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Reports that former Nazi-era slave laborers have reduced their demand for compensation from Germany to $5.7 billion, increasing the prospects of a deal with the German government and about 60 German firms.

The article states that several major oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Marathon Oil Corp., and ConocoPhillips Irving Oil Ltd. have contributed to a $345 million compensation fund for victims of a 2013 oil-train explosion in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. The article states that should U.S. and Canadian courts approve the fund, companies contributing to the fund would be immune to wrongful death and negligence lawsuits. The article also discusses the bankruptcy of the railroad Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd.

The article reports that thousands of additional people could be eligible for compensation under a claims process being administered by Richard C. Breeden on behalf of the U.S. Justice Department for victims of self-confessed Ponzi swindler Bernard Madoff. Breeden's process differs from that of Irving Picard, the bankruptcy trustee in the Madoff case who has identified a smaller group of victims.

The article discusses confusion concerning the administration of a $20 billion fund established by oil company BP PLC to compensate victims of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from a well owned by BP. Some businesses in the Gulf have received all the aid they asked for, while nearby firms have gotten little or nothing. Variations in the promptness of payments have raised questions as well.

The article reports that a jury in California awarded $269.2 million in damages to the television production company Celador International Ltd. in its civil action against Walt Disney Co. Celador had charged that Disney had concealed royalties due it for licensing fees of the successful television game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

The article reports on the about 595 million U.S. dollars offered by automobile maker General Motors Co. to victims of a defective ignition switch, which will come from a fund managed by compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg.

The article reports that Smartphone company Samsung Electronics Co. is ready to pay compensation to Smartphone company Apple Inc. after denial of its latest appeal in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, California and mentions the views of Samsung spokeswoman Danielle Meister Cohen, on the same.

The article reports on the at least 30 million U.S. dollars settlement agreed upon by the U.S. federal government and employee screening firm Altegrity and its subsidiary U.S. Investigations Services (USIS) over a case that alleges USIS raked in tens of millions of taxpayer dollars while failing to conduct quality reviews of completed background checks.

The article focuses on limited recourse which U.S. participants in clinical trials of drugs have if they become ill or are injured as a result of the trials. A discussion is presented of a failure of U.S. federal law to require researchers to compensate trial participants that are harmed, and of consent forms which are used at the trials which only require researchers to indicate if compensation will be available for injuries incurred as a result of the trials.

The article discusses the possibility of lawsuits against Merck & Co. over the osteoporosis drug Fosamax. A case against the company for its painkiller Vioxx resulted in huge punitive damages, weakening the company's stance in the industry. Now the Fosamax case, which alleges Merck marketed and distributed the drug despite knowing about dangerous side effects, could go the same way.

This article presents information about the legal fight between New York State attorney general Eliot Spitzer and former New York Stock Exchange chief Dick Grasso over Grasso's compensation. Trial judge Charles E. Ramos will discuss the progress of the civil matter and may discuss a trial date. Spitzer argues that the compensation package was excessive under New York's not-for-profit law and Grasso says that he only took what the board of directors offered him. Observers believe the trial won't be held before the November election for which Spitzer is campaigning.

The article reports that three brokers fired from Merrill Lynch & Co. in 2003 have won $14 million in damages from the company. Christopher Chung, William B. Savino and Kevin Brunnock were "sacrificial lambs" in a "late-trading" scandal. The brokers were accused of rapidly trading in mutual funds, an activity that is not illegal. The three men were awarded money for lost income and pain and suffering.

Focuses on a growing practice in the United States where small companies, armed with a broad patent or two, sue larger companies for patent infringement. Example of Douglas Fougnies and Larry Day, who sue cell phone companies for patent infringement; Amount awarded to Fougnies and Day for damages from Boston Communications Group Inc. and four other companies over alleged misuse of a 1998 patent; Reasons why hedge funds and other institutional investors are financing companies that buy up patent portfolios; Comments from Paul Tobin, founder and chairman of Boston Communications, regarding individuals like Fougnies and Day, whom he calls "patent trolls"; Other examples of patent infringement involving Microsoft Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd.; Lawsuits filed by Acacia Technologies, which has acquired 120 patents in areas ranging from credit-card fraud protection to hearing aids.

Reports that Morgan Stanley must pay billionaire financier Ronald Perelman $1.45 billion in punitive and actual damages after a Florida state-court jury ruled that Morgan Stanley had behaved improperly when Perelman sold one of his companies to Sunbeam Corporation. Background on the civil lawsuit and total damages awarded to Perelman; Background on Perelman, chairman of cosmetics giant Revlon Inc. and legendary corporate raider; Focus on a number of senior executives at Morgan Stanley; Views of analysts; How the large verdict award comes at an awkward time for Philip Purcell, chief executive of Morgan Stanley, who has been facing a group of former executives who seek his ouster; Role of Judge Elizabeth Maass.

