[JURIST] In Thursday's environmental law news, a task force charged with reducing air pollution to 2001 levels at the Port of Los Angeles [official website] is expected to approve a preliminary plan today. The task force was commissioned by LA mayor James Hahn, and is comprised of members from a variety of Federal, state and local agencies, as well as industry, community and environmental representatives. Measures being considered include strict emission requirements and a cap on growth at the Port. The Los Angeles Times has more.

In other news,

• The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the Chiron Co. to resume production of the flu vaccine. The company had been barred from shipping the vaccine to the US since last October over contamination concerns. That action led to the widespread flu vaccine shortages in the US. The MHRA believes the company made the necessary improvements at the manufacturing facility and now meets satisfactory standards. While the company must still get clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration, it is proceeding with manufacture in anticipation of the approval. AP has more.
  
  
• Class action lawsuits seeking multi-million dollar penalties have been filed against PepsiCo. [company website] and the Coca-Cola Co. claiming misleading advertisements and unjust enrichment. The suits claim that the companies' fountain diet soft drinks differ from their bottled equivalents by having saccharin as a sweetener, which the companies do not dispute. The companies use a saccharin-aspartame blend in their fountain drinks because it creates a more stable sweetener than the straight aspartame used for the bottled drinks. The suit alleges that the companies did not reveal they were using saccharin in the fountain drinks for fear that it would lead to a drop in consumption. Saccharin had been listed as a possible human carcinogen from 1981 and products that contained it were required to carry a warning label. In 2000, saccharin was dropped as a federally listed carcinogen when new studies showed that the previous findings, conducted on lab rats, did not apply to humans. The Boston Globe has the full story.
  
  
• The Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS)[official website] seeks adverse comments on a direct final rule [text] that amends the requirements for programs that qualify individuals who perform certain safety-related tasks on gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. The amendments effect regulations regarding personnel training, the notice of program changes, government review and verification of certification programs, and the use of on-the-job performance as a qualification method. Comments can be made here until May 2.
  

[JURIST] A US Department of Agriculture [official website] spokesperson said Thursday that the USDA will appeal yesterday's federal court decision to delay the re-opening of US border to cattle imports from Canada [JURIST report; injunction order and opinion (PDF)]. USDA spokesperson Ed Lloyd said that the court's injunction decision was not based on the merits of the case, but was focused on procedural issues. Lloyd said that the USDA remains confident in its minimal-risk rule [PDF text], which, if allowed to take effect, will reestablish trade with Canada for live cattle under 30 months of age. DTN has more.

Also Thursday, the US Senate [official website] voted 52-46 to overturn the USDA regulation [Senate resolution summary; roll call vote record], but the White House has indicated that President Bush will veto the measure should it reach his desk. A similar measure to prevent the resumption of Canadian cattle imports has been introduced in the House, but no vote has yet been scheduled. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Bankruptcy Judge Letitia Clark ruled Thursday that she will not reinstate Russian oil company Yukos' [official website] bankruptcy filing, which she dismissed last week for lack of jurisdiction [JURIST report; opinion text] in the United States. Late last week, Yukos filed a motion asking Judge Clark to reconsider her analysis [Yukos press release; JURIST report] of Section 1112(b) of the US bankruptcy code, saying there was substantial evidence that the dismissal was not in the best interest of the estate. Judge Clark said that she sympathized with Yukos and its shareholders' concerns over lack of asset protection in Russia, but nonetheless dismissed the motion. AP has more. Yukos maintains a special website for its bankruptcy case.

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's corporations and securities law news, the SEC [official website] announced Putnam Investments [corporate website] has been ordered to pay an additional $43 million in fines as part of its punishment for an improper trading scandal. The announcement came after an independent consultant found the trading scandals cost investors in Putnam funds $4.4 million. Read the SEC press release. Reuters has more.

In other news...

• The SEC is investigating various brokers to determine whether they are giving big clients inside information to internal strategy calls. The information allows the clients to gather confidential trading information which is easy to profit from. The investigation is still broad with no single firm yet named. The Street.com has more.
  
  
• The SEC unanimously adopted a rule today which allows mutual funds to hold intermediary traders more accountable for dealings with abusive market timers. The rule allows, but does not require funds to impose penalties for abusive trading. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Money manager Nuveen Investments Inc. [corporate website] announced the SEC has started an probe into its affiliate Symphony Asset Management over alleged overcharges on performance fees. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The SEC is giving smaller US corporations and foreign corporations an extra year to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act [text, PDF]. These firms have until July 15, 2006, to meet a requirement to file reports demonstrating the strength of their internal financial controls. Read the SEC press release. Read the final SEC rule. AP has more.
  
