Latest USA Headlines

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

Insurance Trade Group Honors U.S. Sen. Collins of Maine

Sep 11 2008 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) named Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, as its Federal Legislator of the Year. “Senator Collins has a great understanding and appreciation of the...

AIG Loses Its Position as Industry Leader by Market Value

Sep 11 2008 // Fears that American International Group Inc.’s large mortgage exposure could trigger another round of losses has rankled investors so much that the insurer has lost its iron grip as the world’s industry leader...

Feds: Civil Suits Unaffected by Mine Investigation

Sep 10 2008 // Federal officials say a criminal investigation of the Crandall Canyon, Utah, mine disaster doesn’t preclude civil suits against those associated with the mine. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration asked...

Conf. Board Urges Tech Transfer to Reduce Greenhouse Gasses

Sep 10 2008 // In a new report the Conference Board, a non-profit, business research organization, has concluded “restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are not feasible without significant productivity growth and a...

Weather, Fuel, Chief Factors in ’07 Idaho Wildfire

Sep 8 2008 // A state and federal report concluded that last summer’s lightning- and cheatgrass-stoked Murphy Complex fire that torched 1,000 square miles of Idaho and Nevada backcountry would have overwhelmed efforts by ranchers...

Hurricane Ike over Cuba, Heading for US Gulf Coast

Sep 8 2008 // Hurricane Ike is not yet weakening over Cuba and will likely reach the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane before taking aim at the oil-rich Texas-Louisiana coast later in the week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center...

Hurricane Ike Threatens Bahamas; Hanna Death Toll Grows

Sep 5 2008 // Powerful Hurricane Ike weakened slightly as it moved across the Atlantic toward the Bahamas and the U.S. on Thursday, while Tropical Storm Hanna’s death toll from floods in Haiti grew to 136. Campgrounds were closed...

Hanna Heading for U.S. – Ike Now a Category 4 Hurricane

Sep 4 2008 // Tropical storm Hanna is on the verge of regaining hurricane strength, as it slowly approaches the U.S. mainland. The latest update from Miami’s National Hurricane Center indicates that “maximum sustained winds...

Hurricane Ike Strengthens Rapidly; Hanna Expected to Hit U.S. Saturday

Sep 4 2008 // Hurricane Ike strengthened rapidly into a fiercely dangerous Category 4 hurricane in the open Atlantic Wednesday and Tropical Storm Hanna intensified to a lesser degree as it swirled over the Bahamas toward the southeast...

Parties Can Contract for Expanded Judicial Review of Arbitration Awards

Sep 3 2008 // The California Supreme Court held that under the California Arbitration Act (CAA), parties to an arbitration agreement may agree to expanded judicial review of an arbitration award for legal error, according to Cable...

Iowa City Officials Deny Newspaper’s Flood Damage Request

Sep 3 2008 // Cedar Rapids city officials said address-by-address flood damage data is not public record, despite a U.S. Circuit Court ruling in Florida in 2007 that said the data is public. An assistant city attorney in Cedar Rapids...

As Gustav Winds Down, New Orleans Eyes Damage

Sep 2 2008 // A still-largely deserted New Orleans Tuesday prepared to take stock of damage from Hurricane Gustav after rebuilt levees appeared to hold off a repeat of the flooding caused by Katrina three years earlier. Gustav roared...

U.S. Reinsurers Report Deteriorating Combined Ratio; Decline in Surplus

Sep 2 2008 // U.S. reinsurers reported a deteriorating combined ratio for the first-half 2008, compared to the first-half 2007 while net premiums were up over the same time period. The Reinsurance Association of America (RAA) released...

U.S. Chemical Makers Report Minimal Hurricane Gustav Damage

Sep 2 2008 // Major chemical makers in the U.S. said Tuesday that initial inspections indicate only slight damage to those facilities that were affected by Hurricane Gustav, but companies are still uncertain about when production is...

Estimate of Insured Losses from Gustav Between $2 and $4.5 Billion

Sep 2 2008 // One risk modeling firm estimates that insured losses to onshore properties in the U.S. are between $2 billion and $4.5 billion, with an expected loss of $3 billion due to Hurricane Gustav. According to AIR Worldwide...

Business Moves

Sep 1 2008 // Aon, Benfield Chicago-based Aon Corp. is acquiring UK-based broker Benfield Group Limited for about $1.75 billion. The price includes $6.55 (£3.50) per share in cash and assumption of $170 million (£91 million) of...

Business Moves

Sep 1 2008 // Aon, Benfield Chicago-based Aon Corp. is acquiring UK-based broker Benfield Group Limited for about $1.75 billion. The price includes $6.55 (£3.50) per share in cash and the assumption of $170 million (£91...

U.S.-Mexico Cross Border Trucking Project Extended for 2 More Years

Sep 1 2008 // In early August 2008 the U.S. Department of Transportation extended for two years the cross border trucking demonstration project, a reciprocal agreement that allows up to 100 Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate...

Jungle Love

Sep 1 2008 // Risk Management Strategies Based on Emulating Animals in the Jungle With such events as wildfires, the subprime mortgage fallout, and mergers and acquisitions, the corporate world can at times seem like a jungle. No one...

Will Baby Boomers Lead to Boost in Worker Woes?

Sep 1 2008 // Managing Risks With an Aging Workforce The aging and retirement of the Baby Boomer generation is creating a demographic transformation that will affect the staffs of insurance organizations, as well as their...