US judge sentences Yemeni sheikh to 75 years for terror support News
US judge sentences Yemeni sheikh to 75 years for terror support

[JURIST] US judge Sterling Johnson [official website] on Thursday sentenced Yemeni cleric Sheikh Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, convicted in March of conspiring to support foreign terrorist groups [JURIST report], to 75 years in prison and fined him $1.25 million. Al-Moayad and his assistant, Mohammed Zayed, also from Yemen, were arrested in Germany in 2003 after telling a federal agent posing as a US businessman that they would help him funnel money to militants. Al-Moayad was later extradited to the United States where he was acquitted of actually funding al-Qaeda, but was found guilty of providing material support and resources to Hamas. Reuters has more.

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.