Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Apple Loses Univ. of Wisconsin Patent Lawsuit
Oct 14 2015 // Apple Inc. could be facing up to $862 million in damages after a U.S. jury on Oct. 13 found the iPhone maker used technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s licensing arm without permission in chips...
Hamilton USA CEO Ward Resigns
Oct 14 2015 // Hamilton USA CEO Conan Ward has resigned less then two years after taking on the job to develop Bermuda-based parent company Hamilton Insurance Group’s U.S. operations, Carrier Management has reported. Hamilton...
Trial Update: Ex-Massey CEO Blankenship Downplayed Black-Lung Threat to Miners
Oct 14 2015 // Ex-Massey Energy Chief Executive Officer Donald Blankenship downplayed the threat that miners develop black-lung disease in shafts choked with coal dust, jurors in the executive’s criminal trial heard in a recorded...
Nonmedical Opioid Use Declines But Prescription Disorders, Deaths Rise: JAMA
Oct 13 2015 // New research suggests that while new medical guidelines and increased public awareness of problems with the use of opioids to treat chronic pain may be helping to slow the number of new opioid users, the prevalence of...
EEOC Sues Penn.’s Open Records Office for Alleged Age Discrimination
Oct 13 2015 // The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said on Oct. 7 that it has filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s Office of Public Records for allegedly violating federal law when it refused to hire an...
U.S. Says CSX Missed Rail Defect Blamed For Oil Train Derailment
Oct 13 2015 // A fiery oil train derailment that forced the evacuation of hundreds of people in West Virginia last February was caused by a rail defect that railroad inspectors from CSX Corp. missed twice in the preceding months, U.S....
Secret CEO Recordings Allowed in Massey Mine Blast Trial
Oct 12 2015 // Donald Blankenship’s own words may come to haunt the former Massey Energy Co. chief executive officer at his criminal trial as a federal judge said prosecutors can let the jury hear conversations secretly recorded...
Drugs Prices Much Higher in U.S. Than in Other Countries: Research
Oct 12 2015 // U.S. prices for the world’s 20 top-selling medicines are, on average, three times higher than in Britain, according to an analysis carried out for Reuters. The finding underscores a transatlantic gulf between the...
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Approves Quebec Oil Train Crash Settlement
Oct 12 2015 // A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Friday approved a settlement that clears the way for payments to victims of Canada’s Lac-Megantic crude-by-rail derailment, according to the trustee for the insolvent railway at the heart...
Federal Attorneys to Appeal Katrina Flooding/MRGO Ruling
Oct 11 2015 // Federal attorneys filed notice on Oct. 9 that they will appeal a judge’s ruling that the U.S. government is responsible for some of the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina and other storms — flooding blamed on...
U.S. Senator from Nevada Suing Exercise Band Maker over Eye Injury
Oct 9 2015 // U.S. Sen. Harry Reid is suing a company that makes and markets a flexible exercise band that he says slipped from his hand, causing him to fall and suffer eye, face and rib injuries on New Year’s Day. A lawsuit filed...
Ex-Senator Nelson to Exit NAIC Leadership Post
Oct 9 2015 // Former U.S. Senator Ben Nelson will not renew his contract as chief executive officer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the group announced. Nelson’s current term ends on Jan. 31, 2016....
Massey Mines Alerted Workers When Safety Inspectors on Site: Testimony
Oct 9 2015 // Massey Energy executives used an advanced warning system at the company’s Upper Big Branch mine to alert workers as soon as federal inspectors arrived on site, a former miner testified Thursday at the criminal trial...
California Wildfire Claims Top $1B as Peak Season Begins: Report
Oct 8 2015 // A report forecasts claims from two California wildfires last month will exceed $1 billion. Wildfires in 2015 have caused more damage and financial loss in the U.S. than in any other year since 2007, according to the...
Now, Volkswagen’s Injury Reporting Being Questioned
Oct 8 2015 // Volkswagen AG reported death and injury claims at the lowest rate of any major automaker in the U.S. over the last decade. The numbers are so good that some industry experts wonder if they add up. The average reporting...
Supreme Court Deals Blow to Insider Trading Prosecutors
Oct 8 2015 // The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a major insider-trading ruling that threatens at least 10 convictions and creates what the Obama administration calls a road map for securities fraud. Rejecting an administration appeal...
West Virginia Files Suit Against Volkswagen Over Clean Diesel Claims
Oct 7 2015 // West Virginia may be the first U.S. state to sue Volkswagen AG for deceiving car buyers after the Environmental Protection Agency said last month that the company had installed software to hide that its diesel engines...
Former Georgia Peanut Managers Get Prison Time for Salmonella Outbreak
Oct 7 2015 // Two former managers of a Georgia peanut plant were sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a deadly salmonella outbreak, though the men received far less time behind bars than the ex-boss they helped convict. A U.S....
Conn. High Court Reinforces Protections for Private Sector Whistleblowers
Oct 6 2015 // Connecticut’s highest court made it easier for private sector workers to bring whistleblower claims against their employers without fear of retaliation, ruling in a case brought by a former UBS AG real estate...
Emission Scandal Puts VW Test Site in California Under Scrutiny
Oct 6 2015 // When Volkswagen opened its gleaming pollution testing center near the California coast, a top executive from the German automaker helped snip the blue ribbon and joined a tour of a lab so advanced that VW would brag the...
