Reuters World News - Pentagon intel leaked for likes, and the Texas book ban

Episode Date: April 14, 2023

Intelligence officials are asking serious questions about the handling of confidential material after a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman is arrested by the FBI for allegedly leaking documents to impress teenagers. Texas is at the center of a debate about what children can be allowed to read in libraries. We hear about the betting odds at the world’s most famous steeplechase – the Grand National - and the fight for the title for World Chess Champion. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices.  You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt-out of targeted advertising Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This was a deliberate criminal act. What we know after the FBI arrested a 21-year-old suspected of leaking classified intelligence documents to impress his online friends. And we had to Texas, where a fight over books turns one small county into a flashpoint over free speech. It's Friday, April 14th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago. And I'm Kim Vinal in London. We start in Massachusetts, where the FBI has swarmed the home of Jack Tegera.

He was waiting for agents on his back porch in red shorts and a t-shirt, seeming to read a book. Tijera is suspected to have leaked dozens of highly classified documents about the Ukraine War and U.S. allies. For the latest, we've got Jonathan Lande here to explain. Hey, Jonathan. Hello. So what do we know about this man who allegedly leaked all these documents? What we know is he's a low-ranking airman belonging to the U.S. Air National Guard based in Massachusetts. He's 21 years old.

We know that he was with the intelligence wing of the unit to which he was attached. Yeah. And so in addition to his military service, there seems to be more information coming out about his online presence and maybe some insights into why he leaf these documents. Tjera reportedly belonged to an online gamers chat group called Thug Shaker Central, comprising of about 20 to 30 people who loved online games, guns, and racist memes. And there doesn't at this point appear to be any ideological or financial reason behind what he was doing. Members of that online chat group indicated that he did what he did simply to impress the teenagers who were part of this group. And that's where he apparently posted dozens and dozens of highly classified. U.S. military and intelligence reports.

But remind us of the geopolitical implications of this, what some of these documents are and what's at stake. I reported an exclusive yesterday on how Serbia, which proclaims publicly its neutrality in the Ukraine war and is a traditional ally of Russia, had in fact either agreed to provide weapons to Ukraine or had already provided them. And I got that out of one of the leaked documents. Wow. Well, thank you so much, Jonathan. My pleasure. Here's what else we're watching. Protesters lit flares inside the Paris headquarters of Louis Vuitton after barging their way in.

It's the latest in very public opposition to plans to make people work longer for their pension. France's constitutional council is set to give its hotly anticipated verdict on whether the government's pension plans are in. in line with constitutional rules later today. North Korea says it's tested a new solid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, the Huasong 18. Liedek Kim Jong-un guided the test, saying it would fill enemies with extreme horror. Japan has approved a plan to build the country's first casino

in the western city of Osaka. Casinos were previously illegal in Japan, but a 2018 law provided exception casino games like poker as part of an effort to attract tourists. The $13 billion project aims to open in 2029. Now to the northwest of England and a sport event this weekend that grips not just the whole country, but a TV audience of 600 million across the world. It's horse racing's grand national, the world's most famous and most challenging steeple chase. Americans might only just be getting used to betting on sport, but in the UK, spending some hard-earned cash on your favourite horse

has been an annual obsession for years. With me as our global editor for sport, Oshian Shine. So, Osh, on Saturday we have the Grand National, the world's longest steeple chase, but it's not without controversy, is it? No, that's right. It's essentially organised chaos. There's 40 runners over 30 of the most demanding jumps in equine sport. And of course that does carry with it risks. Two horses died last year. And Osh, some of these horses will never have even tried these jumps, these very difficult jumps, which some of them come with quite curious names. That's right. Yes. I mean, the thing about the Grand National is the jumps are as famous as most of the winners, really. And a number of these really strangely named jumps have been altered

with a view to making them safer for the horses. Beechers Brook is one. The landing pad after that jump has been raised because it used to be much lower and the horses literally would fall over it and stumble. That's now been raised up higher. And is it the difficulty of the race that makes it so difficult to predict?

It's very hard to bet on it. And for most people, it's a bit of fun. I think that's why it's so popular in Britain because families join in families who don't like sport, gather around the television set. your six-year-old child has got as much chance of picking the winner as the most studied at horse ex. But last year, it was won by Noble Yeats, which was a 50 to one outsider. That's pretty standard for this race. Noble Yates was ridden by San Weli Cohen in that race, and he runs dental

practices. He's actually an amateur jockey. So, you know, this is a race where by and large, anybody can win. All right. Oshin, thanks so much. Thank you very much. In Astana, Kazakhstan, the pieces are falling into place for the crowning of a new world chess champion. Magnus Carlson abdicated the throne he's occupied since 2013, basically saying he was too bored to compete. That's left Russian Yan Yipiomachi, who's competing under a neutral flag to battle it out with China's Ding Liren. Sports reporter Julian Prato has been watching from his chess club in Paris and five. filed this report. Ding Leran has just leveled the contest with a super victory with the white pieces

after losing his first game with whites against his Russian opponent. A victory for Ding Liren would meet a lot for chess in China, which is a recent sport in the country. I spoke today with my chess coach, Marisa Berg, who is the only female grandmaster in France. She also explains that her favorite for the world. World Championship title for men is Jan Nepomniachi, who is a more aggressive player, but she reminds that Ding is actually a more stable player.

And having won yesterday's game that could unsettle Nepomniacchi, who's probably more emotional than his Chinese opponent. I'm Julien Prater in Paris. Efforts to ban books are on the rise across the United States, and the debate over what children can raise. read has become a new political divide. We are going to expose exactly the books that parents are concerned about. Kids need books like these on the shelves of their classrooms and libraries.

We need to do what we've got to do to protect our children. At the center of this fight is Texas. On Thursday, officials from Lano County, who had tried to ban a handful of books, met to decide whether or not to close the entire library system altogether. Our own Evan Garcia was there. Hey, Evan. Hey, Chris. Tell us what happened.

So a federal judge ruled that the county has to return several books to the shelves of the libraries here. There are three branches in this county. And that pretty much triggered the county this week seemingly to announce this meeting that was discussing the potential shutdown of the library system here. But in the end, the county commissioners said for now, the libraries will remain open. Walk me through what some of these books are about. Yeah, several of these books are about race issues. They're about gender issues. They touch on LGBT issues.

Among these books are a book about the history of the Ku Klux Klan. Also, there are more somewhat silly or irreverent titles like Freddie the Farting Snowman. And so I spoke to a woman named Lisa Bellamy. She supported banning the books and was troubled by some of the content in them. We're talking about sexual orientation. So that's an adult topic. I don't think that a child should be exposed to homosexual or heterosexual content that is explicit in that way. And of course, there were several people on the other side of the aisle that were saying that people have a right to read whatever they want to read.

I spoke to a woman named Denise Kennedy. She's a retired high school social studies teacher. And she pointed to some troubling parallels in history when it comes to banned books. I think that if you look through history, that the guys close in the public facilities and closing the libraries are not the good guys. So this debate isn't over, right? What's next for these libraries and for Lano County? So what's next is really this ongoing federal lawsuit. The county, they're going to keep fighting this legally. There are seven plaintiffs in this lawsuit who are residents of Lano County who want to keep these libraries open and keep these books. in the libraries. Thanks so much, Evan. Thank you, Chris. That's it for today on Reuters World

News. We'll be back next week. Remember, you can follow us on your favorite podcast platform, or download the Reuters app.