Deepening a split among the federal appeals courts, the 1st Circuit has ruled that a state’s removal of a claim to federal court waives its sovereign immunity only if the removal gives the state an unfair advantage. The ruling affirms a lower court judgment against claims by a police officers’ union.

Four former NFL players are suing the league in federal court, asserting it ignored years of evidence that repeated blows to the head were causing permanent brain damage, and used “hand-picked” doctors to misrepresent or cover up concussion-related hazards. The suits are the first of about 30 that will be filed.

In a new motion filed Monday in Washington federal court, the cigarette manufacturers suing the Food and Drug Administration over new graphic label requirements hinted that they already have their sights set on the Supreme Court.

According to court records, 383 plaintiffs have agreed to settle their claims against the government that radiation from the now-shuttered Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state made them sick. Fewer than 1,000 plaintiffs now remain in a case that’s been pending in federal court for 21 years.

In a complaint filed Monday in Pittsburgh federal court, Aluminum Bahrain BSC alleges that it overpaid $420 million for raw materials from 1997 to 2009 because companies affiliated with Alcoa and controlled by a billionaire businessman paid millions in bribes to company executives and Bahrain officials.Visit International News