Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
U.S. Court Unfreezes $18 billion Ecuador Award against Chevron
Sep 20 2011 // A U.S. appeals court reversed an order freezing enforcement outside of Ecuador of an $18 billion damages award against Chevron Corp over pollution in the Amazonian rain forest. The order, issued by the 2nd U.S. Circuit...
More Than 800,000 Vehicles Recalled in U.S. Last Week
Sep 20 2011 // Automakers, including Hyundai Motor Co. and Subaru recalled more than 800,000 cars and trucks last week for defects including faulty airbags, according to federal regulators. Separately, the National Highway Traffic Safety...
Court Dismisses U.S. Suit Against BP Executives, Directs Investors to File in UK
Sep 19 2011 // Current and former BP executives and directors won dismissal last week of one of several U.S.-shareholder lawsuits filed over last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill. A federal court in Houston on Sept. 15 said it was...
New Patent Reform Law Aims to Reduce Backlog, Curb Lawsuits
Sep 19 2011 // President Barack Obama signed into law a patent overhaul bill Friday that backers say will curb frivolous lawsuits and help the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office do the hiring needed to clear a huge backlog of...
Punitive Damages Ruling May Be Pivotal in BP Case
Sep 19 2011 // A key court ruling in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill litigation could change the landscape in the massive case — encouraging more plaintiffs to sue, or spurring the parties to make a deal to resolve what could be a long...
Damages Ruling May Be Pivotal in BP Gulf Oil Case
Sep 19 2011 // A key court ruling in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill litigation could change the landscape in the massive case – encouraging more plaintiffs to sue, or spurring the parties to make a deal to resolve what could be a...
U.S. Taking a Beating from Disasters
Sep 19 2011 // Nature is pummeling the United States this year with extremes. Unprecedented triple-digit heat and devastating drought. Deadly tornadoes leveling towns. Massive rivers overflowing. A billion-dollar blizzard. And now,...
The Increasing Cost of Data Breaches
Sep 19 2011 // The cost of responding to data breaches is on the rise, according to a recent study. The 2010 Annual Study: U.S. Cost of a Data Breach, released in March 2011 by Symantec Corp. and privacy and information management...
Court Tosses Virginia Challenge to Healthcare Law
Sep 19 2011 // A U.S. appeals court handed President Barack Obama a victory for his signature healthcare law on Sept. 8, ruling against challenges by the state of Virginia and others seeking to invalidate the law as unconstitutional. The...
Customer Satisfaction with Home Insurers Improves, Says J.D. Powers
Sep 19 2011 // Customer satisfaction with homeowners insurance companies this year is up from 2010, but still remains below levels achieved in 2009. Overall satisfaction with homeowners insurance companies averages 769 in 2011 —...
Insurers Try to Revive 9/11 Suit Against Saudis
Sep 19 2011 // Insurers that paid out millions after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are trying to revive a lawsuit that accuses Saudi Arabia of funneling money to al-Qaida. A U.S. appeals court in New York had ruled in 2008 that the...
U.S. Municipal Bond Market Shrinks
Sep 16 2011 // The size of the U.S. municipal bond market shrank to $2.89 trillion in the second quarter of 2011 from $2.91 trillion in the first quarter, Federal Reserve data showed Friday. It was the second quarterly contraction in a...
Business Lobby Looks to Soften Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Sep 16 2011 // The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has put reshaping a U.S. anti-bribery law near the top of its legislative wish list, setting up a battle pitting the powerful business lobby group against supporters of the statute who say it...
US Data Center Study Finds Arctic Ice Melts to Second Lowest Level Ever
Sep 16 2011 // Sea ice on the Arctic Ocean shrank to its second-smallest extent since modern records began, in keeping with a long-term trend, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center reported Thursday. The annual sea ice minimum was...
DuPont Wins $919M in Kevlar Trade Secrets Claim
Sep 15 2011 // A U.S. federal jury awarded DuPont $919.9 million in damages Wednesday, ruling that a South Korean company stole trade secrets for a fiber used to make Kevlar bulletproof vests. DuPont said the Richmond, Virginia, jury...
U.S. Report Pins Most Blame for Gulf Oil Spill on BP
Sep 15 2011 // The United States heaped the lion’s share of blame for the country’s biggest ever offshore oil spill on BP Wednesday as the government issued its final assessment of last year’s Gulf disaster. In a report...
Lloyd’s Syndicate Sues Saudi Arabia for $215M Over 9/11 Claims
Sep 15 2011 // Lloyd’s of London’s Syndicate 3500 filed a federal lawsuit against Saudi Arabia, several Saudi charity and financial organizations and prominent Saudi individuals over 9/11 terror attacks. The insurer said...
ISO, Willis RE to Offer ISO Risk Analyzer Predictive Models in the U.S.
Sep 14 2011 // Property/casualty insurance analytics provider ISO and Willis Re, the reinsurance broking arm of Willis Group Holdings, the global insurance broker, have formed a joint marketing relationship for ISO Risk Analyzer products...
Oklahoma Insurance Broker to Seek U.S. House Post
Sep 14 2011 // A former state lawmaker is officially jumping into the crowded Republican primary for the open U.S. House seat in eastern Oklahoma. Former state Rep. Wayne Pettigrew formally announced his candidacy in his hometown of...
U.S. Court Fight May Not Solve Chinese Accounting Mess
Sep 14 2011 // U.S. regulators appear to be on strong footing in a legal battle over a Chinese auditor’s work papers, though their ability to act may have limits and a victory in court may not resolve a widening international...
