In an intriguing reversal of roles, the Manville Trust, along with several other defendants in asbestos cases, will go before a Federal Appeals Court next month to get clearance for multi-billion-dollar claims against tobacco manufacturers (Owens Corning has filed a similar suit in California).

ECONOMIST: Asbestos claims

When Manville first filed for bankruptcy in 1982, it reckoned on 17, 000 claims.

ECONOMIST: Asbestos claims

Was he a shipyard worker in World War II, as he told the Johns Manville bankruptcy trust?

FORBES: Double-Dippers

Britain's Lesley Manville missed out on the best actress prize for her performance in Mike Leigh's Another Year, a gong won last year by her compatriot Kate Winslet for The Reader.

BBC: Roman Polanski triumphs at European Film Awards