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Memorial grows for 2 First Nations elders killed at Tsawwassen Mills Mall
A memorial is growing for two, yet to be identified, Tsawwassen First Nations elders who were killed Wednesday during the Truth and Reconciliation walk at Tsawwassen Mills Mall. Delta Police Department (DPD) continue to investigate what caused a truck to strike four pedestrians shortly after 10:25 a.m. The investigation so far shows the driver of […]
Christa Pike in critical condition after failed execution attempt, lawyers say
Christa Pike was in critical condition Thursday and receiving "lifesaving care" at a hospital, her lawyers said, a day after a failed attempt to execute her pushed Tennessee's governor to halt further executions this year and order an independent review.Pike, who was sentenced to death for a 1995 murder, was taken to a hospital Wednesday night after surviving a double dose of the drug Tennessee uses to execute prisoners."We don't have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment,” attorney Randy Spivey said during a news conference. “But we know she is alive right now."The failed execution, which one death penalty expert described as unprecedented, led Republican Gov. Bill Lee to order a review, calling what happened "deeply disturbing" and indefinitely postponing Pike's execution and another one that had been scheduled for this year. It also reignited the debate over the state's execution procedures, including its single-drug lethal injections.Spivey called the process cruel and torturous, saying he was "haunted" by watching and hearing Pike talking, singing and then snoring loudly during her more than 90 minutes in the death chamber. Her attorneys also said it was unclear if she might have suffered brain damage from being deprived of oxygen.May Martinez, whose daughter was murdered by Pike and her boyfriend and who traveled to Nashville to watch the execution, was also upset."I didn't get justice for my daughter," Martinez told The Associated Press on Thursday."I watched the whole thing. She was awake. She was laughing. She was moving her head, moving her feet. She was trying to sit up,” Martinez said. “Didn't work the first time they gave her a shot. It didn't work the second time." U.S. & World Death Penalty Sep 30 Woman survives two lethal injections in botched Tennessee execution Death Penalty 5 hours ago The drug used in Tennessee's failed execution has come under past scrutiny A prolonged attempt ends in failureThe execution team worked for an hour to administer the lethal drugs, said Pike’s attorney, who counted at least seven needles in her left arm.During the struggle to locate a vein, Pike even suggested where they might find one, he said."Please try here, please try here," Spivey recalled her saying. "She told them over and over, please try higher on my shoulder."At one point, Pike asked prison officials if her arm was supposed to feel that way, though it's unclear if it was after the first dose entered her body because officials don't share that information.Neither the initial nor backup dose of pentobarbital worked. Pike was still snoring when the execution chamber's microphone was cut off more than an hour into the attempt.Another of Pike’s attorneys, Steve Ferrell, said she feared there would be complications because of a lifelong blood disorder that made it tough to get needles into her veins. "Throughout her life, she's explained to us that she had trouble having blood drawn," he said.It was quite possible, Ferrell said, that the IV line didn’t enter her vein properly and that the drug was filling her arm instead of entering her bloodstream.Tennessee had another troubled execution this yearPike’s lawyers now want her death sentence to be commuted. Now age 50, she was sentenced to death for a murder she committed at 18. She would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.An appeals court had stopped her execution an hour before it was scheduled to begin Wednesday morning, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that stay hours later.It was the second time this year that Tennessee was unable to complete an execution. In the other case, officials couldn’t find a suitable vein for an IV line so the drugs weren’t administered.Multiple states use the same drugLee said it appeared prison staff followed procedure, and there was no clear sense Thursday about what went wrong.Pentobarbital, the barbiturate Tennessee uses for executions, has been used to carry out death sentences in multiple states and by the federal government. But there have been concerns raised about the potential for "unnecessary pain and suffering."Dr. Ervin Yen, an Oklahoma City anesthesiologist who has no link to Pike’s execution but who has witnessed others, said it's possible that if the prison staff was using a small vein, there could have been some burning, as mentioned by Pike's attorneys."It just depends on the vein that you're injecting it in and how fast you are injecting," Yen said.The state changed its execution method two years agoTennessee in 2024 switched from a three-drug series for lethal injections to a single drug, pentobarbital. That came about two years after the state abruptly halted the execution of Oscar Smith and acknowledged it had failed to ensure its lethal injection drugs had been tested properly.Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said what Pike experienced is "singular and unparalleled" in that she survived long enough to be moved to a hospital.Seven others have survived medical problems due to an execution team’s failure to access a vein to administer lethal injection drugs, but no one has stayed alive after receiving the drugs used in executions, she said.Executions in the U.S. have fallen sharply since the beginning of this century, but the number nearly doubled last year behind a record increase in Florida.Pike would have been the 30th person executed in the U.S. this year.Pike was awake in the chamberStrapped to a gurney in the execution chamber, Pike described herself as at peace and said “I'm ready to be free. … This is a happy day."But she remained awake, and at one point complained about a feeling in her arm.An hour after officials first raised the curtains, witnesses reported that a second dose of pentobarbital was administered. Pike could still be heard snoring behind a closed curtain until the microphone was cut off almost 30 minutes later.Her lawyers filed an emergency motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution, saying she was in "unnecessary agony" and the procedure violated her right to be executed free of cruel and unusual punishment.Pike didn’t deny her role in the killingPike and her boyfriend were convicted of the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate. The killing stoked fears of Satan worship because of a pentagram carved on Slemmer's body.She didn’t dispute that she helped kill Slemmer, but supporters argued that her mental illness and allegations of severe sexual abuse should be considered. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder after the killing."It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I'd done," she once said.Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Ed White in Detroit, Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.
Australian couple on plane diverted after flydubai pilot's alleged attack on co-pilot
Two people from Sydney were on board flight to Tel Aviv that was dramatically diverted to Saudi Arabia after one pilot allegedly stabbed the otherFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo Australian citizens onboard a flight to Tel Aviv that was diverted after one of the pilots allegedly stabbed the other in an attack are "safe," the foreign minister confirmed.The passengers are a Jewish couple from Sydney, the Israeli embassy in Australia confirmed to the Guardian on Thursday. Continue reading...
Judge dismisses sexual assault case against Trailer Park Boys star Mike Smith
A sexual assault case against Trailer Park Boys actor Mike Smith was dropped in Dartmouth provincial court on Thursday. The complainant says the trial was dismissed because she was "unwilling to sacrifice" her mental health to go through the criminal justice process.
Supreme Court to review Trump's mandatory detention policy for immigrants
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to review a Trump administration policy denying bond hearings for immigrants as the government carries out a sweeping crackdown.The justices will consider whether immigrants who have been living in the U.S. have a right to a hearing to determine if they should remain detained while challenging their possible deportation.Most appeals courts to have considered the issue have found that it violates federal law to detain immigrants, including those living in the U.S. illegally, without a bond hearing.Those decisions conflict with rulings by the 5th and 8th circuits, which held that immigrants accused of illegally entering and remaining in the U.S. must be detained while their deportation cases are pending.Attorneys from President Donald Trump's administration argue the circuits' split is "disrupting the orderly administration of immigration law." They say the nation's courts have been inundated with thousands of petitions filed by immigrants challenging the government's legal interpretation."The result is an unworkable patchwork of inconsistent immigration enforcement, where aliens present without admission are subject to mandatory detention in some circuits but are entitled to bond hearings and often released in others," lawyers for the Republican administration wrote.The plaintiffs are immigrants represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, which says hundreds of district court judges have joined most circuits in rejecting the Trump administration's new reading of the statutes. Plaintiffs' lawyers say the administration is trying to deny bond hearings for immigrants apprehended anywhere in the U.S. — no matter how long they've lived in the country — rather than limiting the restriction to noncitizens stopped at the border."Millions of noncitizens could be affected by the government's new interpretation," ACLU attorneys wrote.The Trump administration says its new mandatory detention policy is legal under a 1996 immigration law. The policy change departs from the practices of prior administrations, which typically allowed most noncitizens without criminal records to request a bond hearing if they were arrested away from the border.
