"This was an entirely avoidable catastrophe, resulting from a series of eminently foreseeable errors made by the owner and operator of the Dali," the government's lead prosecutor said.

A Superior Court judge asked for supplemental briefs on the intent behind a law governing the release of police personnel records.

A New York federal court ordered a new trial in a sexual assault case, in which the jury found in favor of a woman who says she was raped by her high school social studies teacher. She was awarded $150 million award in damages, which the court declares excessive, suggesting the jury’s prejudice affected their verdict and may have credited unsubstantiated allegations. The court orders a retrial.

A consumer fraud class action will move forward in Illinois federal court against Galderma Laboratories, a skincare manufacturer that makes the Differin line of acne treatments containing benzoyl peroxide, which can degrade into the carcinogenic compound benzene. There is no warning about this fact on the Differin products. The consumer’s fraud claim would be preempted by federal law if it were only premised on its labeling, but the consumer has also alleged a theory that the manufacturer “does not adhere to good manufacturing premises,” so her claim survives.

Following a four-day bench trial, a Louisiana federal court ruled against two workers who were installing a hospital patio cover when U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilots allegedly flew low over their job site, spilling three 38-pound steel roofing panels onto the workers. The court rules that the marine pilots were not the cause of the incident, says they did not breach a duty of care owed to the roofers, and notes the workers were treated onsite but did not seek medical treatment from a health care provider.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to exclude a cardiologist from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs for 11 years was affirmed by a New York federal court. The doctor was convicted of felony Medicare fraud and sentenced to 20 months in prison, and was ordered to pay $554,331 in restitution.

A group of parents and the Orange County coastal enclave Huntington Beach sued California to block a new law forbidding schools from outing LGBTQ kids to their parents.

Inflation continued to cool across Europe in August, down to 2.2% in the euro area and 2.4% in the full EU — a vast improvement from 5.2% and 5.9%, respectively, a year ago.

The Center for Biological Diversity sued a Stockton port for not completing a full environmental review of and approving a project to generate hydrogen from fossil fuels that it says will spew high amounts of harmful air pollutants and greenhouse gases into an area already subject to some of the worst air pollution in California.

The European Union reported a nearly $23.6 billion trade surplus in July, compared to a $7.4 billion surplus in July 2023.