By Tom Hals, Mike Spector and Dan Levine

(Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court upended Johnson & Johnson’s attempt to offload into bankruptcy tens of thousands of lawsuits over its talc products, ruling the healthcare conglomerate improperly placed a subsidiary into Chapter 11 proceedings even though it did not face financial distress.

The decision by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia on Monday dismissed a Chapter 11 petition filed by a recently created J&J subsidiary in October to address more than 38,000 lawsuits from plaintiffs alleging the company’s baby powder and other talc products caused cancer.

Before the bankruptcy, J&J faced costs from $3.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including one in which 22 women were eventually awarded a judgment of more than $2 billion, according to bankruptcy-court records.

Several major companies, including J&J and 3M Co, have turned to bankruptcy court to manage their mass tort liabilities. Plaintiff attorneys have called the cases an improper manipulation of the bankruptcy system, while the companies say the Chapter 11 filings are aimed at compensating claimants fairly and equitably.

J&J’s maneuver is known as a Texas two-step for a state law used to create a subsidiary that shoulders litigation and then declares bankruptcy. The Third Circuit’s opinion allows talc litigation to resume against the company.

J&J said it would challenge the ruling and that its talc products are safe.

Its shares fell more than 3% – the biggest one-day percentage decline in two years.

The New Jersey-based company, valued at more than $400 billion, said its subsidiary’s bankruptcy was initiated in good faith and designed to equitably resolve talc claims for the benefit of all plaintiffs. J&J initially pledged $2 billion to the subsidiary to resolve talc claims and entered into an agreement to fund an eventual settlement approved by a bankruptcy judge.

A three-judge panel on the appeals court rejected J&J’s argument, finding the company’s subsidiary, LTL Management, was created solely to access the bankruptcy system and not because it faced financial distress.

“Good intentions – such as to protect the J&J brand or comprehensively resolve litigation – do not suffice alone,” the judges said in a 56-page opinion.

The decision throws into doubt J&J’s long-planned strategy for disposing of talc litigation after it lost a bid to reverse a watershed verdict that eventually awarded more than $2 billion to 22 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on baby powder and other talc products.

More than 1,500 talc lawsuits have been dismissed without J&J having to pay anything, and the majority of cases that have gone to trial have resulted in defense verdicts, mistrials or judgments for the company on appeal, according to the J&J subsidiary’s court filings.

‘PROJECT PLATO’

A December 2018 Reuters investigation revealed that the company knew for decades of tests showing its talc sometimes contained traces of carcinogenic asbestos but kept that information from regulators and the public.

“As we have said from the beginning of this process, resolving this matter as quickly and efficiently as possible is in the best interests of claimants and all stakeholders,” J&J said in a statement. “We continue to stand behind the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder, which is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.”

Facing unrelenting litigation, J&J enlisted law firm Jones Day, which had helped other companies execute Texas two-step bankruptcies to address asbestos lawsuits.

J&J’s effort, which Reuters detailed last year, was internally dubbed “Project Plato”, and employees working on it signed confidentiality agreements warning them to tell no one, including their spouses, about the plan.

The Texas two-step strategy has garnered criticism from Democratic lawmakers, and inspired legislation that would severely restrict the practice.

Jones Day did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Critics contend the strategy is an improper use of the bankruptcy system by solvent corporations wishing to escape jury trials in state courts. Bankruptcy filings typically pause litigation, forcing plaintiffs into often time consuming settlement negotiations while leaving them unable to pursue their cases in the courts where they originally sued.

“Bankruptcy courts are for honest companies in financial distress, not billionaire mega-corporations like J&J,” said Jon Ruckdeschel, a lawyer representing talc plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs and other legal experts urged U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan last year to dismiss the J&J subsidiary’s bankruptcy, arguing it was filed in bad faith and risked becoming a blueprint for large corporations seeking to avoid undesirable litigation.

Kaplan, though, denied the request, finding the J&J unit did face financial distress and that a bankruptcy court was a better forum for resolving the litigation then America’s tort system.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Mike Spector in New York; and Dan Levine and San Francisco; Additional reporting by Dietrich Knauth and Chuck Mikolajczak in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

By Brendan Pierson

(Reuters) – A federal judge on Monday blocked New Jersey’s recently enacted bans on carrying guns at beaches or casinos, though she left in place other restrictions passed by the state in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanding gun rights nationwide.