Cornell student's 2024 statement to police reveals new details about the night of her alleged rape
The Cornell University student who alleged in a lawsuit that she was gang-raped and plied with drugs at a fraternity house in 2024 described the hourslong incident to police in a sworn statement, according to the document, which was obtained by NBC News. Jane Doe told police in part that she had agreed to an initial sexual encounter with two of the men, described being encouraged to take drugs and said she did not remember some parts of the night. "I would say that it was the most intoxicated I've ever been in my life," she told police about how she was feeling later in the evening. "I felt like I was unable to make any decisions because of how intoxicated I was."Jane Doe voluntarily gave the sworn statement to Cornell University police on Nov. 14, 2024, 26 days after the alleged assault. In it, she detailed the night of Oct. 19 to 20, when she initially agreed to a threesome, but she said that she felt increasingly incapacitated as the night went on, that she had gaps in her memory and that at one point she was "extremely uncomfortable.""Adding to my feelings of isolation was the fact that my phone was across the room and I felt like I couldn't get to it, as well as I didn't have any form of payment to order an Uber to get out of the situation I was in," she told police. The former student's lawsuit, filed Sept. 16, has sparked national furor over the university's and the district attorney's handling of the case. It has prompted the DA to take a fresh look after his office previously determined there was "insufficient evidence to support criminal charges" when the case was reviewed in 2024. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten released a lengthy statement Monday, which included parts of Doe's sworn statement to Cornell police in November 2024, and defended his initial decision not to pursue criminal charges.His statement did not include details in which Doe referred to how, at one point, she felt the most incapacitated she had ever felt in her life, nor how she felt she could not leave the room. Colleges & Universities Sep 29 Cornell rape accuser's attorney says the school and law enforcement failed a young woman Colleges & Universities Sep 28 Prosecutor reopens probe into alleged Cornell gang rape after accuser files lawsuit Doe's statementThe lawsuit alleges she was sexually assaulted, raped and pressured to snort ketamine after a night of heavy drinking. Her complaint names seven Chi Phi fraternity brothers who she claims sexually assaulted her.Her statement to police mirrored many of the allegations in the lawsuit. She described drinking sometime after 6:30 p.m., going to two different Ithaca bars and finally going to the Chi Phi fraternity house around 10:30 or 11 p.m. to meet a friend.There, a friend asked whether she was interested in a threesome, which she said she agreed to.Later, another man knocked on the door of the room they were in, and she let him in because, she said, she was told it was probably the man whose room they were in. She engaged in a sexual encounter with the third man, the statement said."I don't remember much of this threesome," she told police. "I was pretty incapacitated."While Doe did not remember having sex with the third man, she recalled hearing two men "say something about 'having a turn.'" That, she told police, made her realize the men were "using me without caring about what I was getting out of the situation." At one point, "multiple men walked into the room," and, she told police, "I was instantly horrified." She ran across the room to hide under the covers of another bed, the statement said, which she said felt like the only option because they were standing between her and the exit.The lawsuit says multiple other men entered the room after one fraternity member sent a message to a group chat, a screenshot of which was included in the suit, that said there was "free p—-" available upstairs where Doe was. Doe described her level of intoxication after four more men entered the room and said the night "really becomes a blur for me at that point."After one of the men started to kiss her, she told police, she quickly backed away, and she described feeling dissociation."I was starting to become completely numb to the whole situation," she said in the statement. She said she had taken ketamine earlier in the evening and was offered it again. Doe had never taken the drug before, according to the lawsuit. Her thought, she told police, was that "if I do Ketamine again maybe I will pass out. My thought was that if I passed out and these men had sex with me, then they could be charged with Rape."Doe described realizing the next day that what happened to her the previous evening was being talked about on campus. "It was made clear to me by several friends that the members of Chi Phi were bragging," she told police. She added that "it was now obvious that everyone knew it was me that this had happened to." In her statement, she stressed instances of turning men down repeatedly, expressing discomfort and feeling coerced. Doe also spoke about an alleged encounter after she was ushered upstairs to what she believed was the fraternity president's office, where, she said, two men "were asking me to have sex so many times that I finally gave in.""To