  
• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, Bank of America Corp. [corporate website] announced it will pay $460.5 million to settle class-action lawsuits brought against it by former shareholders of WorldCom. Read the Bank of America press release. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• Russian gas giant Gazprom's [corporate website] proposed merger with state oil firm Rosneft [corporate website] has hit a snag as the two companies have differing versions on the deal. Rosneft indicated it would stay independent from Gazprom which directly contradicts Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller's version. The deal was part of a government plan to own a majority stake in Gazprom thereby leading to restrictions on foreign purchases of its shares being lifted. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Halliburton [corporate website] has disclosed in annual 10-K SEC filings that former employees may have engaged in bid rigging on foreign construction projects. Former company consultant and chairman of Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root [corporate website], Jack Stanley and others allegedly engaged in improper bidding and bribery of Nigerian officials to win a contract for a liquefied natural gas project. The company has admitted that violations could lead to fines of up to $10 million and denial of future government projects. KBR is currently the largest contractor serving US troops in Iraq. MarketWatch has more on the SEC filings and AP has more on an ongoing Justice Department inquiry into Halliburton's business practices.

[JURIST] The Canadian government said Thursday it could not appeal Wednesday's decision by a US federal judge in Montana to delay the re-opening of the American market to young Canadian cattle. Canadian cattle imports were stopped last year after a Canadian animal was found to have died of "mad cow disease" [US Centers for Disease Control backgrounder]. Elizabeth Whiting, from the Canadian Office of the Minster of Agriculture and Agri-Food [Agriculture Canada website], said any appeal would have to be made by the US Department of Agriculture, not the government of Canada. "As we are not a party in the litigation...we are not in a position to appeal." US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns has already expressed his disappointment in the court's ruling [USDA press release]. The US halted its imports of Canadian beef in May 2003 following Canada's first domestic case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BFE). Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Rasim Delic [Trial Watch profile], the former commander of Bosnia's Muslim army during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, pleaded not guilty Thursday in his first appearance before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague on charges [ICTY summary; full indictment] of violating the laws of war by murder and cruel treatment of ethnic Croat and Serb prisoners. Prosecutors accuse Delic of war crimes that include the murder of 24 Bosnian Croats outside the village of Maline in June 1993, and failing to prevent crimes committed at the Kamenica prison camp. AP has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers for former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien [CBC News profile] filed a motion in Canada's Federal Court [official website] Thursday to remove Justice John Gomery [CBC News profile] from the chairmanship of a judicial commission of inquiry [Gomery Commission website] investigating Chretien’s involvement in improper payments made by a defunct national unity program. Last month Gomery refused to step down after Chretien's lawyers alleged that he made comments in media interviews that displayed "a reasonable apprehension of bias". The formal court filing comes after an exchange between Gomery and a witness in which the Justice suggested there was "a conspiracy of silence" about the unity program that resulted in $100 million in contracts being awarded to advertising firms with close ties to Chrétien's Liberal Party. The filing asks the Federal Court to order Gomery to step down, but does not ask that proceedings be halted. Chretien testified before the inquiry last month [JURIST report]. Canadian Press has more.

[JURIST] In Thursday's international brief, two US Senators have called for the UN Security Council [official website] to impose heavy sanctions on the Sudanese government [official website] for forcing the genocide of thousands in Darfur to end. Senators Sam Brownback [official website] and Jon Corzine [official website] introduced a bill Wednesday that calls for the US government to push for economic and diplomatic sanctions from the Security Council. The legislation would authorizes US President George Bush to appoint a special envoy from the White House to the region and additionally calls for the imposition of an arms ban against the ruling government in Khartoum, the placement of travel restrictions on Sudanese government officials, and the freezing of monetary assets of companies controlled by the ruling party that do business abroad. Read the introduced legislation [official PDF text]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• More members of the Nepali Congress [advocacy website] were arrested Thursday in Nepal, as they demonstrated in Kathmandu in contravention of the ban on public protests put in place by the February 1 declaration of a state of emergency [JURIST report] by King Gyanendra [BBC profile]. At least 6 members of the pro-democracy organization were taken into custody, including central committee member Baldev Sharma Majgainya. The arrests are the second wave of government crackdowns on the Nepali Congress. Seventeen members of the student branch of the Congress, the National Student's Union, were arrested Sunday [JURIST report]. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST Country news archive]. Kantipur Online has local coverage.
  
