Khodorkovsky court adjourns, verdict due April 27 News
Khodorkovsky court adjourns, verdict due April 27

[JURIST] A Moscow court adjourned Monday to begin consideration in the criminal case against former Yukos [corporate website] CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky [BBC profile] on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion. Defense counsel finished its defense Friday [JURIST report], alleging that the charges against Khodorkovsky were trumped up by the government to quiet the politically active millionaire. Prosecutors asked the court for the maximum sentence [JURIST report] of ten years for Khodorkovsky. Judge Irina Kolesnikova said the court would return with a verdict on April 27. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST news archive]. MosNews has local coverage.

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.