Calif. court limits damages in harassment case

The California Supreme Court has reduced the punitive damages that McKesson Corp. must pay a former employee who claimed she was harassed because she suffered panic attacks and had body odor.

The court on Monday ordered the San Francisco-based drug distributor to pay Charlene Roby $3.8 million.

It cut the amount from the nearly $20 million a Yolo County jury initially awarded the former customer service worker in 2004.

McKesson did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Roby sued McKesson, claiming the company wrongly fired her after a stellar 25-year career. Roby, who took medication for her panic attacks that caused body …

Yo-yo mart falls 36 pts.

NEW YORK The Dow Jones industrials dropped into negativeterritory in the last hour of trading today under heavy sellingpressure from profit-takers trying to lock in gains before yearend.

The Dow Jones average fell 36.52 points to close at 6,268.35after being up more than 50 points this morning. The broad marketwas weaker as well.

The Dow rose this morning after the weekend announcement thatBoeing would acquire rival aircraft and defense maker McDonnellDouglas in a stock swap valued at $13.3 billion. Share of bothcompanies were up strongly.However, the rest of the market was weaker. Declining issuesled advancers, with 1,657 down, 873 up and 780 unchanged on the …

BP: too early to say how much oil spilled in Gulf

LONDON (AP) — BP has declined to estimate how much oil was spilled in the Gulf of Mexico from its busted Macondo well last year, saying more data still has to be gathered.

The company says in its 2010 Sustainability Review released Wednesday that while third-party oil spill estimates have been made public, "we believe that no accurate determination can be made or reported until further …

NATO airstrike accidentally kills 5 Afghan troops

NATO mistakenly killed five of its Afghan army allies in an airstrike Wednesday while the Afghans were attacking insurgents in the country's east, officials said.

An Afghan defense official condemned the latest "friendly fire" deaths, which came at a time when international troops are trying to improve coordination with Afghan security forces in hopes of handing over more security to them nearly nine years into the war. Three American soldiers were also reported killed Wednesday in a roadside bomb in the south.

The Afghan soldiers were launching an ambush before dawn against insurgents reportedly on the move in Ghazni province when NATO aircraft …

REVIEW

Femi Kuti

Shoki Shoki

(MCA)

Following in the footsteps of his father, the late Nigeriansuperstar/political and social warrior Fela, Femi Kuti has releasedthe most blistering disc of funky, jazz-driven Afro-beat to hit thestates in years. The single, "Beng Beng Beng," a sensuous soca-flavored dance track, has already netted Femi a pair of Kora AllAfrica Music Awards.

Elsewhere, there's the skin-tight syncopation of "Sorry Sorry"and the Afrocentric "Blackman Know Yourself," which brings to mindHugh Masekela.

Michael Penn

MP4

(Epic/Fifty …

MINI, BUT NOT A VAN

YOU KNOW WHAT AN SUV IS, RIGHT? How about an SAV? According to Ford Motor Co., that's a sports activity vehicle-"a three-row mono-space vehicle that is athletic both in its appearance and in the way it drives."

That's Ford's definition of what may be a new kind of vehicle-call it the mini minivan.

Built on a mid-sized vehicle platform, Ford's SAV and Mercedes's new R-Class are prime examples of the new type of vehicle, which define themselves by providing three-rows of seats that can haul five or six adults.

Smaller than a standard minivan, the SAV is designed to appeal to drivers who want to carry a lot of passengers or cargo, but don't want the stigma of driving a …

Ecuador president says will meet many debts

President Rafael Correa assured lenders on Saturday that Ecuador will pay back many of its loans even if it is backing away from debts it considers illegitimate.

The assurance came as Correa said his government may seek new financing from multilateral lenders because problems caused by the plummeting price of oil "have surpassed our expectations."

The government announced this month that it would stop paying interest on two sorts of bonds that a presidential commission determined were illegitimate. Those moves prompted international ratings agencies to slash Ecuador's bond rating, as well as reducing that of the Corporacion Andina de Fomento, a …