UPDATE ~ Annan asks Security Council for Darfur resolution News
UPDATE ~ Annan asks Security Council for Darfur resolution

[JURIST] Updating a JURIST report from earlier today, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Monday urged the Security Council in a closed-door emergency session to pass a resolution to end what he called "appalling" crimes in Sudan's Darfur region and called for sanctions against those preventing peace in the troubled area. He praised existing humanitarian and security measures, but criticized them for not going far enough. BBC News has more; the UN News Center offers further coverage. Read Annan's statement to the press after the meeting [UN press release]. JURIST's Paper Chase has archived news on the Darfur crisis.

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.