US judge halts damages enforcement against Chevron

A U.S. judge on Monday halted enforcement of an $18 billion award against Chevron Corp., siding with the oil company against Ecuadorean plaintiffs in a long-running dispute over Amazon rain forest pollution. The move comes three weeks after an Ecuadorean court’s ruling against Chevron in what has become an international test case, watched closely by private-sector oil companies wary of potential damages claims elsewhere.