Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tropical Storm Epsilon Grows in Strength as It Heads Toward Bermuda
Oct 20 2020 // Tropical Storm Epsilon has formed in the central Atlantic and will move northwest, probably growing into a hurricane as it nears Bermuda late this week. Epsilon’s winds have reached 40 miles (64 kilometers) per hour...
Japan to Take Countermeasures to Prevent Cyber Attacks from Derailing Tokyo Games
Oct 20 2020 // Japan said on Tuesday it would take countermeasures to ensure next year’s Tokyo Olympics are not derailed by cyber attacks after Britain and the United States accused Russia of orchestrating efforts to disrupt the...
Midwest Farmers Receive Record Federal Aid, Crop Insurance Payments Under Trump
Oct 20 2020 // U.S. President Donald Trump is assuring a bumper year for farmers as the Nov. 3 election approaches, with record government subsidies projected to make up more than a third of farm income in 2020. The aid programs could be...
CDC Issues ‘Strong Recommendation’ for Mask-Wearing by All in Travel Settings
Oct 20 2020 // The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday issued a “strong recommendation” that all passengers and employees on airplanes, trains, subways, buses, taxis and ride-share vehicles should wear...
Trump EPA Saves Coal Plants Millions with Delay on Coal Ash Pond Closures
Oct 20 2020 // The Trump administration will let some leaking or otherwise dangerous coal ash storage ponds stay in operation for years more and some unlined ponds stay open indefinitely under a rule change announced last Friday. The...
U.S. Treasury Warns Cyber Liability Insurers Against Paying Ransomware Demands
Oct 19 2020 // The U.S. Treasury Department is warning that individuals or businesses that help facilitate ransomware payments may be violating anti-money laundering and sanctions regulations. The warnings came in a pair of advisories,...
Ridesharing Companies Spend Big in California to Oppose Even Costlier Gig Law
Oct 19 2020 // Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. together are spending nearly $100 million on a November California ballot initiative to overturn a state law that would compel them to classify drivers as employees. That sum looks less...
Commissioner: Oklahoma Completes First Insurance Business Transfer in U.S.
Oct 16 2020 // The District Court of Oklahoma County has approved Providence Washington Insurance Company (PWIC) to complete its Insurance Business Transfer (IBT) Plan, making it the first such transfer in the United States, according to...
FCC Chief Vows to Advance New Social Media Company Liability Rules
Oct 16 2020 // Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday the agency will move forward to set new rules to clarify the meaning of a key legal protection for social media companies. The announcement came as...
What 3Q Catastrophe Losses Mean for U.S. P/C Results
Oct 16 2020 // Driven by an elevated frequency of events during the quarter, third quarter natural catastrophe losses for the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry will be the largest since the third quarter of 2017, according to...
Catastrophe Risk Experts Estimate Up to $3B in U.S. Insured Losses from Delta
Oct 15 2020 // Two catastrophe risk and property data providers have estimated U.S. onshore insured losses from Hurricane Delta will come in at between $0.7 billion and $3 billion. Global property information, analytics and data provider...
States Oppose U.S. Settlement with Purdue Over OxyContin
Oct 15 2020 // A group of 25 state attorneys general oppose a settlement of U.S. opioid probes being negotiated with Purdue Pharma LP and members of the wealthy Sackler family who own it, arguing the deal would improperly entangle state...
Weighing Effects of Treasury’s Ransomware Pay Warnings on Cyber Victims and Insurers
Oct 15 2020 // Recent warnings from the U.S. Treasury about paying ransomware demands are unlikely to substantially change how cyber insurers cover or handle such situations, according to experts. However, the advisories are likely to up...
Canada’s Intact Rebrands OneBeacon, All North American Specialty Insurance as Intact
Oct 14 2020 // Intact Financial Corp. is bringing together its Canadian and U.S. specialty insurance operations under a single brand: Intact Insurance Specialty Solutions. The U.S. businesses had previously operated under the OneBeacon...
Radiation Near Fracking Sites Poses Potential But Not Extreme Health Risk
Oct 14 2020 // Radiation levels downwind of U.S. hydraulic fracturing drilling sites tend to be significantly higher than background levels, posing a potential health risk to nearby residents, according to a study by Harvard researchers...
Supreme Court Will Decide Constitutionality of Patent Appeal Board Appointments
Oct 14 2020 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to decide whether more than 100 technology disputes must be reheard because judges were unconstitutionally appointed to a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tribunal in a case arising...
AXIS Capital Estimates Q3 Pre-Tax Catastrophe Losses of $225M-$255M
Oct 14 2020 // AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. announced a preliminary pre-tax net loss estimate in the range of $225 million to $255 million ($190 million to $220 million, after-tax) for third quarter catastrophes and other events. This net...
Karen Clark & Co. Estimates $950M Insured Loss in U.S. from Delta
Oct 13 2020 // The catastrophe risk modeling firm Karen Clark & Co. (KCC) has estimated that the insured loss to onshore properties from Hurricane Delta will be close to $1.25 billion, which includes $950 million wind and storm surge...
The Impact of Political Risks on Businesses
Oct 13 2020 // Civil unrest incidents such as protests and riots are challenging terrorism as the main political risk exposure for companies. Recently, events such as the French “yellow vest” protests (insured losses around...
U.S. Dept. of Labor Orders Tennessee Restaurant Chain to Pay $563K in Back Wages
Oct 13 2020 // A small Tennessee restaurant chain has been ordered to pay $563,350 in back wages to 120 employees after the U.S. Department of Labor found it violated minimum wage and overtime rules. Don Pancho Mexican Restaurant kept a...
