Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Attorney General Barr: Should Tech Giants Still Be Free From Liability for Content?
Feb 20 2020 // U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday questioned whether Facebook, Google and other major online platforms still need the immunity from legal liability that has prevented them from being sued over material their...
Coronavirus Raises Insurance Questions But Catastrophe-Tested Insurers Are Prepared
Feb 20 2020 // As the coronavirus outbreak continues to cause concern around the globe, the insurance industry is facing a potentially far-reaching impact but has the experience to handle what might come its way. Based on what the...
Activist Hedge Fund Elliott Investment Builds Stake in Dutch Insurer NN Group
Feb 20 2020 // Elliott Investment Management, U.S. billionaire Paul Singer’s activist hedge fund firm, has built up a 3.04% stake in Dutch insurer NN Group, a filing by the Dutch financial regulator AFM showed on...
Swiss Re 2019 Profit Hit by Natural Disasters, U.S. Casualty Claims
Feb 20 2020 // Reinsurer Swiss Re reported on Thursday a smaller-than-expected profit in 2019 due to claims for a series of man-made and natural disasters, as well as expenses for its U.S. casualty business, sending its shares lower. Net...
Suit Against Army Corps for Post-Harvey Flooding Dismissed by Federal Judge
Feb 20 2020 // A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers isn’t liable for flood damage to thousands of Houston homes after the agency cracked open the gates on two massive dams in the wake of Hurricane...
Homeland Security Reports Ransomware Attack Shut Gas Pipeline Facility for Two Days
Feb 19 2020 // The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has alerted energy and other infrastructure firms to review their cybersecurity after a ransomware attack interrupted a natural gas compression facility. The attack caused the...
Argo Group Appoints Bradley as Chairman; Rehnberg Named CEO
Feb 19 2020 // Argo Group International Holdings Ltd., the Bermuda-based re/insurer, announced the appointment of Thomas A. Bradley as chairman of the board of directors upon the retirement of current board chairman Gary V. Woods, whose...
Trial Set to Begin for North Carolina Insurance Magnate Accused of Political Corruption
Feb 18 2020 // The trial of an insurance company magnate and two associates on charges they conspired to bribe an elected North Carolina regulator with up to $2 million in campaign money so scrutiny of his businesses would ease is...
Cruise Ship Tests Coronavirus Containment as 300 Passengers Return to U.S.
Feb 17 2020 // TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif./GENEVA, Feb 17 —More than 300 American cruise liner passengers, including 14 who tested positive for coronavirus, were flown home to military bases in the United States after two weeks under...
Jury Awards $265M to Farmer Claiming Drifting Herbicides Damaged His Orchard
Feb 17 2020 // A Missouri jury’s $265 million award to peach grower Bill Bader in his lawsuit against herbicide providers Bayer and BASF has raised the stakes for the two companies as at least 140 similar cases head to U.S. courts...
Missouri Man Sentenced for Stealing Almost $4M from Former Employer
Feb 14 2020 // A Kirkwood, Mo., man has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison and ordered to pay approximately $3.8 million in restitution after being convicted of stealing that amount from his former employer, the U.S....
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010 Was Bigger Than Satellite Images Showed
Feb 14 2020 // Toxic and invisible oil spread well beyond the known satellite footprint of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a new study. Scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel school of Marine and...
Insured Losses for Europe’s Storm Ciara-Sabine Could Hit $2 Billion: Modeling Firms
Feb 14 2020 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured losses due to wind from Europe’s winter storm Ciara (also known as Sabine) will range between €1.1 billion and €1.9 billion (US$1.2 billion and...
AAA Carolinas Merges with The Auto Club Group
Feb 14 2020 // The Auto Club Group (ACG) and AAA Carolinas have merged and combined operations, it was announced last month. With North and South Carolina part of The Auto Club Group family, the company now serves more than 13.5 million...
Brooks Brothers and Brooks Running Shoes Clash Over Trademark
Feb 13 2020 // Brooks, the running shoe and apparel unit of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Brooks Brothers, pitting two companies whose roots date back more than...
N.H. Stone Products Manufacturer Cited for Hazards Following Employee Fatality
Feb 13 2020 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Quartz and Stone Creations of New Hampshire LLC for crushing and other hazards following an employee fatality on July 19,...
‘Numbers Guy’ Zaffino Expected to Succeed Duperreault as AIG CEO…Eventually
Feb 12 2020 // Peter Zaffino sat at 2 World Trade Center poring over financial reports on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when the first plane struck a neighboring building. Zaffino, known by colleagues for his laser-like focus, remained...
Man Pleads Guilty to Burning African American Churches in Louisiana
Feb 12 2020 // The aspiring ‘black metal’ musician who was arrested in a series of fires set at African American churches in Louisiana last spring pleaded guilty to federal and state criminal charges. The U.S....
Coronavirus Clouds U.S. Outlook But Economic Impact Should be Modest: S&P
Feb 12 2020 // The coronavirus outbreak in China is clouding the global outlook and leading to both business caution and potential overall weakness in U.S. growth, according to S&P Global. However, given its limited exposure, the...
‘Rivers in the Sky’ Causing Billions in Flood Damage in U.S.
Feb 12 2020 // Climate change is spurring a new, deep dive into a complex, little-studied weather system blamed for creating billions of dollars in flood damage across the western U.S. Atmospheric rivers are narrow ribbons of...