  
• The major Togolese opposition party agreed Thursday to an election for a new president proposed by the Togolese government official website], even though the national constitution prohibits their chairman from standing in the vote. The Union for Forces for Change [party website in French] is the largest opposition party in Togo - its current chairman, Gilchrist Olympio [BBC profile], has been living in Paris since a 1992 assassination attempt on his life. The Togo Constitution requires candidates for president to have lived in Togo for 12 months prior to the election. Olympio stated that the return of Togo to a democratic government does not require him as a leader, and that he would lend his support to whomever the UFC nominated. The UFC was joined by the Action Committee for Renewal and the Democratic Convention of the African People [party website in French], the two next largest opposition parties, in approving the upcoming election. Though no official date has been set for the elections, regional officias believe it will be held shortly after April 24. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Togo [JURIST Country news archive]. South Africa's News 24 has local coverage.
  
  
• Human rights activists in Cambodia [government website] called Thursday for the creation of a protection plan for witnesses that testify in the UN-backed tribunal for the prosecution of former Khmer Rouge [Wikipedia backgrounder] leaders. The Khmer Rouge trials [official website] are national trials funded by the United Nations that will prosecute former Khmer Rouge officials for the perpetration of crimes against humanity and human rights violations during the period of Democratic Kampuchea under the rule of the dicatator Pol Pot. The tribunal is tentatively scheduled to open later this year and human rights groups have been expressing concern that witnesses would refuse to testify for fear of retribution from pro-Khmer Rouge dissidents. Read the UN-Cambodia agreement on the special tribunal [official PDF text]. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Bank of America Corp. said Thursday that it will pay $460.5 million to settle class-action lawsuits brought against it by former shareholders of WorldCom. In a statement released by the company today, Bank of America denies any wrongdoing and emphasized that the settlement will "eliminate the uncertainties, expense and distraction" of protracted litigation. Last year, Citigroup Inc. paid $2.58 billion to settle class-action suits stemming from the 2002 collapse of WorldCom. A trial in the case had been scheduled to begin Feb. 28, but was recently postponed to March 17. AP has more.

[JURIST] China's State Council Thursday responded to US State Department human rights reports issued Monday that had blasted China for human rights abuses [JURIST report] by issuing a report of its own [text] on US human rights practices highlighting abuses committed by the US in Iraq. The document, China's sixth annual response to the US publication, cited atrocities committed by US trops against Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison and claimed that the US was covertly operating about 20 detention centers worldwide to hold "terrorist suspects" to avoid international scrutiny. "The US report poisons the atmosphere for resuming dialogue," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao at a news conference on Wednesday [Chinese government site]. Reuters has more. Xinhua has local Chinese coverage of the story here.

[JURIST] One of France's biggest-ever criminal trials [France 2 video report; in French] got under way Thursday as sixty-six people led by two former sex offenders stood accused of participating in a pedophilia ring in which children and babies were prostituted for food and small sums of money. All of the accused come from the poorest and least educated sections of society. In a 420-page legal filing state prosecutors contend that dozens of children, from the age of six months to fourteen years, were raped by their parents and offered to other adults for sex. Some of the 45 victims are expected to testify in the trial by closed-circuit television. None of the children will appear in court. Defense lawyers plan to argue that government social workers monitoring many of the suspects failed in their responsibilities to see any signs of abuse and that some of the defendants are illiterate and do not understand the charges against them. If convicted, thirty-nine people could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted of raping minors under age 15 and on prostitution charges. The others face up ten years in prison if convicted of sexual violence against minors and failure to denounce crimes. AP has more. From Paris, Le Figaro provides local coverage in French.