me, that felt like coercion," she said. "Also, I felt like due to my intoxication, they should have known how intoxicated I was based on how I was slurring my words." In a transcript of her interview with campus police on Nov. 14, Doe is also alleged to have said, "I can say with 100% confidence I was raped," CBS News reported Wednesday. NBC News has not seen the full transcript of that interview.Van Houten told NBC News on Wednesday that the specific allegation was not in the written statement his office received from Cornell police in November 2024 when they were assessing whether or not to bring charges. Cornell has said its campus police department "shared all investigatory information" with the DA's office. What the district attorney saysVan Houten said in his statement Monday that Doe did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang-raped in her sworn statement to police."On the contrary, Jane Doe's statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual," his statement said. He also noted that she wrote about having difficulty remembering parts of the night as the evening went on. Doe's statement, he said, did not meet the legal bar of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that there was lack of consent under New York State Penal Law. He added that her statement did not allege that she was incapable of controlling her conduct, that drugs were administered without her consent, that she was unconscious or that she did not clearly express that she did not consent. Van Houten said "multiple prosecutors and criminal investigators reviewed Jane Doe's statement and correctly determined the alleged facts as set forth in the statement do not constitute a crime." "According to the statement, each time Jane Doe asked to stop the sexual conduct, the sexual conduct stopped," he said. Doe's attorney, Thomas P. Giuffra, said he was "very disappointed" in Van Houten's claim Monday that Doe's interactions that night were consensual."If my client consented, why did you make a complaint to the police and say I've been assaulted? Why would she say that a crime occurred? Why would she go to the police in the first place? It makes no sense," he told NBC News in an interview Monday. He said in an email Monday that his client was never contacted by the DA's office nor any investigator other than the officer who took her original complaint, and he called the decision to reconsider prosecution "a step in the right direction, albeit a late one." None of the seven fraternity members named in the suit were criminally charged. The fraternity was suspended from campus, and it remains barred.Cornell said Monday it conducted a thorough, monthslong Title IX investigation, which is distinct from criminal law, that handed down "a range of sanctions which included expulsions and suspensions" from the university. Cornell did not disclose who received what disciplinary outcome, citing federal privacy law. The suit claimed the men were allowed to write essaysto "mitigate their conduct" — a claim the university also denied Monday. An attorney for Scott Kretzschmar, one of the Cornell students accused in Doe's lawsuit of pouring ketamine on her body and snorting it, called the allegations against him "dishonest" and "morally repugnant.""While Scott responded to and made an immature comment on Snapchat, he did nothing else. Nothing. For the few minutes he was in the room with the plaintiff, Scott did not see her in duress or undress, was involved in no sexual activity nor touched the plaintiff in any way and ingested no ketamine," said his attorney, Jeremy Saland. An attorney for another one of the Cornell student defendants said his client "denies that he sexually assaulted the plaintiff." The attorney, Andrew Miltenberg, cited Cornell's "extensive" investigation."In fact, several dozen people were questioned, there [were] multiple days of hearings and testimony, and an investigative report that contains hundreds of pages — all over an extended period of time," he said in a written statement. "It is these statements, contemporaneous communications, and other evidence that provide important context that is absent from the current public account. Those differences, and the evidence bearing on them, will severely compromise Jane Doe's narrative." NBC News has tried to contact the five other fraternity members named in the lawsuit but was not able to reach them or did not receive responses.In addition to the seven men and the university, the lawsuit also names one of the bars Doe visited that night, Cornell's Chi Phi Chapter, Chi Phi National and the university chapter of the sorority Doe was a member of and its national organization.The Chi Phi National fraternity said in a statement Sept. 18 that it could not discuss specific allegations during pending litigation but called the allegations "deeply concerning." New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a video statement Wednesday that she spoke with Cornell's president Wednesday and that the university agreed to bring in outside counsel for an independent investigation into its handling of Doe's case. The university confirmed the decision.If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN's online chat service at rainn.org/get-help._____________Pilar Melendez, Alexandra Chaidez, Hayley Walker, Adam Reiss and Abigail Brooks contributed.
