Firearms manufacturer is facing charges of making improper payments to foreign officials to win supply contracts

Firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson has agreed to pay $2 million to settle U.S. government charges over bribes the company allegedly paid out to foreign officials between 2007 and 2010.
The Springfield, Mass.-based company had faced charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said employees and representatives of the company made improper payments to military and political officials in Pakistan, Indonesia and other foreign countries in order to win coveted firearm supply contracts in those countries.
Smith & Wesson’s alleged actions violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the SEC said Monday, adding that the company “profited by more than $100,000″ from the one contract to be completed before the authorities caught wind of the activities.
In addition to the $2 million payment, Smith & Wesson has agreed to report its FCPA compliance efforts to the SEC for a period of two years. Smith & Wesson, which has fired its entire international sales staff as a result of the charges, is neither admitting nor denying the SEC’s charges as part of the settlement announced Monday.
“This is a wake-up call for small and medium-size businesses that want to enter into high-risk markets and expand their international sales,” Kara Brockmeyer, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit, said in a statement. “When a company makes the strategic decision to sell its products overseas, it must ensure that the right internal controls are in place and operating.”
Smith & Wesson CEO James Debney says he believes the settlement “is in the best interests” of the company and its shareholders.
“Today’s announcement brings to conclusion a legacy issue for our company that commenced more than four years ago, and we are pleased to now finally put this matter behind us,” Debney said in a statement

Clippers to ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

By BRIAN MELLEY
 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A judge ruled against Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling on Monday in his attempt to block the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
In the tentative ruling, Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas sided with Sterling's estranged wife Shelly Sterling, who burst into tears when the ruling was announced.
"I can't believe it's over. I feel good," she said.
Shelly Sterling negotiated the sale of the team after the 80-year-old billionaire was banned by the NBA for making offensive remarks about blacks.
She sought approval from a probate judge for the deal she struck after removing her husband from the trust that owned the team when doctors found he had signs of Alzheimer's disease and couldn't manage his affairs.
Donald Sterling claimed his wife deceived him about the medical exams.
He later revoked the trust after she negotiated the record-setting sales price and his lawyers argued that the move killed the deal. They said the case didn't belong in probate court because the trust had been dissolved.
The ruling in Los Angeles County Superior Court is unlikely to put an end to the bizarre saga that began in April when a recording surfaced of Sterling scolding his young girlfriend for bringing black men to Clippers games. The NBA moved quickly to ban Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million.
Sterling was apologetic after the audio recording went viral, but his mea culpa backfired when he criticized Lakers great Magic Johnson, who had been photographed with Sterling's girlfriend, as a bad role model for kids because he had HIV. Sterling was roundly criticized from locker rooms to the Oval Office, where President Barack Obama called Sterling's remarks "incredibly offensive racist statements."
With the NBA threatening to seize the team and auction it, Sterling initially gave his wife of 58 years permission to negotiate a sale but then refused to sign it. He said he would sue the league instead and then revoked the trust.
The nonjury trial held over several weeks focused mainly on whether Shelly Sterling properly removed her husband as a trustee and whether her actions carried any weight after he revoked the trust.
Donald Sterling's lawyers contended that his wife and her lawyers conspired to trick him and that the mental exams by two doctors were faulty. They said Sterling didn't know his competency as a trustee was being evaluated and that he showed no signs of incompetence on the witness stand.
In combative testimony, Sterling said he would "never, ever sell" the team he bought in 1981 for about $12 million. He vowed to fight the NBA in court until the day he dies.
Before taking the stand, he kissed his wife and then testified that he loved her. But the following day when she approached him in court he yelled, "get away from me, you pig!"
Sterling, a lawyer who made a fortune as a landlord, has filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal court against the NBA and he sued his wife, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league in state court.
Lawyers for Shelly Sterling and Ballmer had urged the judge to let the sale go through because it was in the best interest of the family trust. They said an auction was less likely to bring such a high price and that coach Doc Rivers, key players and sponsors were likely to walk if Donald Sterling's ownership was prolonged.
"The trust has a golden bird in the hand," Shelly Sterling's lawyers wrote in court papers. "A sale of the Clippers for $2 billion is indisputably a bonanza for the Sterling family. Donald's strident opposition is motivated by only selfish considerations."
Donald Sterling said he could get more for the team by also selling TV rights and through his $9 billion suit against the league.

