Latest USA Headlines

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

Special Reuters Report: Oil Spill a Gusher for Lawyers; Litigation May Take Years

Jun 30 2010 // BP payout should far exceed what Exxon spent on Valdez The company’s $20 billion fund may not be enough Accountability may take years if not decades to assess Many federal laws allow civil, criminal liability From a...

More Oil Spills to Come, Says Professor

Jun 30 2010 // The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is not simply a random accident. There will be more of these spills to come, as the days of easy oil are over, says an anthropologist at Washington University in St....

Neal Bill, HR 3424, Proponents and Opponents Trade Salvoes

Jun 29 2010 // When U.S. Representative Richard Neal (D-MA) introduced, or more properly reintroduced, HR 3424, a bill aimed at closing what its proponents describe as a “loophole” in the U.S. tax code, he ignited, or more...

Pope Seeks to Avoid Deposition in Kentucky Negligence Case

Jun 29 2010 // The Vatican is asking a federal judge to reject an attempt to question Pope Benedict XVI under oath in a Kentucky sex abuse lawsuit on the grounds that there has been no evidence of a link to church officials in Rome.The...

Hurricane Alex to Hamper BP’s Gulf Oil Disaster Containment Effort

Jun 29 2010 // Tropical Storm Alex is expected to reach hurricane strength on Tuesday, with high winds and vast waves set to hamper BP Plc’s latest efforts to contain the largest oil spill in U.S. history.Shares in London-based...

Supreme Court Upholds But Criticizes Business Method Patents Ruling

Jun 28 2010 // The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling refusing to give a patent for a business method, but also criticized the prevailing standard for deciding whether to allow such patents.The case, involving a system for hedging...

Supreme Court Partially Strikes Down SOX Accounting Board

Jun 28 2010 // The Supreme Court Monday struck down part of a law to prevent fraud committed by companies like Enron and WorldCom, saying a board to police public companies’ auditors violated the Constitution.But the ruling left...

New Lawsuit Filed Over 2007 Utah Mine Disaster

Jun 28 2010 // Six U.S. insurance companies and Lloyd’s of London are suing for reimbursement of millions of dollars for equipment abandoned inside a Utah mine that collapsed in 2007, killing six miners and three rescuers.The suit...

Highlights of U.S. Financial Reforms

Jun 25 2010 // A U.S. Senate-House of Representatives panel has completed a bill overhauling financial regulation. It must now win approval in each chamber before it can go to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.Here is a brief...

A Look at the More Than 240 Lawsuits Against BP in U.S.

Jun 25 2010 // BP Plc faces at least 243 U.S. lawsuits so far arising from its role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, in what is considered by some the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history.The vast majority of the lawsuits have...

USLI Expanding with Retail Agent Distribution; No Longer Exclusively Wholesale

Jun 25 2010 // After years of doing business exclusively though wholesale brokers, United States Liability Insurance Group (USLI) is expanding its distribution to work directly with retail insurance agencies.“We are expanding our...

Google, YouTube Beat Copyright Challenge from Viacom

Jun 24 2010 // Google Inc. won a landmark victory over media companies as a Manhattan federal judge threw out Viacom Inc.’s $1 billion lawsuit accusing the Internet company of allowing copyrighted videos on its YouTube service...

More U.S. Firms Buying Terrorism Insurance; Prices Decline: Marsh

Jun 24 2010 // U.S. terrorism insurance purchase rates continued to climb in 2009 as companies of all sizes and across all industries continued to buy terrorism coverage, according to a report by global broker Marsh.Sixty-one percent of...

Aegon May Sell Transamerica Re; to Concentrate on UK Units

Jun 23 2010 // Dutch insurer Aegon NV is considering the sale of its U.S.-based Transamerica Reinsurance unit but has decided not to sell its UK arm, as it seeks to concentrate on its most profitable activities.Aegon said on Tuesday any...

Sorenson is New I.I.S. Chairman

Jun 23 2010 // The Board of Directors of the International Insurance Society (IIS), at their annual meeting in Madrid, announced the election of Norman R. Sorensen, President – International Asset Management and Accumulation,...

P/C Insurers Return to Profitability in Q1 With $8.9B in Net Income

Jun 23 2010 // The property/casualty industry returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2010 despite continuing declines in both written premiums and earned premiums.Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after...

Knauf, Plaintiffs Agree to Settlements in Chinese Drywall Cases

Jun 23 2010 // A couple of cases related to damages caused by defective Chinese-manufactured drywall have reached settlement in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.According to a court document signed by Judge Eldon E....

Supreme Court Rejects Pfizer Punitive Damages Appeal

Jun 22 2010 // The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Pfizer Inc.’s appeal of a ruling that ordered a retrial on how much punitive damages should be awarded to a woman who developed breast cancer after taking the company’s hormone...

Insurers Revive Cat Bond Market

Jun 21 2010 // Insurers are issuing catastrophe bonds again to complement traditional and cheaper reinsurance and to spread the risks in buying protection against events that could cost them tens of billions of dollars in claims.The...

BP Partner Anadarko Places All Blame for Oil Disaster on BP

Jun 21 2010 // As BP Plc rushed to raise cash to pay for the Gulf of Mexico disaster, a partner in the out-of-control well said the British company was likely guilty of “willful misconduct” and should shoulder the financial...