What we know about the cockpit stabbing on Israel-bound flight
Questions remain about how a pilot managed to sneak a weapon aboard a plane and stab his fellow pilot before it plunged thousands of feet in mere seconds. The attacker was thwarted, passengers said, and the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia."We were so scared. We didn't know what was going to happen," Aviatar Alevi, a 17-year-old student, told NBC News on Wednesday after he and the rest of the passengers were flown to Tel Aviv.Here is what we know about the incident and how close it came to resulting in tragedy.What did passengers see?Alevi described a harrowing scene aboard the flight, with people "screaming, running, panicking, blood.""At the start, I thought it was a plane malfunction, but then I started hearing screaming about the stabbings," he said."We didn't know what was going to happen," he said, adding that the possibility of death "was definitely an option."Another passenger, Motti Cohen Or, 70, said that he heard a woman shouting that "someone is stabbing someone in the cockpit" before the aircraft dived "toward the ground." Israel 10 hours ago Screaming, panicking, blood: Passengers detail horrifying Israel-bound flight Air Travel 12 hours ago Attacker's motive remains unknown after FlyDubai flight to Israel escapes disaster Air Travel Sep 30 Pilot stabbed his co-pilot in apparent attempt to crash Israel-bound plane, Netanyahu says Yaniv Hayun was pictured in a bloody T-shirt telling cameras he had been among those to enter the cockpit and subdue the attacking pilot.At Ben Gurion Airport, after the passengers had returned to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Hayun, whom he later identified as a plumber.Three others helped in the effort to save the plane and those aboard, Hayun told reporters. The group struggled to open the cockpit door. "I grabbed the attacker, and choked him, pulled him out first," he said. "I started pulling the controls.""Thank God, we pulled it off. We really put our heads together and worked as a team," he said. "It was between fear and a sense of a do-or-die situation.""We had to win. We had to pull through and come out on top," he added.Who is the hero pilot? Hailed as a hero, Indian pilot Smit ​Machchhar was credited by Netanyahu on X for saving "the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals."Even though he was bleeding heavily, Machchhar managed to unlock the door to the cockpit, Netanyahu told Fox News, allowing crew members and passengers to subdue his colleague and regain control of the plane.Captain Smit Machchhar. (via Israel Foreign Ministry)The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said in a post on X that he was admitted to hospital in Tabuk, where the plane landed, and was "reported to be in stable condition."According to his LinkedIn profile, Machchhar, who was also praised on social media by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, worked with India's SpiceJet ‌airline for more than 11 years before joining Flydubai. He has logged more than 9,750 flying hours, the profile says.Machchhar trained as a pilot at Mainland Air in the New Zealand city of Dunedin for 18 months, beginning in 2008, the school's CEO, Philip Kean, told the country's 1News outlet. Machchhar "did very well" as a student and later returned to India where he worked as a recruiter for the school, Kean said.What about the alleged attacker?Few details have been released about the alleged attacker, including his name and his condition.Two senior U.S. law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told NBC News that investigators say the pilot who began stabbing the other pilot is from Oman.Omani authorities have not commented and the Omani Foreign Ministry and the embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment from NBC News.Netanyahu said the pilot was being investigated in Saudi Arabia, where he was detained after the flight landed. Netanyahu added that he believed he would eventually be taken to the United Arab Emirates.Was this an attack? Based on the early results of the investigation, it increasingly looks like this was an act of terrorism, a senior American official and a Saudi Arabian official briefed on the investigation told NBC News.However, the Saudi official cautioned that the investigation was still in its early stages.No official statements on its investigations have been released by the kingdom.The United Arab Emirates, which owns Flydubai, is also trying to determine "whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or ‌purpose, or involved prior planning or direction," the country's