Examines several issues related to taxation. Court ruling as to the taxation of out-of-court settlements in the case involving former professional basketball player, Dennis Rodman, and Eugene Amos Jr., a television cameraman, who was kicked by Rodman; Discussion of compensation for physical injuries and the effort to determine the extent of physical injury; Statistics related to tax increases imposed by several states in the U.S.; Advice to Americans who have not yet received their child credit check; Taxation news briefs.

Focuses on the likelihood that individual investors will be compensated by the mutual-fund companies, who permitted improper trading that cost investors. How an individual can determine eligibility to receive money as part of a settlement; Firms that have settled with regulators; Amount of money set aside by firms for investor restitution; When and how much investors can expect; Process to be used by firms to figure out how much they owe investors.

The article reports that energy company Royal Dutch Shell PLC agreed to pay $80 million to compensate Nigerians in the Bodo fishing community in the Niger Delta, impacted by oil spills in 2008 and 2009 along the Trans Niger Pipeline operated by Shell.

The article discusses lawsuits against the discount airline Norwegian Air Shuttle, focusing on claims made by passengers, represented by the Swedish company TRS Travelright, seeking compensation after experiencing delays on 787 jetliners.

The author discusses potential conflicts between U.S. property rights and laws prohibiting hydraulic fracturing operations as of 2014, mentioning a lawsuit that could accompany a proposed ban in Denton, Texas and arguing that taxpayers may have to compensate mineral-rights holders for losses.

The article focuses on automobile company General Motors' compensation plan for victims of accidents caused by the failure of air bags to deploy in defective small cars. It states that while there is no overall dollar limit on the program, a key condition is the claimants must show through police and other reports that the air bags failed to deploy in the crash. It mentions that those who accept payment through the voluntary program will have to waive their rights to sue General Motors.

The article offers world news briefs as of June 13, 2014 on topics including the inclusion of the anti-European Union (EU) party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) into the European Parliament's euroskeptic group European Conservatives & Reformists, border fighting between Rwandan and Congolese troops, and a $50,000 payment to the families of people on the 2014 missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The article reports on the Pakistani practice of "compensation marriages," focusing on the case of two young girls in the village of Grilagan, Pakistan, who were married to the brother of a girl who had been raped by the two girls' uncle.

The article presents information on a campaign led by the nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog to raise the cap of the California law on medical malpractice awards for non-economic damages and to add doctor drug and alcohol testing to the ballot campaign as of March 2014.

The article discusses the March 1, 2014 terrorist knifing attacks by separatists from China's Xinjiang region in Yunnan, China with information on the victims' families and the compensation packages they were offered by the Chinese government.

The article reports that a U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered a review of the compensation payments made by the petroleum company BP PLC to those affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The article offers corporate news briefs as of October 31, 2013 on topics including a loyalty program at coffee company Starbucks Corp. that increased sales, communications and information technology corporation Nokia's demand for financial compensation from technology company HTC Corp., and investment in China's Suntech Power Holdings Co.

The article discusses a multi-million dollar compensation claim which was filed in 2013 by the family of British businessman Neil Heywood who was allegedly murdered by Chinese Communist Party leader Bo Xilai's wife Gu Kailai in 2011, focusing on Gu Kalai's trial for Heywood's poisoning death.

The article discusses five common myths concerning disability coverage such as the qualifications of beneficiaries for worker's compensation and Social Security coverage, the sufficiency of disability insurance to provide the needs of families, and the restrictions in the disability payments.

The article deals with a comprehensive plan approved by the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in May 2011 for rescuing Tokyo Electric Power Co. and funding compensation claims stemming from Japan's nuclear disaster.

The article focuses on a plan by Tokyo Electric Power Co. not to cap total compensation for those affected by Japan's nuclear crisis as part of an agreement with the government for help paying billions of dollars in claims.

The article focuses on a court approval being sought by Irving Picard for the distribution of 272 million U.S. dollars to compensate victims who held accounts at Bernard Madoff's firm.

The article deals with the plan of Tokyo Electric Power Co. to offer early compensation payments to those affected by the nuclear-plant crisis as confirmed by company president Masataka Shimizu on April 13, 2011.

This article reports that China has been seeking compensation over a weekend clash between Chinese fisherman and South Korean coast guards in the Yellow Sea in December 2010.

This section offers news briefs, including the arrest of a naturalized Afghanistan-born U.S. citizen for using Facebook to make threats to bomb the Metrorail system in Washington, D.C., compensatory damages worth 171 million U.S. dollars awarded to the estate and son of a Boston Woman who died of lung cancer and an armed bandit who stole 1.5 million U.S. dollars worth of casino chips.

