| | | | | | | Hello. A death row inmate in Alabama is scheduled to be executed using nitrogen gas. Mike Wendling explains the controversy surrounding the lethal method, which has yet to be used in the US. In a Russian court, Steven Rosenberg witnesses pro-war blogger Igor Girkin, who escaped justice for downing flight MH17 in Ukraine, going to jail for branding President Vladimir Putin “a waste of space.” Finally, a cat has stolen the spotlight at the premiere of spy film Argylle - even without strutting down the red carpet. |
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| | | | | | Questions Answered | | Alabama’s controversial execution | | | | Alabama already tried to execute Smith by lethal injection two years ago but were unable to raise a vein before the state's death warrant expired. Credit: Alabama Department of Corrections |
| | Kenneth Eugene Smith has been on death row in Alabama since 1996 after being convicted for murder in 1989. The inmate is now expected to become the first person in the US to be executed with nitrogen gas, a controversial method that, according to the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. | | | | How does death by nitrogen work? | | Prison officials will strap a mask to Smith’s face and administer pure nitrogen gas for up to 15 minutes. Deborah Denno, a criminologist at Fordham Law School, says the procedure "is supposed to be painless". "But I have to emphasize - that's in theory," she says. If the masks are not airtight, she says, air can get in and Smith could begin vomiting, or survive the attempted execution with brain damage. Proponents of the method reject criticism and point to examples of nitrogen hypoxia occurring in industrial accidents, with victims apparently becoming unaware of what is happening to them. | | Why is Alabama opting for this method? | | The process of lethal injection, the most common execution method in the US, is not always straightforward. Plus, states have recently had difficulty in obtaining lethal injection drugs. In some cases, drug manufacturers won't sell them, or no longer produce them. | | Where else are nitrogen gas executions legal? | | Besides Alabama, the use of nitrogen gas in executions has been approved in Oklahoma and Mississippi, and has withstood various legal challenges. | | | | | | |
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| AT THE SCENE | Moscow, Russia | | Jail for militia commander turned Putin critic | | | | In 2014, Igor Girkin played a key role in the fighting in Ukraine's Donbas region. Credit: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock | | Igor Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, used to organise and command pro-Russia militias in eastern Ukraine. After the 2022 full-scale invasion, he became a pro-war blogger. But, in his view, Russia’s military efforts were not hard enough. In a post last year, Girkin described Russian President Vladimir Putin as "a non-entity" and "a cowardly waste of space." A few days later he was arrested. Now he's been tried and convicted. | | | | Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor |
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| A police dog kept barking. Girkin found that amusing. The verdict less so. Minutes later he was found guilty on extremism charges and sentenced to four years in a penal colony. This wasn't his first conviction. In The Hague in 2022, in absentia, Girkin was found guilty of the murder of 298 people: the passengers and crew of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.
Girkin was one of three men sentenced to life imprisonment. A judgement he ignored. "I do not recognise the authority of the Dutch court on this matter," he told me. Now he is going to prison. But not for mass murder, and not for life. A few dozen supporters gathered outside the Moscow City Court to chant "Freedom to Strelkov!" but there was little hint of optimism in their voices. Also in the crowd was retired colonel and outspoken ultranationalist Vladimir Kvachkov, who claimed that Girkin was being punished for "fighting against the system." |
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| | The big picture | | Johannesburg’s ‘bad buildings’ problem | | | | More than 500 people were left homeless by the deadly Usindiso fire. Credit: Daniel De Simone/BBC |
| | Johannesburg, known as the city of gold, is Africa's wealthiest city. But it’s also facing a severe housing crisis. Among those living in appalling conditions are 39 families that survived August’s Usindiso fire. Daniel De Simone visits their metal shacks, which have no water or power. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Cacophony season | | For the first time in 200 years, two broods of cicadas are due to emerge at the same time. | | |
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| | And finally... in London | | It’s not easy to upstage the likes of Samuel L Jackson, Dua Lipa and Henry Cavill. But the limelight at the film premiere of spy flick Argylle in London on Wednesday firmly shone on the story’s feline star, Chip, the cat belonging to Claudia Shiffer and her husband, the movie’s director Matthew Vaughn. |
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| | | | | | | | US Election Unspun newsletter | | Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday to your inbox. | | |
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