Latest USA Headlines

All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.

AIG Stock Dips After $8.7 Billion Share Sale by U.S. Treasury

May 25 2011 // of American International Group Inc. fell 3.6 percent Wednesday after the insurer and the U.S. Treasury sold $8.7 billion worth of AIG stock. The Treasury sold 200 million shares, reducing its stake in the company to 77...

Searchers, Dogs Scour Missouri Tornado Wreckage

May 25 2011 // First they found his dark blue teddy bear. Then frantic relatives searching for toddler Skyular Logsdon spotted his red T-shirt and pants, torn, rain-soaked and wrapped around a telephone pole. The little boy hasn’t...

2011 on Pace to Be Deadliest U.S. Tornado Year

May 25 2011 // The tornado that raked Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday was the deadliest single twister in the United States since 1953, putting 2011 on pace for a possible record year for tornado fatalities, U.S. weather experts said...

Treasury Sells AIG Shares at Slight Profit

May 25 2011 // The U.S. Treasury is barely breaking even on its investment in beleaguered insurance giant American International Group Inc., according to an early litmus test of market interest in the firm’s stock. The Treasury...

Insurers Moving Quickly in Response to Violent Midwest Weather

May 24 2011 // Auto, home and business insurers have launched a broad response to the recent tornadoes that caused severe loss of life and extensive property damage in Joplin, Mo., Reading, Kan., and Minneapolis, Minn., insurance...

P/C Insurers Facing Record Losses from Weather

May 24 2011 // Devastating tornadoes, floods, earthquakes overseas and a busier-than-usual hurricane season have U.S. insurance companies bracing for record losses in 2011. Insurers could suffer as much as $10 billion from...

Toyota Still Has Internal Problems to Fix, Says Commission

May 24 2011 // Toyota Motor Corp. has a way to go to fix crisis decision-making and other shortcomings in its corporate culture that played a key role in last year’s safety debacle, a report by an advisory panel commissioned by the...

Davis Joins Endurance Worldwide Reinsurance in U.S. Unit

May 24 2011 // John A. Davis has joined Endurance Worldwide Reinsurance as senior vice president and manager of the U.S. Treaty Casualty and Workers’ Compensation business unit. Davis will now be responsible for overseeing the...

U.S. Refuses to Pay Michigan Insurer for Ferrari Wrecked by FBI Agent

May 23 2011 // The U.S. Justice Department has refused to pay $750,000 to a Michigan insurance company for a Ferrari that was wrecked in Kentucky while driven by an FBI agent. In a recent response to a lawsuit in Detroit, the Justice...

Black Lung Disease Rising Again Among U.S. Miners

May 23 2011 // Black lung disease, long a killer of coal miners, is on the rise again after retreating in the 30 years since Congress passed tougher mine safety laws, health and safety experts said Friday. The renewed appearance of the...

NOAA Forecasts ‘Above Normal’ Atlantic Hurricane Season

May 20 2011 // The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season will be “above normal”, spawning six to 10 hurricanes of which around half could become major, the U.S. government’s weather agency forecast Thursday. However, as the...

APEC Members Want to Salvage WTO Talks, Says U.S. Trade Rep

May 20 2011 // Asia Pacific trade ministers agreed Thursday not to give up on ailing world trade talks but to work over the next seven months on the best way to “salvage” a deal, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk...

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Reaffirms Support for Ireland

May 19 2011 // Ireland has been much in the news recently, and not just for its economic woes. The visit by the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II, the first by a British monarch in 100 years, and the upcoming visit of President Obama, as...

Verisk Catastrophe Index Now Covers U.S. Earthquake Risk

May 17 2011 // The Verisk Catastrophe Index has been expanded beyond the hurricane peril to also cover U.S. earthquake risk, including fire following earthquake. The index provides industry-wide insured property loss estimates by county...

Mississippi River Closed to Traffic at Natchez

May 17 2011 // The key waterway for U.S. grain exports was cut off Monday when the U.S. Coast Guard closed the Mississippi River near Natchez, Mississippi. The Coast Guard said 15 miles of the Mississippi was closed to all traffic to...

Toyota Can Be Sued for Reduced Value of Cars, U.S. Judge Rules

May 17 2011 // Owners of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles that were recalled over unintended acceleration may pursue claims against the automaker that the problem caused the value of their cars to fall, a federal judge ruled Monday. U.S....

Best Sees ‘Growing Pressure’ for Higher P/C Insurance Rates

May 17 2011 // There is “growing pressure” to support increased rates in property/casualty insurance and reinsurance markets, rating agency A.M. Best has concluded in its most recent market analysis. As a consequence, Best...

Australia Flood, Cyclone Claims Assessments near Completion Says ICA

May 17 2011 // According to a bulletin on its web site, the Insurance Council of Australia has released updated figures on “how the general industry has responded to the enormous task of assessing over 118,000 insurance claims...

Bank Holding Company Insurance Revenue Drops 5.7%

May 16 2011 // The nation’s bank holding companies (BHCs) experienced a decrease of 5.7 percent in their total insurance revenue from a record $15.08 billion in 2009 to $14.21 billion in 2010, when MetLife, a traditional life...

P/C Insurers Take Hit in Q1 as Hurricane Season Approaches

May 16 2011 // The U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry took a beating from record first quarter 2011 catastrophe losses, and recent earnings announcements from global reinsurers illustrate the damage those losses did to earnings and...