Angola high court dismisses challenge to August vote News
Angola high court dismisses challenge to August vote

The Angola [BBC backgrounder] Constitutional Court on Wednesday dismissed four opposition parties’ challenge to the August 23 election in which one party gained over 60 percent of the popular vote. The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola party (MPLA) [Britannica backgrounder] now holds [Africa News report] 150 out of 220 seats in the nation’s parliament. The court said that the election and recounts were “free, transparent, and fair.” This marks the MPLA’s fourth victory in a row. Former Defense Minister Joao Lourenço’s presidential inauguration will be on September 21.

Angola has enjoyed large economic growth and increased stability following the end of the nation-wide civil war in 2002. However it was unsuccessful in addressing problems such as corruption. In early 2010 Human Rights Watch (HRW) called [JURIST report] on the government to increase its effort to fight corruption affecting the majority of its citizens who are not able to enjoy the improvements of the country. In January 2010 the parliament of Angola approved [JURIST report] a new constitution ending the popular election of the president and replacing the interim constitution that had been in place since 1975. In 2012 HRW urged [JURIST report] Angola to respect citizens’ freedom of speech.

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.