Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Damages Phase of BP Gulf Spill Trial to Begin in January
Apr 24 2014 // The high-stakes penalty phase of BP’s trial over its role in the 2010 U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil spill will start next January, court officials said on Tuesday, and billions of dollars could be on the line. Fines under...
Mining Industry Vows to Fight Obama Administration Coal Dust Rule
Apr 23 2014 // The Obama administration ordered a 25 percent cut in the levels of coal dust in U.S. mines to reduce deadly black lung disease, a move that drew criticism from the mining industry and the threat of a lawsuit. The rule...
Odds of El Nino This Year Increasing, Says U.S. Climate Center
Apr 23 2014 // The odds are increasing that an El Nino weather system will form this year, portending drought for Australia and Asia and a warmer winter in the U.S. Northeast. The U.S. Climate Prediction Center now says there’s a...
Safety Laws Still Lacking a Year After Texas Plant Blast
Apr 23 2014 // It has been a year since a fire caused a huge explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant that killed 15 people, yet companies in the state can still store hazardous chemicals in flammable wooden containers in buildings without...
GM Ignition Defects Lawsuit in California Awaits Bankruptcy Ruling
Apr 23 2014 // A lawsuit against General Motors Co. in California over ignition-switch defects linked to 13 deaths was put on hold until a bankruptcy judge in New York rules on whether some compensation claims can be brought without...
Genworth Financial to Raise as Much as $700 Million in Australia Offer
Apr 23 2014 // Genworth Financial Inc. plans to raise as much as $700 million by selling a minority stake in its Australian mortgage guarantor, in what may be the biggest share sale in the country for more than three years. The seller of...
GM Asks Court to Enforce Bankruptcy Liability Shield Against Ignition Lawsuits
Apr 22 2014 // General Motors Co. filed a motion in a U.S. bankruptcy court to enforce a bar on lawsuits related to ignition defects in cars sold before its 2009 bankruptcy as it fights a class action lawsuit that seeks to set aside the...
Report: Former EU Banker Urges Reactivate Securitization to Enhance Credit
Apr 22 2014 // Jacques de Larosiere says he is an isolated and modest man. Yet the 84-year-old former head of the International Monetary Fund is one of the most influential voices in European and global finance. An eminence grise as...
Bigger and More Frequent Wildfires Burning Western U.S.
Apr 21 2014 // Wildfires across the western United States have been getting bigger and more frequent over the last 30 years, according to a new study. The number of wildfires over 1,000 acres in size in the region stretching from...
2013 P/C Insurers’ Results Show Net Gain on Underwriting– First Since 2007
Apr 21 2014 // U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes grew to $63.8 billion in 2013 from $35.1 billion in 2012, with insurers’ overall profitability as measured by their rate of return on average...
Claims, Oil and Resentments Linger Four Years After BP Oil Spill
Apr 21 2014 // Four years after the Deepwater Horizon spill, oil is still washing up on the long sandy beaches of Grand Isle, Louisiana, and some islanders are fed up with hearing from BP that the crisis is over. Jules Melancon, the last...
People – East
Apr 21 2014 // Jerry HourihanAmerican International Group (AIG) has named Jerry Hourihan as president of Private Client Group for the U.S. and Canada. He will report to Ralph Mucerino, CEO of Consumer Regional, Americas. Hourihan will be...
Why Governors Are Concerned Over FIO Report
Apr 21 2014 // On behalf of the National Governors Association, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on March 28 wrote Treasury secretary Jacob Lew about Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO)...
Growth, Profitability to Continue for U.S. Commercial Lines: Fitch
Apr 21 2014 // Fitch Ratings said it maintains a stable rating outlook for the U.S. commercial lines sector due to improving profitability over the past two years and strong capital levels allowing insurers to withstand considerable...
10 Things to Know About Public Entities
Apr 21 2014 // There are 3,141 counties and county equivalents in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. (USGS CoreFacts, U.S. Geological Survey) Counties build and maintain 45 percent of the public roads and 230,690 of the...
What’s Next for Cyber Insurance?
Apr 21 2014 // Back to the Beginning: Moving Beyond Breaches There’s a saying in the cybersecurity industry that there are two types of businesses today: Those that have been breached and know it and those that have been breached...
Democrats Seize on Koch Brothers, Republican Opposition to Flood Insurance
Apr 20 2014 // 17 Apr 2014 09:00 Democrats are exploring a new attack line against the Koch brothers and Republican allies, telling voters the billionaire energy executives want to let home flood insurance premiums soar to help corporate...
Starr Receives Listing as Approved Surety from U.S. Treasury
Apr 20 2014 // Starr Companies has received approval from the United States Department of Treasury to list Starr Indemnity & Liability Co. as an approved surety. The Treasury listing enhances Starr Financial Lines’ Crime &...
Arkansas Kicks Off $2B Highway Improvement Program
Apr 17 2014 // State transportation officials marked the start of a nearly $2 billion construction program to improve and widen roadways in a ceremony on April 16 in Little Rock. The event officially kicked off the department’s...
Texas Agent Faces 10 Years in Prison for Insurance Fraud Conviction
Apr 17 2014 // A Fort Worth man faces ten years in federal prison following a conviction for insurance fraud, the Insurance Department of Texas reported. Caleb Deason, an insurance agent for Transamerica Life Insurance Co., was convicted...
