[JURIST] AP is reporting that the US Supreme Court has refused to overturn a Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that earlier Friday had lifted a restraining order against the execution of serial killer Michael Ross. Ross wishes to die but his family and public defenders had sought to stop his execution [JURIST report] on the grounds that Ross was not mentally competent to waive previous appeals. Ross' execution, now scheduled for 2:01 AM ET Saturday at the Osborn Correctional Institution [official website] in Somers CT, will be the first in New England in 45 years.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [official website] ruled [PDF opinion] Friday that the patent for the once-a-week version of Fosamax [medical information], the second best selling drug produced by Merck & Co. [corporate website], is invalid. Fosamax currently dominates the market for treatment of osteoporosis. Under the ruling, generic competitors could release their version of the drug within three years rather than waiting until 2018. Fosamax has been lucrative for Merck, with 2004 sales totaling $3.16 billion. The ruling came the say day that Merck formally acknowledged it was under investigation by the SEC in connection with its withdrawal of arthritis blockbuster Vioxx [JURIST report] after research studies found it to be dangerous [Vioxx consumer info]. After heavy trading on the NYSE Friday, Merck shares were down 11.8 percent. AP has more.

[JURIST] The European Commission [official website] announced Friday that Microsoft [corporate website] may be fined up to five percent of its daily turnover, nearly $5 million per day, unless it complies with last year's antitrust decisions [JURIST Hot Topic archive] against the software giant. Last month, Microsoft was denied a court action to suspend the EU sanctions [EU press release]. At that hearing, Microsoft agreed to offer a new, rival-software friendly version of the Windows operating system. It also agreed to share printer and server protocols with other hardware manufacturers. It his statement, EU spokesman Jonathan Todd noted, "We obviously expect the remedies to be complied with within a matter of weeks--measured from last December--rather than months." Microsoft is currently appealing the Commission's ruling against it to the EU's Court of First Instance [official website in English]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Extra security measures [JURIST report] running through Sunday's election came into force in Iraq Friday [Iraqi Security Minister briefing] on a day when attacks on voting stations around Iraq resulted in 11 deaths. Driving of automobiles is now banned between 7 pm and 6 am, and all pedestrians are being kept away from polling centers. Saturday will see the closing of the Baghdad airport as well as the six borders Iraq shares with neighboring countries. Extra US soldiers have been deployed to reinforce the Iraqi-Syrian border in an attempt to discourage entrance of would-be troublemakers. On election day itself polling centers will be heavily guarded on election day by an outer ring of nearly 100,000 Iraqi police and an inner ring consisting of US and Iraqi military forces. Iraq's military chief of staff, General Babakir Zebari, has said that he would have preferred a delay in the election, but has expressed confidence in his soldiers' election day performance. Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] German newspaper Tagesspiegel reported Friday that German federal prosecutor Kay Nehm will not pursue war crimes charges [Tagesspiegel report in German] against US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld [official profile], but German officials are saying that a decision has not yet been made. Criminal charges have been filed against Rumsfeld [JURIST report] and other senior officials on behalf of four Iraqi citizens. Rumsfeld is accused of being responsible for the torture and abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST hot topic]. Tagesspiegel reports that Nehm can only pursue the charges in the complaint [English translation, PDF, Center for Constitutional Rights backgrounder] if Germans were suspected of committing crimes or were the victims of crimes. AFP has more.

[JURIST] In Friday's environmental law news, US-based oil refining company ConocoPhillips [corporate website] has agreed to spend $525 million on emission controls and pay a $4.5 million dollar fine to settle federal charges that it violated air pollution laws. The company said yesterday that upgrading controls at 9 of the company's refineries is expected to reduce the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 65%. NOx is a major contributor to groundlevel ozone pollution (smog). The Houston Chronicle has the full story.

In other news,

• Despite a request on Thursday from new US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Mike Johanns, Japanese officials have announced that they will not set a specific date for resuming beef trade with the US. Japan banned the import of US beef in December 2003 following a case of mad-cow disease in Washington State. Johanns has said that resuming US beef exports is his top priority [JURIST report]. Xinhuanet has the full story.
  
