Tropical storm Alex became the first hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season late yesterday and has halted about 25 percent of crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and 9 percent of natural-gas output.

Under a House bill signed by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, the state will be allowed to take earmarked anti-fraud money and transfer it into the state's general fund for non-fraud purposes.

Tropical Storm Alex, the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season, is intensifying in the southern Gulf of Mexico but is not expected to hit the location of the British Petroleum oil spill, according to officials.

Asia's insurance business has been largely unaffected by the financial crisis compared to other parts of the world, according to a survey of chief information officers throughout the region.

The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and Florida Citizens Property Insurance Corp. have more than $2 trillion in total exposures