state news agency reported Thursday.Without providing any evidence, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday ⁠that preliminary information indicated that the pilot whom he described as a terrorist aimed to crash the plane.Netanyahu described it as "a serious security incident."Speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he had spoken with Netanyahu "at length about this event.""It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job, and he stabbed the pilot," he said.Was Iran involved? There are no indications that Iran directed or was involved in the attack, a senior U.S. official briefed on the Israeli investigation told NBC News.And there have been no official suggestions from Israel that the Islamic Republic was behind the attack. Two Israeli security officials told The Associated Press that Israel had not identified any Iranian involvement so far.Does this alter anything for American flights? There are "no credible threats" to U.S. airlines, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said at a news conference Wednesday.But he said the U.S. took every incident like this very seriously "and we continue to look at the procedures that we have in place, and continue to make sure the American people are safe."What questions remain? Aside from his nationality, little is known about the pilot who carried out the attack or his motives for doing so.Pilots undergo rigorous screening and it is standard for airlines to vet their backgrounds and check their criminal and employment history.They also pass through metal detectors and checkpoints at airports, so it is unclear how he snuck a weapon aboard the plane. Netanyahu said in his interview with Fox News that Machchhar had apparently been stabbed or hit with ⁠an axe.It also remains unclear whether air marshals were on board the flight at the time of the incident.Saudi Arabia has warned that it is too early to draw definitive conclusions about who was responsible for the incident, and Israel and the UAE have announced investigations into what exactly happened on Flydubai Flight 1073.Matt Bradley, Paul Goldman, Jonathan Dienst, Andrea Mitchell and Tom Winter contributed.This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
First Thing: Details remain unclear after 'terror attack' on Dubai-Israel flight
Netanyahu says it is too early to tell who was behind the apparent attempt to crash flight after pilot stabbed• Don't already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning. Benjamin Netanyahu has said it is too early to tell who was behind the apparent attempt to crash a ⁠Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight, even as Israel's ambassador to the UN called the incident a "terror attack". Flydubai said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended while an investigation takes place.What is believed to have taken place in the cockpit? Pilot Smit Machchhar, an Indian citizen from Mumbai, has been hailed as a hero after releasing the cockpit door to allow passengers in to wrestle back control of the plane, after his co-pilot – reportedly an Omani national – stabbed him and ⁠sent the jet plunging nearly 14,000ft (4,267 metres) in less than 30 seconds.What happened next? One passenger said: "There were two spare pilots who were supposed to operate the next flight. The relief pilots … entered [the cockpit] and pulled the aircraft up, pulled the yoke, stabilised the plane and landed us in Saudi Arabia."How has Donald Trump responded? The president said: "It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist, or perhaps a whack-job, and he stabbed the pilot."Why has the death sentence for Pike been so controversial? As Ed Pilkington reported for the Guardian last month, at the time of the crime she was 18, and her co-accused was 17. That age difference meant he was spared the death penalty. Pike, at that age, had already been subjected to serious abuse, including multiple rapes by three separate men and beatings by numerous relatives. Continue reading...
Flydubai incident: Indian pilot stable, co-pilot in custody; Saudi, UAE launch probes
On a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, the Omani co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain in the cockpit. Indian captain Smit Machchhar sustained serious injuries but managed to unlock the cockpit door. Passengers intervened and overpowered the co-pilot, ensuring the safety of everyone aboard. The flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia, where all 174 people landed safely. Investigations by authorities from Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Israel are ongoing.