  
• The USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service [official website] seeks comments on an interim rule that adds parts of Middlesex and Union Counties, NJ to the list of quarantined areas due to Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) [USDA factpage] infestation. Quarantined areas have the shipment and sale of many hardwood products regulated [text of statute]. Portions of Illinois, Hudson County (NJ), New York City, and Nassau and Suffolk Counties (NY) are already designated as quarantined areas. Comments can be made here until March 29.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] has lifted a restraining order preventing the execution of Connecticut serial killer Michael Ross [About.com profile], but said that the execution should be delayed until Ross' father can appeal to the Supreme Court. Ross received the death penalty after confessing to murdering eight women and is trying to have his execution proceed, but his father and public defenders are now arguing that Ross was not mentally competent [JURIST report] to waive his appeals. In its Friday ruling, the 2nd Circuit said that it could find no case law establishing the right of the relative of a death row inmate to challenge the inmate's sentence on their own behalf. AP has more. The Hartford Courant has local coverage.

2:48 PM ET - The 2nd Circuit opinion [PDF text] is now available.

[JURIST] Leading Friday's corporations and securities law news, Merck & Co. [corporate website] announced the SEC [official website] has started a formal probe into the company's handling of Vioxx [FDA information]. Merck had pulled the painkiller [Merck press release] from the market on September 30 because of its link to heart attacks and strokes. The Department of Justice [official website] and some Congressional committees are also conducting probes. Read the Merck press release. Bloomberg has more.

In other news...

• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, a Russian judge Friday extended the detention of former Yukos [corporate website] CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST Hot Topic; trial website] until May 14. AP has more. In other Yukos news, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said the government is not moving Yukos toward re-nationalization. AFP has more. The Russia Journal provides ongoing coverage of the Khodorkovsky trial and Yukos' related legal troubles.
  
  
• Shareholders of Molson Inc. [corporate website], Canada's largest brewer, voted in favor of merging with Adolph Coors Co [corporate website]. Coors shareholders still need to approve the $6 billion merger which would form the fifth-largest brewer in the world. Read the Molson press release. AP has more.
  
  
• In its second bailout in eight months, Japanese auto manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors Corp. [corporate website] announced it would get $5.25 billion from three of its core units. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The London Stock Exchange [official website] has rejected a £1.3 billion takeover bid from Deutsche Börse but appears ready to give up its independence for the right deal. Read the London Stock Exchange press release about the offer. The Guardian has more.
  
  
• The SEC has started formal investigation into Interstate Bakeries Corp. [corporate website] related to how the company manages its workers' compensation reserves and other reserve accounts. AP has more.
  
  
• Procter & Gamble [corporate website] has agreed to acquire Gillette [corporate website] in a deal worth $57 billion. The company would from the world?s largest consumer and household goods company by market capitalization and revenue. Read the Proctor & Gamble press release. The Financial Times has more.

[JURIST] A British soldier told a UK court martial Friday he failed to report the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Sgt. Thomas Simon's testimony comes as part of the court martial of three British soldiers accused of abusing and assaulting Iraqi detainees [JURIST report; charge list from BBC News] at a camp outside Basra in May 2003. Simon testified that he had seen two naked male prisoners surrounded by a group of laughing troops, including one of the soldiers facing charges, but never told superior officers of the incident. BBC News has more.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• British soldiers target commanding officer in Iraqi abuse trial
• UPDATE ~ UK soldier in Iraqi abuse scandal "following orders"
• UK Iraqi abuse photos emerge as court martial continues
• UK soldier pleads guilty to assault charge, denies other charges
• British soldiers face Iraqi abuse court martial

[JURIST] A Russian judge Friday extended the detention of former Yukos [corporate website] CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST Hot Topic; trial website] until May 14. Khodorkovsky was arrested in October 2003 [JURIST report] on charges of fraud and tax evasion. The prosecutor in the case argued that Khodorkovsky's continued detention is necessary because he could flee Russia or put pressure on witnesses if he is released. AP has more. MosNews has local coverage. The Russia Journal provides ongoing coverage of the Khodorkovsky trial and Yukos' related legal troubles.

[JURIST] Ukraine prosecutors announced Friday that the criminal investigation into President Viktor Yushchenko's nominee for prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko [official website] and her family will be closed. The investigations began in May 2004 following allegations that Tymoshenko attempted to bribe a judge to end court proceedings against a former associate. Prosecutors have also dropped fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion charges against Tymoshenko's husband and father-in-law. Criminal charges are still pending against Tymoshenko in Russia [JURIST report], where she has been accused of bribing Russian Defense Ministry officials in the mid-1990s. The Kyiv Post has more.

