Islamic judge rules Arafat must stay on life support News
Islamic judge rules Arafat must stay on life support

[JURIST] A senior Islamic judge ruled on Wednesday that Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat's life support system must not be switched off. Arafat is currently clinging to life in a Paris hospital. Burial preparations have already begun. Sheikh Taysir Tamimi, chief Palestinian religious judge, arrived in Paris to rule on the treatment of Arafat. Sheikh Tamimi said that turning off Arafat's life support system is "forbidden under Islamic law." The Financial Times has more. Paper Chase has more on Arafat's political successor.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Dreyfus convicted of treason

On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

US passed Embargo Act, banning foreign trade

On December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed at the urging of US President Thomas Jefferson. The act barred trade with any foreign nations in an effort to avoid American entry into the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. However, the act proved unenforceable and was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which barred trade with France and Great Britain. Learn more about the Embargo Act of 1807 from Monticello.org