Christa Pike left in ‘critical condition’ as Tennessee halts all executions | First Thing
Failed attempt to execute 50-year-old prompts review of state’s execution practices amid distressing witness accounts
Good morning. Tennessee’s governor has suspended executions as Christa Pike’s lawyer says the state’s 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.
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 “cruel and unusual punishment” that all judicial killings should be halted nationwide.
What have Pike’s lawyers said about her condition? Randy Spivey, one of her attorneys, said: “We don’t 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.”
What did witnesses say took place during the execution attempt? Catherine Sweeney, a reporter at the Nashville Public Radio WPLN, said: “They 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 … there was a spot that was burning and hurting, and asked if that was normal. None of it was normal.”
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’s family after the failed execution.
Family of Renee Good sues administration officials and the ICE agent who shot her
The family of Renee Good, the woman killed by immigration agents in January in Minneapolis, filed two federal lawsuits against the agent who shot her and several top officials in the Trump administration on Thursday. In the lawsuits, Good’s 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.
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. “Trump 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,” said Ken Martin, the chair of the DNC.
Which states are leading the resistance to the Trump EPA’s repeal of emissions rules? Twenty-one states, led by New York, are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s power plant rule. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, said the federal government was showing “callous disregard” for Americans’ 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.
Hegseth puts the future of warfare in the hands of major Maga donors
By installing the tech billionaires 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’s most significant campaign donors – and both men own companies that benefit from federal defense contracting.
Luckey, 34, whose company is backed by Joshua Kushner’s 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 “subterranean” conflict, with vehicles that can “move through the crust of the Earth the same way that submarines move through the water”.
What have been the latest developments with US forces in the Middle East? The US military is dispatching a third aircraft carrier strike group 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.
Letitia James appointed special prosecutor in alleged gang-rape at Cornell
Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, said on Thursday she was appointing Letitia James, the state’s attorney general, as special prosecutor to investigate the alleged gang-rape at Cornell University.
“The young woman at the center of this case deserves to know that every fact will be examined and justice pursued,” Hochul said in a statement. “This 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.”
In other news …
Google has rolled out a new Gemini AI model – but has restricted access over safety concerns. California’s attorney general, meanwhile, has issued an investigative subpoena to OpenAI over reports of rogue agents’ hacking.
SpaceX launched a crew to the ISS successfully, with Jessica Watkins, the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit, making her second trip to the space station.
Lawmakers have called for action on what they say are “plainly illegal” taxpayer-funded ads to promote Donald Trump in the run-up to the midterms.
The judge in the Lindsay Clancy murder case on Thursday refused to declare her not guilty, turning down a defense motion.
Kanye West’s sold-out Russia concerts have been cancelled, organisers have confirmed. Russia’s foreign ministry had called the planned shows unacceptable due to the rapper’s “glorification” of Adolf Hitler.
Stat of the day: Lyft agrees to pay California $272.5m in largest-ever wage theft settlement
Lyft agreed to pay the state of California $272.5m to settle claims that it stole drivers’ wages by mislabeling them as independent contractors rather than employees.
Culture pick: The 20 best making-of documentaries – ranked!
From tropical disasters and doomed sci-fi epics to bribing Orson Welles and fending off a puma, Ryan Gilbey rates cinema’s most revealing glimpses behind the scenes.
Don’t miss this: I’m allergic to the cold
California’s Shauna Castaner recounts her extraordinary experience 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’t eat chilled foods.
… or this: Erasure on how 40 years of friendship got them through grief – and why Vince Clarke has quit touring
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 – TWENTIETH! – studio album. Tim Jonze speaks to the iconic British synthpop duo.
Climate check: Think more rain means more river water? Not necessarily
More rain and snow equals more water in rivers, right? Not necessarily. A new study shows that, despite receiving more rainfall than they used to, river water levels are falling because of changes in climate.
Last Thing: Bear treats itself to baked goods at Colorado farmers’ market
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’ market and started devouring fresh bread and pastries at one of the stalls. The video clip is priceless.
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