Catastrophe

Cutting UNRWA’s funding will have dire humanitarian consequences

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Israel demanded that donor countries cease all funding to UNRWA and claimed the organization is supporting Hamas.

Key Points: 
  • Israel demanded that donor countries cease all funding to UNRWA and claimed the organization is supporting Hamas.
  • Additionally, Israel called for the cessation of UNRWA activities in Gaza after the war.
  • Sixteen mostly western countries, including Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, announced they were suspending their funding to UNRWA.
  • UNRWA has warned that unless funding is restored it may need to shut down by the end of February.

What is UNRWA?

  • Following the Nakba (Catastrophe) in 1948, the agency was formed to respond to the urgent needs of the displaced Palestinian population.
  • It currently supports over six million Palestinians, employing more than 30,000 staff members, with a significant portion dedicated to operations in Gaza.

Israel’s accusations

  • UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has said Israel has not yet shared the dossier with the United Nations.
  • While these accusations are serious, maintaining an objective approach and refraining from drawing hasty conclusions about the UNRWA’s 30,000 employees is crucial.
  • The 12 employees accused of taking part in the Oct. 7 attack represent 0.04 per cent of the agency’s staff.

Funding cuts aren’t new

  • Israel has long sought to dismantle UNRWA and the agency has faced the threat of funding cuts in the past.
  • UN General Assembly Resolution 194, passed in 1948, enshrines the right of Palestinian refugees to return home and receive compensation for losses suffered.
  • UNRWA is an organization that recognizes the status of Palestinian refugees and, by extension, their right to return at some point.
  • If UNRWA is unable to function, it could heighten political and social tensions in the region, especially in the countries hosting Palestinians, which will directly feel the repercussions of funding cuts.


Emilie El Khoury receives funding for her postdoctoral research at Queen's University from Queen’s Research Opportunities Postdoctoral Fund.

CyberCube Closes Strong Year as it Surpasses 100 Clients

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 31, 2024

CyberCube, the market leader of cyber risk analytics for the insurance industry, marked the end of a positive year of strong growth, surpassing 100 insurance organizations licensing CyberCube solutions.

Key Points: 
  • CyberCube, the market leader of cyber risk analytics for the insurance industry, marked the end of a positive year of strong growth, surpassing 100 insurance organizations licensing CyberCube solutions.
  • CyberCube partnered with over 100 clients across the entire insurance value chain.
  • In 2023, CyberCube launched Version 5.0 of Portfolio Manager , a scenario-based catastrophe model that empowers portfolio-level insights for senior leadership decision-making.
  • We are committed to driving excellence in our analytics that enables CyberCube insurance clients to deliver sustainable, profitable growth for decades to come.

Security First Insurance Leverages ARA’s HurLoss for Terrain Modeling

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 9, 2023

Albuquerque, Oct. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) announced today that Security First Insurance will license terrain data from HurLoss®, ARA’s state-of-the-art hurricane loss model.

Key Points: 
  • Albuquerque, Oct. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) announced today that Security First Insurance will license terrain data from HurLoss®, ARA’s state-of-the-art hurricane loss model.
  • “ARA’s terrain service API allows us to better understand individual policy risk at any given location in Florida and more accurately price our wind mitigation discounts,” said Robert Ketchum, vice president of Product and Underwriting at Security First .
  • ARA is a globally recognized research and engineering firm dedicated to safety and security solutions.
  • “ARA is extremely gratified to partner with such an important insurance carrier to the Florida market.” said George Freimarck, business leader for Catastrophe Modeling at ARA.

Orora collaborates with World Health Innovation Summit

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, September 27, 2023

London, Sept. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orora , a leading London Based FinTech for Good, is thrilled to announce its ground-breaking collaboration with the World Health Innovation Summit ( WHIS ) to develop an innovative Multi-Hazard Climate and Social Resilience Digital Asset-Based Instrument and to develop Orora’s Impact Banking as a Service Platform.

Key Points: 
  • London, Sept. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orora , a leading London Based FinTech for Good, is thrilled to announce its ground-breaking collaboration with the World Health Innovation Summit ( WHIS ) to develop an innovative Multi-Hazard Climate and Social Resilience Digital Asset-Based Instrument and to develop Orora’s Impact Banking as a Service Platform.
  • This partnership aims to revolutionise the way we address climate change, and the social wellbeing challenges it raises, by leveraging cutting-edge technology and financial innovation expertise.
  • "Orora is excited to partner with the World Health Innovation Summit in our shared vision of creating positive impact and driving change," said Victoria Thompson, Orora’s Founder CEO.
  • "We are delighted to join forces with Orora, and its team of esteemed leaders in the FinTech space," commented Gareth Presch, CEO World Health Innovation Summit.

FutureProof Licenses Data Sets from ARA's HurLoss Model to Enhance Risk Tools

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Albuquerque, NM, June 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FutureProof Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) to license hurricane hazard and vulnerability data sets which form the basis for HurLoss®, ARA’s state-of-the-art hurricane model.

Key Points: 
  • Albuquerque, NM, June 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FutureProof Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) to license hurricane hazard and vulnerability data sets which form the basis for HurLoss®, ARA’s state-of-the-art hurricane model.
  • FutureProof is an Insurtech startup targeting solutions to climate change by developing innovative AI-driven proprietary models to underwrite risk.
  • ARA is a globally recognized research and engineering firm dedicated to safety and security solutions.
  • By licensing our HurLoss model’s data sets, FutureProof will be able to build the tools to achieve their vision for insurance, climate adaptation and resilience.”
    ARA’s HurLoss™ U.S. Hurricane model allows re/insurers, ILS managers, and brokers to make superior underwriting and portfolio management decisions.

