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Former US first lady Rosalynn Carter has died at the age of 96.

She died peacefully with her family by her side at her home in Plains, Georgia, according to the Carter Center, a not-for-profit organisation founded by her husband and former president Jimmy Carter, 99.

They were married for 77 years.

Mrs Carter had been suffering from dementia.

“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Mr Carter said.

“She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary in July 2021
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Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary in July 2021

Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn Carter sat in on cabinet meetings and represented her husband on foreign trips.

In 1977, only months into his presidency, Mr Carter sent her to Latin America to tell dictators he was serious about denying military aid and other support to people who violated human rights.

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She was known by aides, privately, as “co-president” during Mr Carter’s single term of office from 1977-1981.

At one stage, she was forced to declare: “I am not running the government.”

She chose mental health and care for the elderly as her main policy concerns. When the media did not cover her efforts as much as she would have liked, she criticised reporters for writing only about “sexy subjects”.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter and their daughter Amy at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1976
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Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter and their daughter Amy at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1976

As honorary chairwoman of the President’s Commission on Mental Health, she testified before a senate sub-committee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel.

In 1984, she wrote in her autobiography, First Lady From Plains, that leaving Washington and returning to Georgia, after Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, had not been easy.

“I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles,” she said.

She added, however: “We slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before.”

Mrs Carter is survived by her children Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

One grandson died in 2015, the Carter Center said.

Chip Carter said his mother was a “great humanitarian” who will be “sorely missed not only by our family but by the many people who have better mental health care and access to resources for caregiving today”.

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‘Bella Ciao’ to ‘OwO’ – what the engravings on bullets in Charlie Kirk case may refer to

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'Bella Ciao' to 'OwO' - what the engravings on bullets in Charlie Kirk case may refer to

Experts have described engravings left on ammunition at the scene of the Charlie Kirk shooting as “extremely online” – so what do the words and symbols actually mean?

Authorities said on Friday that the suspect accused of fatally shooting the Conservative activist left behind bullet casings featuring references to fascism, video games and internet memes.

Kirk at Utah Valley University where he was shot. Pic: Reuters/The Salt Lake Tribune
Image:
Kirk at Utah Valley University where he was shot. Pic: Reuters/The Salt Lake Tribune

To those who aren’t chronically online, the messages may appear to be total gibberish. But for others, specifically gamers, many of the meanings will have immediately been clear.

Here’s what each of the casings reference – and why experts have cautioned against using them to make assumptions about the suspect’s political leanings.

1. ‘notices, bulges, OWO, what’s this?’

This writing appears to reference a meme about the furry subculture, which centres on an interest in anthropomorphic animal characters.

Within the furry community, OwO is an emoticon of a cute face (with the Os as the eyes and the w as a cute mouth or nose) and used as a way of flirting – but outside the community, it is often used in a mocking way, or as part of trolling.

It’s incredibly common for phrases used by people who are “extremely online” – which essentially means highly engaged in online culture – to have double or multiple meanings.

For this reason, experts have cautioned against trying to interpret messages such as these engravings to determine an attacker’s political leanings or motive.

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What we know about the shooting arrest

Jamie Cohen, an assistant professor of media studies who studies memes at Queens College in New York, said: “Oftentimes this extremely online disguise is meant to be doublespeak.”

Speaking to Sky News’ US partner NBC News, he continued: “It’s meant specifically for someone like me to dive into what they would call meme culture and declare them something so that they get more press.

“So it could just be another bait and switch for researchers who are falling into the same trap that they are designing for more viral exposure.”

2. ‘Hey, fascist! Catch ↑ → ↓↓↓’

When asked by Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews what the messages on the casings meant, Utah governor Spencer Cox said the writing referring to a fascist “speaks for itself”.

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Engraving on bullet casing ‘speaks for itself’

The second half of the inscription – the directional arrows – were immediately identified by some gamers.

Helldivers 2 players have pointed out that the arrow sequence is the code used to summon a 500kg bomb in the 2024 game – which itself has been interpreted as a satire of fascism.

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3. ‘Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao’

Bella Ciao is a classic Italian song that became a popular anti-fascism anthem during Benito Mussolini’s dictatorship.

It has won renewed popularity in recent years thanks, in part, to featuring multiple times in Netflix’s Spanish television series Money Heist.

A popular remix of Bella Ciao has hit more than 260 million streams on Spotify worldwide and it’s become a favourite on TikTok, as well as within the gaming community.

Read more:
All we know about the suspected assassin
The string of bloody political violence in the MAGA era

4. ‘If you read this, you are gay lmao’

This juvenile insult, using the well-known abbreviation for ‘laughing my ass off’, is a common ‘gotcha’ phrase and simply appears to mock investigators.

The messages, another expert has said, make one thing clear – the suspect was likely seeking fame.

Lindsay Hahn, a University at Buffalo associate professor who researches ideological extremism and the ways in which perpetrators of violence justify their actions, said the messages do not necessarily indicate a specific ideology.

“But what they do indicate, is that the shooter wanted to get a message across and therefore be talked about online,” she told NBC.

“It sort of seems like these messages, at the very minimum, were selected because he knew they were going to be talked about.”

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Charlie Kirk memorial to be held in Arizona stadium

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Charlie Kirk memorial to be held in Arizona stadium

A memorial for right-wing US influencer Charlie Kirk will be held next Sunday, in a stadium that previously hosted the 2023 Super Bowl.

The 31-year-old, who was a close ally of Donald Trump, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday while speaking to university students at an event in Utah.

His appearance at Utah Valley University was part of a planned tour of US college campuses.

