The government of Southern Sudan, an autonomous region in Sudan, will join the United Nations in probing alleged sex crimes committed by international peacekeepers against at least twenty Sudanese children in Juba, according to a statement from the Southern Sudanese minister for presidential affairs Thursday. The statement promised a thorough inquiry, emphasizing: "If any persons are proved to have committed these terrible crimes, the Government of Southern Sudan will take all possible steps to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice." The move follows a Wednesday statement by a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirming the UN inquiry and indicating that all credible allegations will be turned over to the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). The UN investigation was spawned by an internal UNICEF report and interviews with alleged victims. Reuters has more.

On Thursday a UN spokesperson confirmed that the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) repatriated four peacekeepers to Bangladesh late last year following allegations of sexual abuse. Michele Montas said that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations will work with the Bangladeshi government to monitor the case and any actions taken against the repatriated peacekeepers. Thirteen other UNMIS staffers are currently under investigation for misconduct, though not all are related to the sex abuse charges.

A planned law firm merger between San Francisco's Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Dewey Ballantine LLP has been scrapped.

The aborted deal is a blow to both firms on two fronts. Law firm executives wanted to combine Orrick's bond practice with the merger and acquisition expertise of New York's Dewey to attract more big-dollar case work. A union also would have greatly expanded the Orrick-Dewey presence in the Big Apple, the world's financial capital.

 
Orrick has an office in Menlo Park, San Francisco, and 16 other places in seven countries. Dewey Ballantine has California offices in East Palo Alto and Los Angeles.

Orrick and Dewey "jointly decided" to end merger discussions, according to a statement released Thursday. Both firms saw great potential in a combination, the statement said, but "a combination of this size and scope posed significant challenges."

Sources said those challenges included defections of some big name Dewey lawyers after merger talks between the two firms gained steam. In recent weeks top Dewey M&A attorney Michael Aiello joined Weil Gotshal & Manges. Last month Jack Bodner, another leading M&A counselor, left Dewey for Covington & Burling. At least 10 Dewey partners left the firm since news of the proposed Orrick-Dewey deal spread last September. Whether all those defections are tied to the planned union is not clear. But sources said those attorneys' moves made the merger less appealing to Orrick.

Leaders at Dewey had concerns, too, sources said. Some Dewey partners objected to the potential makeup of the executive committee of the combined firm, which they felt would have weighed too heavily in Orrick's favor.

A merger with Dewey would have been a blockbuster deal for Orrick, which has been on a rapid growth clip under chairman Ralph Baxter Jr. A united Orrick and Dewey would have had an estimated $946 million in annual revenue generated by more than 1,200 attorneys around the globe. That would have made the combined firm the 10th biggest in the United States based on revenue. It also would have resulted in a New York office of nearly 500 lawyers, making it the fifth largest law office in the world's financial capital.

Walt Disney Co. has settled a lawsuit brought by the family of a woman that said her fatal aneurysm was triggered by the Indiana Jones Adventure ride in Disneyland.

Both sides refused to release the settlement terms, agreed to Friday. The trial was set to start Thursday in Los Angeles.

"Safety always has been, and continues to be, our top priority," said Rob Doughty, a Disneyland spokesman, in a prepared statement.

Barry Novack, the plaintiff's attorney, declined to comment about the family's reaction.

Cristina Moreno, of Barcelona, Spain, was a 23-year-old newlywed on her honeymoon when she and her husband rode the Indiana Jones attraction in Anaheim on June 25, 2000, court documents state. Within a few hours, she collapsed from a bleeding cerebral aneurysm. She died a few months later.

Her estate filed the lawsuit in 2001, seeking more than $1 million in damages. The plaintiff alleged that that the jerky moves and emotional stress from the ride prompted the pre-existing aneurysm to rupture, court documents state.

At least three other lawsuits related to Indiana Jones-ride injuries were filed then settled.

The Moreno case might have made it easier for visitors to successfully sue over ride-related injuries. In a ruling last year tied to the case, the California Supreme Court found that Disney must apply "the utmost care and diligence" related to passenger safety, allowing the case to go forward.