The drug used in Tennessee's failed execution has come under past scrutiny
The lethal drug administered in Tennessee's failed attempt to execute Christa Pike has been used in multiple states that carry out the death penalty and by the U.S. government after President Donald Trump resumed federal executions during his first term.Pike, 50, remained alive after two doses of pentobarbital were administered Wednesday, according to her attorneys and media witnesses. One of her lawyers said Thursday that she was being treated at a hospital.Attorneys for Pike said Thursday that she was being treated at a hospital, but they did not know her condition. Tennessee officials haven't explained yet what went wrong.Republican Gov. Bill Lee ordered a third-party review to determine what happened and said another scheduled execution in Tennessee will not take place this year.What is pentobarbital?Pentobarbital is a barbiturate, a class of drugs that depresses the central nervous system. Approved medical uses include sedation, short-term treatment of insomnia, preparation for anesthesia and emergency control of certain severe seizures. It is also used in veterinary euthanasia.In an overdose, it can produce coma, suppress breathing and cause circulatory collapse and death.Why is it used in executions?For years, lethal injections commonly used three drugs: an anesthetic, a paralytic that stopped breathing and potassium chloride to stop the heart.That method drew criticism because if the anesthetic failed, the paralytic could prevent a prisoner from communicating pain. It also became difficult to maintain after drugmakers restricted distribution for executions.The pentobarbital protocol was adopted at the federal level during Trump's first term to replace a three-drug mix used in the 2000s.As with Tennessee’s guidelines, the federal death penalty protocol calls for administering a 5 gram dose of pentobarbital; in medical settings, patients typically receive a fraction of a gram.Trump resumed the federal death penalty after an informal moratorium during previous administrations. The federal government used pentobarbital in 13 executions between 2020 and 2021, contributing to making Trump the most prolific execution president in over 130 years.During the Biden administration, the Justice Department stopped executions with pentobarbital after a government review raised concerns about the potential for "unnecessary pain and suffering."After Trump came back to power, the Justice Department in 2026 reauthorized the use of lethal injections with pentobarbital.How do guidelines vary in different states?Georgia and Texas use a similar protocol to Tennessee, administering a second dose only if the first is unsuccessful. South Carolina, which turned to pentobarbital in 2024, automatically gives inmates two 5-gram doses spaced about 10 minutes apart.Lawyers for people on death row have argued that giving such a large dose twice was proof the condemned were dying a lingering death, still conscious and feeling like they were drowning when fluid rushed into their lungs.But a South Carolina Department of Corrections attorney said inmates are unconscious in well under a minute and can’t feel anything. The heart may show an occasional flicker on a monitor, but that’s because it is the last organ to use the body’s stored oxygen and has residual electrical impulses. When past lethal injection executions have gone wrong, it is usually because an IV line can’t be properly inserted and the execution is stopped before the drugs are given. There have also been cases of violent reactions or prolonged time passing before death when a new combination of drugs are used.Wednesday’s failed pentobarbital execution appeared to be the first time problems happened with that drug. Witnesses frequently report that inmates stop breathing and become still less than a minute after getting the drug. Death Penalty Sep 30 Woman survives two lethal injections in botched Tennessee execution Death Penalty Sep 28 Tennessee is set to execute a woman for the first time in 200 years What have experts said about the drug?Experts quoted in the 2025 federal review argue pentobarbital can cause pulmonary edema, a buildup of fluid in the lungs that may create a sensation of suffocating. The review concluded that "there remains significant uncertainty about whether the use of pentobarbital as a single drug lethal injection causes unnecessary pain and suffering" and advised that the government should "err on the side of humane treatment."Other specialists quoted in a report released by the second Trump administration said a lethal dose causes unconsciousness before that occurs.
On TV

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent — 4x1: "Diplomatico" (Citytv)

Bateman must adjust to an unexpected change when she is assigned a new partner from the Guns & Gangs unit.

Ask This Old House — 25x1: "TBA" (PBS)

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent — 4x2: "The Scorpion and the Tortoise" (Citytv)

New Music

No new drops today. Go rediscover something in your old playlists.

In theaters
Beware Boiúna (104 minutes)
Deep in the Amazon, a medical mission spirals into a fight for survival when Boiúna, a colossal ancient predator, awakens to reclaim her domain. In the jungle where nature holds absolute power, she decides who lives and who dies.
