Sniper suspects charged in shooting of FBI analyst

FAIRFAX, Va. -- A Virginia prosecutor charged sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad and 17-year-old John Lee Malvo with capital murder Wednesday in the killing of an FBI analyst, saying he believes he has sufficient evidence to go to trial immediately.

Muhammad and Malvo, who have been accused in 17 shootings in four states and Washington, D.C., were charged with murder in the Oct. 14 shooting of Linda Franklin in the parking deck of a Home Depot store. Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. said he waited longer than other prosecutors to bring charges because he wanted to see the evidence in the case.

It remained uncertain which jurisdiction will try the suspects first.

'Girl, Interrupted': Ryder convicted of grand theft

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- A jury on Wednesday found Winona Ryder guilty of stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise during a shoplifting spree at a Saks Fifth Avenue last year, but the actress will likely avoid jail.

The prosecutor said she would not try to put the 31-year-old, two-time Academy Award nominee behind bars, saying she would seek probation, community service and restitution at Ryder's sentencing on Dec. 6. The charges could have carried up to three years in prison.

Ryder, star of the 1999 film "Girl, Interrupted," showed no emotion after the jury, which included former movie studio chief Peter Guber, convicted her of felony grand theft and vandalism.

Big Tobacco appeals $145 billion award

MIAMI -- A record $145 billion verdict awarded to sick Florida smokers should be thrown out because it would bankrupt the nation's biggest cigarette makers, tobacco industry attorneys told an appeals court Wednesday.

The lawsuit should never have been granted class-action status and the smokers should be forced to sue as individuals, the attorneys also told a three-judge panel of the state's 3rd District Court of Appeal.

Tobacco attorney Elliot Scherker cited a national trend against allowing smokers to file class-action suits, said the "astronomical award" would violate state law by bankrupting the companies and disagreed, in many ways, with how the trial was conducted.

Study says no evidence links MMR shot, autism

BOSTON -- A large study from Denmark offers reassuring evidence that the widely used measles, mumps and rubella vaccine does not cause autism, as some fear. Some have speculated that the measles portion of the vaccine might trigger autism, in part because autism often becomes apparent during the second or third year of life, around the same time the shots are given.

However, several large careful studies have turned up no proof of this.

--From wire reports