Envoys accuse Germany, Japan of shady dealing over UN Security Council expansion News
Envoys accuse Germany, Japan of shady dealing over UN Security Council expansion

[JURIST] With the US, Russia, and China announcing opposition to their plan [JURIST report], Japan and Germany have now approached smaller nations and possibly opened their pocketbooks in an attempt to win support for the so-called "G-4 Plan" for expansion [JURIST report] of the UN Security Council, according to envoys from Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. Japan allegedly offered to increase aid to Afghanistan, while German is said to have offered greater investment into Kazakh oil interests though representatives from the two countries denied any link between proposed financial dealings and the expansion proposal. A two-thirds majority of the General Assembly plus a unanimous vote from the US, UK, China, France, and Russia is required to approve any expansion plan. Bloomberg 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.