Latest USA Headlines

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

US Lawmaker Asks Tuvalu to Stop Reflagging Iran Oil Tankers

Jul 10 2012 // A prominent U.S. lawmaker has asked the small South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu to stop reflagging Iranian oil tankers and warned its government of the risks of running afoul of U.S. sanctions.The European Union banned...

Endurance Promotes Bigley to Senior VP, Head of U.S. Property Cat Reinsurance

Jul 10 2012 // Bermuda-based Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd has promoted David Bigley to senior vice president and head of U.S. Property Catastrophe Reinsurance. Endurance also announced that Rene Lamer and Stefan Beine, both senior...

June’s Severe Weather Losses Near $2 Billion in U.S.: Aon Benfield

Jul 10 2012 // U.S. severe weather insurance losses were close to $2 billion in June, according to Aon Benfield’s Global Catastrophe Report.Published by Aon’s Impact Forecasting, the report analyzes the natural disaster...

Midwest Heat Wave Eases But Drought Threatens Corn Crop

Jul 9 2012 // The withering U.S. corn crop is gaining some respite from a record heat wave this week but new weather forecasts offered scant signs of the rainfall it urgently needs to avoid the worst drought damage in nearly a quarter...

Corn Belt Fears Large Crop Loss from Heat Wave, Drought Conditions

Jul 9 2012 // Fears are rising that grain crops in the core of the U.S. Corn Belt – the top corn-producing region in the world – will suffer big losses that are already causing farmers to plow up fields in other regions of...

Ratings Recap: Kuwait Re, Ageas, Al Fajer Re, Generali (Notes)

Jul 6 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a-” of Kuwait Reinsurance Company K.S.C. (Closed), but...

Storms Knock Out Power in East; Heat Threatens Corn Crop in Midwest

Jul 6 2012 // Six days after violent storms hit the eastern United States, the state of West Virginia was struggling to recover on Thursday, with nearly a third of electricity customers still without power and new storms putting more...

Judge Who Nixed Apple-Motorola Trial Questions Need for Software Patents

Jul 5 2012 // The U.S. judge who tossed out one of the biggest court cases in Apple Inc.’s smartphone technology battle is questioning whether patents should cover software or most other industries at all.Richard Posner, a...

Heat Wave Continues to Take Toll in Eastern States

Jul 5 2012 // About 1.3 million homes and businesses in the eastern United States remained without power amid a heat wave on Tuesday, and storm damage and high temperatures forced many Fourth of July celebrations to be canceled.Violent...

Kansas Governor, Insurance Chief at Odds on Health Care

Jul 2 2012 // Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said he wants to wait until after the presidential election to comply with a key provision of the federal health care overhaul upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, but the state’s Republican...

Republican Leaders Vow Healthcare Law Repeal

Jul 2 2012 // The two top Republicans in Congress vowed on Sunday to push ahead with efforts to repeal President Barack Obama’s healthcare law despite the Supreme Court upholding it, but the White House said it is time to stop...

P/C Industry Should Not Expect Traditional Hard Market Soon: Hartwig

Jul 2 2012 // Although insurance rates have been drifting upward in recent months, the property/casualty industry is unlikely to see a return to the traditional hard market this year or next, an insurance expert told reinsurance...

Declarations – South Central

Jul 2 2012 // He Owed Them‘I owed it to each writer to consider them.” —U.S. District Judge David Hittner comments on the 350 letters he received from investors defrauded by former billionaire Allen Stanford that detailed...

Swiss Re Chief Economist Sees Stronger U.S. Economy by Year End

Jul 2 2012 // On the heels of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain the target fed funds rate at zero to 25 basis points Swiss Re’s Chief Economist, Kurt Karl, said: “The U.S. economy has been weak recently,...

Congress Agrees on Multi-Year Flood Insurance Extension, Reforms

Jun 29 2012 // The U.S. House of Representatives passed a massive bill on Friday combining funding for transportation programs, low-interest student loans, and the National Flood Insurance Program. On a 373-52 vote, the House sent the...

N.Y. Health Plans Continue as U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Obama Law

Jun 29 2012 // State health officials are moving forward with plans to establish an insurance exchange intended to extend coverage to some 2.7 million New Yorkers without it.In April, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order to...

Louisiana Officials’ Reaction to Health Ruling Mostly Negative

Jun 29 2012 // Louisiana officials weighed on the June 28 Supreme Court ruling upholding President Barack Obama’s health care law. A look at some of the comments: Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican: “Today’s decision is a...

Oklahoma’s Delegation Reacts to Health Care Ruling

Jun 29 2012 // Republican members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation are decrying the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the federal health care law.U.S. Rep Tom Cole says the court has spoken — and it’s up...

Former Fugitive Doctor in U.S. Custody, Facing Fraud

Jun 29 2012 // A doctor who spent a dozen years on the run from federal fraud charges in Illinois has been returned to the United States from Peru.Sixty-five-year-old Dr. Juan Rios was arraigned in federal court in East St. Louis....

Devall to Lead London Business for Crawford’s U.S. Property/Casualty Unit

Jun 29 2012 // Longtime London market executive James B. Devall has joined Crawford & Co. in its Dallas office to lead the company’s London-fronted business in the U.S.As vice president and managing director of London program...