Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
U.S. Cites 24 Violations in Fatal Blast at Texas Plant in April
Oct 10 2013 // The fertilizer facility in Texas that exploded earlier this year, killing 15 people, was cited yesterday by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 24 violations of worker safety protections and issued a...
Financial Stability Regulators Discuss Debt Limit, Government Shutdown
Oct 10 2013 // U.S. financial regulators discussed the federal debt ceiling and the effect of the government shutdown on market monitoring during a phone conversation on Tuesday, a Treasury Department spokesman said. The Financial...
Progressive: Investment Income Slips; Premiums and Auto Policies Up
Oct 10 2013 // Progressive Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. auto insurer, said profit dropped 16 percent as investment income declined for a 12th straight quarter. Third-quarter net income decreased to $232.4 million, or 39 cents a share,...
Report: $189B in Western U.S. Properties High Wildfire Potential
Oct 10 2013 // Despite a little touch of some wetter and cooler weather, the 2013 wildfire season isn’t over, and the Western states in particular should be prepared for a few more potentially active months. That’s according...
Regulators Map Out First Capital Blueprint for Large Insurers
Oct 10 2013 // The world’s largest insurers could be forced to raise fresh capital under rules proposed by regulators on Wednesday that echo measures imposed on the banks to avert another financial crisis. The insurance industry...
Zurich Launches Side A D&O Coverage for Corporate Leaders in the U.S. and Abroad
Oct 10 2013 // Zurich has introduced a new Side A D&O policy that addresses the evolving litigation landscape and provides coverage for liability exposures in the global marketplace, including China, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and India....
N.J. Group Urges Gov’t to Establish Extreme Weather Superfund for Future Disasters
Oct 9 2013 // A New Jersey-based nonprofit group is calling on the federal government to establish a permanent funding source to prepare for future natural catastrophes. The group, called US Strong, says in its new report that an...
Virginia Families in Chinese Drywall Case Forging Ahead
Oct 9 2013 // Seven Virginia families fighting for compensation over Chinese drywall that wrecked their homes have their eyes on Louisiana this week, where a federal appeals court will hear arguments over whether the manufacturer of the...
Shutdown Sidelines Safety Inspectors of Workplaces, Mines, Nursing Homes and More
Oct 9 2013 // The partial shutdown of the U.S. government has sidelined thousands of inspectors who monitor everything from air and water pollution to safety hazards at factories and the condition of nursing homes. Federal law requires...
Ratings Recap: Sirius, Sunderland Marine, Flagstone Re, Atradius, AmerInst
Oct 9 2013 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of Sweden’s Sirius International...
Marketing, Not Medicine, Boosts Robotic Surgery, Misrepesents Safety
Oct 9 2013 // Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver announced last year that Warren Kortz, a general surgeon on the medical staff, was the first in the Rocky Mountain region to use a technique known as robotic surgery to remove gall...
Swiss Re’s Head of Casualty Jayne Plunkett Explains Why It’s a ‘Social Science’
Oct 8 2013 // Jayne Plunkett, possibly the second most well-known person from Iowa after Bill Bryson, heads Swiss Re’s International casualty reinsurance operations. In the interview she explains that, as you’re dealing with...
Montpelier Re Sub Blue Capital Re Files for IPO
Oct 8 2013 // Bermuda-based Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. and its wholly owned subsidiary Blue Capital Reinsurance Holdings Ltd. have announced that Blue Capital Re “has publicly filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the...
BP, Government Spar Over How Much Oil Spilled Into Gulf
Oct 8 2013 // Lawyers for BP Plc and the federal government sparred on Monday over the methods competing teams of scientists used to estimate the size of the company’s 2010 oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. U.S. District Judge...
Insurers Worried About Data From Federal Health Exchange
Oct 8 2013 // Insurers are getting faulty and incomplete data from the new U.S.-run health exchange, which may mean some Americans won’t be covered even after they sign up for an insurance plan. While it’s not clear how...
Supreme Court Rejects Tobacco Companies’ Appeal of Florida Case
Oct 7 2013 // The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the tobacco industry’s appeal of a Florida ruling that may help thousands of smokers sue cigarette makers over smoking-related illnesses. The nation’s highest court today turned...
Energy Industry Liability May Cover Contamination Claims from Colorado Flooding
Oct 7 2013 // Colorado residents and businesses face devastating water inundation that many are dubbing a one-in-500-years weather event. Nearly 2,400 square miles were saturated with water causing massive dislocation and loss of life....
Clash at Trial: Did BP Lie About Size of Gulf Oil Spill?
Oct 7 2013 // In the frantic days after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP lied about how much oil was leaking from its Macondo well and took too long to cap it, plaintiffs’ lawyers said at the opening of the second phase of...
People – South Central
Oct 7 2013 // Shreveport, La.-based Specialty Risk Associates Inc. hired three new commercial lines underwriters – Ryan Gore, Laura Schlidt and Patti Haigler. Prior to joining Specialty Risk Associates, Gore worked in underwriting...
EU-U.S. Trade Talks Halted by Shutdown, Complicated by Financial Services Rift
Oct 6 2013 // Even before the cancellation of the latest round of EU-U.S. talks, negotiations to create the world’s largest free-trade deal were getting into difficulty territory. France won a concession to leave European movies...