[JURIST] Saddam Hussein chief lawyer Ziad al-Khasawneh said Thursday that the upcoming trial of his client should be delayed in the wake of the murder this week of a judge appointed to the Iraqi tribunal charged with hearing the case against the former dictator. Al-Khasawneh insisted that Iraq was still too dangerous for the trial and called for proceedings to be put off by at least another year. On Tuesday, three gunmen killed Judge Barwez Mohammed Mahmoud al-Merwani [JURIST report] outside his Baghdad home. AP has more. Meanwhile, a group of 19 Iraqi judges have began rehearsing for the various trials against the former leaders of Iraq's toppled regime in a hotel in London. The International Bar Association [official website] has designed a mock trial to replicate the circumstances the judges may face during sessions of the Iraqi Special Tribunal [JURIST Hot Topic news archive]. The effort, funded by the British and American governments, is the final part of a week-long training effort before the start of trials. Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti, former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan [Wikipedia profile] and three others, who face charges of crimes against humanity, are scheduled to go to trial first. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The GOP-dominated Senate Wednesday pushed ahead proposed bankruptcy overhaul legislation [PDF] by defeating a series of Democratic amendments that would have sheltered seniors and sick people. Senators voted 59-40 [Senate roll call] to reject an amendment [text] which would have given older Americans a special exemption which would have allowed them to keep their homes even if they file for bankruptcy. Also defeated were two proposals which eased bankruptcy rules for people with significant medical expenses. On Tuesday, the Senate voted 63-32 [Senate roll call] to allow an amendment [text] which gives a break to active-duty military personnel and some veterans who file for bankruptcy. The Republican leadership, led by Senator Orrin Hatch [official website], has been attempting to keep out "killer amendments" which could jeopardized passage of the bill in the House of Representatives. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives [official website] late Wednesday approved a job-training bill that would allow faith-based organizations which receive federal funds to consider the religious beliefs of prospective employees. The vote on HR 27, the Job Training Improvement Act of 2005 [text, PDF], was 224-200 [House roll call], largely along party-lines. Under current law, faith-based organizations must obey the 1964 Civil Rights Act [text] which prohibits discrimination in hiring or firing. The House earlier had rejected an amendment which would have removed the religious-based employment language from the bill. The White House supported the passage of the bill saying, "receipt of federal funds should not be conditioned on a faith-based organization's giving up a part of its religious identity and mission." Opponents of the bill say that by allowing consideration of religion in employment decisions, the government is sponsoring discrimination. The bill, which is a reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 [text] which provides training programs for adults and dislocated workers, now goes to the Senate. The bill's prospects are uncertain with Democrats objecting to cuts in programs and the religious discrimination provision. The Los Angeles Times has more.

[JURIST] An Indonesian court Thursday found radical cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir [BBC profile] guilty of conspiracy to commit the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings [CNN special report] that killed 202 people. The five-judge panel found that although Ba'asyir was not directly involved in the bombings, he did give his approval for the attack. The panel sentenced Ba'asyir to two and a half years in jail of which ten months will be reduced for time served. The trial was seen by most around the world as a test for Indonesia's judicial attempts to combat terrorism. Both the United States and Australia, which have both linked Ba'asyir of being the spiritual leader of an al-Qaeda linked militant network called Jemaah Islamiah, have already expressed disappointment with the length of the sentence. BBC News has more. From Indonesia, the Jakarta Post provides local coverage.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Thursday, March 3.

The US Senate [official website] will convene at 9:30 AM ET today, and it will consider S.J.Res. 4 [resolution summary], expressing disapproval over a Department of Agriculture rule, and S. 256 [bill summary], the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. Watch a live webcast of proceedings. The Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] will consider the following judicial nominations beginning at 2 PM ET: Terrence W. Boyle [Independent Judiciary profile; Washington Post report] for the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, James C. Denver III for the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and Robert J. Conrad, Jr. [DOJ resume], for the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. View the agenda, and watch a live webcast of the hearing.

The US House [official website] convenes at 10 AM ET. Watch a live webcast of proceedings. The House Judiciary Committee [official website] Immigration, Border Security, and Claims Subcommittee will hold a hearing on immigration enforcement in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 beginning at 11:30 AM ET. View an agenda, and watch a live webcast of the hearing.

The Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] is holding an open meeting at 10 AM ET today. View the agenda, and watch a live webcast of the meeting.

The Library of Congress is holding a forum on copyright issues in the digital age with Stanford Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig [official bio] beginning at 6:30 PM ET. Watch a live webcast of the presentation via C-SPAN.

At the UN, the Commission on the Status of Women [official website] is holding two panels on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action beginning at 10 AM ET today. Background on the panels is available: Panel 1 [text, PDF] and Panel 2 [text, PDF]. Watch a live webcast of the panels.

Saudi Arabia [JURIST Countries archive] is holding its second round of municipal elections today.

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Rasim Delic [text, initial indictment] will make an initial appearance before the tribunal today. Watch a webcast beginning at 8:30 AM local time [2:30 AM ET]. The trial of Fatmir Limaj and others [ICTY case backgrounder] continues, with a webcast beginning at 9:30 AM local time [3:30 AM ET]. A hearing in the trial of Zeljko Mejakic and others [ICTY case backgrounder] will be held today, with a webcast available at 2:45 PM local time [8:45 AM ET].