63 nations to sign UN nuclear terrorism treaty News
63 nations to sign UN nuclear terrorism treaty

[JURIST] The UN has announced Thursday that 63 nations have agreed to sign a new treaty against nuclear terrorism. The International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism [PDF text; CDI backgrounder] requires governments to punish those who illegally posses atomic devices and radioactive material or those who threaten others while in possession of these materials. The treaty was approved earlier this year [JURIST report] by the UN General Assembly [official website] and is the first global anti-terrorism convention since the 9/11 attacks on the US [JURIST news archive]. The agreement comes a few months after G8 leaders acknowledged [JURIST report] that they must "protect individuals while upholding human rights in accordance with international law." The accord must be ratified by at least 22 nations before it can become international law. Reuters 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.