SANTTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday upheld $165 million of jury awards towards FedEx in a wrongful-death lawsuit stemming from a lethal crash involving a Texas household and a contract driver for the delivery firm.

The 2011 crash on Interstate 10 west of Las Cruces killed Marialy Venegas Morga and her 4-year-old daughter and critically injured the El Paso girl’s 19-month-old son when the household’s small pickup was rear-ended.

According to testimony, the large rig did not brake earlier than the crash.

Truck driver Elizabeth Quintana additionally died.

A jury in Santa Fe awarded $93 million in compensatory damages to the estates of these relations killed and $72 million to different relations.

FedEx’s attraction argued that the awards have been extreme and {that a} state District Court decide ought to have granted the corporate’s request for a brand new trial.

The Supreme Court declined to order a brand new trial in the case, concluding that “substantial proof supported the decision and that the jury’s award was not the results of ardour or prejudice.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro introduced Thursday {that a} future destroyer shall be named the USS Telesforo Trinidad in honor of a Filipino sailor who rescued two crew members when their ship caught hearth greater than a century in the past.

Fireman Telesforo De La Cruz Trinidad is the one Filipino within the U.S. Navy to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He acquired the consideration for his actions on the USS San Diego in 1915 and at a time when it could possibly be awarded for noncombat valor.

“Since being sworn in as Secretary, I’ve wished to honor his heroic actions by naming a ship after him,” Del Toro mentioned in a press release launched Thursday. “This ship and her future crew shall be a crucial piece in strengthening our maritime superiority whereas additionally emphasizing the wealthy tradition and historical past of our naval heritage.”

The news cheered Asian Americans, veterans and civilians in each the U.S. and the Philippines who had urged the naming. They mentioned a named ship would additionally honor the tens of 1000’s of Filipinos and Americans of Filipino descent who’ve served within the U.S. Navy since 1901, when the Philippines was a United States territory.

Trinidad, who died in 1968 at age 77, was aboard the USS San Diego in January 1915 when boilers exploded, killing 9. He was among the many greater than 250,000 Filipino troopers who served in World War II, together with 1000’s who died in the course of the brutal 1942 Bataan Death March within the Philippines.

A future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will bear Trinidad’s identify, Del Toro mentioned. Thursday’s assertion mentioned that the destroyers are the spine of the U.S. Navy’s floor fleet.

In January 2020, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly named a nuclear-powered plane service after Doris “Dorie” Miller, an African American enlisted sailor who acquired the Navy Cross for his actions throughout Japan’s assault on Pearl Harbor.

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MANAGUA (Reuters) – Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega mentioned his authorities was “not ” in attending the U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas subsequent month, which some leaders have criticized for stories it could exclude the Central American nation together with Cuba and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s authorities.

Nicaragua was beforehand knowledgeable that it might be excluded from the summit, which can happen in Los Angeles, in response to an individual in Washington accustomed to the matter.

“We usually are not in being at that summit,” Ortega mentioned at a public occasion late on Wednesday. “This summit doesn’t dignify anybody, somewhat, it dirties them, it sullies them. We Latin Americans should defend ourselves in order that they respect us.”

Ortega gained a fourth consecutive time period in November after jailing rivals and cracking down on important media, triggering worldwide criticism. He has ceaselessly accused the United States of being interventionist and making an attempt to undermine his authorities.

He added in Wednesday’s speech that Latin American leaders already meet through the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), comprised of 33 international locations.

A senior State Department official mentioned in April that Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s authorities would probably be excluded as a result of the summit is supposed to concentrate on democracy in the area.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has urged all international locations to be included and mentioned he might not attend in any other case. On Thursday, he informed reporters he anticipated a response from U.S. President Joe Biden this week after expressing issues to U.S. particular adviser Christopher Dodd.

The Biden administration on Thursday accused Cuba of fueling controversy over its attainable exclusion from the summit to pit itself towards the United States and distract consideration from its human rights report at residence.

(Reporting by Ismael Lopez; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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