{"id":913651,"date":"2026-10-02T16:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T16:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/913651\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T16:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T16:38:08","slug":"first-thing-christa-pike-in-critical-condition-as-tennessee-halts-all-executions-us-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/913651\/","title":{"rendered":"First Thing: Christa Pike in \u2018critical condition\u2019 as Tennessee halts all executions | US news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Tennessee\u2019s governor has suspended executions<\/a> as Christa Pike\u2019s lawyer says the state\u2019s failed lethal injection execution attempt has left her in a critical condition. Bill Lee, the Republican state governor, has suspended all executions in the state until at least the end of the year and ordered an independent inquiry.<\/p>\n

Leading voices on the death penalty in the US have told the Guardian that the failed execution was such a violation of the constitutional prohibition on \u201ccruel and unusual punishment\u201d that all judicial killings should be halted nationwide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What have Pike\u2019s lawyers said about her condition? Randy Spivey, one of her attorneys, said: \u201cWe don\u2019t have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment, but we do know that she is alive right now and receiving life-saving medical care. She is in a critical condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

What did witnesses say took place during the execution attempt? Catherine Sweeney, a reporter at the Nashville Public Radio WPLN, said<\/a>: \u201cThey went through two rounds, and she was still breathing at the end. She was very ragged. She lifted her head up and was looking around. At one point, she said \u2026 there was a spot that was burning and hurting, and asked if that was normal. None of it was normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was Pike convicted of? She was convicted of the brutal 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, alongside her then boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp. Lee said he had not yet spoken to Slemmer\u2019s family after the failed execution.<\/p>\n

Family of Renee Good sues administration officials and the ICE agent who shot herA screen at a news conference announcing the civil lawsuits. Photograph: Tim Evans\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The family of Renee Good, the woman killed by immigration agents in January in Minneapolis, filed two federal lawsuits<\/a> against the agent who shot her and several top officials in the Trump administration on Thursday. In the lawsuits, Good\u2019s partner, Becca Good, and her brother, Brent Ganger, alleged wrongful death and other violations of federal law, according to a press release issued by their lawyers.<\/p>\n

Why has the DNC issued a lawsuit against the administration? The Trump administration broke the law when it pushed through a last-minute change to the form overseas citizens use to register and request absentee ballots, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said in a lawsuit filed on Thursday<\/a>. \u201cTrump and Republicans are so desperate to hang on to power that they are trying to eliminate the way some American citizens abroad register to vote and request mail ballots,\u201d said Ken Martin, the chair of the DNC.<\/p>\n

Which states are leading the resistance to the Trump EPA\u2019s repeal of emissions rules? Twenty-one states, led by New York, are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s power plant rule<\/a>. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, said the federal government was showing \u201ccallous disregard\u201d for Americans\u2019 health and the environment, and future generations would pay the price. Power plants that burn fossil fuels are a major source of planet-warming pollution.<\/p>\n

Hegseth puts the future of warfare in the hands of major Maga donorsElon Musk has been given an advisory role in a Pentagon project. Photograph: Jordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n

By installing the tech billionaires<\/a> Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to advisory roles in a Pentagon project about the future of warfare, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has given extraordinary influence to two of Maga\u2019s most significant campaign donors \u2013 and both men own companies that benefit from federal defense contracting.<\/p>\n

Luckey, 34, whose company is backed by Joshua Kushner\u2019s equity fund, has acquired manufacturers of underwater drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, and space technology, and has already been voluble about his philosophy on warfare, saying he thought warfare in the second half of this century would involve \u201csubterranean\u201d conflict, with vehicles that can \u201cmove through the crust of the Earth the same way that submarines move through the water\u201d.<\/p>\n

What have been the latest developments with US forces in the Middle East? The US military is dispatching a third aircraft carrier strike group<\/a> to the Middle East, as Donald Trump warned new strikes against Iran could be on the horizon. Given the personnel already in place in the Middle East, the move would bring the US naval presence to an unusually high number of more than 20,000 sailors and Marines as well as hundreds of aircraft.<\/p>\n

Letitia James appointed special prosecutor in alleged gang-rape at CornellLetitia James. Photograph: Michael Brochstein\/Zuma Press Wire\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, said on Thursday she was appointing Letitia James, the state\u2019s attorney general, as special prosecutor to investigate the alleged gang-rape at Cornell University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe young woman at the center of this case deserves to know that every fact will be examined and justice pursued,\u201d Hochul said in a statement. \u201cThis action will ensure that the matter is fully and thoroughly investigated without conflict or bias, and handled independently with the rigor that this matter demands.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other news \u2026The Gemini 4 Argon logo. Photograph: Samuel Boivin\/NurPhoto\/ShutterstockStat of the day: Lyft agrees to pay California $272.5m in largest-ever wage theft settlementLyft will pay $272.5m. Photograph: Lucy Nicholson\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Lyft agreed to pay the state of California $272.5m to \u2060settle claims<\/a> that it stole drivers\u2019 wages by mislabeling them as independent contractors rather than employees.<\/p>\n

Culture pick: The 20 best making-of documentaries \u2013 ranked!Jean Rochefort and Terry Gilliam in Lost in La Mancha. Photograph: Blue Finch Film Releasing<\/p>\n

From tropical disasters and doomed sci-fi epics to bribing Orson Welles and fending off a puma, Ryan Gilbey rates<\/a> cinema\u2019s most revealing glimpses behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss this: I\u2019m allergic to the coldShauna Castaner. Illustration: Andri Tambunan\/For the Guardian Saturday Magazine<\/p>\n

California\u2019s Shauna Castaner recounts her extraordinary experience<\/a> of gradually coming to realise that her condition was getting so severe she has to a keep a close watch on her body temperature and can\u2019t eat chilled foods.<\/p>\n

\u2026 or this: Erasure on how 40 years of friendship got them through grief \u2013 and why Vince Clarke has quit touringErasure are returning with their 20th studio album. Photograph: Travis Shinn<\/p>\n

Erasure were regulars on the Billboard chart in the 1980s and 90s with hits like Chains of Love, A Little Respect and Always. They return with their 20th \u2013 TWENTIETH! \u2013 studio album. Tim Jonze speaks<\/a> to the iconic British synthpop duo.<\/p>\n

Climate check: Think more rain means more river water? Not necessarilyAn aerial view of Lake Powell and the Colorado River. Photograph: Caitlin Ochs\/Reuters<\/p>\n

More rain and snow equals more water in rivers, right? Not necessarily. A new study shows<\/a> that, despite receiving more rainfall than they used to, river water levels are falling because of changes in climate.<\/p>\n

Last Thing: Bear treats itself to baked goods at Colorado farmers\u2019 marketA brown bear has a rest \u2013 possibly after eating too many pastries. Photograph: Design Pics Inc\/Alamy<\/p>\n

One animal in Aspen, Colorado, seemed to decide to make a late bid to win Fat Bear Week, as it rocked up to a farmers\u2019 market and started devouring fresh bread and pastries at one of the stalls. The video clip is priceless<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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