The Headlines - The Death of Yahya Sinwar, and Execution Halted in Shaken Baby Case

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

Plus, closing time for Kmart.   Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. On Today’s Episode:Surprise Battlefield Encounter Led to Hamas Leader’s Death, by Ronen Bergman, Aaron Boxerman, Raja Abdulrahim, Patrick Kingsley and Michael LevensonU.S. Wrestles With Aiding Allies and Maintaining Its Own Weapons Supply, by Helene Cooper and Eric SchmittTexas Supreme Court Halts Execution in Shaken Baby Case, by J. David GoodmanAttention Kmart Shoppers: It’s Closing Time, by Alexandra E. Petri

From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, October 18th. Here's what we're covering. Yaya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas terrorist organization, who was responsible for the October 7th massacre, is dead. The Israeli military announced yesterday that its troops killed Yahya Sinwar,

one of the most wanted men in the world. For the past year, Sinwar tried to escape justice. He failed. Since October 7th, Israel had put the full force of its military and intelligence services into finding Sinwar. Many believed he was in underground tunnels beneath Gaza, surrounded by hostages taken from Israel.

But he was ultimately found above ground, with no sign of hostages nearby. The Israeli soldiers who killed Sinwar didn't expect to run across him. They were on a routine patrol in southern Gaza when they got into a firefight with a group of militants, according to Israeli officials. The militants fled to a nearby building, and the Israeli military, backed by drones, destroyed part of it. In the debris, they found a body they realized looked like Sinwar. Israeli authorities say they used dental records and fingerprints to confirm it was the militant leader. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke after the announcement of Sinwar's death. While this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it's the beginning of the end.

To the people of Gaza, I have a simple message. This war can end tomorrow. It can end if Hamas lays down its arms and returns our hostages. Sinwar was considered a driving force behind Hamas's refusal to surrender. But it's not yet clear what will happen in his absence. The leadership of Hamas has now been gutted over the last year at nearly every level. Times correspondent Ben Hubbard, who's covered the group for over a decade, says that's pushed things into uncharted territory.

I mean, Hamas has fought many, many wars with Israel over the years. Many of its leaders have been assassinated. But we've never really had a time when you've had this much destruction to the organization and this many of its leaders killed in such quick succession. I think inside of Israel, there is hope in some quarters that this could provide kind of a breakthrough in terms of reaching a ceasefire. Senouar was seen as being one of the hardliners and somebody who was not interested in coming to an accommodation to release the hostages and have a ceasefire in Gaza. And so having him out of the way could open up new pathways for negotiations to ending the conflict. But we also don't really know who comes next, who actually has the control anymore to impose whatever decision is made on the rest of the organization. what to do and where to go. People are basically, from what we understand, acting of their own accord. I mean, small, small, small groups of fighters who make their own decisions based on

their own locations and go out and carry out attacks on Israeli forces kind of wherever they get the opportunity. And so, you know, is there enough of a structure left in the organization for someone to be able to negotiate on behalf of everyone who's left and to impose whatever decision is made on them to tell all of these kind of small fighting groups left in Gaza, it's time to stop. For more about the implications of Senwar's death, listen to today's episode of The Daily. President Biden reacted to news of Senwar's death while on a trip to Germany.

He spoke to reporters at the airport and reiterated the need for a ceasefire. It's time for this war to end and bring these hostages home. And so that's what we're ready to do. Biden is in Berlin to showcase U.S.-Germany cooperation, particularly in helping Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Nearly every week for the last few months, the Biden administration has announced that it's sending another shipment of arms, either to Ukraine or, more recently, to the Middle East. Some Pentagon officials worry that the flow of weapons and reshuffling of resources

could be hurting the U.S. ability to respond to a new conflict if one arises. The deployments have made a dent in American supplies. This week, the Army Secretary said it needed to be careful about not overextending itself. But she added, quote, in a world this volatile, you know, sometimes we have to do what we have to do. Last night in Texas, the state Supreme Court halted the execution of a death row inmate hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection. Robert Roberson was convicted over 20 years ago of killing his two-year-old daughter, who doctors at the time said had suffered from shaken baby syndrome related to abuse. Diagnosis of the syndrome has come under scrutiny in recent years,

as some doctors and defense lawyers have challenged it in this and other cases. Roberson's execution would have been the first in the country related to the syndrome, but a series of last-minute legal moves by a group of state lawmakers opposed to his death sentence led the court to place a stay on the execution for now. Roberson's defense has claimed his daughter did not suffer from shaken baby syndrome. Instead, they've put forward medical experts who argue that she most likely died from complications of pneumonia. His team has also said that Roberson's autism played a role in his conviction. They say investigators interpreted his lack of emotion as evidence of his guilt. Roberson has garnered a lot of support. More than half of the Republican-dominated Texas House of Representatives has lobbied for his case to be reviewed. The detective who helped convict Roberson now says he believes he's innocent.

And finally. What did it feel like when you were outside and you saw the Kmart? Oh, we were giddy and excited. Some shoppers in New York are making a bittersweet pilgrimage to Kmart. I've even said, like, I don't ever want to go to New York City. And then she's like, oh, the last Kmart's there. I'm like, let's go. The last full-size Kmart is closing this weekend,

leaving just a smaller store in Miami and a handful in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. That's all that's left of what was once the country's leading discount store. There are signs everywhere. Everything must go. Times reporter Alexandra Petrie visited the store in Bridgehampton, New York, where she found empty shelves, a cracking linoleum floor, and some diehard Kmart enthusiasts. It's just like a Kmart smell. The smell. Kmart's a smell. Including a pair of sisters who came from Duluth, Minnesota just to see the last store.

It's just this weird nostalgia for us. Gloria McCourtney and Chrissy Economos grew up going to their local Kmart. It was their place to hang out. Some days we'd literally just go walk around. Meet me at Kmart. Kmart was dominant in the 1980s, though it then struggled in the 90s and ultimately could not compete with Walmart, Target, and most recently with the rise of Amazon.

The chain filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and had an ill-fated merger with Sears after that and continued to collapse. But in New York, the sisters on their final Kmart trip were still able to score some deals. All sales were final. Those are the headlines. This show is made by Robert Jemison, Jessica Metzger, Jan Stewart, and me, Tracy Mumford,

with help from Isabella Anderson. Original theme by Dan Powell. Special thanks to Larissa Anderson, Jake Lucas, Zoe Murphy, and Paula Schumann. The headlines will be back on Monday.