Merck pulled Vioxx from the market in September 2004 after a study showed that it could double the risk of heart attack or stroke if taken for more than 18 months. The price of Merck stock jumped by almost 10% following news of the class action dismissal.

Kumar, who has not served any prison time yet, also faces a lawsuit filed by CA seeking repayment of $14.9 million it fronted for Kumar's legal defense. The settlement comprises part of the over $1 billion in restitution due to victims of the CA revenue-swapping scheme.

The Shearman & Sterling attorneys advising Citigroup included partners Creighton Condon (New York – Mergers & Acquisitions), Eliza Swann (New York – Mergers & Acquisitions), Linda Rappaport (New York – Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits), Peter Blessing (New York – International Tax), Azam Aziz (New York – Asset Management) and Barney Reynolds (London- European Finance), counsel Ansgar Simon (New York – Tax), Ann Woo (San Francisco – Mergers & Acquisitions), associates Sara Haskamp (New York – Mergers & Acquisitions), Stephen Penner (New York – Asset Management), Adam Kaminsky (New York – Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits), Garrett Dowd (New York –Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits), Nicola Espie (New York - Asset Management), Gwen Gordon (New York-Asset Management) and Thomas Donegan (London-European Finance).

On April 12, the United States District Court in New Jersey granted the Merck & Co.'s motion to dismiss with prejudice a consolidated securities class action filed by investors against Merck in connection with disclosures by Merck regarding VIOXX. In his ruling, Judge Stanley R. Chesler found that the securities action should be dismissed because all of the plaintiffs' claims were time-barred under the applicable statutes of limitations. Cravath is lead counsel for Merck in the securities action. The Cravath team was led by partners Robert H. Baron, Evan R. Chesler and David Greenwald and associate Karen R. King.

www.cravath.com

A number of disgruntled current and former shareholders of AWB Ltd are suing the wheat exporter for $25 million over its role in the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal.

Law firm Maurice Blackburn Cashman said today that it would begin a shareholder class action against AWB in the Federal Court.

AWB said the proposed class action was "ill-conceived".

"If the proceedings are issued, they will be vigorously defended," AWB said.

The managing principal of the Maurice Blackburn Cashman's NSW branch, Ben Slade, said the firm was acting for an unspecified number of institutional and retail investors in AWB who were claiming they lost money because AWB failed to inform the stock market of its activities in Iraq.

"We've been instructed by a number of victims of AWB's wrongful conduct seeking compensation for the losses that they've suffered as a result of that wrongful conduct," Mr Slade said.

Mr Slade said it was alleged AWB had failed to continuously disclose to the marketplace material facts that could reasonably be expected to affect the company's share price.

He said it was claimed that AWB should have revealed it was involved in taking steps that caused Australia to be in breach of United Nations sanctions under the oil-for-food program and by one means or another was getting money from a UN account to make payments to Iraq in breach of the program.

"That is a material fact that the sharemarket should have been told, and had they been told the share price of AWB shares would have been lower than it was," Mr Slade said.

"There are certain groups that wouldn't have bought any AWB shares at all, and there are others who would have bought at a materially lower price."

Mr Slade said the claimants estimated direct losses at about $25 million and there was also the possibility of claims for opportunity loss.

Australia's single desk wheat exports system is set for overhaul after AWB was found to have paid $290 million in kickbacks to Iraq between 1999 and 2003 under the UN's corruption-ridden oil-for-food program.

The Cole inquiry into AWB's kickbacks, which reported in November 2006, recommended 11 former executives face further investigation for possible breaches of criminal and corporations law.

US citizen Christopher Paul pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he conspired to assist terrorists and to bomb European tourist sites and US military and government facilities overseas. Paul, from Columbus, OH, did not request to be released on bond during his arraignment in the US Southern District of Ohio.

Paul pleaded not guilty to all three counts of conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists, conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, and providing material support and resources to terrorists. Paul is allegedly connected to two other men from Columbus who have also been indicted on terrorism charges. Iyman Faris, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, attended the same mosque and became friends with Paul. Nuradin Abdi, a Somali awaiting trial on 2004 charges that he plotted with other al Qaeda operatives to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall, used Paul as a reference on a government employment application. Officials also found evidence in Paul's apartment that will be used against Abdi at trial.

According to investigators, Paul traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the early 1990s to receive military training at an al Qaeda training camp and, upon his return to the US, continued to funnel money and other resources to al Qaeda. The indictment also alleges that Paul provided explosives training to co-conspirators in Germany to carry out future attacks on European and United States targets. If convicted of all charges, Paul could receive a maximum penalty of life in prison.