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Nobel winners call on world leaders to step back from nuclear brink

Nobel winners call on world leaders to step back from nuclear brink

Humanity is "heading in the wrong direction" on the one threat that "could end civilization in an afternoon," warned an assembly of Nobel laureates, nuclear experts, and diplomats gathered at the University of Chicago to mark the 80th anniversary of the planet's first nuclear explosion in 1945 when the U.S. conducted the Trinity test in New Mexico.
Although Russia didn't nuke its neighbor, the brutal war of attrition continues in Ukraine.
Two nuclear-armed countries, India and Pakistan, attacked each other in May. The U.S. and Israel, which both have nuclear weapons, bombed Iran in June to destroy its nuclear program. Popular support for building nuclear weapons grows in countries like Japan and South Korea.
Against this backdrop, more than a dozen Nobel Prize winners and numerous nuclear experts signed a "Declaration for the Prevention of Nuclear War" on July 16 with recommendations for world leaders to reduce the increasing risk of nuclear conflict.
More: 80 years later, victims of 'first atom bomb' will soon be eligible for reparations
"Despite having avoided nuclear catastrophes in the past, time and the law of probability are not on our side," the declaration says. "Without clear and sustained efforts from world leaders to prevent nuclear war, there can be no doubt that our luck will finally run out."
The declaration emerged from days of discussion and debate, said assembly leader David Gross, a University of California, Santa Barbara, physicist and 2004 Nobel Prize winner.
"We are calling on our leaders in the world to consider our suggestions and heed our warnings," Gross said.
Longtime Vatican diplomat and nuclear advisor Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi argued that faith leaders should embrace a role in providing world leaders with independent moral and ethical assessments of nuclear policy and technology.
International agreements key to reducing risk
The declaration and speakers at its unveiling spoke extensively of the crucial role diplomacy and treaties played in building trust between countries with nuclear weapons and shrinking their arsenals after the Cold War.
Clock ticks on nuke treaties
But a key treaty remains unenforced, and the last remaining arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia expires in February 2026.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, or CTBT, is a 1996 international agreement that aims to ban explosive nuclear tests.
Although the CTBT Organization, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, successfully detects even underground nuclear tests (and identifies when suspicious seismic events aren't test explosions), the treaty is not in force. Nine more countries, including the U.S. and Russia (which de-ratified the CTBT in 2023), must formally approve the treaty before it becomes binding international law.
At the assembly, CTBTO leader and former Australian diplomat Robert Floyd joined the Nobel winners in calling the international community to formally approve the testing ban.
Floyd argued that if countries with nuclear weapons resumed testing to build more destructive nukes, it could lead "other states to develop nuclear weapons and ... a renewed global nuclear arms race."
The declaration also highlighted the need for the U.S., Russia, and China to enter arms control discussions. The 2010 New START treaty, which limits American and Russian nuclear weapons deployments and enables the rivals to verify the other's cooperation, expires in February 2026.
AI and the atom bomb
Artificial intelligence and its role in nuclear weapons matters also weighed heavily.
The declaration emphasized the "unprecedented and serious risks posed by artificial intelligence" and implored "all nuclear armed states to ensure meaningful and enhanced human control and oversight over nuclear command and control."
Tomasi, the Vatican's representative, said scientists, disarmament experts and faith leaders need to study "the ethical implications of emerging technologies," such as AI, on "nuclear stability."
World leaders, including former President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, generally agree that humans - and not AI algorithms - should control nuclear launch buttons.
But debate rages over the ideal, and safe, extent of integrating AI into other nuclear functions such as early warning, targeting, and communications.
A February 2025 report from the Center for a New American Security think tank on AI nuclear risk warned that "overreliance on untested, unreliable, or biased AI systems for decision support during a crisis" could potentially lead decision-makers down an escalatory path during a nuclear crisis.
Ultimately, argued Nobel winner Gross, progress in reducing the risks of nuclear weapons hinges on popular pressure on world leaders.
"The main motivation for the advances in reducing the risk of Armageddon was the fear of many ... people throughout the world who demanded (action) from their leaders," Gross said.
Davis Winkie's role covering nuclear threats and national security at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
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Fury as Donald Trump releases records of FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr
Fury as Donald Trump releases records of FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr

Daily Mirror

timea day ago

  • Daily Mirror

Fury as Donald Trump releases records of FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr

The digital document dump includes more than 240,000 pages of records that had been under a court-imposed seal since 1977 - when the FBI first gathered the records The Trump administration has released records of the FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr - despite opposition from the slain Nobel laureate's family and the civil rights group which he led until his 1968 assassination. ‌ The digital document dump includes more than 240,000 pages of records that had been under a court-imposed seal since 1977, when the FBI first gathered the records and turned them over to the National Archives and Records Administration. ‌ In a lengthy statement released Monday, King's two living children, Martin III, 67, and Bernice, 62, said their father's assassination has been a 'captivating public curiosity for decades.' But the pair emphasized the personal nature of the matter, urging that 'these files must be viewed within their full historical context.' ‌ The Kings got advance access to the records and had their own teams reviewing them. Those efforts continued even as the government granted public access. It was not immediately clear Monday whether the documents would shed any new light on King's life, the Civil Rights Movement or his murder. 'As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief — a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met -- an absence our family has endured for over 57 years,' they wrote. '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.' ‌ They also repeated the family's long-held contention that James Earl Ray, the man convicted of assassinating King, was not solely responsible, if at all. Bernice King was five-years old when her father was killed at the age of 39. Martin III was 10. A statement from the office of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called the disclosure 'unprecedented' and said many of the records had been digitized for the first time. She praised President Donald Trump for pushing the issue. Trump promised as a candidate to release files related to President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination. When Trump took office in January, he signed an executive order to declassify the JFK records, along with those associated with Robert F. Kennedy's and MLK's 1968 assassinations. The announcement from Gabbard's office included a statement from Alveda King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece, who is an outspoken conservative and has broken from King's children on various topics — including the FBI files. Alveda King said she was 'grateful to President Trump' for his 'transparency." Separately, Attorney General Pam Bondi's social media account featured a picture of the attorney general with Alveda King. Besides fulfilling Trump's order, the latest release means another alternative headline for the president as he tries to mollify supporters angry over his administration's handling of records concerning the sex trafficking investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself behind bars while awaiting trial in 2019, during Trump's first presidency. Trump last Friday ordered the Justice Department to release grand jury testimony but stopped short of unsealing the entire case file.

Trump administration released FBI records on MLK Jr. despite his family's opposition
Trump administration released FBI records on MLK Jr. despite his family's opposition

NBC News

time2 days ago

  • NBC News

Trump administration released FBI records on MLK Jr. despite his family's opposition

The Trump administration has released records of the FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr., despite opposition from the slain Nobel laureate's family and the civil rights group that he led until his 1968 assassination. The release involves more than 240,000 pages of records that had been under a court-imposed seal since 1977, when the FBI first gathered the records and turned them over to the National Archives and Records Administration. King's family, including his two living children, Martin III, 67, and Bernice, 62, were given advance notice of the release and had their own teams reviewing the records ahead of the public disclosure. Those efforts continued even as the government unveiled the digital trove. In a lengthy statement released Monday, the King children called their father's assassination a 'captivating public curiosity for decades.' But the pair emphasized the personal nature of the matter and urged that 'these files must be viewed within their full historical context.' It was not immediately clear Monday whether the release would shed any new light on King's life, the Civil Rights Movement or his murder. 'As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief — a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met -- an absence our family has endured for over 57 years,' they wrote wrote. '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.' They also repeated the family's long-held contention that James Earl Ray, the man convicted of assassinating King, was not solely responsible, if at all. Bernice King was five years old when her father was killed. Martin III was 10. President Donald Trump promised as a candidate to release files related to President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination. When Trump took office in January, he signed an executive order to declassify the JFK records, along with those associated with Robert F. Kennedy's and King's 1968 assassinations. The government unsealed the JFK records in March and disclosed some RFK files in April. Besides fulfilling the intent of his January executive order, the latest release serves as another alternative headline for Trump as he tries to mollify supporters angry over his administration's handling of records concerning the sex trafficking investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself behind bars while awaiting trial in 2019, during Trump's first presidency. Trump last Friday ordered the Justice Department to release grand jury testimony but stopped short of unsealing the entire case file. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III did not mention Trump in their statement Monday. As of late Monday afternoon, the administration had not commented on the release. The King records were initially intended to be sealed until 2027, until Justice Department attorneys asked a federal judge to lift the sealing order ahead of its expiration date. Scholars, history buffs and journalists have been preparing to study the documents to find new information about his assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King co-founded in 1957 as the Civil Rights Movement blossomed, opposed the release. They, along with King's family, argued that the FBI illegally surveilled King and other civil rights figures, tapping their offices and phone lines with the aim of discrediting them and their movement. It has long been established that then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was intensely interested if not obsessed with King and others that he considered radicals. FBI records released previously show how Hoover's 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 orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),' the King children said in their statement. 'The intent of the government's COINTELPRO campaign was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle and destroy Dr. King's reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement,' they continued. 'These actions were not only invasions of privacy, but intentional assaults on the truth — undermining the dignity and freedoms of private citizens who fought for justice, designed to neutralize those who dared to challenge the status quo.' The Kings said they 'support transparency and historical accountability' but 'object to any attacks on our father's legacy or attempts to weaponize it to spread falsehoods.' Opposition to King intensified even after the Civil Rights Movement compelled Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson to enact the Civil Right Act of 1964 and the Voting Right Act of 1965. After those landmark victories, King turned much of his attention to economic justice and international peace. He was an outspoken critic of rapacious capitalism and the Vietnam War. King argued that political rights alone were not enough in an uneven economy. Many establishment figures like Hoover viewed King as a communist threat. King was assassinated as he was aiding striking sanitation workers in Memphis, part of his explicit turn toward economic justice. Ray plead guilty to assassinating King. He later renounced that plea and maintained his innocence until his death in 1998. Members of King's family, and others, have long questioned whether Ray acted alone, or if he was even involved. Coretta Scott King 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 take a new look. The Justice Department said it 'found nothing to disturb the 1969 judicial determination that James Earl Ray murdered Dr. King.' In their latest statement, Bernice King and Martin Luther King III repeated their assertions that Ray was set up, pointing to a 1999 civil case in which a Memphis jury in a wrongful death case concluded that Martin Luther King Jr. had been the target of a conspiracy. 'As we review these newly released files,' the Kings said, 'we will assess whether they offer additional insights beyond the findings our family has already accepted.'