[JURIST] Four former leaders of Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet [JURIST Newsmaker] were arrested in Chile Friday. Marcelo Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff, Fernando Laureani and Gerardo Godoy were taken into custody to serve 5-12 year sentences in connection to the 2004 abduction and death of Miguel Angel Sandoval [Memoria y Justicia background]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Four federal employee union groups have filed suit in federal district court to block the implementation of controversial new personnel regulations at the Department of Homeland Security that may eventually be extended government-wide. The groups contend the new system limits collective bargaining, employee disciplinary appeal rights, and all but eliminates the due process rights that enable employees to freely air grievances against management. Read an American Federation of Government Employees press release. The lawsuit follows an announcement [OPM release] Thursday by the Office of Personnel Management that Department of Homeland Security management will no longer bargain with unions when making decisions about the assignment of work, deployment of personnel and use of new technology. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has defended the system, and says it aims to help attract and maintain a quality workforce. GOVEEXEC.com has more.

[JURIST] In a ruling with significant constitutional implications, the UK High Court Friday upheld a law banning the use of hunting with dogs in England and Wales. Challenging the law, the Countryside Alliance [advocacy website] had argued that the 1949 Parliament Act [BBC News backgrounder], which amended a 1911 version of the statute and permitted the hunting law to be passed, was itself invalid. The Act permits the House of Commons to overrule the House of Lords and essentially force legislation to become law over its objection. If the Alliance had prevailed, it might have called into question several other controversial laws enacted under the authority of the 1949 Act. Read the Countryside Alliance's press release on the ruling, promising to take it to the Court of Appeal and then, if necessary, the House of Lords. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Vladimir Lazarevic, a Serbian army general accused of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999 [ICTY joint indictment], surrendered to Serbian authorities on Friday. Lazarevic, the former commander of the army's "Pristina Corps" stands accused of planning, instigating, ordering, and committing a range of crimes against Kosovo Albanians during the "ethnic cleansing" of the province and the subsequent NATO bombing campaign. Lazarevic will be transferred to International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] at The Hague next week to face charges. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Two high-ranking Russian military officers have been arrested and warrants have been issued for the arrest of several others after the Russian parliamentary commission investigating last year's terrorist seizure of a school in Beslan handed over evidence to law enforcement officials about the siege, during which which 330 people - half of them children - were killed. A number of civilian "accomplices" of the Chechen terrorists who seized the school are already in custody and three senior police have been charged with negligence [JURIST report]. From Russia, MosNews has the local coverage; BBC News has additional information.

[JURIST] Mamdouh Habib [background from Prisoners without Trials], an Australian who has been held for the last 3 years at the terror suspect detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, returned home to Australia Friday. Habib was arrested in Pakistan in 2001, accused of assisting al-Quaeda and having prior knowledge of the September 11 terrorist attacks. His release was announced two weeks ago but alleged logistical problems initially complicated his return. Habib's lawyer has recently reiterated public accusations of torture [JURIST report] at Gitmo, contradicting the results of an official US Defense Department report [DOD summary, PDF; JURIST report]. Despite his release, Habib is likely to remain of interest to security officials, and travel restrictions are likely. Read the DOD press release on Habib's transfer to Australia. BBC News has more. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation provides local coverage.

[JURIST] Luxembourg Justice Minister Luc Frieden [official profile], speaking Friday at a meeting of EU justice ministers, has called for the European Union to institute a ban on the use of Nazi symbols as part of a larger effort to punish hate crimes motivated by racism or xenophobia. Luxembourg holds the Presidency of the EU [official website] through June 2005. The ban on hate crimes has been under consideration since 2001. The Nazi symbols ban has gained momentum in the last month in the wake of this week's commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz [JURIST report] and outrage over British Prince Harry's wearing of a swastika armband to a recent costume party [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

1:22 PM ET - The Luxembourg EU Presidency has issued a press release of Frieden's statement.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Friday, Jan. 28.

At the US Department of State [official website], Condoleezza Rice will be sworn in as the nation's 66th secretary of state at 9:45 AM ET. Read Rice's welcome remarks [text] to State Department employees yesterday. Watch a live webcast of today's ceremony [via C-SPAN].

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly [official website] continues its 2005 winter session today. Watch a live webcast of proceedings beginning at 8:30 AM local time [2:30 AM ET].

At the UN today, the Security Council [official website] will hold a session beginning at 10:30 AM ET, in which it will discuss the situation in Georgia and Côte d’Ivoire [JURIST Countries]. View the agenda and watch a live webcast of the proceedings.

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the trial of Fatmir Limaj and others [ICTY case backgrounder] continues today. A webcast is scheduled for 9:30 PM local time [3:30 AM ET].