Ireland drops charges against Omagh bombing suspect News
Ireland drops charges against Omagh bombing suspect

[JURIST] The Irish Public Prosecution Service [official website] has dropped charges against Anthony Joseph Donegan, suspected of providing the car used in the Omagh car bombing in 1998. A spokesman for the PPS said Wednesday that the "test for prosecution was not met." Twenty-nine people were killed and 220 were injured when a car bomb [BBC backgrounder] set by the Real IRA [DOS backgrounder], a splinter group of the former provisional Irish Republican Army opposed to the peace process, exploded in the Northern Ireland town of Omagh. Sean Gerard Hoey remains the only person in custody [JURIST report] for the attack. BBC News has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Laws of Burgos put into effect

The Spanish Crown put the Laws of Burgos into effect on December 27, 1512. These laws governed the relationship of Spanish settlers with the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. The laws established the encomienda system of labor, promoted conversion to Catholicism, and safeguarded the indigenous peoples from physical abuse.  However, historians argue that the laws were ineffective at protecting the rights of the indigenous population. Learn more from the Library of Congress.

Prohibitionist Carrie Nation carried out her first public bar smashing

On December 27, 1900, militant Prohibitionist Carrie Nation carried out her first public smashing of a bar, at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas. Nation argued that destroying bars was an acceptable means of battling the liquor trade since the Kansas Constitution prohibited alcohol. Learn more about Carrie Nation.

World Bank created

On December 27, 1944, the World Bank was created during the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. Learn more about the history of the World Bank.