Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Opponents Doubt Savings Promised By Farm Bill
Jun 14 2013 // A drop in the price of corn, rice and other crops may trigger so much additional aid to farmers under a bill being considered by the U.S. House that it would wipe out the bill’s projected savings in crop subsidies,...
U.S. Sues BMW, Dollar General Over Use of Criminal Records in Hiring
Jun 14 2013 // The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed lawsuits this week against discount retailer Dollar General Corp. and a BMW manufacturing plant in South Carolina over their use of criminal background checks to screen out...
11 U.S. Weather Disasters in 2012 Cost More Than $1 Billion Each
Jun 14 2013 // The U.S. suffered 11 weather and climate disasters last year that caused more than $1 billion in damage each and killed more than 300 people, making 2012 the second-most costly and active year on record, according to the...
PCI States Position on International Regulatory Standards after House Hearing
Jun 14 2013 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) issued a statement following the conclusion of Wednesday’s hearings by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance hearing entitled...
Berkshire Hathaway to Release More Data on Insurance Cat Losses
Jun 13 2013 // Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is providing more data about claims costs at insurance units after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pressed the company for the information. We “agree to...
Chemical Shippers Lose Court Bid to Derail Train Safety Technology
Jun 13 2013 // Chemical shippers failed to show any business harm from a regulation requiring railroads to deploy new train-safety technology, a U.S. appeals court said, throwing out a lawsuit challenging the 2012 rule. The Arlington,...
U.S. Charges 8 with Cybercrime Against Financial Institutions, Government
Jun 13 2013 // Federal prosecutors in New Jersey on Wednesday unveiled criminal charges against eight people accused of trying to steal at least $15 million from U.S. customers in an international cybercrime scheme targeting accounts at...
Best Affirms RenaissanceRe; Top Layer Re Ratings; Outlooks Stable
Jun 13 2013 // RenRe and Affiliates A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of Renaissance Reinsurance Ltd. (RenRe) and...
Federal Insurance Regulator Releases Annual Report
Jun 12 2013 // The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) today released its annual report on the insurance industry to the President and Congress. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer...
Walgreen Agrees to Record $80M Settlement Over Distribution of Painkillers
Jun 12 2013 // Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, has agreed to pay $80 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that it violated federal rules governing the distribution of prescription painkillers. The U.S. Drug...
Goldman Avoids Damages in Dragon System’s Merger Negligence Claim
Jun 12 2013 // Sachs Group Inc.’s missteps advising speech-recognition pioneer Dragon Systems Inc. in a merger weren’t egregious enough under the law to warrant damages, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Patti B....
Hands-Free Voice Messaging Behind Wheel More Dangerous Than Phoning: Study
Jun 12 2013 // Using voice-to-text messaging, included in systems such as Ford Motor Co.’s Sync and Toyota Motor Corp.’s Entune, is more distracting to drivers than making calls with handheld mobile phones, a study by AAA...
Montreal Protocol Shows the Way for Action on Climate Change
Jun 12 2013 // A new deal to curb carbon emissions could copy features from the Montreal Protocol, which the United States and China favored over its Kyoto counterpart in an agreement on greenhouse gases at the weekend. The 1987 Montreal...
Nuclear Down-Winder Hopes For Settlement
Jun 10 2013 // Jacklyn “Jackie” O’Neil grew up in Washington’s Spokane Valley drinking milk from her family’s backyard cow. Decades later while working in Yakima, O’Neil learned she had thyroid cancer...
North Carolinian on ‘Price Is Right’ Pleads to Workers’ Comp Fraud
Jun 10 2013 // A U.S. Postal Service employee from eastern North Carolina who was seen spinning the Big Wheel on TV’s “The Price Is Right” even though she had said she could not deliver the mail has pleaded guilty to...
U.S. Insurers Financially Prepared for Hurricanes in 2013: Fitch
Jun 7 2013 // There is sufficient capacity available in insurance and reinsurance markets to provide sufficient coverage and withstand potential losses from hurricane related perils this storm season, according to Fitch Ratings’...
U.S. on Offense in Cyber War: Building Command Center, Hiring Warriors
Jun 7 2013 // On the site of a former military golf course where President Dwight Eisenhower once played, the future of U.S. warfare is rising in the shape of the new $358 million headquarters for the military’s Cyber Command. The...
Farmers, Safety Group Sue Monsanto Over Biotech Wheat
Jun 7 2013 // American wheat farmers and a food safety advocacy group filed a lawsuit Thursday against biotech seed developer Monsanto Co., accusing the company of failing to protect the U.S. wheat market from contamination by its...
S&P Wins Transfer of Ratings Lawsuits by States to Federal Court in New York
Jun 7 2013 // Standard & Poor’s and its parent company McGraw Hill Financial Inc. on Thursday won a ruling that moves 15 lawsuits in which they were accused of fraudulently inflating credit ratings to a single federal...
Tropical Storm Andrea Weakens Over Florida After Fueling Tornadoes
Jun 6 2013 // Tropical Storm Andrea lost strength as it passed over northern Florida on Thursday evening and is forecast to drench much of the U.S. Southeast with heavy rain as it cuts across Georgia and swing up the Atlantic Coast, the...