The article reports that Indian Attorney General Goolam E. Vahanvati is asking the supreme court to force Dow Chemical Co. to pay a total of 1.1 billion dollars in compensation and environmental cleanup costs related to an industrial accident that killed and injured people in Bhopal in 1984.

The article focuses on U.S. shallow-water rig workers who are not eligible to receive compensation from BP PLC for lost wages after a six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling was enacted by the government since the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in April 2010, a case which is said to represent a gap in the safety nets established to help Gulf Coast residents when some of their critical industries were damaged.

The article reports on the criticism expressed by Pennsylvania Representative Paul Kanjorski against a method to pay claims to victims of Ponzi schemes including the one operated by former U.S. stock broker Bernard Madoff.

The article reports that the payback method for customers defrauded in the Ponzi scheme operated by former U.S. stock broker and investment adviser Bernard Madoff will be defended by Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC) chairman Orland Johnson when he faces a U.S. House of Representatives panel.

The article reports on the 12.74 million U.S. dollars in award won by Sandalwood Debt Fund A LP and Sandalwood Debt Fund B LP which are investors in Gabriel Capital LP that served as feeder fund to imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff.

The article focuses on the ruling of the United Nations (U.N.) Dispute Tribunal ordering the UN Development Program (UNDP) to pay its former employee Artjon Shkurtaj 166,000 U.S. dollars in compensation for failure to give the whistleblower the chance to respond to its adverse findings against him.

The article focuses on the decision of U.S. Federal District Judge Eldon Fallon to award 2.6 million U.S. dollars to seven Virginia families who filed a lawsuit against Chinese drywall manufacturer Taishan Gypsum Company Ltd.

The article reports that lawyers for OAO Yukos and the government of Russia faced off at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France as the bankrupt oil company sought 98 billion U.S. dollars in compensation for what its lawyer asserted was a disguised expropriation.

The article focuses on the ruling of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland in Manhattan, New York that some investors in a Ponzi scheme operated by businessman Bernard Madoff are not eligible for recoveries.

The article focuses on the criticism over the 9.5-million-dollar settlement offered by Facebook Inc. on charges of improper sharing information on customers' online product purchases and other activities as over 30% of the money will go to lawyers of plaintiffs while the remaining will go to a foundation that protects privacy rights.

The article reports on the 28 million U.S. dollars in punitive damages ordered by a Pennsylvania jury that Pfizer Inc. must pay to plaintiff Donna Kendall who claimed that she developed breast cancer after taking its hormone-therapy drugs, on November 23, 2009. Her lawyer Tobias Millrood said that the ruling reflects the need for big pharmaceutical companies to prioritize safety and well-being of consumers over profit. The court also ordered Pfizer to pay 75 million dollars in punitive damages to plaintiff Connie Barton in a separate case.

This section offers news briefs on the U.S. financial market. The J. P. Morgan Chase Group that structures and sells financial products will now be called cross-asset origination and structuring group. Dealogic's estimates for the industry's merger and acquisition advisory revenues have fallen by about half and are back to 2003 levels. A provision in the federal compensation law calls for paying risk-management staff properly.

The article reports on a patent-infringement lawsuit filed by LG Electronics Inc. against electronics manufacturer Whirlpool Corp. in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey. It notes that a compensation is demanded by LG. According to a spokeswoman from LG, the lawsuit focuses on a patent that LG holds for the ice-making system in the fresh food compartment.

The article reports on the plan of oil trader Trafigura Beheer BV to pay nearly 30 million pounds in compensation to people in Ivory Coast in relation to a pollution case filed against it. The claimants contend that they incurred diseases following the dumping of waste in the city of Abidjan by the company in 2006. The company intends to pay 950 pounds per person under the compensation agreement. Outtara Aboubabacar of the Toxic Waste Victims' Association stresses that medication costs of the victims exceed the compensation granted to them.

The article reports on the almost 500,000 U.S. dollars in compensation awarded to United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) auditor Maria do Rosario Veiga in Geneva for being wrongly dismissed following her refusal to cover up an embezzlement and bribery scandal involving the election of their secretary-general Michel Jarraud. The auditor served WMO for four years and she was dismissed in November 2006. Senior WMO officials were accused of using part of 3.5 million dollars to buy votes for the election.

The article reports on angry farmers who complain that the oil drilling project of China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) in Baghdad, Iraq had damaged property. It notes that the farmers asked for compensation and security jobs for relatives. According to Wasit Provincial Council chairman Mahmoud Abdul al-Retha, farmers are satisfied when they were informed about the compensation for any damage done to their property. It cites that there is a dispute over land ownership between the government and the farmers.