Toxic dust

More than 10,000 workers exposed to the tons of toxic dust that blanketed ground zero after the World Trade Center fell end their bruising legal fight with New York City and joined a settlement worth at least $625 million, officials say. The deal resolves an overwhelming majority of the lawsuits over the city's failure to provide protective equipment to the army of construction workers, police officers and firefighters who spent months clearing and sifting rubble after Sept. 11.