Global warming pact comes into force News
Global warming pact comes into force

[JURIST] The Kyoto Protocol [official website; BBC News Q&A] takes legal effect Wednesday, 90 days after Russia ratified the treaty [JURIST report], providing the necessary number of ratifications for the treaty to come into force. Before becoming effective, the protocol, which aims to slow global warming by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, required countries representing 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions to ratify the treaty. The US and Australia, citing economic reasons, are not parties to the treaty [JURIST report on US position], and several developing countries, including China and India, also have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol. According to the UN's status of ratification [country list, PDF], 141 countries and regional economic integration organizations have deposited instruments of ratifications or approvals, and the total percentage of emissions by parties to the treaty now stands at 61.6%. BBC News 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.