Cruise line to pay $1M to honeymooner's estate

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (AP) -- Royal Caribbean Cruises has agreed to pay more than $1 million to the estate of a Connecticut man who vanished from his honeymoon cruise in 2005 according settlement papers to be filed Thursday.

George Allen Smith IV disappeared on July 5, 2005, after a night of heavy drinking aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas as it sailed between Greece and Turkey. The FBI has been investigating, but no one has been charged in his disappearance and no body has been recovered.

A copy of the settlement agreement, which still requires court approval, shows the Florida-based cruise company will pay $950,000 to Smith's estate and Read more

Costa Rican President to Donate Salary to Charity

By VOA News
20 December 2006

Oscar Arias
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias says he will donate his yearly salary to several of his nation's charities.

In a statement released Wednesday, Mr. Arias said beginning in January he will donate the money discreetly to organizations that help the elderly, children, the disabled and others in need.Read more

Chinese AIDS Patients Win Million-Dollar Compensation

By Benjamin Robertson
Beijing
05 December 2006


Nineteen Chinese AIDS patients have been awarded more than $1 million in compensation in a victory hailed by rights campaigners. Benjamin Robertson in Beijing reports.

The nineteen AIDS patients were infected by contaminated blood transfusions, and state media says their award of $1.2 million in compensation represents the biggest lawsuit of its kind in China.

Fifteen of the patients were infected while undergoing operations at a hospital in northern China's Heilongjiang province in 2004.Read More