Bahamas
Retrial
for Travolta Bahamas case - 22 October
A mistrial has been declared in the Bahamas in the case of two
people accused of blackmailing Hollywood actor John Travolta
over his son's death. Pleasant Bridgewater and Tarino
Lightbourne are accused of trying to extort $25m (£15m) from
the star. A retrial was ordered late on Wednesday after an MP
declared publicly that Ms Bridgewater had been cleared while the
jury was still deliberating. The judge said she was concerned
that there could have been jury misconduct. - BBC
News website
Courts
Huge
fine for radio contest death - 30 October
The family of a US woman who drank so much water in a contest
run by a radio station that she died has received $16m (£9.7m)
in compensation. A California court found Sacramento radio
station KDND-FM and its owner liable for the death in January
2007 of mother-of-three Jennifer Strange, 28. She had taken part
in a contest to see who could drink the most without going to
the toilet, to win a Nintendo Wii. She lost, and a few hours
later died of acute water intoxication. - BBC
News website
Finance
Bank
claim that is out of this world - 23 October
US bank customer Dalton Chiscolm could learn on Friday if he is
one step closer to becoming the world's first ever
billion-trillionaire. Mr Chiscolm sued Bank of America in
Manhattan's federal court in August for "$1 784 billion
trillion", in a complaint that boiled down to poor customer
service. But US District Judge Denny Chin asked Mr Chiscolm to
provide further evidence to support his claims by 23 October, or
find them dismissed. - BBC News
website