In Monday's environmental law news, Department of the Interior Secretary Norton announced that a settlement has been reached with the Quinault Indian Nation of Washington State to preserve 4,207 acres of timber lands on their reservation for the habitat of the threatened marbled murrelet and other species. The $32.2 million settlement creates conservation easements that restrict the timber harvest, believed important for the recovery of the threatened seabird. See the press release for more.

In other environmental law news...

• The Interagency Ocean Policy Group, a consortium of Federal officials from 8 cabinet and independent agencies on Monday delivered their final report on a new and comprehensive national ocean policy for the US. The report is here [PDF].

The High Court of New Zealand ruled Monday that Air New Zealand could not proceed with a merger with the Qantas airline of Australia. The proposed merger would have consolidated some routes between the countries and given Qantas a 22.5% stake in Air NZ for US$363 million.

The New Zealand Commerce Commission had blocked the merger, arguing that the public benefits of the proposed alliance would not outweigh the efficiency detriments. The court ruling is here [PDF]. BBC News has more.

A Zimbabwean court has dropped charges against the Harare Daily News, which had been shut down by police a year ago for allegedly violating Zimbabwean media laws.

The controversial laws compel all journalists and newspapers to be accredited by a government-appointed media commission. The Daily News was the only privately-owned paper in Zimbabwe and was often critical of Zimbabwe President Mugabe's government. The Daily News has more on the court holding and the media legislation [PDF]. BBC News has the full story.

In Monday's corporations and securities law news, jury selection in the trial of two former Enron executives and four former Merrill Lynch executives who are being tried on fraud and conspiracy charges began today in Houston. US District Judge Ewing Werlein called in 150 potential jurors but sent home 28 this morning after jurors completed a survey on their ties to the energy giant. Read the indictment against the six people on trial here[PDF]. Read more about the actions that led to the indictments here. The Houston Chronicle has more.

In other news...

• Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin announced two Franklin Templeton Investments units will pay $5 million and admit to allowing market timing to settle a complaint alleging the firm allowed a big hedge fund investor to make inappropriate mutual fund trades. Read the consent order between Massachusetts and Franklin Templeton here [PDF]. AP has more.
  
  
• As reported earlier on JURIST's Paper Chase, Computer Associates International Inc. and federal prosecutors are close to a settlement that would end the two-year accounting fraud investigation against the company. AP has more.
  
  
• An eight-month investigation by federal regulators into mortgage giant Fannie Mae has uncovered a pattern of manipulation in its earnings similar to the one found at rival Freddie Mac. AP has more.
  
  
• Nigeria has placed an embargo on government contracts to the subsidiary of Halliburton as a result of negligence in security and safety matters. AFP has more.
  
  
• The SEC filed a complaint against iShopNoMarkup.com, Inc. for conducting a fraudulent offering scheme which defrauded over 350 investors of approximately $2.3 million iShop stock. Read the SEC litigation release here.

Russia's Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, framed proposals for new anti-terrorism laws Monday, the same day an inquiry into the Beslan school siege that killed more than 320 hostages began. The new law would deal out tougher punishments for people who finance or collude with terrorists, would better define terrorist threats, would call for a full inventory of weapons used by security forces. Council members also proposed amendments to existing legislation concerning security and law enforcment bodies.

The laws must still be approved by the State Duma (the Russian lower house) and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin. Just last week, Putin announced a major shake-up of the electoral system in Russia in an effort to boost Kremlin power (see the previous report on this story on JURIST's Paper Chase). Mosnews.com has background on the Beslan hostage crisis. Reuters has more.

Members of the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi insurgent group in Iraq have posted a video of the beheading of American hostage Eugene Armstrong on an Islamist website. The group, who had demanded over the weekend that Muslim women be released from Iraqi prisons, has given the US a new 24-hour deadline to comply or more hostages - another American and a Briton - will be killed.

