'Equine armed with explosives': Mule laden with explosives kills soldier in Colombia; National Liberation Army blamed
A Colombian soldier was killed and two others injured on Wednesday after explosives carried by a mule detonated in rural northeastern Colombia, said Antioquia governor Andres Julian Rendon, as reported by AP.
He confirmed the soldier's death and blamed the National Liberation Army (ELN), a guerrilla group of around 6,000 fighters still engaged in conflict with the government.
Rendon said the soldiers were patrolling near Valdivia when they were targeted by 'an equine armed with explosives.' The army later confirmed that the animal was a mule and condemned what it described as 'the cruel and macabre use of animals to carry out terrorism,' as quoted by AP.
While car and motorcycle bombs are more common in Colombia, the military said the last known use of an animal for such an attack was in 2013, involving a dog. In the past, horses and donkeys have also been used to transport explosives.
President Gustavo Petro had initiated peace talks with the ELN and other armed groups under his 'Total Peace' plan. However, those talks were suspended in January after the ELN launched an offensive against a rival group near the Venezuelan border, killing more than 90 people.
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New Indian Express
21 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Promote electronics units in Rayalaseema: Andhra CM
VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has asserted that Andhra Pradesh is an ideal destination for production of electronics components. Reviewing the Electronics Components Manufacturing Policy 4.0 at the State Secretariat on Monday, Naidu said Rayalaseema is an apt location for setting up the units. Opportunities are abundant in Sri City, Hindupur, Kopparthy and other places in Rayalaseema for manufacturing of electronics components. Officials should attract investments in a big way for setting up electronics manufacturing units in Rayalaseema, he said. The new policy aims to attract investments in the electronics sector during 2025-30. Officials informed Naidu that the policy is designed to reduce electronics imports, boost domestic production, and focus on exports. They revealed that India imported electronics circuit boards worth USD 70 billion last year, highlighting the sector's immense demand. Naidu stressed that self-reliance in electronics and achieving 'Make in India' targets be prioritised. AP should launch large-scale manufacturing initiatives to meet global demand, and create its brand for these products, the Chief Minister said.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Things to know about release of federal documents related to MLKs assassination
Memphis (US), Jul 22 (AP) 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. top videos View all 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. (AP) NSA NSA (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: July 22, 2025, 12:00 IST News agency-feeds Things to know about release of federal documents related to MLKs assassination Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
U.S. envoy doubles down on support for Syria's government, criticises Israel's intervention
A U.S. envoy doubled down on Washington's support for the new government in Syria, saying Monday (July 21, 2025) there is 'no Plan B" to working with the current authorities to unite the country still reeling from a nearly 14-year civil war and now wracked by a new outbreak of sectarian violence. Tom Barrack took a critical tone toward Israel's recent intervention in Syria, calling it poorly timed and saying that it complicated efforts to stabilize the region. Mr. Barrack, who is the Ambassador to Türkiye and a special envoy to Syria, also has a short-term mandate in Lebanon, made the comments in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press during a visit to Beirut. He spoke following more than a week of clashes in the southern province of Sweida between militias of the Druze religious minority and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes. Syrian government forces intervened, ostensibly to restore order, but ended up siding with the Bedouins before withdrawing under a ceasefire agreement with Druze factions. Hundreds have been killed in the fighting, and some government fighters allegedly shot dead Druze civilians and burned and looted their houses. In the meantime, Israel intervened last week on behalf of the Druze, who are seen as a loyal minority within Israel and often serve in its military. Israel launched dozens of strikes on convoys of government forces in Sweida and also struck the Syrian Ministry of Defense headquarters in central Damascus. Over the weekend, Mr. Barrack announced a ceasefire between Syria and Israel, without giving details. Syrian government forces have redeployed in Sweida to halt renewed clashes between the Druze and Bedouins, and civilians from