Libby judge refuses to release audio recordings of trial News
Libby judge refuses to release audio recordings of trial

[JURIST] US District Judge Reggie B. Walton denied a request Tuesday from several news organizations seeking the daily release of audio recordings of arguments and testimony in the upcoming CIA leak trial [JURIST news archive] of former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [defense website; JURIST news archive]. Walton ruled that the US District Court for District of Columbia [official website] will not follow the lead set by the US Supreme Court [official website], which now makes audio recordings of arguments available to the public.

Libby faces charges of perjury and obstruction of justice [indictment, PDF; JURIST report] when his trial begins January 16. One of Libby's defense lawyers said last month that his client plans to call [JURIST report] his former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney [official website], to testify. AP has more.

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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.