Uruguay won an arbitration case against US tobacco giant Philip Morris, which sued the state claiming its strict anti-tobacco law harmed the cigarette maker's business, both sides said. “The Uruguayan state has emerged victorious and the tobacco company's claims have been roundly rejected,” Uruguayan President Tabara Vasquez said in a televised address. Philip Morris reacted by saying “we respect” the verdict, which is binding in any case.
By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) – Guidelines to decide whether transgender prison inmates in California can undergo sex reassignment surgery took effect Tuesday, making it the first U.S. state to offer a regular path to such treatment. California last summer agreed to regularly provide and pay for treatments including hormones as well as surgery to alter the biological sex of its prisoners. “California has set a model for the rest of the country and ensured transgender people in prison can access life-saving care when they need it,” said Kris Hayashi, executive director of Transgender Law Center, which represents two inmates who sued the state after being denied the surgery.