A former US Army psychiatrist convicted of mass murder will be executed by firing squad, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced yesterday, and “we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it”. The Pentagon said in a follow-up statement that the execution of Nidal Hasan (pictured above) would be livestreamed.  

Who is Hasan?
The former major, from Virginia, shot dead 13 unarmed soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas in November 2009, and injured a further 32. The shootings, in a medical building where soldiers were waiting for check-ups and vaccines, were the deadliest ever non-combat attack on an American military base.

Representing himself in court, Hasan admitted his guilt and said he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan. He apologised for “any mistakes”, but was convicted of multiple counts of premeditated murder and attempted murder.

Why is it being livestreamed?
The US government is sending “a very clear message” of deterrence, said Sky News US correspondent David Blevins. People “need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things”, Hegseth told far-right podcaster Jack Posobiec yesterday.

Livestreaming executions could also make the process “much more transparent”, Deborah Denno, a death penalty expert and law professor, told The Associated Press. That could be useful, she said, after Christa Pike’s botched execution by lethal injection in Tennessee raised fresh questions about capital punishment.

What has the reaction been?
Hegseth’s plan is “medieval” and “disgusting”, Democrat senator Chris Murphy told CNN. “Is he mimicking Isis executions?” It’s “beyond disgusting”, Republican senator Thom Tillis said on social media. “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do.”

Livestreaming an execution is “unprecedented” and “on uncertain legal terrain”, John Mills, a lawyer who works with inmates sentenced to death, told the BBC. The plan may face a legal challenge because US federal regulations forbid the “visual or audio recording” of an execution without a specific judicial order.

The prime minister of Lithuania has called for a Nato plan to respond to Russia’s hybrid warfare. Mindaugas Sinkevičius spoke out after his country’s largest airport was forced to close due to a suspected drone attack, thought to have originated in Belarus. As such “incidents spread beyond Europe’s eastern flank”, said Politico, he warned that Moscow was prepared to test the alliance.

Forced shelter
Military drone incursions have become increasingly common across Europe since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A drone that violated Lithuanian airspace was shot down in September, following similar incidents in Latvia and Estonia. In May, residents in Vilnius were “forced to take shelter” across the capital after a drone alert was “triggered”, briefly grounding flights and rail travel, said the BBC.

Lithuania, a “staunch supporter” of Ukraine, shares a large part of its southern and eastern border with Belarus, a “key Russian ally”. Sinkevičius warned this week that a Russian victory in Ukraine would probably push Moscow to look for “other directions”.

Achilles’ heel
A “tranquil corner” of Lithuania has become a “tinderbox that could help trigger World War III”, said The Sun. Former US Army general Ben Hodges has described the gap as “one of the most volatile points on the world map”. Spanning 40 miles as the crow flies, the Suwalki Gap is a corridor of land, running along the Polish-Lithuanian border, that connects the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to Belarus.

It has been called “the most dangerous place on Earth”, said Der Stern. The gap has long been viewed as the Achilles’ heel of Nato’s eastern defences, because Russia could seize it relatively easily by launching a pincer assault between Kaliningrad in the northwest and Belarus in the southeast. The creation of such a land bridge would effectively isolate the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, all of which are Nato members, from the EU.

Lithuania has been “holding military drills and rehearsing wartime evacuation plans”, said The Sun. It allocated almost €5 billion (£4.2 billion) to defence this year – 5.38% of its GDP, “dwarfing the UK spend of just 2.6%”.

Students cheer a newly married couple near a blockaded school in Paris, as nationwide protests over teacher shortages and overcrowded classes escalate. Protesters are also celebrating their first win, after the government promised to deploy 3,000 extra teaching staff.

Lou Benoist / AFP / Getty Images

Sutherland: Creel Lodge, Golspie
A striking contemporary house designed by the architect Lachie Stewart. The house is located in a spectacular setting on the banks of Loch Fleet. 4 beds, 4 baths, kitchen, 2 receps, study, garden, studio, garage/ boathouse/workshop. OIEO £750,000; Galbraith.

Sutherland: Pollanaich, Nedd
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Highlands: Ros-Mhor, Fearn
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Isle of Skye: Carters Rest, Glendale
Delightful coastal property with views across Loch Pooltiel and the Little Minch towards the Isle of Harris. 4 beds (3 en suite), family bath, kitchen, 2 receps, self-contained 1-bed annexe, garden, sauna, parking. OIEO £550,000; Savills.

Why Trump and Iran may now be waiting out the midterms
Stephen Collinson on CNN
Iran has succeeded in using US elections “to inflict political pain on” Donald Trump, writes Stephen Collinson. His pledge not to attack Iran before the midterms is an “admission of the damage being inflicted on Republican hopes” by a war that is “hounding family budgets”. Decoupling the elections from the conflict is an attempt “to reduce Tehran’s leverage”, but the real question is “whether Iran’s capacity to endure war-inflicted pain can outlast Trump’s capacity to bear the political fallout”.

Andrew’s victory is another painful embarrassment for the King
Jennie Bond in The i Paper
“Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has successfully lobbed a custard pie in the face of the police,” writes former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond. His lawyers managed to “pick a hole” in the search warrants issued at his arrest, which have been declared unlawful. Andrew, who denies wrongdoing, is reportedly “buoyant”, but for the King, it’s “yet another unwelcome onslaught of negative publicity about a member of his family”. And he’s clearly “hopping mad that his brother would brazenly challenge His Majesty’s judicial system”.

Bosnia’s political future looks increasingly like its past
Fuad Kovačević on Al Jazeera
Last week’s elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina resulted in “the decisive victory of parties organised largely along ethnic lines”, writes Balkans expert Fuad Kovačević. This once war-torn country faces a grim future. Three decades after the armed conflict ceased, “deeply divided” and “power-hungry” nationalists are ignoring “overt assaults” on Bosnia’s “territorial integrity” from “rapidly arming” Serbia and Croatia. The “EU does not seem to know what to do”, and the US is “gradually stepping back from its unwritten role as Bosnia’s protector”.