Taliban carries out public execution in sports stadium in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD (TNS) — The Taliban Supreme Court on Wednesday announced the public execution of a convicted murderer in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Paktia.
Taliban officials and local residents observed the execution, which took place in a sports stadium in the regional capital Gardez.
In a statement, the Supreme Court identified the convicted murderer as Ayaz Asad, a local resident of the province who had intentionally killed another Afghan using a Kalashnikov rifle.
The execution was carried out after the victim’s family declined an offer of forgiveness. The court’s statement did not specify the motive for the crime.
The sentence was handed down in accordance with an Islamic law principle known as Qisas, which allows for retaliation in kind in cases where the victim or their family seeks punishment.
The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan has seen the reintroduction of corporal punishment, including executions and public flogging, for crimes such as murder, robbery and adultery.
Texas woman pleads guilty to threatening judge in Trump’s election case
(Reuters) — A Texas woman pleaded guilty on Wednesday after being charged with threatening to kill individuals including the federal judge overseeing the 2020 election subversion criminal case against Republican President-elect Donald Trump.
Abigail Jo Shry of Alvin, Texas, pleaded guilty in federal court in Houston to a threat-related charge arising out of a voicemail prosecutors said she left with the chambers of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, in Washington, D.C., threatening to kill her and others.
She is slated to be sentenced Jan. 31. Shry’s lawyer declined to comment.
Viewers flee MSNBC and flock to Fox News in wake of election
(NYT) — Rachel Maddow opened her MSNBC show on Monday night with a sobering 26-minute monologue.
Between deep sighs and the occasional shake of the head, Maddow went through the people President-elect Donald Trump had named to his new administration. To say the least, she was not a fan of his selections. But it was important to go through them, she said.
“It is better to be clear-eyed about these things and to see them coming,” she said, “than to be in denial or to be surprised by them when they come around.”
It seems her audience does not agree, at least for the moment.
“The Rachel Maddow Show,” the liberal network’s highest-rated program, drew 1.3 million viewers on Monday, about a million shy of her October average, according to Nielsen. In a crucial ratings metric — viewers under the age of 54 — it was the least-watched edition of the show since April 2022.
That performance mirrors much of what has been happening at MSNBC in the week since Trump’s election win. MSNBC has averaged 550,000 viewers since Election Day, a 39% decline compared with the network’s average in October. In prime time, MSNBC’s audience has declined 53%, according to the Nielsen data.
The opposite has happened at Fox News, MSNBC’s conservative rival. Fox’s audience in prime time has grown by 21% since last Wednesday, with an average of 3.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Its total day audience has jumped 38%.
Jack Smith plans to step down as special counsel before Trump takes office
WASHINGTON (NYT) — Jack Smith, the special counsel who pursued two federal prosecutions of Donald Trump, plans to finish his work and resign along with other members of his team before Trump takes office in January, people familiar with his plans said.
Smith’s goal, they said, is to not leave any significant part of his work for others to complete and to get ahead of the president-elect’s promise to fire him within “two seconds” of being sworn in.
Smith, who since taking office two years ago has operated under the principle that not even a powerful ex-president is above the law, now finds himself on the defensive as he rushes to wind down a pair of complex investigations slowed by the courts and ultimately made moot by Trump’s electoral victory.
Smith’s office is still drawing up its plan for how to end the cases, and it is possible that unforeseen circumstances — such as judicial rulings or decisions by other government officials — could alter his intended timeline. But Smith is trying to finish his work and leave before Trump returns to power, the people familiar with his plans said.
The election’s outcome spelled the end of the federal cases against Trump, since Justice Department policy has long held that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted for crimes.
A Supreme Court ruling this summer significantly expanded the scope of official presidential conduct that cannot be prosecuted even after leaving office.
John Krasinski is People’s Sexiest Man Alive
(TNS) — John Krasinski’s coronation as People’s Sexiest Man Alive on Tuesday included a celebratory cover story, a glamorous photo shoot — and the promise of more domestic duties.
The 45-year-old “Office” heartthrob and “Jack Ryan” actor joked that his wife and “A Quiet Place” co-star Emily Blunt has plans to keep him humble as he joins the ranks of honorees including Patrick Dempsey, Chris Evans, Michael B. Jordan, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. “I think it’s going to make me do more household chores,” Krasinski cracked in his cover story.
‘Orbital,’ which looks down on Earth in awe, wins the 2024 Booker Prize
(TNS) — A slim science fiction novel that looks at our “precious and precarious” world through the eyes of six astronauts on the International Space Station has won the 2024 Booker Prize. Samantha Harvey, author of “Orbital,” took home the award Tuesday.
The book focuses on a single day in the life of the astronauts on the ISS, where they discuss fears, dreams and the fragility of human life.
“Compact yet beautifully expansive, Orbital invites us to observe the Earth’s splendour, whilst reflecting on the individual and collective value of every human life,” the Booker Prize judges wrote. “All year we have celebrated fiction that inhabits ideas rather than declaiming on issues, not finding answers but changing the question of what we wanted to explore. Our unanimity about Orbital recognises its beauty and ambition. It reflects Harvey’s extraordinary intensity of attention to the precious and precarious world we share.”
“Orbital” is enjoying some popular as well as critical success. The prize website notes it has sold more copies than the last three Booker Prize winners combined before their wins.
Bitcoin rises above $90,000 on Trump euphoria
(Reuters) — Bitcoin broke through the $90,000 level on Wednesday, to an all-time high in a rally showing no signs of easing on expectations that Donald Trump as U.S. president will be a boon for cryptocurrencies.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency has become one of the most eye-catching movers in the week since the election and on Wednesday touched a record of $93,480 before paring gains.