The order from U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb in Camden, New Jersey, came in response to a lawsuit brought by seven people and the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs challenging parts of a law signed by Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy in December.

“This marks the beginning of the end for Governor Murphy’s blatantly unconstitutional new carry law, which is going down in flames,” said Scott Bach, executive director of the association, in a statement.

“We look forward to being able to appeal the ruling and are confident that it will be reversed,” said Tyler Jones, a spokesperson for Murphy.

Bumb three weeks ago blocked other parts of the law in a similar lawsuit brought by different plaintiffs. Those measures included bans on carrying guns in public libraries, museums, bars and restaurants and on private property without the owner’s explicit permission, as well as transporting loaded guns in vehicles.

Other parts of the law, including measures tightening gun licensing requirements and handgun safety rules, remain in effect.

The rulings in both cases are temporary restraining orders, which will prevent the bans from being enforced while the lawsuits go forward. They are not final judgments.

Both lawsuits argue that the state’s new restrictions violate the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The law was passed in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in June that the U.S. Constitution protects individuals’ right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense, striking down a New York law governing gun licenses.

The high court’s decision left open the possibility for states to restrict guns in “sensitive places” but said any restrictions must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of gun regulation. Bumb found that the challenged restrictions in both cases did not fit in that tradition.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Lisa Shumaker)

Jane Fonda is “worried” about the ‘Barbarella’ remake.

The 85-year-old actress – who starred in the original 1968 adaptation of a French comic book series as an astronaut from the 41st century who had to stop an evil scientist named Duran Durand – admitted she has been trying “not to think” about the upcoming project, which will star Sydney Sweeney in the lead role.

Asked what she thinks about the remake, which she has no involvement with, Jane told The Hollywood reporter: “I try not to. Because I worry about what it’s going to be.

“I had an idea of how to do it that [original producer] Dino De Laurentiis, when he was still alive, wouldn’t listen to.

“But it could have been a truly feminist movie.”

The ’80 For Brady’ star admitted she has considered retiring from acting but has ultimately decided against it because she knows her high profile benefits her activism.

She said: “One feeds the other.

“I recently thought, ‘Maybe I do want to quit acting.’ I mean, I’m 85. But then I realised, my platform matters. It brings people in that might not come in normally.”

Jane spent her 82nd birthday behind bars after getting arrested for a fifth time in a long-running climate change protest called Fire Drill Fridays.

She said: “I was happy to turn 82 in jail. Because I knew it would get a lot of attention.”

The ‘Grace and Frankie’ star isn’t “scared” of dying – but she’s worried she’ll have regrets at the end of her life.

She said: “I’m not scared of dying. I think I’m telling the truth when I say that.

“But I am really scared of getting to the end with a lot of regrets when it’s too late to do anything. And when you figure that out, it instructs the way you live between now and the end.

“[My regrets] all have to do with children. I didn’t know how to be a parent. But it’s never too late. You can show up.”

Claims a photo of Prince Andrew with his arm around Virginia Giuffre is a “fake” have been branded “ridiculous” by a photographer who handled the original image.

Earlier this week, Ghislaine Maxwell- who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and grooming underage girls for late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – again cast doubt on the authenticity of the picture, while the Duke of York also previously insisted he didn’t remember the photo being taken and declared he was “not one to hug” or “display affection” in public.

Virginia – who sued the royal for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after being trafficked by Epstein before reaching an out-of-court settlement – insisted the photo was “authentic” and she had given the FBI the original in 2011.

And now, Michael Thomas – who took 39 copies of the image before it was handed over to the FBI – has blasted conspiracy theories surrounding the photo.

Virginia first showed the photo – which she claimed was taken the night she had sex with Andrew at the bidding of Maxwell and Epstein – to the photographer Mail on Sunday reporter Sharon Churcher in February 2011.

As is standard practice when handling sensitive images, she allowed Michael to take photographs of the original print – the whereabouts of which is currently unknown – and he took dozens of the front and the back.

