Reinsurance provider Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd. on Tuesday reported a hefty first-quarter loss due to natural disasters in Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

A tornado-spewing storm system that killed at least two dozen people across half the country unleashed its worst fury on North Carolina, where homes broke apart, trees snapped, and livestock were swept into the air.

A powerful storm system that ripped across the country's midsection Friday killed six people including two children in Arkansas and Oklahoma, before taking a bead on the Deep South.

A powerful storm system that ripped across the country's midsection Friday killed six people including two children in Arkansas and Oklahoma, before taking a bead on the Deep South.

The administrator of BP's $20 billion oil spill fund says Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood could undermine the claims process by urging a court to intervene and by making allegations that border on defamation.

The storm system that hit northern and central Wisconsin on Sunday now has a place in the record book, with the 10 tornadoes tying the April record set in 1984, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday.

Firefighters battled Monday to contain several large blazes that have burned hundreds of square miles of rural Texas and destroyed dozens of homes since last week.

Allied World Assurance Co. said on Monday that it expects about $75 million in losses and loss expenses from last month's earthquake and tsunami in Japan.