Friday, October 2, 2026

Christa Pike remained in critical condition Thursday, a day after surviving two lethal injection doses in Tennessee's attempted execution for a 1995 murder. Attorney Randy Spivey said she was receiving life-saving care. Experts called her survival unprecedented. Gov. Bill Lee halted Pike's execution and the state's other execution scheduled this year and ordered a review; her lawyers urged him to commute her sentence. Sen. Marsha Blackburn criticized the process and called for the state to bring back the electric chair.

The family of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis in January, filed two lawsuits against the federal government and current and former Trump administration officials. The shooting occurred during 'Operation Metro Surge,' a large immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities. The lawsuits claim excessive force was used and call Good's death 'not an accident.' Lawyers for the family said officials created 'an unprecedented environment for state sponsored violence.' The death sparked protests nationwide.

The Supreme Court's term began this week with the case it agreed to hear Thursday on whether immigrants facing deportation can be detained without a bond hearing, even if they have lived in the country for years. The Trump administration argues it may hold such immigrants without bond once found to be in the country unlawfully. The policy has divided lower courts.

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.

A federal judge ruled that President Trump illegally fired U.S. Attorney Roger Rogoff in western Washington in July and ordered him reinstated until a replacement is confirmed. The judge found the Justice Department's move was part of a broader effort to install preferred appointees and bypass Senate confirmation, continuing a pattern of similar rulings against the administration.

The FBI arrested Department of Energy electrical engineer Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, of Richland, Washington, at the Hanford nuclear site on Thursday. The Justice Department charged him with attempting to provide material support to the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, alleging he bought materials for homemade explosives and drones and traveled to Yemen.

Bolivian police arrested Attorney General Roger Mariaca and 13 other people Wednesday night, including four accused of carrying cash from his home into an ambulance. The arrests came after the U.S. revoked Mariaca's visa and accused him of ties to drug trafficking and corruption.

The United States is deploying a third aircraft carrier and thousands of troops aboard ships to the Middle East as President Trump weighs new strikes on Iran. The deployment adds to existing US naval forces already in the region. No specific timeline or target for potential strikes was given by officials.

Eritrea announced it is severing all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia, alleging what it called "deplorable acts of hostility" by its neighbor. The move comes as Ethiopian forces continue fighting rebels in the northern Tigray region, near the two countries' shared border. The two countries have not detailed further measures beyond the diplomatic break.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called an emergency Cabinet meeting Thursday as student protests over crumbling schools and teacher shortages spread nationwide, with some demonstrations turning violent and fires breaking out at schools. Reuters reported about 400 schools were closed. The government has blamed far-left groups for the violence.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney designated a proposed oil pipeline from Alberta's oil sands to the Pacific coast a "project of national interest," speeding its regulatory approval. Officials say the move aims to diversify Canada's economy away from the United States amid trade tensions, while also addressing separatist sentiment in Alberta ahead of a provincial vote on independence.