He recalled to the Mail on Sunday: “She handed me the photograph and I put it on the table in the hotel room and I copied it.

“I think I took more than 30 frames, which is overkill for copying one photo but I didn’t want to get it out of focus or get it wrong because I knew how important it was.

“I was holding the original photo in my hand. It was a normal 6×4 inch print that you would have got from any developer at the time.

“It looked like it was ten years old. It wasn’t crisp because it had been developed in 2001. She had held on to it for ten years by the time I saw it. For Ghislaine Maxwell to come out and say it was fake is ridiculous. I held the photo. It was a normal photograph. It was a physical print. It exists. I saw it and that’s what I photographed and that’s what you see now…

“When they say it’s fake, they are saying that I’m involved. They are basically accusing someone of faking it and me being party to it. It’s not fake – and it never has been.”

The back of the photo, which has never publicly been seen before, shows a stamp that reads “000 #15 13Mar01 Walgreens One Hour Photo.”

The information means the picture was developed in a one-hour service on 13 March 2001 at a branch of Walgreens.

Meanwhile, amid reports Andrew is planning to attempt to have his undisclosed settlement to Virginia overturned, Maxwell’s family have spoken out in support.

While Virginia has alleged she and the disgraced duke had sex in the bath at Maxwell’s house in London, her relatives insisted that it was too small for them to have engaged in any sexual activity and even created a mock reconstruction – featuring two people approximately the size of the prince and his accuser – in the tub and shared its dimensions, 1,359mm by 380mm.

Maxwell’s brother, Ian Maxwell, said: “If anything Andrew is a bit bigger, a bit broader than the man in the bath in the photo. You can see how small the bathroom is and how small the bath is. The idea that two people can get in there and she bats her eyes and takes her clothes off and has sex in the bath is impossible.

“The only way you can start to change public perception around that is to provide incontrovertible visual evidence. People can now look at this photo in the bath and judge for themselves. I am putting it out, and if that helps Prince Andrew then so be it. If Prince Andrew wants to use it, we will make it available to him.”

Steps’ Ian ‘H’ Watkins is close friends with his celebrity childhood crush.

The ‘One For Sorrow’ hitmaker was obsessed with pop star and former ‘Neighbours’ star Jason Donovan, 54, when he was younger, so finds it “weird” to think the pair are good pals these days.

He told Heat magazine: “Back in the day, I used to fancy Jason Donovan, which is a bit weird, because we’re now pretty good mates.”

These days, the 46-year-old singer confessed he has the hots for Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard.

Meanwhile, H recently admitted he constantly feels guilty when he’s on tour without his sons.

The singer – who has six-year-old twins Macsen and Cybi with former partner Craig Ryder – loves being on the road with the band but feels bad that he can’t take the kids with him any more because they need to be at school.

He said: “Although my Instagram and social channels will often show me having a great time on tour (which I am!) I can’t help but struggle with the guilt that the boys aren’t there with me, now they’re both at school. Oh, the joys of parental guilt!”

The ‘Better Best Forgotten’ hitmaker admitted having twins is “absolutely exhausting” and thinks only parents who had multiples can truly understand the struggles.

He added: “Being a twin parent is like nothing else. And no, it is not the same as having children close together, thank you very much! This is a whole different ball game; it’s messy, it’s fun, it’s hilarious but WOW…. It’s absolutely exhausting.”

Dame Olivia Newton-John’s grieving husband has recalled how every day with her was a “bit of magic”.

John Easterling has described the ‘Grease’ actress, who died of cancer last August at the age of 73, as “the most courageous and compassionate woman” he had ever met as he reflected on the star’s legacy at the G’Day USA Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday (28.01.23).

He told the audience, which included pop star Katy Perry and model Miranda Kerr: “We shared a love and a happiness on an order of magnitude that I didn’t even think was possible.

“Olivia and I unexpectedly, madly, deeply, forever fell in love in the Amazon rainforest.

“For the past 15 years, I’ve been blessed to share the depth and the passion of her being.”

Easterling, the founder and president of the Amazon Herb Company, added: “Every day with Olivia was a bit of magic. Every day with Olivia was supernatural.

“She was the most courageous and compassionate woman that I’ve ever known, with a calming capacity to genuinely care about other people.”

