Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Virginia Joins Whistle-Blower Suit Against Guardrail Maker
Dec 11 2014 // Virginia joined a whistle-blower lawsuit against Trinity Industries Inc. over an allegedly defective guardrail system, becoming the first state to say it will seek to claw back money spent on the company’s roadside...
U.S. Grants Legal Immunity to Drugmakers for Ebola Vaccines
Dec 11 2014 // The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week offered liability protections to drugmakers rushing to develop Ebola vaccines and urged other countries to follow suit. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary...
BP Appeals Gross Negligence Ruling That Triggers Fines
Dec 11 2014 // BP Plc challenged a federal judge’s ruling that the company’s exploration unit acted with gross negligence in causing the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a decision that exposed the U.K.-based energy company to...
Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Inhofe’s Family Sues Plane Manufacturers over Son’s Death
Dec 11 2014 // The family of a U.S. senator whose son was killed in a plane crash is seeking damages in a lawsuit that alleges negligence against the aircraft’s manufacturers. The Tulsa World reports the suit was filed in Tulsa...
Ex-Pastor Seeks Reduced Sentence in Katrina Relief Fraud Case
Dec 11 2014 // A former New Orleans, La., pastor who embezzled nearly $1 million in disaster relief aid in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has asked a federal judge to shorten his prison sentence by several years. The Rev. Toris Young, who...
Honda, Nissan Widen Air-Bag Recalls Following Rupture in Japan Scrapyard
Dec 11 2014 // Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. followed Toyota Motor Corp. in widening global air-bag recalls after one of the devices made by Takata Corp. ruptured in a junked car at a Japan scrapyard. Honda will recall about...
India Uber Driver’s Rape Charge Raises Doubts About Oversight
Dec 10 2014 // The Uber taxi driver held on suspicion of raping a passenger in India is a career criminal who was out on bail for sexually assaulting a woman, Indian police said, raising fresh concern about the safety of using the...
Uber Facing Roadblocks, Controversies in U.S. and Abroad
Dec 10 2014 // Uber Technologies Inc. has hit an increasing pileup of regulatory and legal hurdles this week, with its mobile application challenged from India to California. The car-booking app yesterday was sued by the district...
U.S. Cyber Crime Unit to Focus on Prevention
Dec 9 2014 // The U.S. Justice Department is creating a unit within the criminal division to advise on electronic surveillance in cyber investigations and work with the private sector to prevent online crime, an official said...
High Cost Hinders Progress of Carbon Capture As Climate-Change Fix
Dec 9 2014 // Scientists know only two credible ways to prevent temperatures from rising to dangerous levels: stop burning fossil fuels or capture and bury the carbon dioxide byproduct before it gets into the atmosphere. The second...
Supreme Court Rejects BP’s Bid for Review of Gulf Oil Settlement
Dec 8 2014 // The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review BP Plc’s $9.7 billion settlement over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, turning away the company’s argument that hundreds of millions of dollars are going to businesses...
Travelers Unit Sued Over Allegedly Manipulated Sandy Report
Dec 7 2014 // A Travelers Cos. unit was sued by two New York homeowners who accused it of using a doctored engineering report to reject much of their claim for flood damage from Hurricane Sandy, making it the third insurer to face such...
Legal Battle Over MetLife Systemic Risk Label Looms
Dec 5 2014 // U.S. regulators are close to a final decision to label MetLife Inc. systemically important, two people with knowledge of the matter said, setting up a potential legal battle with the country’s largest life...
Winter Storm ‘Bomb’ Watch Begins From New York to Europe
Dec 5 2014 // As fall gives way to winter, meteorologists from the U.S. East Coast to the shores of Western Europe will be watching for signs that the next storm heading their way will turn into a bomb. That’s right — a...
Loeb’s Third Point Re Pushes into U.S. With Hires after Stock Fall
Dec 5 2014 // Third Point Reinsurance Ltd., the Bermuda-based company co-founded by hedge-fund manager Dan Loeb, is expanding in the U.S. after underwriting losses fueled a stock slump. The reinsurer hired Tom Wafer and Jonathan Norton,...
Hartford Unit Faces Racketeering Suit on Sandy Claims
Dec 4 2014 // A couple claiming damage from Hurricane Sandy filed court papers accusing a Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. unit, an engineering firm and a law firm for the insurer of engaging in racketeering by scheming to use...
U.S. Prods Banks to Buy Cyber Insurance, Insurers to Develop Products
Dec 4 2014 // Banks should consider cyber risk insurance to help deal with the financial fall-out from the growing threat of cyber attacks, a top U.S. regulator said on Wednesday. Bankers and officials have become more vocal lately...
Update: Hartford Unit Accused of Using Fudged Hurricane Sandy Report
Dec 3 2014 // A Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. unit was accused by a lawyer representing Hurricane Sandy victims of using a falsified damage report to dodge paying homeowner claims, the second insurer blamed in the last month...
XL’s New Standalone Terrorism Policy Addresses TRIPRA Gaps
Dec 3 2014 // XL Group’s U.S. Crisis Management business has introduced a new standalone terrorism insurance policy intended to help U.S. businesses address potential gaps in coverage provided by the Terrorism Risk Insurance...
Moody’s to P/C Insurers: Beware Weather, Competition in Months Ahead
Dec 3 2014 // U.S. property/casualty insurers can celebrate higher overall earnings and premium levels in the 2014 third quarter versus the same period a year ago, Moody’s Investors Service said in a new report. At the same time,...
