Mukasey sworn in as US attorney general News
Mukasey sworn in as US attorney general

[JURIST] Former federal judge Michael B. Mukasey [WH profile; JURIST news archive] was sworn in Friday as the 81st attorney general of the United States after a confirmation process fraught with controversy. The US Senate voted 53-40 [JURIST report] late Thursday evening to confirm Mukasey's nomination. The nomination was backed by the Senate Judiciary Committee [JURIST report] earlier this week by an 11-8 vote. Much of the opposition to Mukasey's nomination [JURIST report] has centered on his refusal to unequivocally denounce waterboarding [JURIST news archive] as torture. Mukasey's supporters, however, have praised Mukasey's promises for greater Justice Department independence [JURIST report] from the executive.

Mukasey succeeds former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [JURIST news archive] whose resignation [JURIST report] took effect in September. Gonzales resigned from his post after months of controversy over the Justice Department's handling of the firings of eight US Attorneys [JURIST news archive] and subsequent allegations that he may have perjured himself [JURIST report] in testimony before Congress.


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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).

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