John was married to the ‘Xanadu’ hitmaker from 2008 until her passing last year and remembered how his wife gave her name to cancer research centres in both Australia and the United States after she battled breast cancer three times.

He said: “There’s an old adage that like attracts like, and Olivia knew that her voice and her huge profile of talents were a gift. Her legacy continues as a joyful, healing spirit who is continuously focused on moving things, in her words, ‘into the love and the light.’’

Geneva (AFP) – All countries remain “dangerously unprepared” for the next pandemic, the Red Cross warned on Monday, saying future health crises could also collide with increasingly likely climate-related disasters.

Despite three “brutal” years of the Covid-19 pandemic, strong preparedness systems are “severely lacking”, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said.

The world’s largest humanitarian network said building trust, equity and local action networks were vital to get ready for the next crisis.

“All countries remain dangerously unprepared for future outbreaks,” the IFRC said, concluding that governments were no more ready now than in 2019.

It said countries needed to be prepared for “multiple hazards, not just one”, saying societies only became truly resilient through planning for different types of disaster, as they can occur simultaneously.

The IFRC cited the rise in climate-related disasters and waves of disease outbreaks this century, of which Covid-19 was just one.

It said extreme weather events were growing more frequent and intense, “and our ability to merely respond to them is limited”.

The IFRC issued two reports making recommendations on mitigating future tragedies on the scale of Covid-19, on the third anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the virus an international public health emergency.

“The Covid-19 pandemic should be a wake-up call for the global community to prepare now for the next health crisis,” said IFRC secretary general Jagan Chapagain.

“The next pandemic could be just around the corner; if the experience of Covid-19 won’t quicken our steps toward preparedness, what will?”

The report said major hazards harm those who are already vulnerable the most, and leaving the poorest exposed was “self-defeating”, as a disease can return in a more dangerous form.

Breakdown of trust

The IFRC said if people trusted safety messages, they would be willing to comply with public health measures and accept vaccination.

But the organisation said crisis responders “cannot wait until the next time to build trust”, urging consistent cultivation over time.

The IFRC said if trust was fragile, public health became political and individualised — something which impaired the Covid response.

It also said the coronavirus pandemic had thrived on and exacerbated inequalities, with poor sanitation, overcrowding, lack of access to health and social services, and malnutrition creating conditions for diseases to thrive in.

“The world must address inequitable health and socio-economic vulnerabilities far in advance of the next crisis,” it recommended.

The organisation also said local communities should be leveraged to perform life-saving work, as that is where pandemics begin and end.

The IFRC called for the development of pandemic response products that are cheaper, and easier to store and administer.

By 2025, it said countries should increase domestic health finance by one percent of gross domestic product, and global health finance by at least $15 billion per year.

The IFRC said its network had reached more than 1.1 billion people over the past three years to help keep them safe during the Covid pandemic.

Brendan Fraser needed spinal surgery and a partial knee replacement after spending years getting “banged up” while doing his own stunts.

‘The Mummy’ star, 54, has revealed he suffered numerous injuries during his time making action movies and faced a long recovery after doctors discovered he needed several operations to fix his problems.

He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “I got a little banged up from years of doing my own stunts and needed a surgical fix on the spine and the hinges. That took a lot out of me. I knew I would get better, but it took a long time.”

Brendan went on to reveal he was already suffering by the time he made the third movie in ‘The Mummy’ series – 2008’s ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’.

He said of his injuries: “I put myself together like a gladiator with muscle tape and ice packs, strapping on this Transformer-like exoskeleton just to get through the scene. There was self-loathing. I think on some level I felt I deserved a beating and wanted to be the one who got in the first punch.”

Brendan is currently enjoying a career comeback after receiving his first ever Oscar nomination. He’s in the running for the Best Actor prize at the upcoming Academy Awards for his role in ‘The Whale’ and he admitted he felt “absolutely overjoyed and deeply grateful to The Academy” for the recognition.

He added in a statement to People.com: “I wouldn’t have this nomination without [director] Darren Aronofsky, [writer] Samuel D. Hunter, A24 and the extraordinary cast and crew who gave me the gift of [this character] Charlie. “A gift I certainly didn’t see coming, but it’s one that has profoundly changed my life. THANK YOU!”

