BREAKING NEWS ~ California Assembly passes bill to legalize same-sex marriage News
BREAKING NEWS ~ California Assembly passes bill to legalize same-sex marriage

[JURIST] AP is reporting that the California Assembly has narrowly passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the state. AB 849, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act [Equality California materials] was approved by the state Senate [JURIST report] last Thursday, and now goes to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for his signature, although it's not yet clear whether he will sign it or not. The bill, if signed into law, would be the first state law to legalize same-sex marriage and not just civil unions; same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, but that was the result of a judicial decision. Gay rights group Equality California has issued a press release on the Assembly bill passage. Gay 365.com has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.