The US claims there are no women being held at the Umm Qasr or Abu Ghraib US-controlled prisons. However, two female "high-value detainees" who were former members of Saddam Hussein's regime (including Dr. Rihab Rashid Taha, a scientist who became known as "Dr. Germ" for helping Iraq make weapons out of anthrax) are being held at undisclosed locations. CNN has more.

Palestinian-born imam Fawaz Damra, leader of Ohio's largest mosque (the Islamic Center of Greater Cleveland), was sentenced to two months in federal prison and four months of house arrest today. Damra, who was convicted of concealing ties to alleged terrorist groups when he applied for US citizenship, could have received up to five years in prison on the charge of obtaining US citizenship by providing false information. The judge found lying on a US citizenship test did not amount to a terrorism charge as the prosecutors had portrayed it.

Prosecutors also asked for a revocation of Damra's citizenship. The judge did not rule on this issue and gave no timetable as to a decision. Damra remains free on bond and may begin serving his sentence after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. AP has more. The Cleveland Plain Dealer offers background on Damra's case.

The Berlin state government has banned the Arab-Islamic Congress due to be held next month which was to rally support for Iraqi and Palestinian "resistance and intifada." Henrike Morgenstern, a spokeswoman for the Berlin interior ministry, said the ban is related to an advertisement for the event published in English on the Internet which expressed approval for suicide attacks against Israel and the United States.

The organizers of the event said while they have never shown approval of suicide attacks, they would respect the ban. Just last week German Interior Minister Otto Schily said the government believed the event, was a threat to security and public order. Read the press release from the Arab-Islamic Congress here. Reuters has more.

President Bush signed an executive order lifting sanctions against Libya Monday as a reward for its agreement to dismantle its weapons programs. Bush had already lifted minor sanctions against the country earlier this month. The lifting of the sanctions is expected to trigger the release of more than $1 billion to the families of the Pan Am 103 victims which Libya had threatened to cancel if the sanctions were not lifted.

Bush also lifted a freeze on $1.3 billion in assets in which Libya has an interest and eliminated a prohibition on direct, scheduled US air service to Libya. Bush did not remove sanctions related to Libya's presence on the US list of state sponsors of terror. Read the timeline of sanctions against Libya here. Read the executive order here. Read the statement by White House press secretary Scott McClellan here. AP has more.

Maryland's Court of Appeals held Monday afternoon that the state must accept 542 initially rejected signatures gathered by supporters of presidential candidate Ralph Nader to create a new Populist Party. The ruling overrules a state judge's decision and would put Nader's name on the Md. ballot for the Nov. 2 election.

The ruling boosts the signature tally beyond the 10,000 threshold needed to get on the ballot under a new party label. AP has more. Read the court order here [PDF].

A three-judge panel of Ohio's Franklin County appeals court is expected to decide Monday afternoon on the validity of petitions used to put a proposal for a constitutional ban on gay marriage on the ballot in Ohio. Opponents of the ban have questioned the authenticity of signatures in about 40 counties, but have been refused review by many local courts because the challenges are too close to the November election. In the current suit, amendment opponents argue that the petitions were unconstitutional because they lacked a summary of amendment's intent, and that Ohio Sec. of State Kenneth Blackwell should not have submitted the petitions to the county elections boards for certification. Following is the language of the proposed amendment to Ohio's constitution:

"Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this state and its political subdivisions. This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."

The Israeli Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a petition from the National Religious Party (NRP) which challenges the legality of the government's proposal to forcibly evacuate 8,500 Jews from their homes. The communities in question are located along Israel's southern Mediterranean coast, and four small towns 30 miles northeast of Tel Aviv.

The NRP plans to argue that the Knesset never authorized compensation to those who will be displaced. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won cabinet approval last Tuesday for the plan which would evacuate Jewish residents from the endangered communities and turn the lands over to Yassir Arafat. Read the full story from Arutz Sheva here. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz provides background information on the disengagement plan.

Labor groups Jobs With Justice and United Steelworkers of America led a delegation Monday that called for Nike to change its labor practices at its annual meeting. The organizations say Nike engages in a systematic violation of workers' fundamental rights. The groups criticized Nike's devastation of Canadian communities through its plant closures and downsizing.

