puissance USA

March 26, 2008—The [Italian court] said that a peculiarity of American law—punitive damages—was so offensive to Italian notions of justice that it would not enforce the Alabama judgment. NYT A1

--In 2006, Dr. Claudia Henschke of Weill Corrnell Medical College jolted the cancer world with a study saying that 80 % of lung cancer deaths could be prevented through widespread use of CT scans. [The study was financed by a foundation which ] was financed almost entirely by $3.6 million in grants from the parent company of the Ligget Group, maker of Ligget Select, Grand Prix, Quest and Pyramid cigarette brands. NYT A1

--The top State Dept. officials responsible for the alliance with Pakistan met with leaders of the new government on Tuesday, and received what amounted to a public dressing down from on of them... “If America wants to see itself clean of terrorists, we also want that our villages and towns should not be bombed...”NYT A7

--Four high tech electrical fuses for Minuteman nuclear warheads were sent to Taiwan in place of helicopter batteries, a mistake discovered only last week—a year and half after the erroneous shipment... NYT A9

--President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested Tuesday that a boycott o th opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics was a possibility, making him the first world leader to raise the prospect of punishing China over Tibet. NYT A9

--Western countries have failed to deliver $10 billion of nonmilitary assistance to Afghanistan over the last six years and the USA, by far the biggest donor, is responsible for half the shortfall... NYT A10