War, Weapons and Conspiracy Theories: Inside Airman Teixeira’s Online World
Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guardsman implicated in a vast leak of classified documents, was fixated on weapons, mass shootings, shadowy conspiracy theories — and proving he was in the right and in the know. Even as he relished the respectability and access to intelligence he gained through his military service and top-secret clearance, he seethed with contempt about the government, accusing the United States of a host of secret, nefarious activities. The airman, who was charged with two counts related to the unauthorized handling of classified materials, could face 25 years in prison for his involvement in the leak.
Old Man of the Mountain, Gone 20 Years, Still Captivates
Viewed from the right spot, a massive stack of granite ledges coalesced into the image of a wizened man’s profile, an unlikely bit of magic treasured by generations of New Englanders. Beloved as he was, the Old Man of the Mountain was just a pile of rocks — until the wee hours of May 3, 2003, when the five slabs unceremoniously collapsed. Twenty years later, for reasons partly rooted in memory and nostalgia, the stone face is still mourned in New Hampshire like a fallen president, the subject of songs and poems, a Statehouse proclamation and a virtual remembrance that drew hundreds of viewers Wednesday.
Hearing Aids Are Changing. Their Users Are, Too.
A raft of new hearing aids have hit the market in recent years, offering greater appeal to a generation of young adults some experts say is developing hearing problems earlier in life and — perhaps paradoxically — becoming more comfortable with an expensive piece of technology pumping sound into their ears. Some new models are made by traditional prescription brands, but the Food and Drug Administration opened up the market last year when it allowed the sale of hearing aids over the counter, and in response, brand names like Sony and Jabra began releasing their own products, adding to the new wave of designs and features that appeal to young consumers.
In Australia, He Was a ‘Great Father.’ Secretly, He Was an Escaped Convict.
A grave marker at Tamborine Mountain Cemetery in Queensland, Australia, bears the name John Vincent Damon. For years, until he died in 2010 at 69, that’s how he was known. But his real name was William Leslie Arnold, and unbeknownst to his wife and two adult children in Australia and three stepdaughters from a previous marriage in the United States, he’d fatally shot his parents when he was 16 and lived in Nebraska. Less than 10 years after being sentenced to life in the Nebraska State Penitentiary, he escaped, and authorities couldn’t find Arnold for years. But investigators with the U.S. Marshals Service recently cracked the case through DNA testing.
Ignored Concerns, Untreated Pain as Black Women Give Birth
In the United States, people who have more money generally receive better health care. But earning more and being well educated generally doesn’t protect Black mothers during childbirth the same way it protects white mothers. In interviews with Black women, they described having their pain dismissed, concerns ignored and plans disregarded while giving birth. Numerous studies suggest racism is a primary driver. It starts long before women become pregnant, researchers say, and happens across health care settings, continuing through childbirth, when discrimination, unconscious or not, affects Black mothers’ hospital care.
DeSantis to Visit Wisconsin, a 2024 Battleground, as He Circles Trump
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is expanding his political travel as his poll numbers slip before an expected presidential campaign, visiting rural north-central Wisconsin on Saturday in a sign of his intent to compete for voters beyond early nominating states like Iowa. Declared candidates, including former President Donald Trump, have largely focused on making appearances in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, three of the first states on the Republican nominating calendar next year. But DeSantis’ visit to a convention center in Wisconsin that voted heavily for Trump in the last two elections suggests the governor is preparing to challenge the former president more directly in a crucial battleground state.
Charles Is Crowned King in Ancient Ceremony With Modern Twists
Anointed with holy oil and enthroned on St. Edward’s chair, King Charles III was crowned Saturday in a solemn ritual that stretches back more than a millennium but unfolded with multiple concessions to the modern age. The coronation, the first since Queen Elizabeth II’s in 1953, was a royal spectacle of the kind that only Britain still stages: four hours of pageantry that began with the clip-clop of horses’ hoofs on Pall Mall and ended with the vaporous trails of acrobatic jets streaking above Buckingham Palace as Charles watched from the balcony with Queen Camilla, who had been crowned shortly after him.
Car Bombing Injures Prominent Russian Nationalist Writer, State Media Reports
A car bombing Saturday seriously wounded a prominent Russian nationalist and novelist, while killing his driver, state media reported, one of a series of internal attacks that are spreading a sense of disarray even as the country gears up to celebrate its most important annual military holiday. Writer and Ukraine combat veteran Zakhar Prilepin was conscious with a broken leg and a concussion, in serious but not critical condition, according to state media reports. An explosive device has been planted under Prilepin’s Audi SUV in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, Tass reported. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called it a “terrorist bombing” on the Telegram messaging app.
‘It’s in Our Culture’: Serbia Reflects on Gun Ownership Tradition After Shootings
In Serbia, where guns are so prolific that they are a regular part of wedding and birthday celebrations, two mass shootings in two days have led to a reckoning about the role of deadly weapons in the culture. The shootings, in which 17 people were killed and 21 were injured, led the country’s president this past week to call for sweeping changes to Serbia’s gun laws. But many Serbs say a crackdown, in a country with a deep-seated tradition of gun ownership and vast quantities of illegal weapons, will be impossible. “It’s in our culture. Sons inherit guns from their fathers and grandfathers,” said Miriana Marinkovic, 39.
More Than 24,500 Are Evacuated as Wildfires Burn in Western Canada
More than 24,500 people have been evacuated from the western Canadian province of Alberta, where unusually warm and dry weather has mixed with strong winds to fuel dozens of wildfires, officials said Saturday. At a news conference Saturday afternoon, the leader of Alberta’s provincial government, Premier Danielle Smith, called the wildfires an “unprecedented crisis.” She added: “This is a rapidly evolving situation.” The number of active wildfires across Alberta grew to more than 100 Friday night, up from 78 earlier in the day. As of early Saturday, more than one-third were still classified as “out of control.”
Dozens Killed in Ethnic Clashes in India’s Manipur State
Clashes between rival ethnic groups in Manipur, a remote state in India’s northeast, have reportedly killed dozens of people in recent days, and the situation remains volatile, even as authorities rush troops to the area to quell the disorder and seek to control the flow of information. The unrest, which began Wednesday, arose from a dispute over who gets to claim a special tribal status that grants extra privileges. The largest group in the state, slightly over half the population, is seeking that designation for itself. By Thursday, the violence had reached an extraordinary level, as people set fire to homes, vehicles, churches and temples.
By wire sources