They also criticized Nike for its continued failure to police labor practices in Asia. The groups claim to have obtained information that Nike is outsourcing work previously done at Canadian facilities to a Thai contractor that is "forcing employees to work overtime, exposing workers to excess heat, and violating local wage laws." BusinessWire has the full story here.

Romania's constitutional court said Monday that President Ion Iliescu may run for a legislative position in the November 28 polls. The court rejected protests by opposition parties and rights watchdogs that his candidacy is unconstitutional.

The opposition argued that Article 84 of Romania's constitution says that the President cannot be a member of a political party or hold any other post until he ends his term in December. Earlier this month, the Romanian parliament amended election law to allow Iliescu to run for the Romanian senate on the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) ticket. Reuters has the full story here.

In an interview published Monday in the Arab al-Hayat newspaper (English version here), Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said that deposed president Saddam Hussein is "distraught and depressed" and has begged the Iraq government for mercy.

"Saddam sent us an oral message in which he begged for mercy. He said that they were working in the public interest and did not mean any harm," said Allawi. Hussein is currently in jail, awaiting trial for war crimes.

Previously reported in Paper Chase:

Catholic priest Athanase Seromba refused to appear Monday for the start of his war crimes trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Seromba, who is accused of ordering a massacre of 2,000 people who sought refuge in his church during Rwanda's genocide, has pleaded not guilty to charges of charges of genocide, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity.

Seromba's refusal to appear was in protest over the tribunal's plans to transfer the trials of some suspects to Rwanda's national courts. AP has more. Read case materials for Seromba from the ICTR.

Former General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (BBC profile here) holds a commanding lead in the early results tabulated in Indonesia's first direct presidential election, according to the country's General Election Commission (official site in Bahasa Indonesian). Prior to this election, the country's president was chosen by the supreme legislature. As of this morning 57% of the nearly one million votes counted so far had gone to Susilo and Indonesian voting experts stated that based on the trend in the primary voting held in July, the initial returns were fairly accurate at predicting the ultimate winner. Official results will not be announced until October 5. The Jakarta Post provides continuing local coverage.

In other international law news...

• The African Union's Pan-African Parliament begins its official agenda today after holding its ceremonial opening on Thursday of last week. The theme of the session is "One Africa, One Voice" and will include discussion on topics such as AU principles, vision and goals, response to continental and international security concerns, and an official budget for the Parliament. Read the AU press release here [PDF].
  
  
• Brazilian President Lula da Silva has convened a summit that will meet later today at the UN to address the issues of world poverty and hunger. Da Silva's initial goal is to raise $50 bn in various fundraising activities. Over 40 world leaders are planning to attend the meeting scheduled to begin at 3 PM EST. Read the official UN Aide-Memoire (PDF) here.
  
  
• The International Criminal Court has announced the selection of presiding judges for the pre-trial chambers addressing the current investigations in Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Uganda. The DRC case will be presided over by HE Judge Claude Jorda, and the Uganda case by HE Judge Tuiloma Neroni Slade. The cases concern requests by the respective governments to investigate allegations of war crimes perpetrated in the past few years in the countries. Read the ICC press release here.
  
  
• Delegates from the EU and around the globe met Friday in Strasbourg, France to discuss ways to continue the fight against cybercrime. Over 30 countries have ratified the Convention on Cybercrime (text here) and the Eu is pushing for more to join, in an attempt to make the Convention part of international law. The provisions of the Convention are raising concerns in some nations however, such as the US. Officials have stated that they believe certain provisions of the Convetion would violate privacy rights granted by the US Constitution. There is also concern about the affect ofr the Convention on law enforcement - two FBI agents that used hacking techniques to track down internet hackers in Russia were recently counter-charged with criminal hacking themselves. ZDNet has more.
  
  
• The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention begins its tour of China today at the invitation of the Chinese government. The group will tour a large portion of China, stopping to examine detention facilities such as prisons, re-education camps, mental hospitals, and police stations. The Working Group will also meet with both high level Chinese officials and those allegedly deprived of their liberty under Chinese actions. Read the official UN press release here.

