JD Vance casts doubt on firing squad execution and says he would not watch it

BBC - Oct 9, 2026

The planned execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad would be the first military execution in more than 60 years.

Read full article

MORE NEWS

UN calls US plans to livestream execution 'abhorrent'

Oct 10, 2026

UN calls US plans to livestream execution 'abhorrent'

The United Nations on Friday called U.S. plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the gunman who killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, "abhorrent" and said it could be a violation of prohibitions against torture. "These kinds of public executions we've seen in other countries, whether it's Iran or Afghanistan ... can constitute a form of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, or punishment," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a daily UN briefing in New York. "Showing it live is tantamount ... to it being public, and could be a violation of the prohibition against torture," he said. "A government executing someone in public, or in front of live cameras, frankly, is abhorrent." Hasan is set to become the first person to be executed by U.S. military firing squad since 1945. The execution is scheduled for December 3 at the same sprawling Texas base where Hasan opened fire with a handgun in a medical facility.

US stocks rise toward finish of record-breaking week

Oct 10, 2026

US stocks rise toward finish of record-breaking week

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are rising toward the finish of their record-setting week on Friday, even as other financial markets remain indecisive. The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent and clawed back most of its two straight days of losses since setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 388 points, or 0.8 percent, as of 12:47 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6 percent higher. The moves were tentative as oil prices continue to yo-yo because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal. The price for a barrel of Brent crude bounced between $102.50 and $105 in the morning, and it was most recently at $104.15, down 0.1 percent. Treasury yields flipped up and down in the bond market following their own sharp moves earlier in the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was most recently at 5.24 percent, up from 5.22 percent late Thursday. It recently touched its highest level since 2002 because of worries about high inflation, the U.S. government’s massive debt load, signals that the U.S. economy is cont

US imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court, hours after former judge wins Nobel

Oct 10, 2026

US imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court, hours after former judge wins Nobel

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court on Friday, hours after one of its former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize, putting Washington on a diplomatic collision course with European allies. The court denounced the move as an "assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order," and called on its 125 member states to take action to defend it. "The Court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the hands of the states that created it," it said in a statement. "This is not just about defending a single institution, but about safeguarding the international order grounded upon the rule of law. History will judge this moment." The Trump administration has long been hostile to the court, founded in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and has previously imposed sanctions on its prosecutors and judges. Friday's move would go much farther, by potentially punishing companies that provide services to the court itself. "President Trump will never allow the International

How the US plan to livestream an execution compares with global practice

Oct 10, 2026

How the US plan to livestream an execution compares with global practice

The U.S. military plans to livestream the Dec. 3 execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. If carried out as planned, death penalty experts said it would mark the first known broadcast or livestream of a lawful execution. Executions are generally conducted behind prison walls, and internet platforms and governments have spent years trying to limit the circulation of violent execution footage. Has a lawful execution ever been livestreamed or broadcast to the public before? Death penalty experts consulted by Reuters said they were unaware of any previous lawful execution that had been livestreamed or broadcast to a public audience. Execution footage has occasionally emerged after the event. The hanging of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2006, for example, was seen around the world after official and unofficial recordings circulated online and through broadcasters, though it was not shown live. Broadcasts and livestreams today are common for court proceedings, parliamentary debates and other stat

Outrage over US military plan to livestream firing squad execution

Oct 10, 2026

Outrage over US military plan to livestream firing squad execution

WASHINGTON — Condemnation of the Pentagon's plan to livestream the firing squad execution of a convicted military base mass shooter escalated Friday, with the UN saying it would amount to torture and U.S. lawmakers from both parties slamming the move. Nidal Hasan's execution — which is scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, where he gunned down 13 people in 2009 — is set to be the first by U.S. military firing squad since 1945. Senator Thom Tillis, a member of U.S. President Donald Trump's Republican Party, said Hasan should be put to death, but that streaming it would be "beyond disgusting." "Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do," Tillis said. Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said the plan is "disturbing and makes a mockery of our legal system." A Pentagon official told AFP the execution would be streamed live, after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said "we'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public." Later, Hegseth wrote "Correct" when retweeting a media report abo

Trump says US to get diesel from Russia, relaxing pressure on Moscow to ease prices before midterms

Oct 10, 2026

Trump says US to get diesel from Russia, relaxing pressure on Moscow to ease prices before midterms

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said that he has struck a deal to obtain diesel from Russia, a stunning reversal of years of U.S. pressure on Moscow over its war with Ukraine and an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. Trump said on social media on Friday that he struck the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call in which he was expected to discuss a suspected case of plague in Russia. Instead, Trump announced that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver another 3 million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote. Trump’s shocking announcement comes after he signed a sweeping Russia sanctions law last month that aimed at clamping down on Russia’s energy economy, among other areas, that fuel its war against Ukraine. Trump, in his announcement, did not address the sanctions or Russia’s war but said, “Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, R

Microsoft is being suspended from program to apply for green cards for H-1B visa workers, Vance says

Oct 10, 2026

Microsoft is being suspended from program to apply for green cards for H-1B visa workers, Vance says

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is suspending tech giant Microsoft from a program to apply for green cards for workers who come to the U.S. to live and work using an H-1B visa as it accuses the company of fraud. “If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants,” said Vice President JD Vance in a White House news conference announcing the decision. The H-1B program has long been a target of Trump supporters who say that the program undercuts American workers and is rife with abuse. H-1B visas are meant for high-skilled jobs that are difficult to find American workers to fill. Technology companies are the biggest users, with nearly three-quarters of approvals going to workers from India. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Vance announcement came one day after Trump's Republican administration launched another broadside against international students and their ability to work in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday propos

