets, none of which were identified, include a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman, a container vessel west of Ras Al-Khaimah and a bulk carrier northwest of Dubai, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Center said. A fire aboard the cargo ship has been extinguished and there’s no environmental impact at this time, it said. A skeleton crew remains on board. Traffic through the Strait of…
According to the filing, the dispute traces back to March 21, 2022, when an employee of Donaldson Interiors, Inc. was allegedly injured by an “electrical hazard” during a build-out of the 63rd through 66th floors at One Vanderbilt Avenue. The worker, Ignatius F. Mule, alleges he sustained serious injuries including traumatic brain injury with cognitive defects, anxiety and depression, cervical disc herniation, lumbar disc bulges, rotator cuff and labrum tears, a torn meniscus, and additional sprains and strains. He brought suit against the general contractor J.T. Magen & Company Inc., building owner One Vanderbilt Owner LLC, and tenant Stone Ridge…