Report shows surge in anti-Muslim hate crimes in US News
Report shows surge in anti-Muslim hate crimes in US

[JURIST] Hate crimes and civil rights violations against Muslims in the United States have reached their highest point since right after September 11, according to a report released Wednesday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) [advocacy website]. As reasons for the recent surge [2005 CAIR press release] the report cites increasing political rhetoric used against Muslim figures and lingering hatred towards Muslims in the US. The Council reported 1,522 incidents of Muslim civil right violations in 2004, a 49 percent increase over 2003. The latest FBI hate crimes report [PDF text] pooling information from 11,900 law enforcement says that hate crimes against Muslims remained relatively the same in number from 2002 to 2004. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

USSR established

On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about the history of the USSR from the BBC.