Thursday, October 1, 2026

Christa Pike, 50, remained in critical condition Thursday, a day after surviving two lethal injection doses during Tennessee's attempt to execute her for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Her attorney Randy Spivey said she was receiving lifesaving care; another attorney, Stephen Ferrell, said the needle may have become dislodged or pierced through her veins. Her lawyers have asked that her death sentence be commuted. Gov. Bill Lee has halted the state's remaining 2026 executions and ordered a third-party review.

The family of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother fatally shot in January by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, filed two lawsuits against the federal government and Trump administration officials. The shooting occurred during 'Operation Metro Surge,' a large immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities. Lawyers for the family claim excessive force was used and that officials created what they called an environment for state-sponsored violence. The death sparked protests in several cities.

The Supreme Court said Thursday it will decide whether the Trump administration can detain immigrants facing deportation without a bond hearing, even if they have lived in the country for years. The administration argues it may hold such immigrants without bond once found to be in the country unlawfully. The policy has divided lower courts. The case will be heard in the term beginning next week.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday during his second State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico that Elon Musk, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will lead a new Pentagon effort called "Project Meridian" to study the future of warfare. Hegseth said the project will examine which capabilities the military must master rather than produce new policy documents. The announcement came alongside his previously reported plans for a 20% cut to general and admiral ranks and a new drone command.

A federal judge approved a settlement between Paramount and California and other states on Wednesday, clearing a legal hurdle that had opposed the company's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount said it plans to close the merger on October 4. The settlement resolved the states' challenge to the deal, allowing it to proceed.

A coalition of states, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Thursday against the EPA's repeal of Biden-era carbon emission standards for coal- and gas-fired power plants. Sources differ on the coalition's size: 25 states and cities per one report, 21 states, the District of Columbia and three cities per another. The states say the repeal was unlawful.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond topped 5.34% early Thursday, its highest level since April 2002, when it peaked at 5.48%. The rise is pressuring consumer and corporate borrowing costs and weighing on parts of the stock market. Yields later dropped from their highs, and equities turned higher.

Pennsylvania health officials said Wednesday that an unvaccinated Lancaster County resident died of measles, the state's fifth measles-related death this year. Officials described it as the worst outbreak the state has seen in more than 35 years. The death comes amid what health officials call the nation's worst measles year since 1991.

An immigration judge in Chicago ruled Wednesday that Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee for five years, is removable on national security grounds. The Trump administration said Sarsour, convicted in Israel as a teenager for throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers' homes, allegedly helped fundraise for Hamas in the 1990s. The judge dismissed claims he lied on his immigration application. Sarsour says the case is politically motivated and plans to appeal.

Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against former special counsel Jack Smith over his subpoena of her cell phone records during his investigation related to Donald Trump. The suit tests the reach of the Constitution's "speech or debate" clause, which can shield lawmakers' official actions from certain legal processes.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said an Omani co-pilot stabbed Indian captain Smit Machchhar on a FlyDubai flight from Dubai carrying 174 passengers, then tried to crash the plane. Netanyahu said an Israeli passenger, plumber Yaniv Hayun, entered the cockpit after the captain unlocked it and helped subdue the attacker before reserve pilots stabilized the aircraft. Netanyahu said the suspect underwent "Islamist radical indoctrination" and is being interrogated in Saudi Arabia. Officials said the motive remains unknown.

President Vladimir Putin said Russia would consider using "all weapons at our country's disposal" if Kaliningrad, Moscow's Baltic exclave, were directly attacked, echoing earlier warnings from Russia's Foreign Ministry and embassies this week. Putin said Russia is "not threatening anyone" and is responding to statements by Western leaders, while saying the world is living through a dangerous moment and warning the West not to escalate.

Switzerland's glaciers lost 5.5% of their ice volume in 2026, the second-biggest percentage drop on record, according to experts. The loss was driven by heat waves and low winter snowfall. Scientists said the melting threatens water supplies, ecosystems and communities across Europe and is no longer surprising given the pace of climate change.

The Taliban-run government said Pakistani airstrikes killed 9 people in Afghanistan, while the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said at least 10 civilians, most of them children, died. Pakistan's military said the strikes hit only militants and disputed the civilian casualty reports.

Bolivian police arrested Attorney General Roger Mariaca in an operation Wednesday night, after the U.S. government accused him of corruption and ties to drug trafficking and revoked his visa. The U.S. State Department said Mariaca received "bribes to facilitate drug trafficking and help violent criminals evade justice."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine's domestically made FP-7 tactical ballistic missile was used in combat for the first time, in strikes against Russia. He wrote on Telegram, "Ukrainian tactical ballistic missile FP-7. First combat use," adding the next priority is increasing production of the weapon.

Japan increased its permanent residency application fee by about 2,000%, to $1,266, and added new minimum requirements for income, pensions and Japanese-language ability. The changes, introduced under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, are part of immigration policy adjustments described as aimed at managing the country's growing foreign population. Critics say the move could hurt Japan's ability to address labor shortages.

The Trump administration said this week South Korea agreed to invest $54 billion in an Alaska LNG pipeline, part of a broader $200 billion investment announcement that also included nuclear power plants. South Korea disputed this, saying it agreed to invest only if the long-stalled project proves economically feasible, contesting the status of the negotiations described by U.S. officials.