Scott Brown is chasing the political limelight again with a seemingly improvised Senate campaign.

© Aleksandra Michalska/Reuters

In Massachusetts, the octogenarian senator Ed Markey faces a challenge from a much younger centrist, Representative Seth Moulton.

© Mel Musto for The New York Times

Travis Fuller was from my hometown. I went back and talked with his family about how they made sense of his death, 25 years after Sept. 11.

Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts has emerged as a vocal defender of transgender rights as he tries to fend off a primary challenge from Representative Seth Moulton.

© Mel Musto for The New York Times

The state concludes: ‘This wasn’t a woman suffering from a lack of care’ or ‘a lack of resources’

• Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

The jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has moved into deliberations as jurors decide whether the 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse is criminally responsible for fatally strangling her three children in January 2023.

Over the past five weeks, the trial, which has been called “America’s saddest murder trial” , has renewed nationwide attention on postpartum mental healthcare. Clancy’s defense maintains that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis – a condition estimated to affect around two women per 1,000 births – and therefore should not be held criminally responsible for her actions.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

© Photograph: Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

© Photograph: Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

FBI psychiatrist Gregory Saathoff says he has treated only two women with postpartum psychosis, both decades earlier

Testimony finished in the Lindsay Clancy trial on Wednesday, as a final witness for the prosecution laid out that he believed the Massachusetts mother knew right from wrong when she took the lives of her three young children before attempting to commit suicide in 2023.

Closing arguments are expected to begin on Thursday. The jury will then start deliberating.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

One more day of testimony expected as closing arguments set for Thursday and jury likely begins deliberations Friday

One more day of rebuttal testimony was expected this week in the trial against Lindsay Clancy, followed by closing statements likely on Thursday.

The jury, which will likely begin deliberations on Friday, will decide whether the Massachusetts mother was experiencing postpartum psychosis when she killed her three children in January 2023.

In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

Karen Solomon had been missing for six days after her husband Kurt Solomon was found dead at their home

A mental health advocate suspected of killing her police officer husband was found dead on Monday, six days after she disappeared from her Massachusetts home, authorities said.

Karen Solomon, an advocate who called for improvements and greater awareness of police mental health issues, had disappeared after Worcester police officer Kurt Solomon was found dead at their home just before 5.30am on 18 August. Officials had named Karen Solomon a suspect and said she was believed to be armed.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Worcester Police Department

© Photograph: Worcester Police Department

© Photograph: Worcester Police Department

Dr Kirk Heilbrun says he believes Clancy took children’s lives so they wouldn’t ‘suffer’ after she killed herself

With just days to go before the murder trial for Lindsay Clancy concludes, a forensic psychologist called by the prosecution testified on Monday that he did not believe she was experiencing acute psychosis when she killed her three children.

Kirk Heilbrun, who reportedly performed psychiatric tests on Clancy in April, told the court that he questioned her claims that a hallucinated voice commanded her to commit the act, and that he believed she took their lives so they wouldn’t “suffer” after she killed herself.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Reuters

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Reuters

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Reuters

Visitors to Martha’s Vineyard can now traverse a property once owned by Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Known as the Squibnocket Pond Reservation, the 330-acre reserve opened last year and added a new trail in July.

© Gabriela Herman for The New York Times

Algorithms are responsible for fever pitch content surrounding trial, including misinformation, experts say

As the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children, starts to wind down, a now international discussion on social media about the case has hit a fever pitch as viewers examine details of the trial and question the state of maternal mental healthcare in the United States.

Amateur sleuths and armchair psychologists have been creating content throughout the several weeks of the trial, pointing out perceived discrepancies in evidence. They’ve pointed to Clancy’s last recorded heart rate and body temperature as “smoking guns”, suggested that Patrick Clancy, Lindsay’s ex-husband and father of the children, actually committed the crime, despite no legal evidence to back up the claim.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Josh Reynolds/Reuters

© Photograph: Josh Reynolds/Reuters

© Photograph: Josh Reynolds/Reuters

Woman remains missing more than five days after police found officer she was married to dead in their home

An arrest warrant has been issued for a mental health advocate who remained missing on Sunday, more than five days after police found the Massachusetts officer she had been married to dead in their home.

Karen Solomon, 58, was last spotted in a doorbell camera video, walking down a street in a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops early Tuesday morning, just minutes after Worcester police officers responded to a call from the home where Kurt Solomon was found dead.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: WCVB-TV/AP

© Photograph: WCVB-TV/AP

© Photograph: WCVB-TV/AP

The ruling quashes a plan by the mayor of Quincy that had drawn opposition from many religious figures, as well as from residents of the racially diverse city.

© Sophie Park for The New York Times

Closing arguments could come on Monday as prosecutors seek murder conviction over deaths of three young children

Lindsay Clancy’s defense in her murder trial rested on Friday after calling witnesses to testify about the ailing mother’s mental state and attempts to seek help before she killed her young children.

The defense wrapped more quickly than some expected given that the prosecution rested their case on Monday.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Josh Reynolds/Reuters

© Photograph: Josh Reynolds/Reuters

© Photograph: Josh Reynolds/Reuters

The attorney for Clancy, who strangled her three children, says she suffered from postpartum psychosis

Hundreds of Lindsay Clancy supporters, many wearing pink clothing emblazoned with phrases such as “Believe”, “She Needed Help” and “Peace For Lindsay”, gathered on Thursday outside the courthouse where she is on trial in the killings of her three children.

Several of the 300 women, and a few men, said Clancy’s story resonated with them and that they wanted to raise awareness about how the mental health system treats women. Clancy’s lawyer does not dispute that she killed the children, but says she should not be held criminally responsible because she was mentally ill.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Josh Reynolds/AP

© Photograph: Josh Reynolds/AP

© Photograph: Josh Reynolds/AP

A Massachusetts woman who was known as an advocate for the mental health of emergency workers is being sought by the police after her husband, an officer, was found dead.

Ms. Clancy has pleaded not guilty to murder, citing postpartum psychosis. Two defense witnesses said she spoke lovingly of her children after the killings.

© Pool photo by Josh Reynolds

Ms. Clancy, who is on trial for murder in the deaths of her three children, tried to find treatment for her deteriorating condition, her ex-husband’s mother testified.

© Pool photo by Jonathan Wiggs

Ed Markey is hoping that his progressive politics will save him in Massachusetts.

© Mel Musto for The New York Times

Russia released Robert Gilman on “a humanitarian basis,” President Trump said. Mr. Gilman’s family had said he was in dire physical condition.

© Vladimir Lavrov/Reuters