Brendan is nominated alongside Austin Butler (‘Elvis’), Colin Farrell (‘The Banshees of Inisherin’), Paul Mescal (‘Aftersun’) and Bill Nighy (‘Living’).

(Reuters) – A sixth Memphis police officer has been dismissed from the force for his involvement in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, local media reported on Monday, days after video footage of the killing was released to the public.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago)

Alan Cumming admits that it was a “complicated” decision to hand back his OBE.

The 58-year-old actor announced on Friday (27.01.23) that he was to return the honour he was awarded in 2009 over the “toxicity” of the British Empire.

Alan is grateful for the “incredible” reaction to his decision as he elaborated on his choice.

He told People: “I mean, first of all, I didn’t ever expect so much attention about it.

“It’s been really positive. People really understood why it’s complicated, it’s complex, it’s not a black or white thing.”

The ‘X-Men’ star added: “I tried to say that in my statement, and people have really responded to that. I think times are changing and things change, and you change how you feel about something.”

Cumming received the honour from Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace in 2009 but revealed his decision to hand back the award after a period reflection following Queen Elizabeth’s passing in a social media post to mark his 58th birthday.

‘The Traitors’ host wrote: “The Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes.

“Also, thankfully, times and laws in the US have changed, and the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have being associated with the toxicity of empire (OBE stands for Officer of the British Empire).”

Alan continued: “So I returned my award, explained my reasons and reiterated my great gratitude for being given it in the first place. I’m now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again. Happy birthday to me!”

Julie Bowen propositioned Harry Styles at his LA concert.

The 52-year-old actress showed up to Harry’s ‘Love On Tour’ show at The Forum in Inglewood last week, clutching a homemade heart-shaped sign which read “Harry I’m old, but I know what I’m doing.”

Julie shared a reel of herself with the sign on Instagram and tagged Harry’s official Instagram account in the video.

The ‘Modern Family’ actress was previously married to Scott Phillips from 2004 to 2018 and they share sons Oliver McLanahan, 15, and 13-year-old twins John and Gustav.

However, she insisted she would come out of “dating retirement” for Harry, 28.

Speaking previously, she said: “You’re asking me if I’d come out of [dating] retirement for Harry Styles? Oh, hell yeah. Him? Look at him!

“He’s just bringing the joy and the light and the ‘Watermelon Sugar.’ You just feel good about the whole experience.”

Julie added during the show’s ‘Five Second Rule’ game her three celebrity crushes were Harry, Timothée Chalamet, and guest host Adam DeVine.

She also revealed she once fell in love with a gay woman who didn’t like her “in that way”.

She told Becca Tilley on her ‘Quitters’ podcast: “I’m straight. I’ve always been straight. I was in love with a woman for a while but she didn’t love me back.

“She liked women, but she didn’t like me in that way.

“It never really took off so I never really had to challenge my concept of my sexuality.”

Jeff Richmond and Tina Fey want the ‘Mean Girls’ musical movie to have a “fresher palette”.

The pair are adapting their musical for the big screen and composer Jeff revealed his hopes that the songs will attract a wider audience.

He explained to The Hollywood Reporter: “Right now, the day-to-day is more about the movie adaptation that we’re working on. We’re super involved with that. What we’re trying to do [with the movie] is take the score that sounds like a Broadway score — in a good way — and [give] the movie a fresher palette. To make it sound more like stuff you want to listen to on Spotify, as opposed to when you’re sitting eighth row at a Broadway show or the Pantages. It’s kind of making it a fresher, younger take on the whole thing. We’re kind of reinvented the music for the movie, so it’s really fun.”

Lorne Michaels is producing the movie for Paramount Pictures, with Tina penning the script and Jeff and lyricist Nell Benjamin working on the music.

Angourie Rice, Auli’i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey and Reneé Rapp will star, with Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. directing.

And Jeff revealed he and wife Tina love working together.

He said: “We know when to get out of each other’s way when we’re working together. Like who’s taking this part? Who’s doing that? Who needs to push harder on getting the script done for this? We’re just around each other all the time. Same office, all the time. She’s a hilariously fun person to be around.”