Billionaire Carlos Slim suggests three-day work week

If you like those 4 day weekends that happen only a couple times a year, then you'll definitely like this guy: Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim thinks the work week should only be THREE days long. He's the second richest man in the world thanks to Telemex, his telecom company ... and some of his employees are able to retire before they even hit 50.
They have the option of a four day work week, and Slim wants to slim that down even more. The billionaire believes this could help people balance their home and work lives better.
But there's a catch. Those three days would consist of 11-hours at the office and you'd likely be working into your 70s -- that's roughly 9 years longer than the average retirement age of workers in the U.S. So there's a few things to consider.
And a policy director told CBS Moneywatch says the idea might seem great to Slim ... the average person doesn't want to work that long -- billionaires, on the other hand, have a lot more fun at theirs jobs.
Some companies, like Google, already offer a compressed work week -- and CNN sites a survey conducted in 2008 that revealed 59% of participants wanted the option.

Cameron Diaz ends interview following insult -- and proves she's a great friend

 
When interviewing celebrities it's best not to offend them -- particularly when you're speaking with them over the phone and they can just hang up.
Cameron Diaz and her 'Sex Tape' co-star Jason Segel joined KIIS 106.5's 'Kyle and Jackie O's Radio Show' and, while the interview started pleasantly enough, it took a turn when host Kyle Sandilands made a comparison between young co-star Giselle Eisenberg and Diaz's best friend Drew Barrymore.
Then, to make things worse, Sandilands tries to pivot the conversation to her rumored new boyfriend, Benji madden of 'Good Charlotte,' which Diaz refused to even respond to.
Ultimately the 41-year-old star gets back on the line and says that they have to go, politely thanks them for their time ... and hangs up.
As clueless as Sandilands was throughout the interview, at least he wasn't as bad as Charlie Stayt during his interview with Jennifer Aniston back in 2011. Instead of offending an actress's friends -- he went straight for the actress.
Listen for yourself in the clip above.


If Diaz's killer retort doesn't make you want to be her friend, these photos from her 'Tonight Show' interview might -- the woman knows how to have fun:

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Typhoon kills 11 in Vietnam; China deaths up to 26

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - A typhoon that barreled into northern Vietnam killed at least 11 people and left several missing, state media said Monday, while in China the death toll from the strongest storm to strike the country's south in four decades rose to 26.
Typhoon Rammasun made landfall in Vietnam over the weekend, triggering heavy floods, destroying homes and crops, and blocking roads with landslides, said the Vietnam News, an English-language daily published by the official Vietnam News Agency.
The paper's website carried photos that showed streets and local markets in the city of Lang Son and elsewhere submerged in water, with residents floating on rubber tires or rafts or huddling under makeshift tents.
Rammasun had earlier battered southern China, killing 26 people and destroying tens of thousands of homes, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.
It was the strongest typhoon to hit China's southern region in 41 years, damaging roads and ports, cutting electricity and water supplies, and hampering rescue efforts as it swept through dozens of coastal cities.
Worst hit was the island province of Hainan, where the storm made its first landfall Friday. By Monday, 51,000 houses and 40,600 hectares (100,300 acres) of crops had been destroyed.
The typhoon wreaked havoc in the northern Philippines last week, leaving 94 people dead.


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2 Americans among dozens killed in fighting in Gaza strip Sunday

