WASHINGTON: Thousands of pages of digital documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy are now available for historians, conspiracy theorists and the merely curious, following orders from US President Donald Trump.
The president, shortly after taking office for his second term in January, signed an executive order directing national intelligence and other officials to quickly come up with a plan “for the full and complete release of all John F. Kennedy assassination records.”
The archives’ Kennedy assassination collection has more than six million pages of records, the vast majority of which had been declassified and made public before Trump’s order. Trump told reporters on Monday that 80,000 pages would be released on Tuesday. Justice Department lawyers got orders Monday evening to review the records for release. The digital documents did not start appearing until 7 p.m. (2300 GMT) Tuesday on a National Archives web page. As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday (0230 GMT Wednesday), the National Archives had published 2,182 PDFs totaling 63,400 pages.
The archives did not immediately respond on Wednesday to a request for comment on whether more documents would soon be released in response to a January order from Trump.
Kennedy’s murder has been attributed to a sole gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. The Justice Department and other federal government bodies have reaffirmed that conclusion in the intervening decades. But polls show many Americans still believe his death was a result of a conspiracy.
“There will be people who will be looking at the records and seeing if there is any hint of any confirmation about their theory,” Larry Schnapf, an environmental lawyer who has researched the assassination and pushed the government to make public what it knows about what led up to the shooting in Dallas on a November afternoon six decades ago, said on Wednesday.
Schnapf, who stayed up until 4 a.m. poring over the documents, said that what he found as he went through them was less illuminating about Kennedy’s assassination than about US spy operations.
“It’s all about our government’s covert activities leading up to the assassination,” he said.
Department of Defense documents from 1963 that were among those released Tuesday covered the Cold War of the early 1960s and the US involvement in Latin America, trying to thwart Castro’s support of communists in other countries. One document released from January 1962 reveals details of a top-secret project called “Operation Mongoose,” or simply “the Cuban Project,” which was a CIA-led campaign of covert operations and sabotage against Cuba, authorized by Kennedy in 1961, aimed at removing the Castro regime.
Trump promised on the campaign trail to provide more transparency about Kennedy’s death. Upon taking office, he also ordered aides to present a plan for the release of records relating to the assassinations in 1968 of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said he advocates for transparency in Washington and noted previous administrations, including the Biden administration, have also released Kennedy assassination documents. But he added that even with the thousands of new documents, the public will still not know everything, as much evidence may have been destroyed throughout the decades.
The National Archives did not immediately respond to queries on Wednesday about whether plans for releasing documents on Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr had been developed or when such documents would be released.
![]()
On Trump’s orders, thousands of JFK assassination documents newly public
Short Url
https://arab.news/rqnze
On Trump’s orders, thousands of JFK assassination documents newly public
- The archives’ Kennedy assassination collection has more than six million pages of records, the vast majority of which had been declassified and made public before Trump’s order
Austrian parliament approves headscarf ban in schools
- In 2019 the country introduced a ban on headscarves in primary schools, but the constitutional court struck it down
- Rights groups and activists have long argued that banning headscarves still amounts to telling a woman what to wear
VIENNA: Austrian lawmakers on Thursday voted by a large majority in favor of a law banning headscarves in schools for girls under 14, a move rights groups and experts say is discriminatory and could deepen societal division.
Austria’s conservative-led government — under pressure with anti-immigration sentiment is running high — proposed the ban earlier this year, arguing it is aimed at protecting girls “from oppression.”
In 2019 the country introduced a ban on headscarves in primary schools, but the constitutional court struck it down.
This time the government insists that its law is constitutional, though experts have suggested it could be seen as discriminating against one religion — Islam — and putting children in an uncomfortable position.
The law prevents girls younger than 14 from wearing headscarves that “cover the head in accordance with Islamic traditions” in all schools.
After a debate Thursday, only the opposition Green party voted against the ban.
Ahead of the vote, lawmaker Yannick Shetty of the liberal NEOS said the headscarf “is not just an item of clothing” but “sexualizes girls.”
“When a girl... is told that she must hide her body... to protect herself from the gaze of men, it’s not a religious ritual, but oppression,” Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm said when presenting the bill.