Nobel winners call on world leaders to step back from nuclear brink
Nobel winners call on world leaders to step back from nuclear brink

The Herald Scotland

time2 days ago

  • The Herald Scotland

Nobel winners call on world leaders to step back from nuclear brink

Humanity is "heading in the wrong direction" on the one threat that "could end civilization in an afternoon," warned an assembly of Nobel laureates, nuclear experts, and diplomats gathered at the University of Chicago to mark the 80th anniversary of the planet's first nuclear explosion in 1945 when the U.S. conducted the Trinity test in New Mexico. Although Russia didn't nuke its neighbor, the brutal war of attrition continues in Ukraine. Two nuclear-armed countries, India and Pakistan, attacked each other in May. The U.S. and Israel, which both have nuclear weapons, bombed Iran in June to destroy its nuclear program. Popular support for building nuclear weapons grows in countries like Japan and South Korea. Against this backdrop, more than a dozen Nobel Prize winners and numerous nuclear experts signed a "Declaration for the Prevention of Nuclear War" on July 16 with recommendations for world leaders to reduce the increasing risk of nuclear conflict. More: 80 years later, victims of 'first atom bomb' will soon be eligible for reparations "Despite having avoided nuclear catastrophes in the past, time and the law of probability are not on our side," the declaration says. "Without clear and sustained efforts from world leaders to prevent nuclear war, there can be no doubt that our luck will finally run out." The declaration emerged from days of discussion and debate, said assembly leader David Gross, a University of California, Santa Barbara, physicist and 2004 Nobel Prize winner. "We are calling on our leaders in the world to consider our suggestions and heed our warnings," Gross said. Longtime Vatican diplomat and nuclear advisor Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi argued that faith leaders should embrace a role in providing world leaders with independent moral and ethical assessments of nuclear policy and technology. International agreements key to reducing risk The declaration and speakers at its unveiling spoke extensively of the crucial role diplomacy and treaties played in building trust between countries with nuclear weapons and shrinking their arsenals after the Cold War. Clock ticks on nuke treaties But a key treaty remains unenforced, and the last remaining arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia expires in February 2026. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, or CTBT, is a 1996 international agreement that aims to ban explosive nuclear tests. Although the CTBT Organization, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, successfully detects even underground nuclear tests (and identifies when suspicious seismic events aren't test explosions), the treaty is not in force. Nine more countries, including the U.S. and Russia (which de-ratified the CTBT in 2023), must formally approve the treaty before it becomes binding international law. At the assembly, CTBTO leader and former Australian diplomat Robert Floyd joined the Nobel winners in calling the international community to formally approve the testing ban. Floyd argued that if countries with nuclear weapons resumed testing to build more destructive nukes, it could lead "other states to develop nuclear weapons and ... a renewed global nuclear arms race." The declaration also highlighted the need for the U.S., Russia, and China to enter arms control discussions. The 2010 New START treaty, which limits American and Russian nuclear weapons deployments and enables the rivals to verify the other's cooperation, expires in February 2026. AI and the atom bomb Artificial intelligence and its role in nuclear weapons matters also weighed heavily. The declaration emphasized the "unprecedented and serious risks posed by artificial intelligence" and implored "all nuclear armed states to ensure meaningful and enhanced human control and oversight over nuclear command and control." Tomasi, the Vatican's representative, said scientists, disarmament experts and faith leaders need to study "the ethical implications of emerging technologies," such as AI, on "nuclear stability." World leaders, including former President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, generally agree that humans - and not AI algorithms - should control nuclear launch buttons. But debate rages over the ideal, and safe, extent of integrating AI into other nuclear functions such as early warning, targeting, and communications. A February 2025 report from the Center for a New American Security think tank on AI nuclear risk warned that "overreliance on untested, unreliable, or biased AI systems for decision support during a crisis" could potentially lead decision-makers down an escalatory path during a nuclear crisis. Ultimately, argued Nobel winner Gross, progress in reducing the risks of nuclear weapons hinges on popular pressure on world leaders. "The main motivation for the advances in reducing the risk of Armageddon was the fear of many ... people throughout the world who demanded (action) from their leaders," Gross said. Davis Winkie's role covering nuclear threats and national security at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.

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