Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
S&P Expects Government Lawsuit Over Its Pre-Crisis Credit Ratings
Feb 4 2013 // Standard & Poor’s said it expects to be the target of a U.S. Department of Justice civil lawsuit over its mortgage bond ratings, the first federal enforcement action against a credit rating agency over alleged...
Obama Offers Compromise on Birth Control Insurance Coverage
Feb 4 2013 // The Obama administration on Friday sought to settle a dispute with religious leaders over whether employees at faith-affiliated universities, hospitals and other institutions should have access to health insurance coverage...
Study: Manufacturing Driving Growth in Ohio
Feb 4 2013 // Manufacturing is again driving Ohio’s economic expansion, with more than half of the state’s counties dependent on the sector, according to a newspaper analysis. The Dayton Daily News reports that more than...
Plains States Remain in Severe Drought; Spring Crops in Jeopardy
Feb 1 2013 // The unrelenting drought gripping key farming states in the U.S. Plains shows no signs of abating, and it will take a deluge of snow or rain to restore critical moisture to farmland before spring planting of new crops, a...
Only 11 States Have Moved on Obamacare Health Regulations
Feb 1 2013 // Only 11 of the 50 U.S. states have moved to implement new consumer safeguards under President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, raising questions about how major health insurance reforms will be enforced, a report...
U.S. Commercial Insurance Prices to Firm in 2013: Marsh
Jan 30 2013 // Rates for commercial lines insurance will continue to rise in 2013 thanks to above average losses, low investment returns and receding reserve releases. However, according to a new report published by Marsh, traditional...
Public Adjuster Firm Upset with Florida Blogger’s Questioning of Name
Jan 30 2013 // A public adjusting firm is threatening to sue a Florida blogger who claims the adjusting firm is using a name that makes it sound like it is a government agency in soliciting business from homeowners insured by the...
Hearing Reviews West Virginia Gas Pipeline Explosion
Jan 30 2013 // To Sue Bonham, it was as if the world were coming to an end: A wall of flame had suddenly engulfed her West Virginia neighborhood. Amid a deafening roar, objects began crashing through her ceiling. Her home began melting...
ACE Limited Forecasts 2013 Profit below Estimates; Shares Drop
Jan 30 2013 // Insurer ACE Limited reported a 24 percent fall in quarterly operating profit, hurt by losses related to Superstorm Sandy, and forecast a full-year profit below analysts’ estimates. After-tax catastrophe losses...
Judge Approves BP Gulf Oil Spill Settlement
Jan 29 2013 // A U.S. judge has accepted an agreement by BP Plc to plead guilty for its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and pay $4.0 billion in penalties for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, a court official said on...
Less Than 50% of Small Businesses Offer Employee Benefits: LIMRA
Jan 29 2013 // Only 47 percent of small businesses (2-99 employees) in the United States offer benefits to their employees, the lowest level in two decades of research by the life insurance industry research organization LIMRA. According...
SEC Immune from Investors’ Suit Over Madoff, Says Appeals Court
Jan 29 2013 // Investors who said they lost money in Bernard Madoff’s fraud may not pursue a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for missing the swindler’s Ponzi scheme, a federal appeals court said on...
Fraud Concerns Linger Over Illinois Driver License Law
Jan 29 2013 // As Illinois becomes the fourth and most populous U.S. state to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, nagging concerns remain about whether there are enough safeguards to avoid the identity fraud and other...
Massive Floods Hit Queensland, New So. Wales; 4 Dead, Thousands Evacuated
Jan 29 2013 // Massive summer floods killed four people and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes across two Australian states on Tuesday, disrupting air and rail travel and coal production. A deluge fed by ex-tropical...
Judge Freezes Assets of Owners of Meningitis-Linked Pharmacy
Jan 28 2013 // A bankruptcy judge on Monday froze the assets of the owners of the pharmacy linked to a deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak. Orders signed by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Henry Boroff temporarily restrict the owners of New England...
Treasury Pay Czar Allowed Excessive Pay at Bailed-Out AIG, GM: Inspector General
Jan 28 2013 // The U.S. Treasury Department in 2012 failed to curb executive pay at companies rescued with taxpayer funds, the second straight year that it did not live up to its own rules, an internal watchdog said on Monday. The...
Drought Seen Worsening in Plains, Midwest States
Jan 28 2013 // Dry weather continues to plague the drought-stricken U.S. Plains and western Midwest with only light showers and snowfall expected this week, an agricultural meteorologist said on Monday. “The Plains and the...
Florida Too Slow with Obamacare Regulations, Say Democrats
Jan 28 2013 // Florida Democrats expressed frustration with state insurance regulators Friday, accusing them of dragging their feet on drafting policies to comply with the new federal health overhaul. For nearly two years after the...
Antigua May Use Trade Sanctions Against U.S. Copyrights
Jan 28 2013 // The tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda will tell the World Trade Organization on Monday that it intends to use trade sanctions against the United States, which it could enforce by allowing movie downloads without...
Best Affirms AIG, U.S. Property/Casualty Subs Ratings; Outlook Stable
Jan 28 2013 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb” of New York-based American International Group, Inc. (AIG), as well as the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and...
