King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, a founding college and member institution of the federal University of London. King's was established in 1829 by King George IV and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, when it received its first royal charter, is one of the oldest universities in England. In 1836, King's became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London. In the late 20th century, King's grew through a series of mergers, including with Queen Elizabeth College and Chelsea College of Science and Technology, the Institute of Psychiatry, the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals and the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery. King's has five campuses: its historic Strand Campus in central London, three other Thames-side campuses nearby and one in Denmark Hill in south London. In 2018/19, King's had a total income of £902.0 million, of which £194.7 million was from research grants and contracts.

It has the fourth largest endowment of any university in the United Kingdom, the largest of any in London. It is the 12th largest university in the United Kingdom by total enrolment, its academic activities are organised into nine faculties, which are subdivided into numerous departments and research divisions. It is a member of academic organisations including the Association of Commonwealth Universities, European University Association, the Russell Group. King's is home to six Medical Research Council centres and is a founding member of the King's Health Partners academic health sciences centre, Francis Crick Institute and MedCity, it is the largest European centre for graduate and post-graduate medical teaching and biomedical research, by number of students, includes the world's first nursing school, the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery. King's is regarded as part of the "golden triangle" of elite universities located in the English cities of Oxford and London. Globally, it was ranked 33rd in the 2020 QS World University Rankings, 35th in the 2019 CWTS Leiden Ranking, 36th in the 2020 THE World University Rankings, 51st in the 2019 ARWU.

King's was ranked 42nd in the world for reputation in the annual Times Higher Education survey of academics for 2018. Nationally it was ranked 25th in the 2020 Complete University Guide, 35th in the 2019 Times/Sunday Times University Guide, 63rd in the 2020 Guardian University Guide. King's alumni and staff include 12 Nobel laureates. Alumni include heads of states and intergovernmental organisations. King's enjoys royal patronage by virtue of its foundation; the current patron is Queen Elizabeth II. King's College, so named to indicate the patronage of King George IV, was founded in 1829 in response to the theological controversy surrounding the founding of "London University" in 1826. London University was founded, with the backing of Utilitarians and Nonconformists, as a secular institution, intended to educate "the youth of our middling rich people between the ages of 15 or 16 and 20 or later" giving its nickname, "the godless college in Gower Street"; the need for such an institution was a result of the religious and social nature of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which educated the sons of wealthy Anglicans.

The secular nature of London University was disapproved by The Establishment, indeed, "the storms of opposition which raged around it threatened to crush every spark of vital energy which remained". Thus, the creation of a rival institution represented a Tory response to reassert the educational values of The Establishment. More King's was one of the first of a series of institutions which came about in the early nineteenth century as a result of the Industrial Revolution and great social changes in England following the Napoleonic Wars. By virtue of its foundation King's has enjoyed the patronage of the monarch, the Archbishop of Canterbury as its visitor and during the nineteenth century counted among its official governors the Lord Chancellor, Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Mayor of London; the simultaneous support of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, for an Anglican King's College London and the Roman Catholic Relief Act, to lead to the granting of full civil rights to Catholics, was challenged by George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea, in early 1829.

Winchilsea and his supporters wished for King's to be subject to the Test Acts, like the universities of Oxford, where only members of the Church of England could matriculate, Cambridge, where non-Anglicans could matriculate but not graduate, but this was not Wellington's intent. Winchilsea and about 150 other contributors withdrew their support of King's College London in response to Wellington's support of Catholic emancipation. In a letter to Wellington he accused the Duke to have in mind "insidious designs for the infringement of our liberty and the introduction of Popery into every department of the State"; the letter provoked a furious exchange of correspondence and Wellington accused Winchilsea of imputing him with "disgraceful and criminal motives" in setting up King's Colle

The leaders of some countries or their representatives or spokespersons released public statements about the 2018 North Korea–United States summit. The summit received a mixed international reaction, with many countries expressing praise or hope for achieving a peace deal from the summit. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop argued that the Trump–Kim summit is a tough diplomatic solution, that might bring concrete commitments to complete a verifiable denuclearization, it should be achieved for world peace. The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula should be done if it is a long drawn out diplomatic process. Chinese President Xi Jinping had a dialogue with President Donald Trump on March 11 about the 2018 North Korea–United States summit. China expressed its appreciation for attempts at resolving the North Korean nuclear issue through diplomacy with the North Korea–United States summit; the White House believes that North Korea will keep its promise to suspend ICBM launches and North Korean nuclear tests before the North Korea–United States summit in May.

Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel expressed her opinion about Kim–Trump talks. Merkel remarked, "it would be marvellous if we could experience a détente". Shortly after the summit was announced, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe told reporters he appreciated "North Korea's change" and attributed the diplomatic change in tone to the coordinated sanctions campaign by the United States and South Korea. Abe, cautioned Trump not to strike a compromise on North Korea's missile program that would leave Japan exposed to shorter-range missiles that do not reach the US mainland or relieve pressure on North Korea too soon before complete denuclearization. Abe expressed a desire to hold a bilateral meeting with North Korea on the issue of abductions of Japanese citizens, pressing Trump to raise the matter at the summit. Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov embraced the meeting, saying that "it is a step in the right direction" instead of "fire and fury", he expressed that a legal arrangement between the US and North Korea would be crucial for normalizing the perilous situation around the Korean Peninsula.

On May 31, 2018, Sergey Lavrov met with Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang to discuss denuclearization by easing sanctions to speed up the process of disarmament, in turn, he received a favorable response from the North Korean leader. Lavrov invited the North Korean leader to visit Russia, he told Kim that Moscow supported peace and progress on the Korean peninsula and valued a declaration signed by Pyongyang and Seoul. Earlier, Lavrov met with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho and others at the Supreme People's Assembly building in the North Korean capital. Lavrov and his deputy Igor Morgulov paid their respects at a monument to Soviet soldiers in Pyongyang's Moranbong Park; the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier Lavrov and Ri were expected to discuss "vital issues of bilateral relations and key international and regional issues". President Vladimir Putin pledged to ensure that the talks would be a success, suggesting that all regional players such as Russia should provide North Korea with guarantees in order to have a fruitful meeting.

He called for the international community to help North Korea economically as they abandon their nuclear weapons program. Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen announced that they would be willing to pay a certain amount of budget for the US and North Korean delegations' residence and meeting place for the success of the historic Trump–Kim summit. South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed hopes for both Trump and Kim to take "bold decisions" in their first meeting, acknowledging the "long process" of North Korea's denuclearization. On the Monday preceding the talks he discussed the summit with Trump in a 40-minute phone call in which Moon told him that the South Korean people were praying to "create a miraculous result" in the talks. Following the announcement of cancellation by Trump of the summit in late May, Moon stated that he was left perplexed and felt "very regrettable" as he and Kim held a second and unplanned summit at Panmunjom to help resolve the lapse of disagreement between Kim and Trump.

South Korea hailed the summit as "talks of the century" during the summit. National Security Advisor John R. Bolton said that the meeting should focus on denuclearization similar to Libya in 2003, he stated if denuclearized, he would ship the nuclear weapons to Tennessee. However, he warned that if not prepared for serious discussion, the meeting could be short. Representative Adam Schiff said Trump deserved credit for bringing North Korea to the negotiating table. Several lawmakers and foreign policy experts voiced concerns about the wisdom of agreeing to a summit with insufficient preparations by lower-level officials due to the lack of trust between the United States and North Korea; some said Trump could be setting himself up for failure, due to doubts over whether North Korea will willingly give up a formidable atomic arsenal that Kim Jong-un has made central to North Korea's standing in the world. On June 10, 2018, Pope Francis expressed hope that the Trump–Kim summit will "contribute to the development of a positive path that will assure a future of peace for the Korean Peninsula and the entire world".

A European Parliament delegation led by MEP Nirj Deva acknowledged that they had several secret meetings with senior officials in North Korea for three years with the aim of mitigating the risks imposed by the North Korean nuclear weapons programme. Austrian MEP Paul Rübig, deputy chair of the committee, suggested that the United Nations take part in the Trump-Kim summits to give them an international horizon. Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm

Alabama Department of Revenue v. CSX Transportation, Inc. 575 U. S. ___, was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that "the Eleventh Circuit properly concluded that CSX's competitors are an appropriate comparison class for the Railroad Revitalization and Regulation Reform Act of 1976's subsection claim." The Act prohibits states from imposing "another tax that discriminates against a rail carrier" and the Court found that the Eleventh Circuit "erred in refusing to consider whether Alabama could justify its decision to exempt motor carriers from its sales and use taxes through its decision to subject motor carriers to a fuel excise tax." Associate Justice Antonin Scalia authored the Court's 7–2 decision. List of United States Supreme Court cases List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 575 Text of Ala. Dep' t of CSX Transp. Inc. 575 U. S. ___ is available from: Justia Oyez Supreme Court SCOTUSblog coverage