A 1991 law and court consent decree ordered that those suffering from diseases that are newly considered to be service-related could have their cases reconsidered and their back benefits paid. The VA, however, contended this didn't apply to diseases deemed service-related after the law's 2002 original sunset date.

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco disagreed in 2005, and the appeals court affirmed his judgment Thursday with some harsh words for the VA.

"Three different Congresses in three different decades have enacted legislation signed by three different presidents, designed to ensure the payment of such benefits to veterans afflicted with Agent Orange-related ailments," Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for himself and circuit judges John Noonan and Milan Smith. "What is difficult for us to comprehend is why the Department of Veterans Affairs, having entered into a settlement agreement and agreed to a consent order some 16 years ago, continues to resist its implementation so vigorously, as well as to resist equally vigorously the payment of desperately needed benefits to Vietnam War veterans who fought for their country and suffered grievous injury as a result of our government's own conduct."

The still-suffering veterans deserve better care than they're getting, he added. "We would hope that this litigation will now end, that our government will now respect the legal obligations it undertook in the Consent Decree some 16 years ago, that obstructionist bureaucratic opposition will now cease, and that our veterans will finally receive the benefits to which they are morally and legally entitled."

VA spokeswoman Laurie Tranter said the department won't comment until it more fully reviews the ruling.

Vietnam Veterans of America was one of the plaintiffs, and Rick Weidman, the group's executive director for policy and government affairs, called Thursday's ruling "a great victory for veterans."

"The court ... clearly is as incredulous as we are at the breathtaking attitude on the part of the VA in continuing to refuse to carry out the consent decree that they agreed to," Weidman said. "It's time for the VA to move forward and carry out the consent decree tout de suite, as soon as possible, with no further delay, no further nonsense."

If it doesn't, he said, the courts should hold individual VA officials in contempt of court and punish them with fines or jail time.

Lawyers celebrated outside the court, chanting "Go, Musharraf, go!" The decision also prompted celebrations by hundreds of lawyers in major cities, including Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad, Quetta, Peshawar and Rawalpindi.

"Thank God, we got justice," said Ahsan Bhund, president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, as he marched with 500 other lawyers.

The court also quashed charges of misconduct against Chaudhry that Musharraf had sent to a separate judicial tribunal. The decision was a surprise — many had expected the court to reinstate the judge while letting the investigation continue.

In a brief statement, a spokesman for Musharraf said he accepted the ruling by presiding Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday that the president's order suspending Chaudhry was "set aside as being illegal."

"The president respects the decision of the Supreme Court," Musharraf's spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, was quoted as saying by state-run Associated Press of Pakistan. "The president has stated earlier that any judgment the Supreme Court arrives at will be honored, respected and adhered to."

Exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto declared it to be one of the most remarkable judgments in the history of Pakistan's judiciary.

The movement in support of Chaudhry had "turned into struggle against dictatorship, (for the) restoration of the Constitution and for supremacy of the Parliament," she said in a statement.

At the State Department, deputy spokesman Tom Casey said the reinistatement was in keeping with constitutional procedures and "respects the rule of law."

Fischetti told a lower court judge the district attorney's office set up a telephone hot line to receive calls about Barbour and he wanted to do something similar.

"I want to put up a hot line with her (the victim's) name on it (and place it) in the newspapers," Fischetti said. "We believe that this alleged victim has made these false allegations before."

The court upheld the judge's decision not to allow it, saying that Fischetti had shown no good faith basis for suggesting the girl had a history of falsely accusing anyone. It said that without such a showing, the policy interest of having sex crimes victims come forward without fear of exposure "outweighs what would amount to a fishing expedition."

Barbour, 40, pleaded not guilty in December to charges of sexual abuse and criminal sex act against the girl, a fan and aspiring actress, in 2001.

Barbour was starring in "Jane Eyre," and a high school drama teacher arranged for the girl and her parents to see the musical. The girl, now 20, went backstage alone after the show, and Barbour began touching her sexually, prosecutors said.

The class action lawsuit hinges on shareholder complaints concerning upper-management communications between August, 2005 and May, 2006 and insider trades made in December, 2005 and January, 2006.

