Three Florida youngsters created a social media account to solicit and post explicit photos of other children, it has emerged.

A mother and son stole more than $2m (€1.6m) in expensive toys by stashing them inside the boxes of cheaper products they bought at Toys R Us stores across the US, authorities say.

A SOUTH Florida jury has ordered Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million (€202m) to a former smoker, agreeing that the tobacco company’s negligence was the cause of her emphysema.

Prosecutors in South Florida are taking a fresh look at evidence in the 2007 death of actress-model Anna Nicole Smith.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris was ordered by a Florida jury to pay US$8m (€6.3m) in damages to the widow of a smoker who died of lung cancer in a case that could set a precedent for around 8,000 other state lawsuits.

An Iowa woman has been charged with killing her newborn daughter by tossing her down a Florida hotel rubbish chute from the seventh floor.

One doctor authorised all 11 prescription medications found in Anna Nicole Smith's hotel room, most of them in the name of the starlet's companion, according to documents released by the US medical examiner's office in Florida.

PLAYBOY Playmate Anna Nicole Smith died of an accidental overdose of a sleeping medication and at least eight other prescription drugs, and she had recently had a bacterial infection from injecting drugs into her buttocks, authorities said yesterday.

Former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith died from an accidental drug overdose, authorities in the US announced today.

The murky circumstances surrounding Anna Nicole Smith’s death could become clearer today, when authorities are expected to release the results of the former pin-up’s post-mortem examination.

The murky investigation into model-actress Anna Nicole Smith’s death was expected to get some clarity tomorrow when authorities finally plan to release the results of her post mortem.

Seminole tribal police and Bahamian authorities are meeting about the investigation into Anna Nicole Smith’s death, but prosecutors in Florida said no murder inquiry was under way.

The coffin holding Anna Nicole Smith’s body was today loaded onto a private flight to the Bahamas for her funeral, after weeks of legal wrangling over where the pin-up should be buried.

Anna Nicole Smith’s friends and family awaited the release of her body today, as they planned for starlet’s funeral in the Bahamas after weeks of legal wrangling over her remains.

Anna Nicole Smith’s estranged mother today asked a Florida appeals court to overturn a judge’s decision over who controls where the starlet should be buried.

Anna Nicole Smith’s estranged mother and her ex-boyfriend both testified that the starlet said she wanted to be buried in California, not the plots in the Bahamas or Texas that have been the focus of the fierce week-long legal debate.

The drawn-out US court battle over what to do with Anna Nicole Smith’s body has a new sense of urgency – the starlet’s remains are decomposing more quickly than expected and a public viewing could be in danger.

A grief-stricken Anna Nicole Smith threw herself over her son’s body last fall as he lay in a coffin in the Bahamas, wailing, “If Daniel has to be buried, I want to buried with him,” her boyfriend testified at a hearing on where the former centrefold should be laid to rest.

A judge ordered another DNA sample be taken from Anna Nicole Smith’s body as he heard fiery arguments in the fight over the former Playboy Playmate’s remains and custody of her infant daughter.

The bickering over Anna Nicole Smith spiralled into a post-death legal war, with judges on both US coasts issuing rulings and a parade of lawyers fighting for control of the body.

Prescription drugs were found in former Playboy Anna Nicole Smith’s hotel room, but there were no pills in her stomach, investigators said tonight.

PRESCRIPTION drugs were found in Anna Nicole Smith’s hotel room, but there were no pills in her stomach, and investigators said last night they are awaiting tests that would tell whether or not the former centrefold died of an overdose, as some close to her suspect.

A jogger in the US was killed by an alligator which ripped her arms off before dragging her body into a canal.

Hurricane Wilma crashed ashore early today as a strong Category 3 storm, battering south-west Florida with 125 mph winds and pounding waves as it began a dash across the state.

FIVE people were killed, a family of five was missing at sea and more than a million homes and businesses lost power after Hurricane Katrina crashed ashore in southern Florida early yesterday.

A hurricane warning prompted a rush on petrol stations early today in south-east Florida, where people were advised to stock up on necessities and take safety precautions ahead of Tropical Storm Katrina.

PRESIDENT BUSH won a convincing victory in Florida, erasing the trauma of four years ago when the outcome of the presidential election remained in limbo for 36 days while election officials scrambled to recount ballots.

BROWARD COUNTY in Southern Florida can’t be explained like any other place in America, even the vast sprawls of suburbia that you get only in America.

Broward County officials in Florida are questioning how many of the 58,000 absentee ballots they sent out actually reached voters.

FLORIDIANS began casting votes yesterday and within an hour problems cropped up.

EARLY voting for the US presidential election began in Florida yesterday as activists urged people to opt for early ballots to avoid a repeat of the 2000 election fiasco, but computer problems and queues soon emerged.

Hurricane Frances churned its way toward the Bahamas today after forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes in the nearby British territory of Turks and Caicos as the Caribbean faced one of its strongest storms in years.

US authorities have charged the first person with helping the New York and Washington terrorist hijackers as the number of people arrested or detained in the wide-ranging investigation grew to 352.

A 13-year-old was arrested for threatening to shoot his teacher after she took his Game Boy off him.