Tsunami victims to sue NOAA, hotel chain News
Tsunami victims to sue NOAA, hotel chain

[JURIST] Alleging negligence over their failure to provide warning of the impending disaster, Austrian and German victims of the December tsunami in Asia will file suit in the US against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) [official website] in Washington and the tsunami warning center in Hawaii, a lawyer for the group said Monday. A yet-to-be announced hotel chain will also be named in the suit. The latest death toll from the disaster has reached nearly 287,000, while more than 800 Germans and Austrians have been declared dead or missing. AFP has the full story. The International Oceanographic Commission provides more information on the Asian tsunami.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.