Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
U.S. Asks Court to Approve CVS-Aetna Merger
Feb 26 2019 // The U.S. Justice Department formally asked a judge on Monday to approve its deal to allow CVS Health Corp. to merge with insurer Aetna. Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia scolded the...
Amazon Crash Points to Lax Safety for Cargo Operations Compared to Passenger Airlines
Feb 26 2019 // Passenger airlines in the U.S. have recorded a remarkable period of safety over the past 10 years. Not so the nation’s cargo planes. Five domestically registered aircraft have crashed since 2009 — killing 16...
How High-Pressure Insys Prescription Call Center Lied to Insurers to Sell Opioids
Feb 26 2019 // The goal for Insys Therapeutics Inc.’s call center in Phoenix was simple: persuade insurers to authorize at least 70 prescriptions a week of its expensive opioid spray. Workers would get bonuses for surpassing the...
Millions in China Penalized Under Communist’s ‘Social Credit’ System
Feb 25 2019 // Skipped paying a fine in China? Then forget about buying an airline ticket. Would-be air travelers were blocked from buying tickets 17.5 million times last year for “social credit” offenses including unpaid...
Anthem, Cigna in Court Battles Over Failed Merger
Feb 25 2019 // There’s no dispute that a $48.9 billion merger announced in 2015 between health insurers Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp. imploded two years later over antitrust concerns. Now, the question is whether one owes the other...
Illinois EPA Shuts Medical Instrument Sterilization Facility Due to Pollution
Feb 22 2019 // A suburban Chicago plant that sterilizes medical instruments with a chemical believed to be cancer causing has been shut by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The state EPA issued a seal order for Sterigenics...
U.S. Working with Mexico, Canada to Block African Swine Fever
Feb 22 2019 // The United States, Canada and Mexico are coordinating efforts to prevent the arrival of a highly contagious swine disease that has swept through China’s hog herd and parts of Europe, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny...
U.S. Wants Regional Response Teams for Oil Train Wrecks
Feb 22 2019 // Federal transportation officials are requiring railroads to establish regional response teams along oil train routes following a series of fiery derailments. The new rule is aimed at having crews and equipment ready in the...
Supreme Court Declines to Revive Wrongful Death Suit over Mississippi Police Shooting
Feb 22 2019 // The U.S. Supreme Court will not revive a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a black man shot to death by a white police officer in Mississippi. Antwun “Ronnie” Shumpert was killed in June 2016 in...
Shipping Company Fined $2M for Dumping Oily Waste into Gulf
Feb 21 2019 // A federal judge ordered a shipping company to pay $2 million in fines after one of its tankers illegally dumped oily waste into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. Interorient Marine Services Limited was fined...
NASA Warns SpaceX, Boeing on Space Program Safety Concerns
Feb 21 2019 // NASA has warned SpaceX and Boeing Co. of design and safety concerns for their competing astronaut launch systems, according to industry sources and a new government report, threatening the U.S. bid to revive its human...
One of Lawsuits by Kids Against Trump Climate Policies Dismissed
Feb 21 2019 // A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by two Pennsylvania boys and an environmental group seeking to stop U.S. President Donald Trump from rolling back regulations addressing climate change, saying the court does not...
AXA Reports 66% Drop in 2018 Net Profit on U.S. Unit’s IPO Costs, Natural Disasters
Feb 21 2019 // Net profits at AXA, Europe’s second biggest insurer, fell sharply as a result of charges related to its U.S. unit’s initial public offering (IPO) and a spate of natural disasters, although AXA hoped for higher...
Louisiana Flood Victims Still Waiting for Federal Recovery Grants
Feb 20 2019 // The month-long partial federal government shutdown likely further delayed aid grants to homeowners still trying to recover from the 2016 flooding, Louisiana’s top disaster recovery official said. As many as 6,000...
Ironshore’s Shrubb Joins AXA XL’s Terrorism Insurance Team in U.S.
Feb 20 2019 // Morgan Shrubb has joined AXA XL Insurance as underwriting manager for War, Terrorism & Political Violence insurance. Shrubb joins AXA XL from Ironshore International where she served as a production specialist, charged...
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case That Could Limit Clean Water Act
Feb 19 2019 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider limiting the scope of a landmark law aimed at curbing water pollution in a dispute pitting environmentalists against local authorities in Hawaii over a wastewater...
VW Wins Diesel Emissions Case in Germany Brought by Customer Who Plans Appeal
Feb 19 2019 // A German court on Tuesday ruled in favor of Volkswagen in a case brought by a customer seeking compensation for having bought a diesel car affected by emissions cheating, but the plaintiff’s lawyer plans to appeal. A...
China Abandons Pledge, Returns to Very Active Hacking of U.S., Report Says
Feb 19 2019 // China largely abandoned a hacking truce negotiated by Barack Obama as President Donald Trump embarked on a trade war with Beijing last year, according to the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike Inc. A slowdown in Chinese...
Accidents Could Ground Drone Industry, House Committee Chair Warns
Feb 18 2019 // The commercial drone industry could be torpedoed if there were a serious accident involving a drone and a commercial aircraft, the chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee...
Insurers Seek to Deny Boat Owner’s Claim in Rhode Island Case
Feb 18 2019 // The National Liability & Fire Insurance Co. and the Boat Owners Association of the United States are suing a Vermont man in federal court in Rhode Island and are seeking to deny his claim on an $85,000 policy for his...