French anti-terrorist judges have ordered six people to stand trial on charges of "criminal association with a terrorist enterprise," in connection with an alleged 2001 al Qaeda plot to attack the US embassy in Paris.

Accused leader Djamel Beghal had previously admitted his involvement the plot, but now says he is innocent and that his statement was obtained through torture. BBC News has more and background on the suicide plot.

US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has ruled that over a dozen Federal Election Commission rules on political fund-raising improperly weaken the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 by creating an "immense loophole." Judge Kollar-Kotelly ordered the FEC to write new rules on several aspects of fund raising, including when candidates and outside parties can coordinate activities. AP has more.

UPDATE: Democracy 21, part of the legal team challenging the FEC rules, provides a summary of the 157-page opinion. Also available is the full opinion [PDF].

Computer Associates is negotiating a resolution to a two-year accounting probe with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission that would involve a rarely used form of probation, the Wall Street Journal reports Monday. Computer Associates is being investigated for allegedly improperly booking $2.2 billion in revenues (JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the probe).

According to the WSJ report [subscription required], in order to resolve the investigation, Computer Associates will also likely pay a fine, accept appointment of an independent monitor of its accounting practices, and provide information and assistance to prosecutors in reclaiming compensation granted to executives implicated in the fraud. Reuters has more.

The European Commission said Monday that accession talks with Turkey cannot begin unless a new penal code is adopted. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the Turkish parliament recessed this weekend without passing a bill meant to bring Turkey's laws closer to those of other EU member states. In addition to the widely publicized criminalization of adultery, other proposed reforms include tougher penalties for convicted torturers, clauses on genocide, crimes against humanity and people-trafficking, and stronger laws against rape. The Commission is scheduled to report October 6 on whether Turkey has met preliminary criteria set by the EU. BBC News has more.

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, September 20th.

Jury selection begins today in the criminal trial of two former Enron executives and four former Merrill Lynch executives charged with conspiracy and fraud for their roles in an alleged sham transaction involving $12 million in pretax earnings. AP has more.... The military trial of Senior Airman Ahmad Al Halabi is scheduled to begin Monday after several delays. Al Halabi faces espionage charges stemming from his work at Guantanamo Bay as an Arabic language translator. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the case.

Attorney General John Ashcroft is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the DOJ's National Conference on Offender Reentry at 9 AM ET. Read the conference's draft agenda [PDF].

On Capitol Hill, the US Senate will convene at 2 PM ET to resume consideration of the Military Construction Appropriations Act, 2005. Watch a live webcast (via C-SPAN).... The US House is not in session and no committee meetings are scheduled.

Internationally, two war crimes trials will begin at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Former General Augustin Bizimungu and four others face genocide, crimes against humanity and other charges (read ICTR case materials) and Catholic priest Athanase Seromba faces charges for allegedly ordering the massacre of 2,000 ethnic Tutsis (ICTR case materials are here).... Russia's Federation Council will convene a special session to review legislation protecting the country from terrorism and is expected to establish a special commission to investigate the circumstances leading to the Beslan hostage tragedy.... The International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference will open in Vienna and continue all week. Read the provisional agenda and other documents of the conference.

In Monday's US law and business press, the National Law Journal reports on the jurisdictional debate between VT and VA regarding same-sex parental rights.... Law.com has an Associated Press report that flag-burning and the words "under God" are issues being pushed to the forefront by congressional Republicans before the presidential election.... The New York Law Journal reports that Nasdaq has lost several claims aimed at thwarting a rival exchange from trading in an investment product bearing Nasdaq's name.... The Denver Business Journal reports that ex-Qwest executive Tom Hall has agreed to plead guilty to illegally boosting revenues at that company.... FindLaw's Writ features Brooklyn law professor Anthony J. Sebok's column on how the US Supreme Court is nationalizing the administration of employer-provided health insurance.

Click for the previous US law and business press review