The ban, which applies to “all forms” of the Islamic veil including hijabs and burqas, would take full effect with the start of the new school year in September, Plakolm said.
From February, an initial period would be launched during which the new rules would be explained to educators, parents and children with no penalties for breaking them.
But for repeated non-compliance, parents would face fines ranging from €150 to €800 ($175-930).
The government said that about 12,000 girls would be affected by the new law.
‘Stigmatized’
Rights groups and activists have long argued that banning headscarves still amounts to telling a woman what to wear, instead of allowing her the freedom to decide on her own.
Organizations including Amnesty International Austria have criticized the bill.
Amnesty said it “constitutes blatant discrimination against Muslim girls” and described it as an “expression of anti-Muslim racism.”
Such measures risk “fueling existing prejudices and stereotypes against Muslims,” the group warned.
The draft law has also drawn criticism from the IGGOe, the body officially recognized as representing the country’s Muslim communities.
It said the ban “jeopardizes social cohesion,” saying “instead of empowering children, they are stigmatized and marginalized.”
Angelika Atzinger, managing director of the Amazone women’s rights association, said a headscarf ban “sends girls the message that decisions are being made about their bodies and that this is legitimate.”
Her comments appeared in a statement published by the anti-racism group SOS Mitmensch, which also opposes the proposed law.
Austria’s anti-immigration, far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) said the ban did not go far enough, however. They want it extended to all students, teachers and other staff.
In France, authorities banned school children in 2004 from wearing signs of religious affiliation such as headscarves, turbans or Jewish skullcaps, on the basis of the country’s secular laws, which are meant to guarantee neutrality in state institutions.
Austria’s conservative-led government — under pressure with anti-immigration sentiment is running high — proposed the ban earlier this year, arguing it is aimed at protecting girls “from oppression.”
In 2019 the country introduced a ban on headscarves in primary schools, but the constitutional court struck it down.
This time the government insists that its law is constitutional, though experts have suggested it could be seen as discriminating against one religion — Islam — and putting children in an uncomfortable position.
The law prevents girls younger than 14 from wearing headscarves that “cover the head in accordance with Islamic traditions” in all schools.
After a debate Thursday, only the opposition Green party voted against the ban.
Ahead of the vote, lawmaker Yannick Shetty of the liberal NEOS said the headscarf “is not just an item of clothing” but “sexualizes girls.”
“When a girl... is told that she must hide her body... to protect herself from the gaze of men, it’s not a religious ritual, but oppression,” Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm said when presenting the bill.
The ban, which applies to “all forms” of the Islamic veil including hijabs and burqas, would take full effect with the start of the new school year in September, Plakolm said.
From February, an initial period would be launched during which the new rules would be explained to educators, parents and children with no penalties for breaking them.
But for repeated non-compliance, parents would face fines ranging from €150 to €800 ($175-930).
The government said that about 12,000 girls would be affected by the new law.
‘Stigmatized’
Rights groups and activists have long argued that banning headscarves still amounts to telling a woman what to wear, instead of allowing her the freedom to decide on her own.
Organizations including Amnesty International Austria have criticized the bill.
Amnesty said it “constitutes blatant discrimination against Muslim girls” and described it as an “expression of anti-Muslim racism.”
Such measures risk “fueling existing prejudices and stereotypes against Muslims,” the group warned.
The draft law has also drawn criticism from the IGGOe, the body officially recognized as representing the country’s Muslim communities.
It said the ban “jeopardizes social cohesion,” saying “instead of empowering children, they are stigmatized and marginalized.”
Angelika Atzinger, managing director of the Amazone women’s rights association, said a headscarf ban “sends girls the message that decisions are being made about their bodies and that this is legitimate.”
Her comments appeared in a statement published by the anti-racism group SOS Mitmensch, which also opposes the proposed law.
Austria’s anti-immigration, far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) said the ban did not go far enough, however. They want it extended to all students, teachers and other staff.
In France, authorities banned school children in 2004 from wearing signs of religious affiliation such as headscarves, turbans or Jewish skullcaps, on the basis of the country’s secular laws, which are meant to guarantee neutrality in state institutions.
Latest updates
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.