WASHINTON — The Supreme Court on Monday turn down Canada’s attempts to use a U.S. anti-racketeering law to sue R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. over cigarette smuggling. Canadian officials claim R.J. Reynolds tried to get around taxes by smuggling cigarettes into Canada through an Indian reservation. Other countries jumped on the bandwagon by copying Canada’s $1 [...]

Miami, FL — A subsidiary of Bridgestone/Firestone, which operates Firestone’s nationwide chain of stores, has agreed to settle a disability rights lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck in Miami approved the deal, which requires Bridgestone/Firestone to hire experts to identify any barriers to access at its stores and then fix those problems.
Thee settlement [...]

CIUDAD DEL ESTE, Paraguay - Several top terrorist operatives met recently in South America in the area where the borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay intersect also known as the “tri-border” region, to plan attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets in the Western hemisphere. Representatives of Hezbollah attended the meetings and other groups associated to [...]

NEW YORK — Adelphia Communications Corp. on Wednesday filed charges against Deloitte & Touche, accusing its former auditor of negligence and fraud for failing to stop Adelphia’s co-founder and former chief executive, John Rigas, and two of his sons, also former Adelphia executives, from shifting funds from the company to their accounts.
“This is an [...]

YEMEN — Abu Ali, chief suspect in bombing of the USS Cole, and five other suspected al Qaeda members were killed early Monday in Yemen when their car was blown apart from a Hellfire missile launched from a CIA drone, sources told CNN.
It was the first direct U.S. strike against al Qaeda network outside [...]

Miami, FL — Tobacco Industry Lawyers on Wednesday appeared before Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeal to argue against the $145 billion verdict against the tobacco industry, making it the largest damage award in American history. Elliot Scherker, tobacco industry lawyer, said the verdict should be overturned because the trial plan was unconstitutional and the [...]

LONDON — Airline passengers in Britain launched a legal challenge against 28 airlines on Tuesday for failing to warn them or their relatives about the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), also known as economy class syndrome. The three-day hearing will consider whether DVT can be classed as an accident under the terms of the [...]

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed additional fraud charges against WorldCom yesterday, after it learn from the company of additional accounting problems. The S.E.C. said WorldCom, which is now operating under bankruptcy protection, inflated earnings by almost $2 billion more then it had previously disclosed. The new disclosure brings the total amount to more [...]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court revisited a 1997 ruling referred to the asbestos litigation crisis on Wednesday questioning whether the law governing railroad employee suits, allows damages for fear of developing cancer, even when the plaintiff does not have the disease or any systems.
The justices heard arguments by Carter Phillips, a lawyer for Norfolk [...]

WASHINGTON — Harvey L. Pitt resigned tonight as the chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission because of the political scandal over his selection of William H. Webster, the new accounting board chairman. Mr. Pitt’s latest difficulties began last Thursday with the disclosure that he had failed to notify the White House and other commissioners about [...]