News of the World

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J&J Must Pay $18.8 Million to California Cancer Patient in Baby Powder Suit

Johnson & Johnson’s must pay $18.8 million to a California man who said he developed cancer from exposure to its baby powder, a jury decided on Tuesday, a setback for the company as it seeks to settle thousands of similar cases over its talc-based products in U.S. bankruptcy court.

The jury ruled in favor of Emory Hernandez Valadez, who filed suit last year in California state court in Oakland against J&J, seeking monetary damages. Mr. Valadez, 24, has said he developed mesothelioma, a deadly cancer, in the tissue around his heart as a result of heavy exposure to the company’s talc since childhood. The six-week trial was the first over talc that New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J has faced in almost two years.

The jury found that Mr. Valadez was entitled to damages to compensate him for his medical bills and pain and suffering, but declined to award punitive damages against the company. Mr. Valadez will not be able to collect the judgment in the foreseeable future, thanks to a bankruptcy court order freezing most litigation over J&J’s talc.

J&J vice president of litigation Erik Haas said in a statement that the company would appeal the verdict, calling it “irreconcilable with the decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”
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In closing arguments to the jury on July 10, J&J’s lawyers said there was no evidence either linking Mr. Valadez’s kind of mesothelioma to asbestos or proving that Mr. Valadez was ever exposed to tainted talc. Mr. Valadez’s lawyers during closing arguments accused J&J of a “despicable” decades-long coverup of asbestos contamination.

China’s Rocket Force Faces Purge Over Possible Disclosure of Military Secrets

Multiple Chinese media outlets outside China allege that a handful of generals at or above the rank of deputy commander of China’s Rocket Force have been purged in recent months, and Chinese military insiders have said that the purge may be related to the disclosure of sensitive military secrets.

According to a report by Taiwan-based media Newtalk, Wu Guohua, the former deputy commander of the Rocket Force, killed himself on July 6. An official internal circular later concluded that it was “sudden death by cerebral hemorrhage.”
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Yao Cheng, a former lieutenant colonel in China’s Navy Command who is living in the United States, said in a post on Twitter on July 9 that it is unlikely that Mr. Wu died of a cerebral hemorrhage, as he had received advanced medical treatment as a military commander and likely took precautions against cardiovascular disease.
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Beijing has given up announcing investigations of senior generals. Meanwhile, calling the “unnatural deaths” of military officials “deaths from illness” seems to have become standard practice.

Such “unnatural deaths” often occur in the course of reviewing cases by the CCP’s top disciplinary body, and some suicides may be motivated by fear of being held criminally responsible; As per Mr. Yao, seven navy officials committed suicide since CCP head Xi Jinping rolled out the anti-corruption policy in the army. All of them were treated as having “died of illness.”

The 66-year-old former deputy commander of the Rocket Force retired in 2020.

Coincidentally, on the day of Mr. Wu’s demise, Mr. Xi inspected the Eastern theater and gave a speech on “improving the ability of theater party committees to lead preparations for war.”

Mr. Xi’s strategy has given him a tighter grip on his army generals, leading to a succession of fallen army generals across the army, navy, and air force, and now targeting the rocket force.

A few days before, the current commander of the Chinese Rocket Force, Li Yuchao, was taken away from his office on the morning of June 27, as per the Twitter post of Mr. Yao. The 61-year-old general, just promoted to commander last January, was absent from the promotion ceremony of the Rocket Force at the end of June.

In addition, Zhang Zhenzhong, former deputy commander of the Rocket Force and deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, as well as Liu Guangbin, current deputy commander of the Rocket Force, were both taken away for investigation in April, Hong Kong’s Ming Pao reported on May 24.

A July 13 report by Ming Pao said that those military chiefs in the Rocket Force are involved in corruption or leakage cases, implicating the commander of the Strategic Support Forces, Ju Qiansheng.

Australian Treasurer Meets Chinese Finance Minister
Over Trade Disputes at G20 Summit

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has met with his Chinese counterpart, Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun, during a G20 meeting in India as the country seeks to progress further in resolving trade disputes with Beijing.

This was the first meeting between an Australian treasurer and a Chinese finance minister in four years following a diplomatic fallout, which led to Beijing imposing a coercive trade ban on $20 billion (US$13.6 billion) worth of Australian commodities in 2020.

As the two sides started to de-escalate the tension in the past year, the Chinese communist regime has loosened restrictions on some Australian products, such as coal and timber.

In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation after the meeting, the treasurer said Australia wanted to stabilise the relationship with Beijing with engagement and dialogue while acknowledging the difference between the two sides.

Mr. Chalmers also said he raised the issue of lifting trade restrictions with Mr Liu, noting that the Australian government would like to settle the disputes before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Beijing.

Tornado Heavily Damages Pfizer Pharma Plant in North Carolina

A tornado heavily damaged a large Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina on Wednesday, ripping parts of its roofs and scattering large quantities of medicine stored at the factory.

“I’ve got reports of 50,000 pallets of medicine that are strewn across the facility and damaged through the rain and the wind,” Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone said of the large Pfizer manufacturing complex in Rocky Mount, a city in Edgecombe and Nash counties. He noted he hasn’t been able to confirm the extent of the damage.

The tornado had hit the Rocky Mount area around 12:30 p.m, according to Nash County officials.

Besides damaging the Pfizer plant, several residential homes and roadways were also damaged, noted the Nash County Sheriff’s Office.

The tornado also downed trees and power lines along some highways, which forced officials to temporarily shut down a stretch of Interstate 95 in both directions in North Carolina, resulting in miles of congestion.

Pfizer confirmed to multiple outlets that a tornado damaged the facility, adding that it had no reports of serious injuries. It said that the plant employees followed safety procedures and evacuated, and all “are safe and accounted for.”