Israel-Iran war: Will the ceasefire hold?
While Washington wants to stop a nuclear Iran, it avoids deep military entanglement in West Asia, especially under domestic pressure. For Iran, the attack echoed historical betrayals like the 1953 coup, strengthening its resolve. Many now argue that only nuclear deterrence—like North Korea's—can shield Iran from foreign aggression. As Iran rebuilds its arsenal and Israel stays on high alert, the ceasefire is only a pause. The deeper conflict and its dangers remain unresolved.
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Business Standard
15 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Key facts about release of federal documents related to MLK's assassination
Federal records related to the investigation into the 1968 assassination of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr were released on Monday, following the disclosure in March of tens of thousands of documents about the 1963 assassination of President John F Kennedy. In January, President Donald Trump ordered the release of thousands of classified governmental documents about Kennedy's assassination, while also moving to declassify federal records related to the deaths of New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and King more than five decades ago. Trump ordered Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Attorney General Pam Bondi to coordinate with other government officials to review records related to the assassinations of RFK and King, and present a plan to the president for their complete release. Some 10,000 pages of records about the RFK assassination were released April 18. Justice Department attorneys later asked a federal judge to end a sealing order for the records nearly two years ahead of its expiration date. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King led, is opposed to unsealing any of the records for privacy reasons. The organization's lawyers said King's relatives also wanted to keep the files under seal. Scholars, history buffs and journalists have been preparing to study the documents to find new information about the civil rights leader's assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. The King family's statement released after Trump's order in January said they hoped to get an opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public release. King's family, including his two living children, Martin III and Bernice, was given advance notice of the release and had their own teams reviewing the records ahead of the public disclosure. In a statement released Monday, King's children called their father's case a captivating public curiosity for decades. But they also emphasized the personal nature of the matter and urged that these files must be viewed within their full historical context. We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family's continuing grief, the statement said. Here is what we know about the assassination and what scholars had to say ahead of the release of the documents. In Memphis, shots ring out King was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, heading to dinner with a few friends, when he was shot and killed. King had been in Memphis to support a sanitation workers strike protesting poor working conditions and low pay. The night before the assassination, King delivered the famous Mountaintop speech on a stormy night at the Mason Temple in Memphis. An earlier march on Beale Street had turned violent, and King had returned to Memphis to lead another march as an expression of nonviolent protest. King also had been planning the Poor People's Campaign to speak out against economic injustice. The FBI's investigation After a long manhunt, James Earl Ray was captured in London, and he pleaded guilty to assassinating King. He later renounced that plea and maintained his innocence until his death in 1998. FBI documents released over the years show how the bureau wiretapped King's telephone lines, bugged his hotel rooms and used informants to get information against him. He was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign, the King family statement said. King family's response to the investigation Members of King's family, and others, have questioned whether Ray acted alone, or if he was even involved. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, asked for the probe to be reopened, and in 1998, then-Attorney General Janet Reno directed the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department to do so. The Justice Department said it found nothing to disturb the 1969 judicial determination that James Earl Ray murdered Dr. King. Dexter King, one of King's children, met with Ray in prison in 1997, saying afterwards that he believed Ray's claims of innocence. Dexter King died in 2024. With the support of King's family, a civil trial in state court was held in Memphis in 1999 against Loyd Jowers, a man alleged to have known about a conspiracy to assassinate King. Dozens of witnesses testified, and a Memphis jury found Jowers and unnamed others, including government agencies, participated in a conspiracy to assassinate King. What will the public see in the newly released documents? It's not clear what the records will actually show. King scholars, for example, would like to see what information the FBI was discussing and circulating as part of their investigation, said Ryan Jones, director of history, interpretation and curatorial services at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. That's critical given the fact the American public, at that time, was unaware that the FBI that is involved in the investigation, was leading a smear campaign to discredit the same man while he was alive, Jones said. They were the same bureau who was receiving notices of assassination attempts against King and ignored them. Academics who have studied King also would like to see information about the FBI's surveillance of King, including the extent they went to get details about his personal life, track him, and try to discredit him as anti-American, said Lerone A. Martin, director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. However, Martin said he does not expect that the documents will have a smoking gun that will finally say, See, this is 100% evidence that the FBI was involved in this assassination.' We have to view these documents with an eye of suspicion because of the extent the FBI was willing to go to, to try to discredit him, Martin said. Why now? Trump's order about the records release said it is in the national interest to release the records. Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth, the order said. However, the timing has led to skepticism from some observers. Jones questioned why the American public had not been able to see these documents much earlier. Why were they sealed on the basis of national security, if the assassin was in prison outside of Nashville? he said. Jones said there are scholars who think the records release is a PR stunt by a presidential administration that is rewriting, omitting the advances of some people that are tied to people of color, or diversity. The Pentagon has faced questions from lawmakers and citizens over the removal of military heroes and historic mentions from Defense Department websites and social media pages after it purged online content that promoted women or minorities. In response, the department restored some of those posts. Martin said Trump's motivation could be part of an effort to shed doubt on government institutions. It could be an opportunity for the Trump administration to say, See, the FBI is evil, I've been trying to tell you this. This is why I've put (FBI director) Kash Patel in office because he's cleaning out the Deep State,' Martin said. Another factor could be the two attempts on Trump's life as he was campaigning for a second presidential term, and a desire to expose the broader history of US assassinations, said Brian Kwoba, an associate history professor at the University of Memphis. That said, it is still a little bit confusing because it's not clear why any US president, including Trump, would want to open up files that could be damaging to the United States and its image both in the US and abroad, he said.
