A Florida jury has slammed the nation's No. 2 cigarette maker, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., with $23.6 billion in punitive damages in a lawsuit filed by the widow of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer in 1996.
The case is one of thousands filed in Florida after the state Supreme Court in 2006 tossed out a $145 billion class action verdict. That ruling also said smokers and their families need only prove addiction and that smoking caused their illnesses or deaths.
Fla. Jury Slams RJ Reynolds With $23.6B in Damages
Republicans Freak Out At Learning Reagan Decree Protects Lois Lerner
Although legal experts warned at the time that little would come of Rep. Darrell Issa's (R-Calif.) attempt to prosecute former IRS official Lois Lerner for contempt of Congress, Republicans on Issa's Oversight and Government Reform Committee were infuriated to learn Thursday that a key obstacle is a Reagan administration legal opinion.
Issa's committee and then the full House voted to hold Lerner in contempt because she twice asserted her Fifth Amendment right in refusing to testify about her role in the IRS's botched screening of political nonprofits. She led the unit that oversees whether such groups get tax breaks, and was in charge when an inspector general found the IRS used "inappropriate" terms that largely singled out conservative groups.
Injured Overwhelm Gaza Hospital
As Israeli troops pushed into Gaza overnight, intense tank fire shook parts of Khan Yunis, sending a flood of patients into the southern city's Nasser hospital.The shells smashed into buildings near the border with Israel, prompting thousands to flee their homes under the cover of darkness, only missiles lighting up the sky.
At Nasser hospital, doctors and nurses working 24-hour shifts were on alert for the wave of patients who began arriving in the early hours.
"The situation is very, very difficult," said doctor Kamel Zaqzuq.
Five car bombs in Baghdad kill 26: police, medics
Five car bombs killed 26 people in mostly Shi'ite Muslim neighborhoods in Baghdad on Saturday, police and medics said.
The first explosion, a suicide car bombing, killed seven people at a police checkpoint in the Abu Dsheer district in the south of the capital, the sources said.
Four other car bombs killed a total of 19 people: one in the Bayaa district in southwestern Baghdad, one in the western district of Jihad and two in northern Baghdad's Kadhimiya, which boasts a major Shi'ite shrine.
Congressional staffer arrested for bringing gun to Capitol office
Capitol Police arrested the press secretary of a Republican congressman Friday when he entered a House-side office building carrying a handgun.
Ryan Shucard, the press secretary for Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., was found carrying a 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol and magazine when he tried to go through security at the Cannon office building at approximately 9:15 a.m., said Capitol Police spokeswoman Lt. Kimberly Schneider.
All people entering buildings on the Capitol Hill complex are required to pass through metal detectors and send bags through an x-ray belt, although members of Congress are generally allowed to pass through without a check.
TVNL Comment: Yeah, sure....you can carry a handgun and magazine 'by mistake.' Geez.
Federal judges approve early release for thousands of drug convicts
Drug offenders now in prison will be eligible for early release under a unanimous decision Friday by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
No inmates will be released under the revised guidelines until November 2015, the commission said. Congress has until this November to change the decision.
The commission, an independent judicial agency, said all decisions on early release will be reviewed by a judge with prosecutors being given an opportunity to object. But it is somewhat broader than the guidelines sought by Attorney General Eric Holder, who argued that only inmates who have not committed violent crimes and are not linked to major drug organizations should be eligible.
MH17: rebels block access to part of site of crash as evidence against them grows
A unit of heavily armed rebels blocked the 30-strong team from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), cordoning off a large part of the crash site. The inspectors retreated after an hour-long standoff, having been unable to gain access. They were sent on their way by warning shots fired by the rebel unit commander.
"We will keep coming back tomorrow and the next day and the next day," said OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw. "Tomorrow will be a crunch day. There are a lot of experts from the Netherlands and Malaysia gathering in Kiev as well as relatives. The bodies are starting to bloat and decay. An expert team is clearly needed. There is a lot to be done in a short amount of time."
1 in 5 of Gaza dead are children
Sobbing and shaking, Ismail Abu Musallam leaned against the wall of a hospital Friday, waiting for three of his children to be prepared for burial. They were killed as they slept when an Israeli tank shell hit their home, burying 11-year-old Ahmed, 14-year-old Walaa and 16-year-old Mohammed under debris in their beds.
His personal tragedy is not unique: the U.N. says minors make up one-fifth of the 299 Palestinians killed in 11 days of intense Israeli bombardment of the densely populated Gaza Strip, where half the 1.7 million people are under age 18.
What Happens When Detroit Shuts Off the Water of 100,000 People
In a city where the median household income is less than half the national average, 38 percent of residents live below the poverty line and 23 percent are unemployed, it comes as no surprise that at least 40 percent of customers are delinquent on their bills.
The water shut-offs have taken no prisoners. Since this year's shut-offs started at the end of March, at least 15,000 Detroit households have had their water turned off. But the campaign, a tactic designed to pressure Detroiters into paying their water bills, began with little or no publicity last year, when 24,000 homes had their water shut off, says Darryl Latimer, the deputy director of the water department.
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