The plaintiff in the case, Stephan Dennis, alleges that top executives at Midway knew of a primary investor’s intentions to relenquish ownership of the company and sold out before the stock price took a hit.

Dennis and other shareholders are joining with at least nine other law firms around the country in response to the millions of dollars lost by investors as Midway’s stock plummeted 75 percent to $6 per share recently.  Stock prices were around $22 per share at the time of the alleged insider trading.

Media tycoon Sumner Redstone, the beneficial owner of more than 89 percent of Midway Games, Inc, turned over majority control and almost 33 million shares of the company to his daughter, Shari Redstone, on December 28, 2005.

“Insiders knew [Mr. Redstone’s involvement] was the only thing propping up the stock,” said Kenneth Vianale, a lawyer with Florida-based Vianale & Vianale LLP. Vianale’s firm joined the class action suit on Monday.

The case against the videogame company alleges that insiders knew Redstone was planning to give control over to National Amusements Inc., a Massachusetts-based movie theater company controlled by his daughter.

Ms. Redstone is the president of both National Amusements, Inc. and Sumco, Inc. Together, these two companies control almost 75 percent of Midway.

But less than two weeks before Mr. Redstone relinquished his direct control, the President and CEO of Midway Games, David Zucker, began to unload 550,000 of his own Midway shares.  At the time, Midway stock was trading at a six year high, reaching a peak of $23.26 per share in mid-December.  By January 6, he had pocketed more than $9 million before taxes.  Zucker had never before sold Midway stock.

Mr. Zucker was not alone. Thomas Powell, Executive Vice President and CFO of Midway, sold 40,500 shares on December 20, just eight days before Redstone’s deal. The same day, Miguel Iribarren, Midway’s vice president of finance sold 15,000 shares.  Assistant Treasurer James Boyle sold 15,000 shares the next day.  Chief Marketing Officer Steven Allison sold 21,250 the day after that.  These five men are the defendants in the class action suit.

Two months after the Redstone deal went into effect, stock prices for Midway had dropped more than 50 percent to $9.91 per share.

In order to be successful, attorneys for the plaintiffs will have to prove Midway executives intentionally withheld knowledge of the Redstone deal and knew that executing trades on that knowledge was illegal, said Mitch Herr, a former chief trial council for the southeast region of the U.S. for the SEC.

Plaintiffs must also show that withholding information about the Redstone deal constituted an omission or misrepresentation of the company's financial prospects, and that they have been damaged. 

At this time there is no reason to believe the Redstone family was a part of the allegedly illegal activity, Vianale says.

A spokesperson for Midway Games, Inc. was not available for comment.

Shares of Midway Games, Inc. were up 7 cents to $6.07 per share in afternoon trading Wednesday.  Midway shares are down nearly 29 percent from a year ago.

The bill also implements a first-to-file standard consistent with international practice.

"Intellectual property industries not only drive a significant part of the American economy, but also provide millions of Americans with well-paying jobs," bill co-sponsor Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said in a statement. "The Patent Reform Act protects intellectual property by addressing critical weaknesses in the current law and eliminating the legal gamesmanship that rewards lawsuit abuses over creativity."

The bill now goes before the full U.S. House for an as yet unscheduled floor vote. Similar legislation is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has a vote scheduled on the bill Thursday.

Since the legislation was first introduced in April, the pharmaceutical, bio-technology and manufacturing companies have lined up to oppose the key portions of the legislation.

Wednesday, though, that opposition seemed to be lessening.

"The leadership and several members of the committee recognized that changes to the bill are still necessary and we look forward to working with them to further improve the bill," 3M's Gary Griswold, representing the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, said in a statement. "While there is still much work to do before the coalition can support the legislation, we are encouraged by the incremental progress made during today's mark-up."

Griswold added that while the group, which includes Eli Lilly, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson and Proctor & Gamble, still has "serious concerns" about the bill, amendments to it approved Wednesday were a "positive step." The amendments narrow the "second window" of post-grant reviews.

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved much the same amendments.

According to Sen. Patrick Leahy, infringement damages would be limited, "unless the claimant shows that the patent's specific contribution over the prior art is the predominant basis for market demand for an infringing product or process."

