Report: US judge lets inmate reports languish

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge in Los Angeles allowed reports indicating inmates might have been wrongly convicted to languish for years, saying he was either drafting an opinion or there were many documents to review, it was reported Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson has had the opportunity to rule on three cases in which evidence could exonerate the inmates, but he failed to do so, The Daily Journal said.

An email message left for Anderson's clerk was not immediately returned.

Habeas corpus petitions allow state prisoners to seek review in federal court. There is no set time frame in which a judge must rule, but legal experts interviewed by the newspaper …

World stocks rise on improved US confidence

Stocks rose Friday after a key indicator of U.S. consumer confidence improved more than expected, suggesting the world's largest economy is on the mend.

Investors also were cheered by strong Chinese economic data, a raised outlook by FedEx and comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that the financial sector no longer required some government support measures.

Germany's DAX rose 0.8 percent to 5,640.82, while Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.9 percent to 5,032.07. France's CAC-40 was up 1.1 percent at 3,748.10.

After most indexes in Asia closed higher, Wall Street also was rising. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.1 percent to …

Resorting to Rental May Be Best Bet For Family Trips

Sally Geisse was supposed to be in paradise - a luxuriousHawaiian resort with lovely swimming pools, lush tropical gardensand plenty for her children to do. But with a baby, a toddler and a5-year-old crammed into one hotel room, it sure didn't feel anywhereclose to heaven.

"Someone was always napping in my room," sighed Geisse, wholives in San Francisco. "And just getting to breakfast with the kidstook 15 minutes. In retrospect, maybe a beachside condo, where thefamily could have comfortably spread out, would have been a betterbet.

As Stephanie Bass discovered in Orlando, however, even plenty ofroom and a kitchen don't necessarily make for a perfect …

Canucks slip past Oilers 4-3

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Raffi Torres had a hat trick against his former team Tuesday and the Vancouver Canucks withstood a late charge to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 for their fourth straight win.

Daniel Sedin also scored for the Canucks (6-3-2), who won for the first time on the road this season. Vancouver plays seven of its next eight away from home.

Dustin Penner, Ryan Jones and Gilbert Brule scored for the Oilers (3-5-2), who have one win in their past eight games after a 2-0 start.

After Vancouver blew a three-goal lead, Torres completed his hat trick with a backhand that surprised Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin with nine minutes to go in the third.

The …

Fourth Test Scoreboard

Scoreboard at the end of the fourth cricket test Monday between India and Australia at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium:

India, 1st Innings 441

Australia, 1st Innings 355

India, 2nd Innings 295

Australia, 2nd Innings

(Overnight: 13 without loss)

Matthew Hayden lbw Harbhajan 77

Simon Katich c Dhoni b Sharma 16

Ricky Ponting run out 8

Michael Clarke c Dhoni b Sharma 22

Michael Hussey c Dravid b Mishra 19

Shane Watson c Dhoni b Harbhajan 9

Brad Haddin c Tendulkar b Mishra 4

Cameron White not out 26

Jason Krejza st Dhoni b …

$9 mil. punitive damages in N.J. Vioxx case

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- A jury awarded $9 million in punitivedamages Tuesday to a man who blamed his heart attack on Vioxx,finding that manufacturer Merck & Co. knowingly withheld informationabout the risks of its arthritis drug from federal regulators.

Saying Merck's conduct showed a "wanton and willful disregard ofanother's rights," the state court jury added to the $4.5 million ithad awarded last week to John McDarby, 77, of Park Ridge, N.J., andhis wife, Irma.

Last Wednesday, the same panel found that Merck failed to warn ofthe drug's risks and committed consumer fraud in misrepresenting themto prescribing physicians.

"This is a victory for all of the …

Base Technologies; For the past decade, Philip Morris International and Philip Morris USA have used a select group of applications to manage their supply chains.

For the past decade, Philip Morris International and Philip Morris USA have used a select group of applications to manage their supply chains.

Application Product Supplier

Enterprise resource planning, supply chain management / MySAP suite / SAP

SAP diagnostics and management / NetProcess / IntelliCorp

Additional supply chain systems / NetWorks Monitor, NetWorks Collaborate, Demand Management, Fulfillment Management / …