Russian anti-terror bill overwhelmingly approved in Duma vote News
Russian anti-terror bill overwhelmingly approved in Duma vote

[JURIST] The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma [official website], Wednesday gave critical second-reading approval to an expansive anti-terror bill which would grant a broad range of new counter-terrorism powers to law enforcement and the military. The Duma vote on the draft law was 408-1, with five abstentions. If passed, the law will allow the military to shoot down any hijacked passenger plane if the plane is directed at highly populated areas. It will allow law enforcement to use preemptive force to eliminate suspected international terrorists outside the country so long as that is consistent with Russian treaty obligations. The law will also permit officials to conduct phone wire taps, restrict communication, and perform random identity checks. Proposed restrictions on the media during counter-terrorism operations were, however, removed from the draft.

The Duma will vote on the bill again Sunday at third reading, and from there it will proceed to the upper house, the Federation Council, and then on to President Vladimir Putin [official website] for expected approval and signature. MosNews has local coverage. AFP 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.