Three more charged in London bombings probe News
Three more charged in London bombings probe

[JURIST] British police Sunday charged three more individuals, including two alleged bombers, in the ongoing investigation into the July 21 attempted terror bombings in London. Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, and Ramzi Mohammed, 23 were charged with conspiracy to murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to cause explosions and possession of an explosive substance. Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 32, was charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions after he was linked to an unexploded device found in a west London park. Sunday's charges mean that with counts made Saturday against Yassin Hassan Omar [JURIST report], all three of the suspected bombers still in the UK have now been charged. A fourth suspected bomber arrested last week in Italy is facing extradition [JURIST report] under a European warrant. BBC News has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, murdered by Henry II's knights

On December 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights acting in the name of Henry II.

Becket and Henry had been entangled in a power struggle over, among other things, criminal jurisdiction over clergy. Read a contemporary account of the murder of Thomas Becket.

Texas attains US statehood

On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state to join the United States of America when US President James K. Polk signed the Ordinance of Annexation. Texas had a complicated path to statehood because it had formerly been part of Mexico and then an independent republic. The US Congress passed the Annexation of the Republic of Texas Joint Resolution on March 1, 1845. Voters in Texas then approved the Ordinance of Annexation in October, before it was approved by the US Congress and signed into law by President Polk on this day in 1845. The US Supreme Court later ruled in Texas v. White that, despite its unique path to statehood, Texas did not have the right to secede from the union.