Mint
32 minutes ago
- Mint
EU Expects Little From China Summit in Contrast With Japan Hope
European leaders will meet their Japanese and Chinese counterparts this week, with high expectations for better defense and trade cooperation with Tokyo contrasting sharply with limited hopes for discussions in Beijing. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will travel to Asia this week, first meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday in Tokyo, then Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on Thursday in Beijing. In Japan, the leaders plan to sign agreements on defense industry cooperation and economic security, according to European officials who briefed journalists ahead of the meeting. However, there is no expectation of a joint statement from the summit meeting in Beijing, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The European delegation expects to reach no substantial deals from the Chinese meeting, aiming only for a 'substantive, open, direct, good and constructive conversation,' one of the officials said. Europe hopes to make clear what it wants Beijing to do to fix unsustainable economic relations and rebalance ties, the official said. 'The atmosphere of China-Europe relations has become delicate before the summit,' said Cui Hongjian, a former Chinese diplomat who teaches at Beijing Foreign Studies University. 'Some favorable conditions, such as Trump's tariffs, could bring both sides closer, but other unfavorable conditions, like their differences on the Ukraine issue, are preventing better China-Europe relations.' An agreement on climate change cooperation might emerge, though even that remains uncertain, one official said. Ties between the EU and China have deteriorated since the pandemic, with European complaints spanning Beijing's trade practices and its support for Moscow. For Brussels, cooperation between Chinese and Russian firms that supports Moscow's military industrial complex despite European sanctions is a particular point of contention. The EU on Friday sanctioned two Chinese banks and five China-based companies as part of its latest measures against Russia over the Ukraine invasion. The move marked the first European sanctions against Chinese banks and prompted protest from Beijing, which promised a response that would safeguard and protect its own firms. Highlighting European trade frustrations, China's goods trade surplus in the first half of this year rose to a record for any six-month period, according to data released last week. Fast-growing Chinese exports and shrinking imports pushed the surplus to almost $143 billion through June, the highest on record, even though the first half of the year is typically slower before shipments pick up ahead of the holidays. Tensions were worsened by Beijing's April decision to impose export controls on rare earth magnets and related products, which shook European car companies and other sectors. While these shipments saw a rebound last month, it remains unclear if this will satisfy Europeans, who had demanded China fix the issue before the summit. Von der Leyen had previously accused China of 'weaponizing' the magnet supply chains at the Group of Seven meeting last month. In contrast, the visit to Japan will announce initiatives to build upon what the European officials described as 'our closest strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific region.' They said the steps will cover defense and security, industrial policy, foreign interference and manipulation, business competitiveness, as well as cooperation between the EU and countries in the CPTPP, a free trade agreement among 12 nations in the Asia-Pacific region and the UK. The EU and Japan also held their first 'security and defense dialogue' last month. One official noted that the EU and Japan would express their joint opposition to any attempt to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by force or coercion, a remark aimed at China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory. With assistance from Martin Ritchie.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Iran FM Says 'Death to America Not Official Policy,' Denies 'Seeking To Wipe Israel Off Map'
/ Jul 22, 2025, 11:43AM IST In a revealing Fox News interview, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dropped multiple diplomatic bombshells. Araghchi insisted that Iran never wished death on Americans or President Trump—comments that indirectly branded Supreme Leader Khamenei a 'radical,' given Khamenei's 2019 call for Trump's death. Araghchi denied Iran's desire to wipe Israel off the map, yet doubled down on support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, calling them legitimate resistance movements. He declared Iran will never abandon uranium enrichment, calling it a national pride. He also confirmed heavy U.S. strike damage to Iran's nuclear sites, validating recent American claims.#IranFoxNews #AraghchiInterview #Khamenei #MiddleEastTensions #nucleartalks #IranIsrael #TrumpIran #Hezbollah #IranNuclearProgram #UraniumEnrichment #IranNews
