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A California jury in a Humboldt County courthouse ordered nursing home operator Skilled Healthcare (SH) to pay $671 million (about €531 million) in a class action lawsuit from patients of SH's 22 California facilities and their families. The jury found that SH failed to properly staff its facilities to comply with California state law. The jury has not heard the case for punitive damages; however, it awarded the plaintiffs $613 million (about €484 million) in statutory damages. The remaining $58 million (about €46 million) was in restitution.

The United States and Russia yesterday agreed to the swap of prisoners held by both nations after eleven Russian spies were arrested late last month. The swap will include the ten Russian spies arrested on US soil (the eleventh was arrested in Cyprus and subsequently escaped) and four spies being held in Russia on charges of espionage. The spies arrested by the US all pled guilty to charges of "conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign country." Below are the Russian spies who were convicted (cover names are in quotes, while rea

NBA small forward LeBron James announced today that he will "take his talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat," after spending six years as the star player for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Anticipation over LeBron's future team had been simmering for weeks as NBA teams tried to lure the free agent to their rosters. LeBron had met with representatives from the Cavaliers, Heat, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, and Los Angeles Clippers. In an interview televised by ESPN, James said that the Heat would give him "the best opportu

A major police operation is in progress in the United Kingdom town of Rothbury, Northumberland, in relation to the search for the 37-year-old gunman Raoul Moat. A police cordon has been set up around riverside allotments in which Moat was thought to have been hiding, around 200 metres from the town centre. Police are negotiating with a man near the riverbank where the operation is taking place, who has them locked in a stand-off by holding a gun to his own head. Police are said to be moving away from the scene, and it is speculated that the inc

Football fans in Spain were rejoicing on Friday after an octopus called Paul predicted their team will win the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Paul the Octopus, who lives in an aquarium in Oberhausen, in western Germany, has so far correctly forecast who will win every World Cup game involving the German side. Paul also predicted that the German team will beat Uruguay in Saturday's match for third place. The octopus has become something of a celebrity during the World Cup, as all six of his predictions for Germany's World Cup games proved accurate. His

The Amber Alert issued for four-year-old Alisa Maier of Louisiana, Missouri was canceled after Maier was found alive at a gas station late Tuesday night, just over 24 hours after her kidnapping. A person of interest in the incident shot himself when approached by police on Wednesday afternoon. The young Maier was playing with her six-year-old brother, Blake, when investigators say she was kidnapped at around 8 p.m. CDT (0200 UTC) Monday evening. The brother ran inside the home to alert his parents after seeing an unfamiliar person drive away w

A fan fell 30 feet from the club-concourse level into the lower-level seating area at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in Texas during the Texas Rangers' home game against the Cleveland Indians Tuesday night. The incident occurred in the bottom of the 5th inning with Nelson Cruz at bat for the Rangers. Cruz hit a foul ball into the crowd. The fan leaned over the railing to grab the ball and fell over the railing and into the crowd 30 feet below. Play was immediately stopped and suspended for 16 minutes. The man, whose identity has not bee

Spain defeated Germany 1–0 in the semifinals to advance Spain to its first World Cup Finals in its history. Played in Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, the game was a re-do of the 2008 European Championship final, in which Spain also won 1–0. About 60,960 people, including Spain's Queen Sofía, were in attendance. The game got off to an interesting start after an Italian fan invaded the pitch in the fourth minute, briefly interrupting the game. A first half dominated both by the German defense and the increasingly powerful offense

An earthquake occurred on Wednesday evening in Southern California with a magnitude of 5.4. According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time (2353 UTC). At least two dozen smaller aftershocks, none greater than a magnitude of 3.6, have struck the same area since the quake. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 14 kilometers (8.7 miles), and the epicenter was located 20 kilometers Northwest of Borrego Springs; 23 kilometers Southeast of Anza; 33 kilometers Northeast of Lake Henshaw; and 94 kilometers

National Basketball Association (NBA) free agents Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade will sign with the Miami Heat, the pair announced yesterday. ESPN first reported the decision early yesterday. The players confirmed the deal in the afternoon with a joint appearance on the network. The Miami Heat did not comment per NBA rules which prevented teams from discussing contracts prior to Thursday at 12:01 a.m. (ET), at which point contracts may be signed. Bosh, a power forward, comes to the Heat after playing the first seven years of his career with

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose back up to 10,018.28 Wednesday, rising 275 points after the United States Department of Labor said initial jobless claims were lower than expected. The report, which showed a modest dip in initial jobless claims, was better than what a poll of economists had predicted. The economists, who were polled by Thompson Reuters, had predicted 465,000 initial jobless claims in the month ending July 3; the number the Labor Department released was 454,000. The four-week average of initial claims also fell 1,250 to

Antisa Khvichava, a woman from the country of Georgia, is said to be celebrating her 130th birthday, which would make her the oldest known person on Earth, past or present. Reportedly born in 1880, documents state that Khvichava picked corn and tea for a living in 1965, at the age of 85. Prior to Khvichava, the record holder for the oldest known person to have lived on the planet was Jeanne Calment of France, who lived to be 122 years old. If confirmed, Khvichava would take the top spot with an eight year lead. The Justice Ministry in Georgia