Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
TERRORISM INSURANCE
BY PHILIP FINE
US President George W. Bush has signed a bill to shield insurance companies from having to foot the entire bill of large-scale terrorist activities in the USA. For the next three years, the Terrorism Insurance Act of 2002 will require the federal government to cover potential damages for up to US$90 billion (£57 billion) annually.…
NEW YORK AIRPORT ARRESTS
BY PHILIP FINE
IN its ongoing scrutiny of potential breeches of security at airports, US law enforcement has charged at least 118 workers at New York City’s Kennedy and La Guardia airports with lying about their backgrounds in order to secure a job.…
TERROR INSURANCE
BY PHILIP FINE
A NEW American law that shields insurance companies from large-sale terrorist attacks could spark some courtroom battles for ship-owners, as it offers little legal certainty for maritime cover, specialists have claimed.
For the next three years, the Terrorism Insurance Act of 2002 will require the US federal government to cover potential damages for up to US$90 billion (GBPounds 57 billion) annually.…
AUSTRALIA - US TRADE DEAL
BY PHILIP FINE
AMERICA’S National Milk Producers Federation has come out against a
recently-announced free trade agreement between Australia and the United
States. Next February, the two governments will be entering trade negotiations, with the goal of completing a bilateral free trade pact by 2004.…
FLORIDA CASE
BY PHILIP FINE
The US insurance industry is appealing against a decision by a Florida court that gave the go-ahead for a countrywide class-action suit over rules forcing policy-holders to repair cars with generic spares. The county’s four principal insurance associations claim a successful lawsuit would contravene the jurisdictional right of each state to manage their own insurance.…
SHIP SECURITY CODE
BY KEITH NUTHALL, PHILIP FINE and ALAN OSBORN
THE NEW International Code for the Security of Ships and Port Facilities, agreed by an International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Diplomatic Conference, held in London, aims at reducing the industry’s exposure to terrorist attacks and resulting damage.…
FLORIDA MALPRACTICE
BY PHILIP FINE
A TASK-FORCE established in the US state of Florida is discussing the possibility of placing a limit on the money paid out in malpractice lawsuits because of concerns that the resulting awards are bleeding the local health insurance industry.…
PHILIP MORRIS CASE
BY PHILIP FINE
THE AMERICAN tobacco unit of cigarette giant Philip Morris has launched civil legal cases against a number of small shop retailers in the USA who it alleges have been selling counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes. The company has instigated 15 lawsuits against 88 retailers after undercover agents for Philip Morris USA purchased cigarettes and then had them tested.…
PRODIGENE FINE
BY PHILIP FINE
PRODIGENE, the American company that, last month (November, 2002), accidentally mixed up its pharmaceutical corn with soybean destined for the food supply, has been fined US$250,000 (GBPounds158,000). In addition, the company will reimburse the US Department of Agriculture for all costs to acquire approximately 500,000 bushels of soybeans, destroy the beans and clean the contaminated Nebraska facility where the mixing took place.…
JELLY MINI CUPS
BY PHILIP FINE
NEW Choice Food, an American maker of the jelly mini cups associated with choking deaths of children, was recently ordered to destroy a half-million dollars US (£312,000) worth of conjac gel sweets under the supervision of the US Food and Drug
Administration.…