A memorial for Charlie Kirk at Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A memorial for Charlie Kirk at Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. Pic: Reuters

Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, shortly before he was shot. Pic: AP
Image:
Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, shortly before he was shot. Pic: AP

Turning Point USA, the prominent youth conservative organisation of which Mr Kirk was the president and co-founder, is holding the event at State Farm Stadium outside Phoenix.

The venue is the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and can hold more than 60,000 people.

Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Washington, Utah, is being held without bail after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm and obstruction of justice charges, according to court documents.

The motivation behind the fatal shooting is still unclear, but Utah governor Spencer Cox commented that Robinson described Mr Kirk as “full of hate and spreading hate”.

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Robinson is due to make an initial court appearance on Tuesday, when he is also expected to be charged, the Utah County attorney’s office said.

Tyler Robinson. Pic: Utah Governor's Office
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Tyler Robinson. Pic: Utah Governor’s Office

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Suspect’s movements before and after shooting

President Trump, who will be back in the US after his UK state visit next week, has previously said he plans to attend Mr Kirk’s funeral.

Mr Trump has said he will be posthumously awarding Mr Kirk with the nation’s highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Mr Kirk’s body was flown back from Salt Lake City to his home state of Arizona on Air Force Two on Thursday, with the US vice president and close friend JD Vance on board.

JD Vance helps carry the coffin of Charlie Kirk from Air Force Two in Arizona
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JD Vance helps carry the coffin of Charlie Kirk from Air Force Two in Arizona

His widow, Erika Kirk, has vowed to continue his campus tour and his radio and podcast shows.

Speaking publicly for the first time in a livestreamed video on Friday, she said: “To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die.”

“It won’t. I refuse to let that happen.”

She said she told her three-year-old daughter: “Daddy went on a work trip with Jesus.”

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Charlie Kirk shooting: What bullet inscriptions mean

Read more: What the engravings on bullets in Charlie Kirk case may refer to

Mr Kirk, who was a father of two, had millions of followers across social media.

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A makeshift memorial to Mr Kirk has been set up at Utah Valley University, with flowers, American flags and handwritten messages left at the main entrance.

The university says there will be increased security when classes resume on Wednesday.

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‘Bella Ciao’ to ‘OwO’ – what do the engravings on the bullets in the Charlie Kirk shooting mean?

Published

on

By

'Bella Ciao' to 'OwO' - what the engravings on bullets in Charlie Kirk case may refer to

Experts have described engravings left on ammunition at the scene of the Charlie Kirk shooting as “extremely online” – so what do the words and symbols actually mean?

Authorities said on Friday that the suspect accused of fatally shooting the Conservative activist left behind bullet casings featuring references to fascism, video games and internet memes.

Kirk at Utah Valley University where he was shot. Pic: Reuters/The Salt Lake Tribune
Image:
Kirk at Utah Valley University where he was shot. Pic: Reuters/The Salt Lake Tribune

To those who aren’t chronically online, the messages may appear to be total gibberish. But for others, specifically gamers, many of the meanings will have immediately been clear.

Here’s what each of the casings reference – and why experts have cautioned against using them to make assumptions about the suspect’s political leanings.

1. ‘notices, bulges, OWO, what’s this?’

This writing appears to reference a meme about the furry subculture, which centres on an interest in anthropomorphic animal characters.

Within the furry community, OwO is an emoticon of a cute face (with the Os as the eyes and the w as a cute mouth or nose) and used as a way of flirting – but outside the community, it is often used in a mocking way, or as part of trolling.

It’s incredibly common for phrases used by people who are “extremely online” – which essentially means highly engaged in online culture – to have double or multiple meanings.

For this reason, experts have cautioned against trying to interpret messages such as these engravings to determine an attacker’s political leanings or motive.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

What we know about the shooting arrest

Jamie Cohen, an assistant professor of media studies who studies memes at Queens College in New York, said: “Oftentimes this extremely online disguise is meant to be doublespeak.”

Speaking to Sky News’ US partner NBC News, he continued: “It’s meant specifically for someone like me to dive into what they would call meme culture and declare them something so that they get more press.

“So it could just be another bait and switch for researchers who are falling into the same trap that they are designing for more viral exposure.”

2. ‘Hey, fascist! Catch ↑ → ↓↓↓’

When asked by Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews what the messages on the casings meant, Utah governor Spencer Cox said the writing referring to a fascist “speaks for itself”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Engraving on bullet casing ‘speaks for itself’

The second half of the inscription – the directional arrows – were immediately identified by some gamers.

Helldivers 2 players have pointed out that the arrow sequence is the code used to summon a 500kg bomb in the 2024 game – which itself has been interpreted as a satire of fascism.

👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈

3. ‘Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao’

Bella Ciao is a classic Italian song that became a popular anti-fascism anthem during Benito Mussolini’s dictatorship.

It has won renewed popularity in recent years thanks, in part, to featuring multiple times in Netflix’s Spanish television series Money Heist.

A popular remix of Bella Ciao has hit more than 260 million streams on Spotify worldwide and it’s become a favourite on TikTok, as well as within the gaming community.

Read more:
All we know about the suspected assassin
The string of bloody political violence in the MAGA era

4. ‘If you read this, you are gay lmao’

This juvenile insult, using the well-known abbreviation for ‘laughing my ass off’, is a common ‘gotcha’ phrase and simply appears to mock investigators.

The messages, another expert has said, make one thing clear – the suspect was likely seeking fame.

Lindsay Hahn, a University at Buffalo associate professor who researches ideological extremism and the ways in which perpetrators of violence justify their actions, said the messages do not necessarily indicate a specific ideology.

“But what they do indicate, is that the shooter wanted to get a message across and therefore be talked about online,” she told NBC.

“It sort of seems like these messages, at the very minimum, were selected because he knew they were going to be talked about.”

Continue Reading

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