U.S. court: Companies can’t litigate secretly to protect image
(Reuters) – In a victory for consumers, a federal appeals court on Wednesday directed that litigation about a product linked to the death of an infant be made public, saying the manufacturer could not keep the details secret to protect its image.
California city ex-manager gets 12 years in prison for corruption
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The former city administrator of Bell, California, who came to represent local government corruption when news surfaced of his annual salary of nearly $800,000, was sentenced on Wednesday to 12 years in prison, officials said.
Washington state mudslide death toll rises to 39
OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) – The official death toll from a mudslide that devastated a neighborhood in the Cascade foothills of Washington state last month rose to 39 on Wednesday, after search teams pulled out two more bodies from the mud and rubbl…
Psychiatric evaluation ordered for man charged in Boston bomb hoax
BOSTON (Reuters) – A Boston man who was arrested on Tuesday for walking through the finish area of the Boston Marathon hooded and carrying a black backpack was formally charged on Wednesday with a bomb hoax and ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation…
Federal judge strikes down North Dakota ‘heartbeat’ abortion law
(Reuters) – A federal judge on Wednesday permanently blocked North Dakota from enforcing the country’s most restrictive abortion law, a ban on ending a pregnancy once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as six weeks after conception.
Two more charged in gang-linked kidnapping of N.C. prosecutor’s father
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) – Two additional suspects have been charged in the gang-related abduction of a North Carolina man whose daughter had prosecuted one of the eight people now accused in the plot, U.S. prosecutors said on Wednesday….
Ex-bin Laden ally turns key witness in U.S. terrorism cases
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – A British shoe bomb-plotter-turned-government informant, who once conspired with Osama bin Laden, has become a key witness for U.S. prosecutors seeking to give American juries a taste of life inside al Qaeda, court docum…
College Board gives sneak preview of redesigned SAT exam
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Prospective college students on Wednesday got a peek at new sample questions on the SAT, a widely used college entrance exam that will undergo a redesign over the next two years.
Former New York Mayor Bloomberg to spend $50 million in anti-gun drive
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ramped up his efforts to fight gun violence on Wednesday with a plan to spend $50 million on a grassroots network to organize voters on gun control.
New York City police disbands unit that watched Muslim communities
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Police Department has disbanded a controversial surveillance unit that targeted and monitored Muslim communities after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, a police statement said.