Society of Actuaries Highlights American's Perspectives on Climate Risks

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, June 27, 2023

SCHAUMBERG, Ill., June 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifty-three percent of Americans responding to a survey conducted by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute reported that extreme weather events – including hurricanes, tornadoes, heatwaves, wildfires and flooding – have adversely affected their health. Respondents reporting that:

Key Points: 
  • Additionally, more than half of respondents report negative impacts on their property (51%), communities (58%) and feelings of general safety (65%) from extreme weather events.
  • There has been a growing wildfire hazard within the U.S., as shown in an SOA Research Institute report about climate change's impact on U.S. wildfire risk by 2050 .
  • The likelihood of Lyme disease has increased due to rising temperatures, a trend evaluated in the SOA Research Institute report, Climate Impact on Tick-Borne Illnesses .
  • For more information and to download other SOA Research Institute climate risk research, visit the Catastrophe and Climate Strategic Research page .

The Nakba: 75 years after losing their home, the Palestinians are still experincing the “Catastrophe”

Retrieved on: 
Friday, May 12, 2023

They are also marking the fact that the Nakba did not end in 1948, but continues in different forms to this day.

Key Points: 
  • They are also marking the fact that the Nakba did not end in 1948, but continues in different forms to this day.
  • What Palestinians call “ongoing Nakba” still generates suffering, destruction of homes and loss of Palestinian lives.
  • They experience it in the continuing Israeli annexation of their land and attacks launched regularly against their homes in Gaza.

Violent escalation

    • The 75th anniversary of the Nakba comes at a critical and dangerous juncture that has seen a relentless escalation in Israeli violent interventions against Palestinians in the occupied territories and Gaza, which began with the unity intifada (or uprising) in 2021.
    • In 2021, 313 Palestinians including 71 minors were reportedly killed in the Gaza Strip and West Bank (including East Jerusalem) by Israeli security forces.
    • A record high of 204 Palestinians were reportedly killed in 2022, making it the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005.

A hidden people

    • While the UN move might be seen as a diplomatic coup for Palestinians, it nevertheless serves to underline two interrelated problems.
    • The first is that Palestinian history, when it is told, tends to be done as part of Israeli history.
    • The second is that the Palestinians themselves – as ordinary human beings – remain a largely unknown quantity in the west.
    • In March, the BBC aired a two-part television series The Holy Land and Us in the UK.

Will a UN resolution to commemorate the expulsion of Palestinians from their lands change the narrative? — Listen

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, May 4, 2023

Palestinians were driven off their land

Key Points: 
  • Palestinians were driven off their land
    Seventy-five years ago, starting on May 15, Palestinians were driven off their land to create the state of Israel.
  • This event is what Palestinians have come to refer to as the Nakba.
  • Does it change how the conflict is viewed by western powers, like Canada and the United States who actually voted against the UN resolution?
  • So we need to imagine social and political life on this land, beyond, the Euro American, colonial, ideology.

ICW Group Insurance Companies Launches New Commercial Package Insurance Offering In Illinois

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, May 2, 2023

SAN DIEGO, May 2, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- To help streamline the insurance experience and offer current and potential policyholders more products for a range of risks, ICW Group Insurance Companies, a leading group of property and casualty carriers, announces the launch of its new commercial package insurance offering.

Key Points: 
  • Lines of Business Expand to Include General Liability, Commercial Property and Capital Assets
    SAN DIEGO, May 2, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- To help streamline the insurance experience and offer current and potential policyholders more products for a range of risks, ICW Group Insurance Companies, a leading group of property and casualty carriers , announces the launch of its new commercial package insurance offering.
  • Initially rolling out in Illinois with plans to expand throughout the US, the introduction of Commercial Package grows ICW Group's available products to include General Liability, Property and Capital Asset coverages.
  • Key benefits offered to businesses through ICW Group's Commercial Package include:
    Fast, flexible underwriting with the ability to tailor unique coverages to meet the changing needs of insureds.
  • For more information about ICW Group's Commercial Package insurance offering and for retail agents looking to get appointed, visit the Commercial Package website .

Markel names Amandeep Dhillon Managing Director, Global Head of Catastrophe and Exposure Management

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 25, 2023

RICHMOND, Va., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Markel Corporation (NYSE: MKL) announced today that Amandeep Dhillon has joined as Managing Director, Global Head of Catastrophe and Exposure Management.

Key Points: 
  • RICHMOND, Va., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Markel Corporation (NYSE: MKL) announced today that Amandeep Dhillon has joined as Managing Director, Global Head of Catastrophe and Exposure Management.
  • In this role, Dhillon will lead Markel's approach to catastrophe and exposure management across the company's global insurance and reinsurance platform and across all lines of coverage, including property and marine, casualty, cyber, and professional liability.
  • "Accelerating Markel's catastrophe and exposure management capabilities across the platform is a strategic priority, and Amandeep Dhillon's extensive experience will bring tremendous value to the organization," said Guenter Kryszon, Global Executive Underwriting Officer, Property, for Markel.
  • Dhillon has more than 15 years of experience in the insurance business, working in multiple areas including catastrophe risk management and ceded reinsurance.