R. KELLY TIMELINE: Life, lurid rumors, lawsuits, criminal charges

R. Kelly has long faced allegations of lurid sexual behavior and abuse, some of which have been made public through documentaries or court documents. This is a timeline of Kelly's life, from his early days in Chicago through his rise and fall as an R&B artist.

Staten Island restaurants sue to block vaccination proof mandate

A group of New York City restaurants asked a judge this week to block the city's latest effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, calling the city's mandate that customers show proof of vaccination "arbitrary, irrational, unscientific and unlawful."

Zoom settles privacy miscues at start of pandemic for $85 million

Zoom has agreed to pay $85 million to settle a lawsuit alleging its videoconferencing service's weak privacy controls opened too many peepholes into its users' personal information and made it too easy to disrupt their meetings during the early stages of the pandemic.

Employers can legally mandate COVID shots | EXPLAINER

The Justice Department says individuals must be informed of their "option to accept or refuse administration" of an emergency use vaccine like the coronavirus shot. But that doesn't prohibit employers from mandating vaccinations as a condition of employment.

Mario Batali harassment settlement will pay $600,000 to accusers

Disgraced chef Mario Batali, his business partner and their New York City restaurant company have agreed to pay $600,000 to resolve a four-year investigation by the state attorney general's office into allegations that Batali, restaurant managers and other workers sexually harassed employees.

Many more court rulings on vaccine mandates expected

A federal court declined to block Indiana University's requirement that all students be fully vaccinated upon returning to campus. This is the first of what are expected to be many more federal rulings on vaccine mandates.

New York settles with distribution companies in opioid lawsuit

McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen are the latest to settle in one of the nation's largest opioid lawsuits. The distributors are among a lengthy list of pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers accused of fueling the opioid crisis on Long Island and across the state.

U.S. opioid lawsuits on verge of settlements with 4 companies

The three biggest U.S. drug distribution companies and the drugmaker Johnson & Johnson are on the verge of a $26 billion deal to settle lawsuits brought by state and local governments across the country over the toll of prescription opioids, lawyers suing on behalf of local governments said.

New York signs on to opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma

Attorneys general in 15 states, including New York, announced on Wednesday a $4.5 billion settlement with the maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, and its owner, the Sackler family, for their role in fueling the opioid epidemic.

Trump Organization, CFO indicted on tax charges

After a far-reaching investigation spanning more than two years, a grand jury in New York indicted the Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer over tax and financial dealings. Donald Trump was not charged in the case.

Jury trial of opioid makers, distributors begins in New York

The lawsuit — filed by Nassau County, Suffolk County, and the New York attorney general — accuses some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies and distributors of fueling the opioid epidemic. The litigation is the first of its kind in the nation in which a jury rather than a judge will decide the outcome.