Stories related to: assassination

To mark the anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, 40 years ago today, the New York Times offers vignettes from three of his children—Kerry Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend—of life with their father. For Kerry, RFK was the arbiter of fairness, whose teachings in the home mirrored his nationwide calling for "courage, love, and an abiding commitment to justice." More »

Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of assassinating Robert Kennedy 40 years ago this week, remains behind bars in California. Police at the time called the killing an open-and-shut case, but over the years so many have expressed doubts about the prosecution's version of events that the investigation may yet be reopened. The San Francisco Chronicle scrutinizes the records. More »

A Fox News analyst yesterday laughingly suggested on the air that Barack Obama be "knocked off." Commenting on Hillary Clinton's recent remarks about RFK's assassination, Liz Trotta referred to "what some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama, uh Obama—well, both, if we could." She apologized today for her "lame attempt at humor." More »

The coming Obama/McCain matchup is an echo of another presidential bout, David Talbot writes for Salon —one that never happened between JFK and Barry Goldwater in 1964. Then as now, a young idealist takes on a seasoned ex-soldier over negotiation with hostile governments, to debate a fundamental question of whether it is more important to project understanding or strength to the world. More »

Zimbabwe’s military has a plan to assassinate opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, according to Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change. An MDC official said today that the armed forces been ruling Zimbabwe since the March 29 election, and would have had snipers gun down Tsvangirai had he returned to the country Friday as planned, the Times of London reports. More »

The official leading Mexico's anti-drug efforts was gunned down early this morning, the Los Angeles Times , shot eight times after arriving at his Mexico City home from work. Mexican outlets reported that the so-called Sinaloa cartel is behind the death of Edgar Millan Gomez, 42; he's the third high-ranking federal law-enforcement official shot in the capital in the past week. More »

The murder of a Moqtada al-Sadr aide triggered heavy fighting in Baghdad today after al-Sadr’s men attacked US and Iraqi forces, Reuters reports. The cleric blamed “the hand of the occupier” for the death of Riyadh al-Nuri, a close relative, and vowed not to forget “this precious blood.” A US commander told CNN that battles broke out when a US patrol, backing Iraqi forces, ran into 10 roadside bombs and sustained heavy fire. More »

Jesse Jackson was outside the Lorraine Motel when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, 40 years ago today, and the sound of the gunshot still echoes in his memory. Jackson talks with the Chicago Sun-Times about that day, and how race relations have "detoxified"  in the ensuing years. But King, he said, would have been distressed that the nation still has "first-class jails, second-class schools." More »

With tomorrow marking the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination, the Rev. Jesse Jackson pens an appreciation for the New York Daily News . Jackson worked with the civil-rights giant in 1968 on King's last, tragically unfulfilled project, the Poor People’s Campaign. "He'd keep on dreaming and organizing," Jackson writes of King, were he still alive today. More »

A nationalist party leader, a veteran journalist, and a top academic have been arrested over a plan to kill dissident Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk. The leader of the Workers’ Party and former rector of Istanbul University, along with a general, and retired colonel, are among 16 who were detained over plans to kill the Nobel laureate and several senior Kurdish figures. More »

Spain’s Prime Minister is blaming Basque separatist group Eta for the shooting death of a party functionary a day before national elections, the BBC reports. Jose Zapatero, whose Socialist Party is expected to win the contest, painted Isaias Carrasco’s murder as an attempt to disrupt elections, but vowed that Spain would not “allow challenges from those who oppose its basic principles.” More »

"Stop worrying," Barack Obama tells supporters. “I've got the best protection in the world.” But they're worrying anyway: Even as supporters have watched their candidate rocket from longshot to frontrunner, their anxieties about a possible assassination attempt have grown, the New York Times reports. “Some candidates are bigger targets than others," ex-contender Gary Hart notes. "Any transition candidate or change candidate has a higher profile.” More »

A leading member of terrorist group Islamic Jihad was killed today in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports. Ayman Fayed and at least seven others were killed in an explosion that leveled a house where Fayed was staying. The Israeli army denied involvement, but Palestinian leaders saw the attack as Israel taking revenge for recent killings there. More »

So many parties had a motive for killing Hezbollah mastermind Imad Mughniyah that it’s unclear who assassinated him last night in Syria, Time reports. The Lebanon-based terror group blamed the assassination in Damascus on Israel, which denied involvement. Said one insider, “The Americans wanted him, so did the Saudis, and the Lebanese Christians. We weren’t the only ones.” More »

A notorious Hezbollah commander was killed by a car bomb late last night in Damascus, the group said today, ending his reign of high-profile terror attacks that included the 1985 TWA hijacking, the 1992 Israeli embassy bombings, and the killing of more than 200 Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s. Hezbollah claims Imad Mughniyeh was assassinated by Israeli agents, Al Jazeera reports, though Israel denies that charge. More »

Scotland Yard detectives investigating the assassination of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto have concluded that the cause of death was not a bullet, but the massive head injury she sustained when she was thrown by the suicide bomb blast. The findings mesh with the Pakistan government's version of the killing and were immediately rejected by skeptical Bhutto supporters, who renewed calls for a UN investigation, reports the Guardian. More »

The Kenyan opposition lawmaker who was dragged from his car yesterday and shot to death could have been key to ending the ethnically charged turmoil, reports the New York Times, but his assassination instead further plunged the country into violent chaos. Melitus Mugabe Were had been working toward peace, able to bridge ethnic divides because of his Kikuyu wife. “Whoever did this has killed the dreams of many,” one friend said. More »

Pakistani authorities have arrested a teenage suspect in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, reports the AP. The 15-year-old said he was part of a five-person team sent to Rawalpindi by Baitullah Mehsud, a militant tribal leader affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said. A spokesman for Mehsud denied the allegation, which he called "propaganda." More »

The CIA director blames a cooperative effort by al-Qaeda and a group of Pakistani militants for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the Washington Post reports. The conclusion jibes with the explanation Pervez Musharraf has offered, though some Pakistanis still suspect the president and his government had a hand in the ex-PM’s murder. More »

A 15-year-old boy scout saved the Maldives president from an assassination attempt today, wrestling the assailant to the ground. AFP reports that a 20-year-old man brandishing a knife went after Maumoon Abdul Gayoom while he was visiting one of the archipelago's northern islands. Police are currently trying to establish the would-be assassin's motive. More »