Amazon.com Inc was sued on Friday by consumers seeking refunds for costs passed on to them in the form of higher prices as a result of tariffs the U.S. Supreme Court later concluded had been unlawfully imposed by President Donald Trump. Consumers in a proposed class action filed in federal court in Seattle alleged that the e-commerce giant collected hundreds of millions of dollars in unlawful tariff costs by raising prices on imported goods before the Supreme Court had ruled. The U.S. Supreme Court in February concluded in a 6-3 decision that Trump overstepped his authority by using the International…
Author: Awais
A 27-year-old firefighter killed in a huge fire and explosion at a lumber mill in Maine’s midcoast region was honored Saturday, a day after the incident that injured at least 11 others. A memorial of flowers dedicated to Andrew Cross sat outside of the Morrill Volunteer Fire Department as a procession of dozens of firetrucks, police cars and other vehicles escorted his remains to a funeral home. Dozens of first responders and other community members gathered in Morrill to salute and pay their respects. The procession routed through the small town of fewer than 1,000 people on its way from…
KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed federal policy on vaccine research, vaping, and drug access on Science Friday on May 8. Rovner also discussed the Supreme Court decision on the abortion pill mifepristone on NPR’s Morning Edition on May 5. Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed the rising cost of drug prices, despite hopes about TrumpRx, on CBS News’ The Daily Report on May 7.
After helping Schroders Capital and global reinsurer Hannover Re launch their pilot tokenisation project in 2024, i.AM Innovation Lab has used the lessons it learned to help both companies’ integration of a tokenised capability into its insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment platform, which in time will help open the door to broader investor access.During a recent interview with Artemis, Pascal Nägeli, Partner and Co-Founder of i.AM Innovation Lab, and Alec Nikolov, Lead Product & Design, explain how the project evolved from a bespoke pilot to a reusable platform, what it took to make tokenised ILS work at institutional scale, and why they see tokenisation…
Minnesota lawmakers are wrestling with how to sustain the state’s financially distressed hospitals while patients confront growing medical debt. One Minnesota lawmaker wants to steer money from an existing healthcare tax back to hospitals so they can expand their charity care programs for patients who can’t afford their bills. The proposal follows a Minnesota Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation that found hospitals across the state spend far less on charity care than hospitals in many other states, and use widely different standards to decide who qualifies for free or discounted care. State Rep. Steve Elkins said helping hospitals with their…
For decades, the federal government has overseen two key vaccine injury compensation programs: the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) and the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). The VICP and CICP are designed to help maintain vaccine access while also recognizing that vaccine injuries can occur and those affected by such injuries should be compensated. However, over time, the demands on, and challenges faced by, these programs have grown. Recently, they have become targets of criticism from members of the Trump administration, including the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ,who said (without evidence) in 2025…
Catastrophe bond issuances that have been fully settled in the market now amount to more than $10.4 billion, while the pipeline for new cat bond deals remains robust and Artemis Deal Directory data already forecasts around $14.35 billion of settled issuance by early June.Catastrophe bond issuance, across full Rule 144A and private deals we’ve tracked in 2026 is currently keeping pace with the record amount seen last year. In fact, fully-settled issuance of new cat bonds hit the $10 billion mark on May 13th in 2025, according to our data, while in 2026 that level of issuance had been achieved…
Here in Washington, we’ve been hearing about tensions between the White House and one of its most controversial — but, at least in some circles, most popular — figures: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Polling of likely voters indicates that the Health and Human Services secretary can be an asset to Republicans when he’s talking about improving the nation’s food supply or labeling ultraprocessed foods. But when he’s talking about removing recommendations for routine childhood vaccinations, he can be a detriment. So, when I learned Kennedy would be taking his show on the road to my home state of Ohio, where populist figures tend to perform well, I knew I had to be there. How would a politician who built his reputation seeding widespread doubts about routine childhood immunizations stay away from one of the…
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been and continues to be subject to a range of Congressional reporting requirements. These include enduring (ongoing) requirements as well as time-bound requirements, through both PEPFAR’s authorizations as well as appropriations legislation in some years. This document provides a list of reporting requirements identified in PEPFAR’s authorizing legislation over time as well as other key legislation. Table 1 includes current requirements and requests. Table 2 includes past requirements and requests that are no longer in effect. While this document lists most such requirements, it may not be exhaustive.1
The U.S. has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran lifted and then reimposed its own blockade on marine traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. Here’s a look at some of the non-Iranian oil tankers that have passed through the strait since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, listed by cargo destination, according to data from LSEG and Kpler. JAPAN Very large crude carrier (VLCC) Eneos Endeavor, managed by Japanese refining group Eneos and carrying 1.2 million barrels of Kuwait crude and 700,000…
Acceptance of insurance-linked securities (ILS) is now widespread in the reinsurance market, and as the asset class consistently proves itself as a stable partner and investor demand remains high amid attractive risk premium, Integral’s quantitative and transparent approach continues to gain traction.Artemis recently met with Richard Lowther, Co-Founder and Managing Partner and Kristofer Sannemalm, Head of Underwriting for Integral ILS, at their office in Bermuda, to discuss market trends and Integral’s approach as the manager’s assets under management sits at a healthy $3.5 billion as of January 2026. According to recent analysis from brokers, alternative capital now accounts for 15-20%…
The FDA’s recent decision to withhold approval of a new skin cancer treatment fell like a hammer on doctors who treat melanoma and patients who saw that the drug had prolonged the lives of a third of the participants in a clinical trial. “It was devastating news,” said Trisha Wise-Draper, a dermatologist at the University of Cincinnati who had patients enrolled in the trial. “This is life or death for maybe 2,000 patients,” added Eric Whitman, medical director of the Atlantic Health System’s oncology service. A Wall Street Journal editorial assailed the ruling, noting that it “will have a chilling…
Walmart agreed to pay $230,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability hiring discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced. According to the EEOC’s suit, a deaf applicant applied online for a stocking position at a Walmart in Decatur, Illinois. When an associate responsible for screening applicants from Walmart reached out to him to set up an interview, the deaf applicant requested an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. Walmart’s screener said she would work on getting the interpreter but failed to follow up, even after he called back again to check…
How fast can agents get a business insurance quote online? Through Coterie, agents can receive bindable small business insurance quotes in under 2 minutes for eligible businesses. The speed comes from automated underwriting that evaluates risk in real time, rather than routing submissions to a manual review queue. Are quotes bindable or just estimates? Coterie quotes are bindable. When you see a quote on screen, you can accept it, collect payment, and issue the policy without waiting for additional underwriter approval. Preliminary indications or soft quotes that need further review are a different product entirely, and Coterie does not operate that way for standard eligible risks. What…