 
The young men's love of Israel ultimately led them to join the Israel Defense Forces, and they ended up fighting for the Jewish state in the Gaza Strip this week.
On Sunday, Steinberg, 24, and Carmeli, 21, were killed there. They were among 13 Israeli soldiers and 65 Palestinians killed Sunday during the first major ground battle in two weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas.Steinberg, whose family lives in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, was a sharpshooter for the Golani Brigade, his father, Stuart Steinberg, told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Earlier Sunday, the IDF said in a statement that Carmeli, 21, a sergeant, was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip. Carmeli was from South Padre Island, Texas, said Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Southwest Maya Kadosh. She said Carmeli moved to Israel four years ago and added that the consulate helped his family get a flight there Sunday.
Rabbi Asher Hecht of Chabad of the Rio Grande Valley, who is a longtime family friend, said Carmeli joined the Israeli army after finishing high school in Israel and was in the Golani Brigade. Carmeli was from Ra'anana, Israel, according to the IDF statement.
"He had great energy, yet had a kind and gentle soul," Hecht said. "It's been a very tough day for us," he added. "We lost a gem."
Carmeli was the youngest of three and has two sisters who currently live in Israel. He was "loved by his parents infinitely," Hecht said.
Steinberg was living in Beersheba, Israel. He attended Pierce College and El Camino Real High School in Southern California.
He visited Israel for the first time on a Birthright Israel trip with his younger brother and sister in June 2012, his father said. When he returned, he made an announcement to his parents that he was planning to return and join the IDF, Steinberg said. He made good on that promise less than six months later, making the move in December.
"He went back," Steinberg said. "He was completely dedicated and committed to serving the country of Israel. He was focused, he was clear in what the mission was, and he was dedicated to the work he needed to be doing."
On Sunday morning, the Steinbergs were visited by representatives from the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles. They broke the news of Max Steinberg's death.
Stuart Steinberg last spoke to his son at 4 a.m. Saturday California time, hours before his death. Max Steinberg called his father to tell him that his group had been injured when two of their tanks collided. They had to return to Israel for treatment at the hospital. Some soldiers had broken bones, and Max Steinberg had sprained his back, his father said.
"He called me up at 4 a.m. that morning and said he'd be returning to Gaza, back to combat, to be with his friends," Steinberg said.
Steinberg said the family is leaving on Monday for Israel, where their son will be buried. On Max Steinberg's Facebook page, hundreds of people liked a profile photo that appeared to be a selfie of him in uniform, armed, with his helmet on. Dozens gave their condolences.
Jay Sanderson, who heads The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, said in an email message to the community that "our thoughts are with his family and our community is committed to support them in any way they need - and to honor Max's memory."
The Jewish Federations of North America said in a statement that its "deepest sympathies" were with the families of 18 Israeli soldiers killed over the last two days. "Along with all of Israel, and the entire Jewish People, we mourn their loss as if they were our own," the statement said.
On Sunday night, the U.S. State Department confirmed the deaths of Steinberg and Carmeli.
"We can confirm the deaths of U.S. citizens Max Steinberg and Sean Carmeli in Gaza. Out of respect for those affected by this, we have nothing further at this time," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

$23.6 Billion Awarded To Widow In Smoking Lawsuit

A Florida jury awarded a smoker's widow one of the largest ever legal wins against a tobacco company - a whopping $23.6 billion in punitive damages.

Cynthia Robinson sued the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, maker of Camel cigarettes and other tobacco products, for not informing her husband that cigarettes are addictive and can cause lung cancer.

Robinson told NBC: "They concealed information that was harmful to a human for years."

Robinson's husband, Michael Johnson, died in 1996 of lung cancer at just 36 years old after smoking for most of his life.

This award is the highest amount a jury in Florida has ordered since 2006. But, why such a high amount?

Again, the jury ruled that Robinson be given the $23.6 billion in punitive damages. Punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant and are paid to the plaintiff. Then, $16.8 million was awarded for compensatory damages - damages for covering what was lost - in this case Robinson's husband. She gets those too.

A New York Times article included a quote from a high profile lawyer who explained a verdict this pricey is not typical. "There have not been multibillion-dollar punishments in the Engle cases for one reason: We are afraid to ask for them. We are afraid of what will happen in the appellate process,"

There aren't a lot of details out yet about what went on in that courtroom to make the jury decide on such a high amount. Robinson's lawyers are speaking out though.

NPR reports attorney Christopher Chestnut said, ​"The jury wanted to send a statement that tobacco cannot continue to lie to the American people and the American government about the addictiveness of ... the deadly chemicals in their cigarettes."

And attorney Willie Gary told WPTV, "We've made a difference already. I think less people are gonna smoke. I think that the tobacco companies are going to get their act together. They're gonna make safer cigarettes. We know they can. They'll just make a little bit less money, but they'll save a whole lot of lives and that's what its all about."

Obviously, R.J. Reynolds is not thrilled about the verdict. Pensacola News Journal obtained a statement from Reynold's vice president Jeffery Raborn saying, "This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness, and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented."

CNN pointed out this case used to be part of a class-action lawsuit that was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court. In its 2006 ruling, the court cleared the way for individual lawsuits against tobacco companies.

R.J. Reynolds reps say they plan to appeal the ruling.

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