US indicts two in connection with Brazil killing of environmentalist American nun News
US indicts two in connection with Brazil killing of environmentalist American nun

[JURIST] A grand jury in Washington, DC has indicted two men for the February 12 killing of Dorothy Stang [Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur profile], an American nun who was working in Brazil as an environmentalist. A landowner allegedly offered the two $20,000 for the killing, and faces separate charges in Brazil [official press releases]. It is thought that Stang's work got in the way of land development projects. The killing led Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva [Wikipedia profile] to step up efforts to ease conflicts between loggers, ranchers, and peasants. Bloomberg has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.