Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
AM Best Downgrades Argo’s Credit Ratings After a Disappointing Q4
Feb 27 2020 // Argo Group International Holdings, already reeling from a tough 2019 fourth quarter and year, now must deal with downgraded credit ratings from AM Best. The Bermuda-based specialty insurer and reinsurer had its long-term...
Self-Driving EasyMile Shuttles Suspended After Passenger Injury in Ohio
Feb 26 2020 // U.S. vehicle safety regulators on Feb. 25 said they had ordered a suspension of passenger operations for 16 autonomous shuttles operated by France-based EasyMile after a passenger was injured in an unexplained braking...
NiSource’s Columbia Gas to Pay $53M, Plead Guilty for Massachusetts Gas Explosions
Feb 26 2020 // Columbia Gas of Massachusetts has agreed to accept responsibility for the gas explosions on Sept. 13, 2018, in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover that killed one individual, injured 22, and damaged homes and...
Safety Board Hits Tesla Autopilot Design, Regulator’s ‘Misguided’ Approach
Feb 26 2020 // The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday sharply criticized Tesla Inc.’s lack of system safeguards in a fatal 2018 Autopilot crash in California and called U.S. regulators’ approach in overseeing the...
Board Finalizes Rule Scaling Back Joint Employer Liability for Franchisees, Contractors
Feb 25 2020 // A U.S. labor board on Tuesday finalized a rule that will make it more difficult to hold companies liable for unlawful labor practices by franchisees and contractors, reversing a more worker-friendly Obama-era standard...
Coronavirus Update: On Decline in China But of Rising Concern in South Korea, Italy, Iran
Feb 25 2020 // Iran’s coronavirus death toll rose to 16 on Tuesday, the most outside China, heightening its international isolation as dozens of worst-hit nations from South Korea to Italy accelerated emergency measures to curb the...
Federal Appeals Court in New York Approves of $6.7M Award to Graffiti Artists
Feb 25 2020 // A federal appeals court in New York gave its approval Thursday to a $6.7 million award for nearly two dozen graffiti artists whose spray paintings at a once-famous site that attracted thousands of spectators were destroyed...
Judge Wants Questions Answered on Plan to Remove Capsized Ship in Georgia
Feb 24 2020 // A federal judge on Friday ordered attorneys for the U.S. Coast Guard and a maritime salvage company to answer detailed questions about plans to remove an overturned cargo ship on the Georgia coast by sawing it into eight...
Wells Fargo to Pay $3B to U.S. to Settle Fake Accounts Scandal
Feb 24 2020 // Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay $3 billion to resolve criminal and civil probes into fraudulent sales practices and has admitted to pressuring employees in a fake-accounts scandal, U.S. officials said on Friday,...
Berkshire Hathaway P/C Insurance Profit Down in 2019
Feb 24 2020 // Full-year insurance results at Berkshire Hathaway disappointed in 2019, with after-tax earnings from underwriting falling to $325 million in 2019 compared to $1.6 billion in 2018. Earnings from primary insurance operations...
Agricultural Industry Looks to Dogs as the Next Crop Inspectors
Feb 24 2020 // Dogs specially trained by the federal government’s Agricultural Research Service scientists have proven to be the most efficient way to detect huanglongbing — also known as citrus greening — according to...
Judge Rules Army Corps Not Responsible for Harvey Flooding Damage
Feb 21 2020 // A federal judge has ruled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers isn’t liable to damage to thousands of Houston homes that were inundated by two federally owned reservoirs in the days following Hurricane Harvey because...
Lawmakers to Introduce Bipartisan Bill Aimed at Internet Firms’ Liability Shield
Feb 21 2020 // U.S. legislation will be introduced in the coming weeks that could hurt technology companies’ ability to offer end-to-end encryption, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, and it aims to curb the...
Russia Blamed for Massive Cyber Attack Against Nation of Georgia in 2019
Feb 21 2020 // Georgia accused Russian military intelligence of organizing a “paralyzing” cyber attack last year and called for a reaction by the international community. Russia’s GRU was behind the...
How One County Plans to Vet Insurers for Fossil Fuel Investments
Feb 20 2020 // “We have front row seats,” said Elise Jones, a Boulder County commissioner. Jones along with two other commissioners oversees government affairs in the Colorado county of 330,000 or so at the base of the...
Bills in Congress, States Seek to Curb Litigation Funding
Feb 20 2020 // Lawmakers in three states and in Congress have introduced bills to impose more controls on litigation funding companies, which insurers contend are one of the factors leading to an increase in “nuclear...
Attorney General Barr: Should Tech Giants Still Be Free From Liability for Content?
Feb 20 2020 // U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday questioned whether Facebook, Google and other major online platforms still need the immunity from legal liability that has prevented them from being sued over material their...
Coronavirus Raises Insurance Questions But Catastrophe-Tested Insurers Are Prepared
Feb 20 2020 // As the coronavirus outbreak continues to cause concern around the globe, the insurance industry is facing a potentially far-reaching impact but has the experience to handle what might come its way. Based on what the...
Activist Hedge Fund Elliott Investment Builds Stake in Dutch Insurer NN Group
Feb 20 2020 // Elliott Investment Management, U.S. billionaire Paul Singer’s activist hedge fund firm, has built up a 3.04% stake in Dutch insurer NN Group, a filing by the Dutch financial regulator AFM showed on...
Swiss Re 2019 Profit Hit by Natural Disasters, U.S. Casualty Claims
Feb 20 2020 // Reinsurer Swiss Re reported on Thursday a smaller-than-expected profit in 2019 due to claims for a series of man-made and natural disasters, as well as expenses for its U.S. casualty business, sending its shares lower. Net...
