BREAKING NEWS ~ US House passes UN Reform Act News
BREAKING NEWS ~ US House passes UN Reform Act

[JURIST] By a vote of 221-184 the US House of Representatives has passed the United Nations Reform Act of 2005 [PDF text] calling for broad reforms at the UN and allowing the US to withold up to 50 percent of funding if reform goals are not met. Republican Congressman Henry Hyde [official website], chair of the House International Relations Committee, introduced the legislation in the House Tuesday. The Act alleges that the United Nations is rife with fraud and waste, citing the recent Oil-for-Food scandal [BBC timeline; JURIST news archive] as one example, and would permit the US to withold 50 percent of its UN dues based on what it perceives as poor performance in specific areas. Hyde denounced the current UN for its "gratuitous anti-Americanism" and castigated the UN Commission on Human Rights [official website] for allowing Cuba and the Sudan to "act as arbiters of human rights" despite their own troubling records. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.