Former DOD analyst, pro-Israel lobbyists plead not guilty to conspiracy charges News
Former DOD analyst, pro-Israel lobbyists plead not guilty to conspiracy charges

[JURIST] A US Department of Defense analyst and two former officials of the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) [advocacy website] pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified national defense information. Analyst Lawrence Franklin, who worked on the Pentagon's Iran desk at the time of the allegations, has been charged [JURIST report] with giving former AIPAC officials, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, top secret information about potential attacks on US forces in Iraq and with disclosing classified information to a diplomat in order to advance his personal agenda. Under the same indictment [PDF], Rosen and Weissman are charged [JURIST report] with disclosing the information to the media and several foreign government officials. The trial is set for January 3, 2006. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.