Launching today
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew-13 — SpaceX (15:10 UTC)
SpaceX Crew-13 is the thirteenth crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Useless Fact

There is a 1 in 4 chance that New York will have a white Christmas.

The loonie
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Today In History
2024 — Claudia Sheinbaum Elected as First Woman and Jewish President of Mexico
Claudia Sheinbaum is sworn-in as president of Mexico; she is the first woman and the first Jewish person to be elected to the post. What other countries have been led by women? STR—AFP/Getty Images
2017 — 2017 Las Vegas Music Festival Shooting
From his hotel room in Las Vegas, 64-year-old gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on a music festival, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds before taking his own life; it surpassed the Orlando shooting (2016) as the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history
2013 — Tom Clancy, Bestselling Techno-Thriller Novelist, Dies at 66
American novelist Tom Clancy, who created the techno-thriller—a suspenseful novel that relies on extensive knowledge ofmilitary technologyandespionage—died at age 66
1994 — Palau Becomes Sovereign Nation
In 1994, the Republic of Palau officially became a sovereign and independent nation after gaining independence from the United States.
1982 — Establishment of U.S. Claims Court
Congress established the U.S. Claims Court (now the U.S. Court of Federal Claims) to handle cases in which the United States is a defendant
1975 — Muhammad Ali Defeats Joe Frazier in "Thrilla in Manila"
In what is regarded by many as the greatest prizefight of all time (the "Thrilla in Manila"), Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier after the latter's corner called a halt to the bout after 14 brutal rounds. How much do you know about boxing? AP Images
1971 — Walt Disney World Resort Opens in Florida
The Walt Disney World Resort, a Disney-themed entertainment complex featuring attractions based on Disney stories and characters, opened near Orlando, Florida.
1962 — Johnny Carson Becomes King of Late-Night TV
Johnny Carson began hosting The Tonight Show in 1962, establishing a format for late-night TV talk shows that would endure for decades and cementing his status as the "king of late-night television".
1961 — Roger Maris Breaks Babe Ruth's Home Run Record
American baseball player Roger Maris hit his 61st home run of the 1961 season, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.
1960 — Nigeria Gains Independence from Britain in 1960
Nigeria gained its independence from Britain but remained a member of the Commonwealth
1949 — People's Republic of China established
In Beijing, with most of the Chinese mainland held by the communist People's Liberation Army, its dynamic leader, Mao Zedong, proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China on this day in 1949
1946 — Nuremberg Trials Verdicts Announced
The verdict was handed down on 22 of the original 24 defendants in the Nürnberg trials, a series of trials held after World War IIin which the International Military Tribunal indicted and tried former Nazileaders aswar criminals
1932 — Babe Ruth's "Called Shot" in 1932 World Series
During game three of the World Series, New York Yankee Babe Ruth made his famous "called shot" when he pointed to the centre-field bleachers in Wrigley Field and then hit a home run to that spot; the Yankees defeated the Chicago Cubs and went on to win the championship. See where Babe Ruth ranks on our list of the 10 greatest baseball players of all time UPI/Bettmann Archive
1890 — Yosemite National Park Established by U.S. Congress in 1890
By an act of the U.S. Congress, Yosemite National Park was created, eventually becoming one of the most heavily visited national parks in the country
1800 — Napoleon forces Spain to cede Louisiana to France in 1800
Napoleon induced a reluctant King Charles IV of Spain to cede Louisiana back to France. How much do you know about Napoleon?
1553 — Mary I Becomes First Queen of England
With her coronation, Mary I became the first queen to rule England in her own right; she was later nicknamed "Bloody Mary" because of her persecution of Protestants in a vain attempt to restore Roman Catholicism in the country. Test your knowledge of the queens of England.
-331 — Alexander the Great Defeats Darius III at Gaugamela
Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated Darius III of Persia at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BCE, spelling the end of the Persian empire.

This is today, boiled down to the essentials. The full stash lives at logicalchaos.ca. Go get lost in it.