Welcome to today’s daily update for Friday, October 9, 2026. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Breakdown
The Trump administration has approved the use of execution by firing squad for an attacker involved in a shooting at an Army base in 2009, and – controversially – the execution will be livestreamed.
Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a member of the US Army, killed 13 people and injured more than 32 others after pulling out a handgun at Fort Hood, an American military base in central Texas. The incident took place in 2009, but Hasan was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to death that same year.
Now, rather than the usual form of execution, which is via a minimally-painful injection – though, that is not always the case – US President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have opted to bring back a method from several centuries ago: the firing squad.
There have been several cases of execution via firing squad over the last century, but each one was chosen by the inmate rather than assigned. Hasan will be the United States’ first involuntary execution by firing squad since World War II, and the first in modern American history.
However, the most startling aspect of the execution is not the firing squad – it is the fact that it will be public. The United States has not had a public execution since 1936, but Trump and Hegseth are confident that livestreaming Hasan’s death by firing squad will discourage others from doing the same. Furthermore, they argue that such a move is justified by the brutality of Hasan’s actions on the base, killing various dedicated servicemen.
On the other hand, critics have warned against taking such action and pointed out that it closely resembles the fearmongering tactics still used by terrorist organizations today. Extremist groups like ISIS are known for livestreaming gruesome executions against the will of those they hold captive, but modern-day nations generally refrain from conducting public executions due to the evolving standards of human dignity and the idea of cruel and unusual punishment.
Either way, Hasan’s controversial execution has been set for December 16, and the public’s reaction to it is yet to be seen.
The Global Snapshot
A Russian attack on a Ukrainian bus killed 30 people yesterday, marking one of the deadliest civilian attacks of the year. The bus had arrived at a regular stop in the city of Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, when it was hit by the strike. The region is very close to where Russian forces are currently located, having already taken much of Donetsk. The attack left behind just a fragmented shell of the bus and wounded at least 18 other passengers and bystanders. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the strike “will not go unanswered” and called on Western allies to provide further military support – particularly interceptors and anti-ballistic defense systems – to protect civilians and fight back against Russia.
The Trump administration is suspending Microsoft from a list of companies that can sponsor green cards, citing fraud amid an intense visa controversy. H1-B visas allow a company to sponsor the immigration of a candidate that they are interested in, given that the person meets the eligibility requirements and will receive work upon arriving in the US. After several years, the company can sponsor a green card for that immigrant, allowing them to obtain permanent residence in the US – a policy that the Trump administration has repeatedly targeted. According to the latest reports, Microsoft laid off around 6,000 American workers last year while obtaining 6,300 H1-B visas and 3,000 green cards, leading to their removal from the list in an effort to force them to hire Americans. However, Microsoft has argued that more than 80% of the H1-B applications they submitted were simply renewals, and they did not accurately represent the number of new immigrants that Microsoft was bringing into the country.
Fact of the Day (The Fact Site): Cats can hear ultrasound, as their ears can detect frequencies ranging from about 45 Hz up to 79,000-85,000 Hz. However, while cats can hear lower ultrasound levels, they cannot hear veterinary medical ultrasound machines. These tools operate at 1 to 15 megahertz (MHz), which is more than 100 times higher than a cat's maximum hearing limit.
Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): The only way I know to get out of disappointment is to work hard, keep doing the right things, and don’t make any rash decisions. (Ole Gunnar Solskjaer)
Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Etiquette (noun, ET-ih-kut) - Etiquette refers to rules or customs that dictate what behavior is considered appropriate and expected in a particular setting.
In a Sentence: Her failure to respond to the invitation was a serious breach of etiquette.
Image: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
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