European court rules EU can freeze terrorist assets News
European court rules EU can freeze terrorist assets

[JURIST] The European Court of First Instance [official website] Wednesday ruled that the European Union [official website] can freeze the assets of suspected terrorists under its treaty powers [PDF press release; judgment text]. The court dismissed complaints from alleged al Qaeda associates, Yassin Abdullah Kadi, Ahmed Ali Yusuf, and the Al Barakaat International Foundation, who had their bank accounts blocked by the EU. The court held that the bloc had the power to enforce the decisions of the UN Security Council [official website], which recommends whose assets should be frozen for alleged links to Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda network and the Taliban. The court found the European Community competent to order the freezing of funds in connection with the fight against terrorism. Reuters 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.