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) added an amendment that seeks to eliminate the popular practice of "forum shopping" by limiting venues for patent-infringement cases.

"Few issues are as important to the economic strength of the United States as our ability to create and protect intellectual property," Smith said. "The Patent Reform Act of 2007 updates current law to better protect intellectual property, enhance patent quality and increase public confidence in the integrity of patents."

Reta was sentenced to 40 years in prison by Judge Joe Lopez immediately after he entered the plea, which could have brought a sentence of up to 99 years.

Reta's attorney, Eduardo Pena, said the American teen, who was born in Houston but grew up in Laredo, decided to plead guilty — with the right to appeal — after a statement he signed was admitted into evidence over Pena's objections. In the statement, he admitted being the driver of the car used in the murder of Noe Flores.

"Under the circumstances, it was the best we could do," Pena said of the plea.

A witness testified Wednesday that Rosalio "Bart" Reta was among three men in an organized cell paid $15,000 to kill Flores in January 2006.

Prosecutors say Reta and two other accused hit men were actually supposed to kill the half brother of Flores but mistakenly killed Flores instead. Flores was shot at least seven times from the back while standing in front of a Laredo home.

Reta, a baby-faced teen with dimples, was only facing charges in Flores' death this week, but he is separately charged in another Laredo killing, also allegedly carried out on the orders of the cartel.

Assistant District Attorney Jesse Guillen said that trial would likely start soon and would give authorities another chance to add time to the teen's sentence. Laredo investigators believe Reta began killing for the cartel in Mexico and was moved to Laredo when the cartel began placing operations on the U.S. side.

Despite Reta's youth and his 5-foot-2 stature, "he's a cold-blooded killer," Guillen said. "There's no doubt about it."

During testimony Wednesday, Laredo police Detective Robert Garcia laid out a pattern of phone records that connected Reta to two other members of his cartel-controlled group and suppliers of the car and guns used in the Flores killing.

The accused ring leader in the Flores killing, Jesus "Jesse" Gonzales, fled to Mexico after making bail. The third member of the group, Gabriel Cardona, pleaded guilty and is serving an 80-year sentence.

Microsoft has been hit with a new class action lawsuit alleging that the company's Xbox 360 console damages game discs.

"Microsoft improperly and/or negligently manufactured the Xbox 360 console in a manner that causes the expensive game discs ... to be scratched, rendering the games unusable," the suit alleges.

The complaint was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for Southern California by two residents of the state: Christine Moskowitz and Dan Wood. The suit is seeking not less than $5 million in damages for Xbox 360 buyers affected by the alleged glitch.

Microsoft was slapped with a similar action last week in a Florida court.

In the California court filing, Moskowitz says that in March 2006 she purchased for her son an Xbox 360, along with the popular games Gears of War, Crackdown, and Saints Row. Within a few months, the games bore circular scratch marks and wouldn't work properly, Moskowitz claims. Wood says he purchased an Xbox 360 last December and the unit soon damaged his copy of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.

Both plaintiffs claim that the Xbox 360 console damaged their discs and that Microsoft refused to replace the ruined games or pay for them.

Earlier this month, Microsoft acknowledged that a hardware defect in the console was leading to what the company called "an unacceptable number" of general hardware failures. To deal with the problem, Microsoft said it would extend the warranty period on the units by three years, at a cost of between $1.05 billion and $1.15 billion.

The company made no mention of a disc scratching problem, however.

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that Xbox division head Peter Moore was leaving the company to take a position at games publisher Electronic Arts.

In their lawsuit, Moskowitz and Wood argue that Microsoft's scramble to get a next-generation video game system into the market to compete with those from rivals Sony and Nintendo is at the root of the Xbox 360's problems. "Microsoft's rush to market, while positive for Microsoft, was detrimental to consumers because the Xbox 360 suffered from numerous hardware defects," the suit claims.

Responding to the Florida lawsuit, a Microsoft spokesman told InformationWeek that the company has not received a significant number of complaints about scratched discs, despite the fact that "there are millions of Xbox consoles in use."