UPDATE ~ Russian court rejects Khodorkovsky appeal, cuts sentence News
UPDATE ~ Russian court rejects Khodorkovsky appeal, cuts sentence

[JURIST] A Moscow court Thursday rejected the appeal of jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST news archive; defense website] against his conviction [JURIST report] on fraud and tax evasion charges, but reduced his nine-year sentence [JURIST report] to eight years. The decision, which followed several postponements of the proceedings [JURIST report], came after just one day of arguments from the prosecution and defense. Khodorkovsky's lawyers have said that their client did not get a fair appeal and likened the proceedings to a Soviet-era hearing. This would appear to end Khodorkovsky's intended parliamentary run [JURIST report]. Russia's Central Election Commission [official website] has indicated that Khodorkovsky is only eligible to run while his case is under appeal or if his conviction is overturned. AP has more. MosNews has local coverage.

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

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