Latest USA Headlines

All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.

U.S. Trial Set in Chevron Fraud Case Against Ecuador Lawyers

Oct 22 2012 // A U.S. trial has been set for next fall in a Chevron Corp lawsuit that accuses Ecuadorean residents, their lawyers, and advisers of fraud in obtaining a $19 billion pollution award against the U.S. oil company. U.S....

Meningitis Toll Rises; Pharmacy Owners Sued

Oct 22 2012 // Executives at the Boston-area pharmacy whose steroid shots have been linked to a deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak have been sued in a bid to freeze their personal assets, while the death toll in the scandal rose to 21, with...

Rebounding Economy Spurs Growth in Cargo, Supply Chain Risks

Oct 22 2012 // A slow trend toward economic recovery in the U.S. may mean good news/bad news for insurance agents and brokers who handle commercial accounts with cargo and supply chain vulnerabilities. The good news is growth in sales...

Declarations – South Central

Oct 22 2012 // Counterfeit Airbags “Anytime equipment that is critical to protecting drivers and passengers fails to operate properly, it is a serious safety concern.” —U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The National...

Gulf States Pressure Obama Over BP Funds

Oct 22 2012 // Senators from the U.S. Gulf Coast have urged President Barack Obama to ensure that any legal settlement for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill does not undermine a recently passed law that would funnel billions of dollars...

Declarations – Midwest

Oct 22 2012 // Counterfeit Airbags “Anytime equipment that is critical to protecting drivers and passengers fails to operate properly, it is a serious safety concern.” —U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The National...

Declarations – East

Oct 22 2012 // Policyholders’ Surplus “The $17.5 billion increase in policyholders’ surplus to a near-record-high $567.8 billion at June 30, 2012, is a testament to the strength and safety of insurers’ commitment...

Declarations – West

Oct 22 2012 // Fiscal Consequences “If you’re right about this, the consequences are enormous for the federal fisc.” –Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told John Jacobs, a lawyer whose client James Bormes had brought a...

Better Than Feared

Oct 22 2012 // It’s been four years now since what some were calling the Great Scare in October 2008, tying in the Halloween season with the ugly economic events unfolding during a time in which it appeared the U.S. could be...

Financial Oversight Panel Eyes Prudential As ‘Systemically Important’

Oct 19 2012 // The new U.S. risk council has moved closer to deciding whether Prudential Financial is “systemically important,” a Prudential spokesman said on Friday, a tag that would translate into greater regulatory...

Pennsylvania’s Health Insurance Exchange Plan Stalls

Oct 19 2012 // A state-run health insurance exchange is unlikely to be ready for a scheduled January 2014 rollout, Pennsylvania’s top insurance regulator said Wednesday. Insurance Commissioner Michael Consedine said development of...

California City Seeks to Cut Asthma Rate via ‘Social Impact’ Bond Issue

Oct 19 2012 // The city of Fresno, Calif., will be the first municipality in the United States to see whether “social impact bonds,” an innovative security that promotes a societal benefit, can be used to tackle a major...

Supreme Court Hears West Virginia Mine Widows’ Plea

Oct 19 2012 // Federal inspectors must share the blame — and therefore face a lawsuit — for a 2006 West Virginia coal mine fire that killed two miners, a lawyer for their widows argued at the state Supreme Court on Wednesday. Lawyer...

U.S. Weather Forecast: Winter to Continue Hot Weather Trend

Oct 19 2012 // After a hot spring and a scorching summer, this winter is likely to continue a U.S. warming trend that could make 2012 the hottest year since modern record-keeping began, U.S. weather experts said Thursday. Drought that...

‘Big One’ Looms in Minds of Experts Before California ShakeOut

Oct 18 2012 // A day before more than 9 million people in California took part in a massive nationwide earthquake drill on Thursday, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones stood in a room full of risk professionals in the San...

Texas Landowners Take a Rare Stand Against Big Oil

Oct 18 2012 // Oil has long lived in harmony with farmland and cattle across the Texas landscape, a symbiosis nurtured by generations and built on an unspoken honor code that allowed agriculture to thrive while oil was extracted. Proud...

Weak El Nino Could Affect U.S. Weather in Coming Months

Oct 18 2012 // Ocean temperatures may enter a weak El Nino pattern this winter, which could affect U.S. weather in coming months, government forecasters said on Thursday. The El Nino weather pattern, which is usually associated with...

Ally Financial to Sell Mexican Insurance Business to ACE

Oct 18 2012 // Auto lender Ally Financial, which is 74 percent-owned by the U.S. government, will sell its Mexican insurance business to insurance and reinsurance company ACE Ltd for $865 million in cash as it looks to focus on its U.S....

Chairman Nelson Talks About the Future of Lloyd’s

Oct 16 2012 // Lloyd’s of London Chairman John Nelson knew when he acceded to his post one year ago that his predecessor, Lord Peter Levene, would be a hard act to follow. Levene served for nine years and oversaw significant...

Insurance Industry’s Text-to-Give Campaign Supports 4 Charities

Oct 15 2012 // A new text-to-give campaign as part of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Week of Giving will generate donations for four well-known national nonprofits. During October, insurance employees can donate $5...