Serb leader reasserts claim to Kosovo News
Serb leader reasserts claim to Kosovo

[JURIST] In the first trip by a Serbian leader through the province since the end of civil war in 1999, President Boris Tadic [official website in Serbian] has forcefully asserted his country's claim to Kosovo, which has been run by the UN [UNMIK website] for the past five years after being under Serb control during the rule of former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic [Wikipedia profile]. Tadic thanked residents of Kosovo for remaining in the region despite the constant conflict, and handed out Serbian flags to each village he visited. IHT has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

USSR established

On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about the history of the USSR from the BBC.