A Miami circuit judge upheld the landmark $145 billion in punitive damages awarded in a class action lawsuit against big tobacco this July. The sum will most likely bankrupt some, if not all, of the nation's tobacco companies, including Phillip Morris and R.J. Reynolds. The judge rejected the companies' request to reduce the 12-figure award to some 500,000 sick smokers and relatives. There is still contention of the description of the plaintiffs, with tobacco companies claiming that the 500,000 unnamed plaintiffs should individually have to prove that smoking harmed them.

Smog Takes A Breather In Mexico

For the first time in a decade, Mexico City went 365 days without a smog alert. However, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) studies suggest that this reprieve will not last long. The air pollution, which is responsible for thousands of deaths each year, is predicted to get worse as vehicles become older and poorly maintained diesel engines spew emissions into the atmosphere. One step that Mexican officials are considering is lowering the threshold for a warning to something more on par with U.S. warnings. The MIT report states that, while this break in alerts is a significant accomplishment, ozone levels are still too high, the prospects of technological and industrial growth spell certain increases in smog and mass transit is still unacceptable.

Fatal Weather Tears Across Europe

Floods and landslides have forced thousands from their homes in northern Italy. With more than 52 severe flood warnings issued from 33 rivers and some 250 lesser warnings already in place, a new set of storms threatens to bring new complications to the already critical situation. Storms ripping through Britain have claimed the lives of at least 12, and more deaths are expected as another system of comparable force prepares to bombard Western Europe with more rain and winds. Ironically, this is happening as eastern European ministers meet in the Netherlands to discuss climate change and disregard for nature across the continent.

Men Use Cell Phones For Status

Researchers from the University of Liverpool discovered that men have a markedly different relationship to their cell phones than women do. Research shows that men use their mobile phones as peacocks use their immobilizing feathers: to advertise their status and desirability. Researchers find the implications of this study relevant when considering why some technological trends catch on so quickly while other seemingly superior trends fall flat. Why use cell phones? In fact, they point out that cell phones, like cigarettes, keep the hands, mouth, and weekly allowance well occupied, and that both objects satisfy a desire to appear mature, worldly, involved, indifferent, rebellious, ambitious, autonomous, fashionable, and fully peer-bonded.