On December 15, the Illinois Supreme Court threw out a $10.1 billion verdict against Philip Morris and its parent company, Altria Group, saying they did not mislead consumers when advertising "light" cigarettes.

The U.S. Coalition Forces Land Component Command in Kuwait pulled the credentials of two embedded journalists from the Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia, reportedly for publishing a picture of a bullet-ridden Humvee parked in a Kuwaiti camp.

Durham, North Carolina's local ABC television affiliate "has been staging fire, foul weather and other news events across Durham this week, shooting advertisements for its news operations that not only put its Eyewitness News team at contrived scenes but also have taxpayers footing the bill for on-duty firefighters and other emergency workers to give the ads a realistic flair." The city fire chief said the ads weren't "a waste of taxpayers' money," b