Latest USA Headlines

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

16 States Face High Risk of Earthquakes

Jul 20 2014 // Sixteen states are at high risk of damaging earthquakes over the next 50 years and certain areas of the United States face a higher threat of temblors than previously thought, a federal geological survey agency said.The...

Trucking Company Owner Pleads Guilty in Missouri to Cargo Theft Scheme

Jul 18 2014 // A Memphis, Tenn., business owner pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a cargo theft scheme that included a theft in West Plains, Mo.Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri,...

Mine Safety Agency Settles with 2 West Virginia Miners’ Widows

Jul 18 2014 // The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit over the deaths of two miners in a 2006 fire at an underground coal mine in West Virginia, according to court documents.Under...

Liberty Mutual Inks Reinsurance Deal with Berkshire’s National Indemnity

Jul 18 2014 // Liberty Mutual Insurance said it has reached a deal with National Indemnity Co. (NICO), a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., on a combined aggregate adverse development cover for substantially all of Liberty...

Malaysia Airlines Plane Crash Insurance May Pose Quandary

Jul 18 2014 // Insurance on the Malaysian airliner brought down over Ukraine on Thursday is likely to pay out relatively quickly, provided that the cause of the crash is firmly determined, but observers say the loss of of 295 lives...

New York AG Proposes Bill to Blunt Effect of Hobby Lobby Ruling

Jul 17 2014 // New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and the state’s Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said today they would propose legislation that would help to shield New York women from the...

Automakers Race to Be First With Driverless Cars

Jul 17 2014 // Nissan Motor Co. will introduce cars that park themselves by 2016, Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said, as the Japanese carmaker rushes to be among the first to offer automated driving.The feature, along with...

Fitch Forecasts Shrinking P/C Insurer Profits

Jul 17 2014 // Fitch Ratings is forecasting that 2014 will end up as the second consecutive year of underwriting profits for the property/casualty industry with modest increase in the combined ratio. But the results for 2014 won’t...

Computers at Growing Risk of Hijack by Botnet Viruses, U.S. Says

Jul 17 2014 // The threat posed by criminal hackers who use networks of secretly hijacked computers has increased “dramatically” over the past several years, a top U.S. Justice Department prosecutor testified Tuesday.Leslie...

Integro Appoints New U.S. Leadership in Boston, New York

Jul 16 2014 // Ruth KilduffInsurance brokerage and risk management firm Integro appointed Ruth Kilduff as chairman, and Anne Anderson as president of its United States operations, Integro USA. Both Kilduff and Anderson are Integro...

NAIC Roadshow to Tout State Regulation to U.S., Foreign Policymakers

Jul 16 2014 // The nation’s organization of state insurance regulators is launching an educational program to sell U.S. and foreign leaders and the public on the virtues of the 150-year old state-based insurance regulatory...

S&P Affirms Argo Group US & Operating Companies Ratings; Outlook Stable

Jul 16 2014 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on U.S.-based intermediary holding company Argo Group US Inc. (AGUS) and its U.S. operating subsidiaries to stable from negative.S&P also affirmed...

Miami Judge Nixes Ban on Lender Suits Against Fontainebleau Officers

Jul 15 2014 // The Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC bankruptcy trustee may never win court approval for an $83.3 million settlement of lawsuits against former officers, directors and managers.U.S. Bankruptcy Judge A. Jay Cristol in Miami...

Iowa Agent Gets 41 Months in Prison for Defrauding Insurance Companies

Jul 15 2014 // A former Des Moines, Iowa, insurance agent was sentenced to 41 months in prison for insurance fraud, the Iowa Insurance Division announced.Melissa Ilene Williams, of Dike, Iowa, also was ordered to pay restitution for...

Oil, Rail Firms Propose Phasing Out Old Tank Cars

Jul 15 2014 // The oil industry and the railroads that haul its crude have offered U.S. regulators a joint plan to phase out a type of older tank car tied to a spate of fiery accidents, according to two people familiar with the...

$1 Billion Highway Guardrail Trial Underway This Week

Jul 14 2014 // Trinity Industries Inc. will have 13 hours this week to fight allegations its highway guardrail systems are a deadly hazard that spear cars on impact, with as much as $1 billion at stake for the company.U.S. District Judge...

Uber and Lyft Accelerate Cash Battle to Recruit Drivers

Jul 14 2014 // Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. are racing to recruit drivers to spur the growth of their ride- sharing businesses. Stefanie Leifer recently found herself caught in the middle.Leifer has worked for San Francisco-based...

Generali to Sell BSI Unit to BTG Pactual for $1.7 Billion

Jul 14 2014 // Assicurazioni Generali SpA agreed to sell its Swiss private-banking unit BSI Group to Grupo BTG Pactual for CHF1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) as Italy’s biggest insurer seeks to boost capital.Generali will receive CHF1.2...

Progressive Insurance Profit Down as Investment Gains Narrow

Jul 11 2014 // Progressive Corp., the fourth- largest U.S. car insurer, said second-quarter profit fell 9.6 percent as investment gains narrowed.Net income dropped to $293.4 million, or 49 cents a share, from $324.6 million, or 54 cents,...

Judge Allows $1B Malpractice Claim Against PwC Over MF Global Collapse

Jul 11 2014 // A federal judge on Wednesday rejected PricewaterhouseCoopers’ request to dismiss a $1 billion lawsuit accusing the auditor of providing bad accounting advice that contributed to the October 2011 collapse of MF Global...