Saudi authorities say 3 killed in Houthi-claimed attacks on Riyadh airport

Oct 10, 2026

Saudi authorities say 3 killed in Houthi-claimed attacks on Riyadh airport

BEIRUT — An airline pilot was among three Saudi citizens killed in attacks targeting Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and a Saudia airlines plane, the kingdom’s civil aviation authority said Friday. Several people “of different nationalities” were wounded. Thursday’s attacks were the deadliest in Saudi Arabia since the kingdom and allied forces in neighboring Yemen launched a major military offensive against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels last weekend. The attacks also marked a significant escalation on the latest front in the Iran war, which has kept oil prices and financial markets volatile . U.N. special envoy Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council that the situation in Yemen remained “highly fluid,” with civilians bearing the brunt of escalating violence in a country already facing dire humanitarian conditions and food insecurity. Airlines cancel flights to Saudi Arabia By Friday afternoon, at least 124 flights to and from Riyadh had been canceled after hundreds more were canceled a day earlier, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Air In

Trump veers into Nobel Prize grievances during upstate New York rally on day award is announced

Oct 10, 2026

Trump veers into Nobel Prize grievances during upstate New York rally on day award is announced

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — U.S. President Donald Trump veered far from midterm election politics during a rally in upstate New York on Friday, aiming a bitter diatribe at the Norwegian Nobel Committee for giving the Peace Prize he has long sought to South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a former U.N. human rights chief, for her work on justice and accountability for war crimes and genocide. Trump unspooled a lengthy argument explaining why the award was “an indelible stain on the country of Norway," saying he “should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn't.” Trump claimed, as he often does, to have ended eight wars, though some of the conflicts the president claims to have resolved were merely tensions, and his role in easing them has been disputed. Meanwhile, the war with Iran that he and Israel started — which Trump predicted would last mere weeks — remains unsettled and is a weight on his party as it faces a dour electorate ahead of midterm elections. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted last month and published Oct. 1 foun

Panama rocked by 2 powerful earthquakes and multiple aftershocks, prompting evacuations

Oct 10, 2026

Panama rocked by 2 powerful earthquakes and multiple aftershocks, prompting evacuations

PANAMA CITY — Two powerful 7.7 and 6.6 magnitude earthquakes and a series of aftershocks roiled southern Panama Friday afternoon, collapsing buildings near the epicenter and prompting evacuations across the country. The earlier quake, felt as far away as neighboring Colombia, was centered about 10 kilometers (6 miles) southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba, in the central province of Herrera, the USGS said. It struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). The USGS initially reported the first quake as magnitude 8, then revised it to 7.6 and later to 7.7. Visibly shaken residents of Panama City, the capital, gathered outside as they waited for news of the quake’s impact on Friday. “We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we’re okay, though we’re very scared," Rosendo Domínguez, 60, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press by phone. “Everyone is outside, scared.” Multiple aftershocks continued to rattle Panama, including several measuring magnitude 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2. Seismologists at the Uni

South African-born jurist Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize for work in international justice

Oct 10, 2026

South African-born jurist Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize for work in international justice

OSLO, Norway — Navi Pillay, a South African-born jurist and former U.N. human rights chief whose career has spanned from defending the rights of an imprisoned Nelson Mandela to leading a panel that found that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for efforts that the award committee said promoted international law as it comes under attack. Her win is sure to be seen as a high-profile rebuke to U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have both rejected the findings of the U.N. commission she led on Gaza. The leaders also have been highly critical of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. Pillay has worked at both. Hours after the award was announced in Norway, the Trump administration imposed sweeping new sanctions on the International Criminal Court as part of its campaign to dismantle the tribunal over investigations into the United States and its allies, including Israel. Trump railed against the decision on Friday, claiming he deserved the prize and dismissing Pillay as “a li

Hunger and malnutrition stalk Gazans, a year on from ceasefire

Oct 10, 2026

Hunger and malnutrition stalk Gazans, a year on from ceasefire

KHAN YUNIS, Palestinian Territories — Every day, Gazan mother Niyaha al-Masri spends six exhausting hours or more queueing at a community kitchen in the hope of getting some food for her family. It has been a year since a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was supposed to allow food to flood into the ruined territory, yet widespread hunger persists there. Masri has little choice. Without the kitchen run by humanitarian groups, she and her eight children would have "nothing at all," the 35-year-old told AFP. Each day she sets out early in the morning and returns in the afternoon, this time bringing four containers of rice, lentils and a little chicken, which the family throws itself at. Among them is her husband, wounded in both legs by an airstrike, meaning he "cannot go and fight with the others" to get food. This will be the only meal of the day for the family of 10, living in a tent in Khan Yunis. There was no breakfast and they will have no dinner. What little flour they have, Masri explained, has to be rationed. In August 2025, a United Nations-backed body, the IPC, declared a state

RECOMMENDED

ABOUT US
Logo

We believe that information is the new age currency. Digital Press Network is your source for digital culture and innovation for the connected generation.

SUBSCRIBE
Copyright © 2015 - 2026 Digital Press Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms | Privacy Policy | Advertise | Contact