The soft-spoken Miers has described herself as a "Texan through and through." White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove said she can be "tough as nails." Bush once called her "a pit bull in size 6 shoes."

She was Bush‘s personal lawyer in Texas, took on the thankless job of cleaning up the Texas Lottery when he was governor, and followed him to Washington to serve as staff secretary until Bush appointed her White House counsel, succeeding Alberto Gonzales when he was named attorney general.

Miers withdrew her nomination after intense scrutiny by lawmakers and observers wary of her lack of judicial experience.

Pinochet, his wife, four of his children, daughter-in-law, former attorney and secretary were indicted in early 2006 on charges of filing false tax returns. Pinochet died last month without ever facing trial in either the tax evasion case or on multiple human rights charges.

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Thursday upheld an Indiana law requiring voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. In its ruling, the court upheld a lower court decision that the law does not put an undue burden on the right to vote and therefore does not violate the US Constitution. The Indiana Democratic Party and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana had appealed the district court's decision, but during oral arguments Judge Richard Posner, who wrote the appeals court ruling, was skeptical of the plaintiffs' contention that the law would prevent voters from casting ballots.

The US Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion last October ruling that Arizona could enforce its voter ID law, which requires voters to show government-issued ID cards at the polls. Similar voter ID laws have been upheld in Georgia and Pennsylvania, though the Missouri Supreme Court struck down a law last year requiring voters to show ID cards at the polls. A lawsuit over Ohio's voter ID legislation ended just before last November's mid-term election in a settlement requiring future Ohio absentee voters to show proof of ID when applying for absentee ballots, but allowing absentee ballots already obtained without ID to be counted.

The Internal Revenue Service began its 2007 filing system with instructions on how to apply for newly enacted tax breaks and recommendations that more taxpayers give up paper and file electronically.

The agency said that it will send out 17 million tax packages this week to taxpayers who previously filed paper returns. The IRS expects to process about 136 million individual tax returns for 2006, with more than half filed electronically.

It pointed out that one major change this year will be the telephone excise tax refund. The government stopped collecting the federal excise tax on long-distance service last August and plans to provide refunds for these taxes billed after Feb. 28, 2003, and before Aug. 1, 2006.

The agency said taxpayers can avoid collecting 41 months of old phone bills by choosing standard amounts. Under standard amounts a person filing a return with one exemption can claim $30, with the amount rising to $40 for those with two exemptions, $50 for three exemptions and $60 for four or more exemptions.

Those desiring a refund based on actual amount of taxes paid should use Form 8913.

The agency also advised taxpayers on how to take advantage of tax breaks renewed by Congress in December, after the IRS had printed its forms for the 2007 filing season. The most significant of the breaks allow taxpayers to deduct state and local sales taxes instead of state income taxes and provide deductions for higher education tuition and fees and for personal expenses incurred by schoolteachers.

The IRS will mail Publication 600 to 6 million taxpayers who receive the Form 1040 package this month with instructions on claiming the sales tax deduction. The agency also advised that it will not be able to process tax returns claiming the belatedly renewed tax breaks until early February. It said that last year about 930,000 tax returns claiming the three tax breaks were filed by Feb. 1.

"As we always do, we encourage taxpayers who think they may claim these deductions to file electronically," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "They will get their refunds faster through e-file. Even more importantly, e-file will greatly reduce the chances for making an error compared to claiming the deductions on the paper 1040."

Another change this year is that taxpayers can split refunds among up to three accounts held by U.S. financial institutions such as banks, mutual funds, brokerage firms or credit unions.

The tax agency also urged taxpayers who earn $52,000 or less to make use of Free File, a free electronic program that is a partnership between the IRS and private tax service providers. It noted that this year private sector partners have agreed to remove from their programs side offerings such Refund Anticipation Loans that offer taxpayers immediate payment of expected refunds but sometimes come with high interest rates and fees.

It noted that taxpayers, after filing returns, can track their refund through the online tool "Where's my refund?" on the IRS web site, www.irs.gov. "With all the changes taking place, this is a good year for paper filers to try e-file," Everson said. "We remind taxpayers that e-filing is fast, secure and reliable."