Asbestos legislation delayed for another week in Senate News
Asbestos legislation delayed for another week in Senate

[JURIST] The introduction of a bill that would replace lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers with a $140 billion compensation fund will be delayed for another week, according to the legislation's author, PA Sen. Arlen Specter [official website]. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Judiciary Committee members asked for an additional week to review the bill, which was previously delayed due to objections by Senate Democrats. Specter has sought bipartisan support [JURIST report] for the bill, but both sides have expressed concerns. Some Republicans have argued the medical criteria to qualify for compensation were too weak. 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.