both sides were set to be evacuated Monday. U.S. envoy says Israeli intervention came at a very bad time Mr. Barrack told the AP that 'the killing, the revenge, the massacres on both sides' are 'intolerable,' but that 'the current government of Syria, in my opinion, has conducted themselves as best they can as a nascent government with very few resources to address the multiplicity of issues that arise in trying to bring a diverse society together.' At a later press conference he said the Syrian authorities 'need to be held accountable' for violations. Regarding Israel's strikes on Syria, Barrack said: 'The United States was not asked, nor did they participate in that decision, nor was it the United States responsibility in matters that Israel feels is for its own self-defense." However, he said that Israel's intervention "creates another very confusing chapter" and 'came at a very bad time." Prior to the conflict in Sweida, Israel and Syria had been engaging in talks over security matters, while the Trump administration had been pushing them to move toward a full normalization of diplomatic relations. When the latest fighting erupted, 'Israel's view was that south of Damascus was this questionable zone, so that whatever happened militarily in that zone needed to be agreed upon and discussed with them,' Mr. Barrack said. 'The new government (in Syria) coming in was not exactly of that belief.' The ceasefire announced Saturday between Syria and Israel is a limited agreement addressing only the conflict in Sweida, he said. It does not address the broader issues between the two countries, including Israel's contention that the area south of Damascus should be a demilitarized zone. In the discussions leading up to the ceasefire, Barrack said 'both sides did the best they can' to came to an agreement on specific questions related to the movement of Syrian forces and equipment from Damascus to Sweida. 'Whether you accept that Israel can intervene in a sovereign state is a different question,' he said. He suggested that Israel would prefer to see Syria fragmented and divided rather than a strong central state in control of the country. "Strong nation states are a threat — especially Arab states are viewed as a threat to Israel," he said. But in Syria, he said, 'I think all of the the minority communities are smart enough to say, we're better off together, centralized.' A Damascus deal with Kurdish forces still in play The violence in Sweida has deepened the distrust of minority religious and ethnic groups in Syria toward the new government in Damascus, led by Sunni Muslim former insurgents who unseated Syria's longtime autocratic ruler, Bashar Assad, in a lightning offensive in December. The attacks on Druze civilians followed the deaths of hundreds of civilians from the Alawite minority, to which Assad belongs, earlier this year in sectarian revenge attacks on the Syrian coast. While interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has promised to protect minorities and punish those who target civilians, many feel his government has not done enough. At the same time, Damascus has been negotiating with the Kurdish forces that control much of northeast Syria to implement an agreement that would merge the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces with the new national army. Mr. Barrack, who spoke to SDF leader Mazloum Abdi over the weekend, said he does not believe the violence in Sweida will derail those talks and that there could be a breakthrough 'in the coming weeks.' Neighbouring Turkiye, which wants to curtail the influence of Kurdish groups along its border and has tense relations with Israel, has offered to provide defense assistance to Syria. Mr. Barrack said the US has 'no position' on the prospect of a defence pact between Syria and Turkiye. 'It's not in the US's business or interest to tell any of the surrounding nations with each other what to do,' he said. Hezbollah disarmament remains a thorny issue Mr. Barrack's visit to Lebanon came amid ongoing domestic and international pressure for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to give up its remaining arsenal after a bruising war with Israel that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire agreement in November. Speaking at a press conference in Beirut Monday, Mr. Barrack said the ceasefire agreement 'didn't work.' Israel has continued to launch near-daily airstrikes in Lebanon that it says are aimed at stopping Hezbollah from rebuilding its capabilities. Hezbollah has said it will not discuss disarming until Israel stops its strikes and withdraws its forces from all of southern Lebanon. While the U.S. has been pushing for Hezbollah's disarmament, Barrack described the matter as 'internal' to Lebanon. 'There's no consequence, there's no threat, there's no whip, we're here voluntarily trying to usher in a solution," he said. He added that the US 'can't compel Israel to do anything' when it comes to the ceasefire.
