Latest USA Headlines

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

White House Says G8 Can’t Set Global Climate Goals Alone

Jul 2 2008 // The Group of Eight major industrialized countries (G8) meeting next week in Japan cannot by themselves set effective long-term world goals on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the White House said on Tuesday.“With...

S&P: Affirms QBE’s Ratings; Praetorian Upgraded to Core Status

Jul 2 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its insurer financial strength and counterparty credit ratings on holding company QBE Insurance Group Ltd. (currently rated ‘A-‘) and QBE’s core...

U.S. Agriculture Chief Cites Obstacles to Aid to Farmers Hurt by Flooding

Jul 2 2008 // The U.S. agriculture secretary says he is concerned that legal hurdles prevented much immediate federal help for Midwestern farmers faced with serious setbacks because of flooding.“I think everybody is frustrated...

Prosecutors Seek Joint Trial for La. Lawmaker Linked to Insurance Scam

Jul 2 2008 // A Louisiana state senator should be tried alongside the woman he allegedly helped launder money to hide her illegal operation of an insurance business, prosecutors argue in court papers filed June 30,State Sen. Derrick...

Walter Bell Appointed to Bermuda Monetary Authority’s Board

Jul 1 2008 // The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) announced that it has appointed Walter A. Bell to a position on its Board of Directors, as its first international member.The BMA regulates financial services for Bermuda-based...

Europe Ratings Recap: Montpelier Syndicate 5151, Alliance Int’l., Tryggingamidstödin

Jun 30 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its interactive Lloyd’s Syndicate Assessment (LSA) of ‘3-‘ (average dependency) to U.K.-based Montpelier Syndicate 5151 with a stable outlook....

High-Profile U.S. Trial Lawyer Scruggs Sentenced to 5 Years

Jun 30 2008 // A high-profile Mississippi lawyer, who became unpopular on Wall Street for battling powerful companies, was sentenced to five years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to conspiring to bribe a judge.Richard...

Allied World Assurance to Acquire Darwin Professional Underwriters

Jun 30 2008 // Bermuda-based Allied World Assurance Co., Ltd. has agreed to acquire Connecticut-based Darwin Professional Underwriters, Inc.Darwin offers specialty and primary professional lines coverages, which include health care...

New ‘Carbon Revolution’ Urged to Slow Global Warming

Jun 26 2008 // The world needs a shift as radical as the Industrial Revolution to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while safeguarding economic growth, the McKinsey Global Institute said on Thursday.Its study said that a modern...

Insurers, Tech Firms, Consumers Agree on Electronic Health Record Rules

Jun 26 2008 // A major consumer group, insurers together with Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday they have agreed to standards intended to speed adoption of personal electronic health records.The electronic medical record...

Supreme Court Rules $2.5 Billion Exxon-Valdez Damages Excessive

Jun 25 2008 // The Supreme Court Wednesday overturned the record $2.5 billion in punitive damages that Exxon Mobil Corp had been ordered to pay for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska.The nation’s highest court ruled that...

U.S. Medical Device Makers Fear Rise in State Lawsuits

Jun 24 2008 // The U.S. medical device industry’s worst short-term fear may be actor Dennis Quaid.Quaid last month urged Congress to preserve patients’ rights to sue drug and device makers in state courts, after his twin...

Cat Bond Markets Resist Credit Crunch

Jun 24 2008 // Forced asset sales that have frozen major markets in the credit crisis have caused barely a ripple in the $22 billion catastrophe bond market this year and instead only enhanced its liquidity.Goldman Sachs estimates...

U.S. Scientist Urges Emmissions Tax to Cut Greenhouse Gasses

Jun 24 2008 // The scientist who 20 years ago first told Congress that the Earth’s climate was warming said Monday that urgent action was needed to cut greenhouse gases and proposed a tax on carbon emissions.James Hansen, the...

ACE Comments on Impact of Midwest Floods on Crop Insurance Results

Jun 24 2008 // Bermuda-based ACE Limited has announced that, based on current estimates, the impact of the recent floods in the Midwestern U.S. “will have a negligible impact on both second quarter and full-year earnings per share...

Feds Warn 16 Mining Companies over Safety Issues

Jun 23 2008 // Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration officials said they told 16 U.S. mining companies they have patterns of violating health and safety rules and warned them to clean up their acts or face heightened...

Levees Hold Back Cresting Mississippi River; Aid Requests Mount

Jun 23 2008 // Walls and levees held back the cresting Mississippi River Sunday as requests for government aid poured in from homeowners and businesses swamped by the worst Midwest flooding in 15 years.Across from St. Louis, where the...

Port of New Orleans Braces for Storm Season with Satellite Office

Jun 23 2008 // The Port of New Orleans has set up a “satellite” office and taken steps in case another storm strikes the southern Louisiana coast during the 2008 hurricane season, an official said Friday.“We’ve...

Parents Sue Companies Over Baby Bottles

Jun 20 2008 // Four Ohio parents have filed a federal lawsuit against makers of baby bottles, claiming the bottles were made from a harmful chemical that sparked congressional hearings and prompted the world’s largest retailer to...

Insurance to Cover Settlement Between Okla. Town, Mentally Ill Man’s Estate

Jun 20 2008 // Officials in a Tulsa, Okla., suburb and the estate of a mentally ill man have settled a federal lawsuit over his August 2002 fatal shooting by police, officials said.Insurance coverage for the city of Owasso will cover the...