A high-profile military execution and shifting political statements on Iran dominate headlines as the U.S. prepares for midterm elections. The defense secretary has announced plans to livestream the firing squad execution of a convicted mass shooter, marking a rare and controversial departure from past military justice procedures. Meanwhile, the president has signaled a temporary halt to potential military action against Iran ahead of November’s elections, though critics accuse officials of downplaying the conflict’s risks. Legal disputes over Missouri’s congressional map have left some voters confused about their voting districts and candidates.
US president says US will not attack Iran before midterms, while defense secretary says Nidal Hasan will face a firing squad next month. Plus, Sofia Coppola looks back on her glittering directorial careerGood morning. The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has said the execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad will be livestreamed next month, in a radical departure from the previous norm. Hegseth said: “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”Hasan opened fire at a medical processing center at Fort Hood, Texas, on 5 November 2009, killing 13 people and wounding dozens more. A military jury sentenced him to death in 2013 and he has been held at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas ever since. The last known case of a military firing squad in the US was in November 1945.Why is Hegseth being criticised over the Iran war? The Democratic senator Chris Murphy said Hegseth was “determined to hide the cost and the consequences of this war from the American public”. Murphy claimed the Pentagon blocked him from visiting a military base in Qatar and that an Iranian strike on the US embassy in Riyadh was far worse than the public were led to believe.What has Donald Trump said about the US war on Iran? The US president has promised not to attack Iran before November’s US midterm elections, outlining a pause on the protracted war he has struggled to end after almost eight months. A Reuters/Ipsos survey from late September found that only about a third of Americans approved of the strikes on Iran.Why are some voters calling Missouri’s elections ‘dizzying and embarrassing’? Thanks to a protracted legal battle over an effort by Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional map, some voters are no longer sure which congressional district they live in or who will be on their ballot paper for the midterms.What happened in last night’s crucial midterm debates? Rachel Leingang, George Chidi and Auzzy Byrdsell have rounded up the key takeaways from debates in the battleground states of Michigan, Georgia and Maine. Continue reading...
