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National Geographic's new series was filmed over nearly four years in almost 30 countries, capturing stunning landscapes and animal behaviors rarely seen on camera.

Trump will rally in Mobile, Alabama. It's the latest stop on a swing through red states to boost election turnout among Republican voters, amid low approval ratings.

Chow leads Toronto's mayoral race by 6 points as campaign enters final month: poll  CBCSee more headlines & perspectives on Google News

Chow leads Toronto's mayoral race by 6 points as campaign enters final month: poll  CBCSee more headlines & perspectives on Google News

Leaders agree a coordinated drawdown after surge in prices and Donald Trump’s threat to cut off US supplies

Leaders of G7 nations are to release up to 100m barrels of their emergency diesel and crude oil stockpiles after Donald Trump threatened to cut off supplies of US diesel.

The French President, Emmanuel Macron, said ministers from some of world’s largest economies had agreed to release stocks from their strategic oil reserves after crisis talks on Friday.

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Sudanese Armed Forces reportedly retake al-Mazroub, advancing the army's goal of cutting the RSF’s supply lines.

1. Alberta Mountie found not guilty of using database to help Rwanda  globalnews.ca
2. CP NewsAlert: Alberta Mountie found not guilty of using database to help Rwanda  Winnipeg Free Press
3. Alberta Mountie found not guilty of using police database to help Rwanda  CityNews Edmonton

1. Alberta Mountie found not guilty of using database to help Rwanda  globalnews.ca
2. CP NewsAlert: Alberta Mountie found not guilty of using database to help Rwanda  Winnipeg Free Press
3. Alberta Mountie found not guilty of using police database to help Rwanda  CityNews Edmonton

Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly said the emergency court hearing request was granted by a judge.

An Oct. 2 emergency court filing seeks to preserve all evidence related to Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike, arguing the state botched the lethal injection procedure.

A judge was considering the request shortly after it was filed. While an unsigned document for the hearing was filed in the court system, no date or time was immediately listed.

Pike was set to be executed by the Tennessee Department of Correction on Sept. 30, but survived two doses of pentobarbital. The document, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court on Oct. 2, revealed more details about Pike's condition. It said she is intubated, on a ventilator and unconscious, and that both her arms were swollen, burned and blistered. As of the night of Oct. 1, Pike was still in critical condition at a Nashville-area hospital, the motion said.

"Hospital staff are working to save Ms. Pike's life and to clear the pentobarbital from her system," the Oct. 2 motion stated.

Pike was convicted in 1996 for the first-degree murder and torture of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville.

'She's still talking': Inside each minute of Christa Pike's failed execution attempt

Pentobarbital is the single drug required under the state's lethal injection protocol. The failed execution attempt came after a complex legal back-and-forth delayed her execution several hours that day, which was originally set for 10 a.m. Media witnesses of the procedure said the blinds to the observation room were opened and closed multiple times between around 7:40 p.m. and 8 p.m. As they were shuffled out of the room at 8:53 p.m., media witnesses said they could still hear Pike breathing.

"Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms. Pike's body," the emergency motion stated. "Instead of remedying this failure, TDOC elected to prepare a backup set of syringes (if they were not also prepared earlier that day) and then administered another lethal dose of pentobarbital."

The motion said the state committed a "manifest violation" of Pike's constitutional rights and called its actions "reckless" and "incompetent."

After the attempted execution, the state said that it had "followed every step" of its protocol. TDOC officials said the protocol did not allow them to perform additional procedures.

In an Oct. 1 news conference, Pike's attorney Randy Spivey said she was alive, in critical condition and receiving medical care.

"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," Spivey said.

No other information on Pike's condition was available as of 2 p.m. Oct. 2.

Pike and her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp beat Slemmer to death on Jan. 12, 1995. Pike was 18 at the time, while Shipp was 17. Both were convicted of first-degree murder the next year.

Slemmer was born and raised in Orange Park, a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida. She was known for computer skills and her volunteer efforts, including helping out with painting her school and during Special Olympics competitions. 

At the time of the murder, Pike said she thought Slemmer was romantically interested in Shipp. The couple lured Slemmer to a Knoxville park, then beat and tortured her. A pentagram was also carved into Slemmer's body. Pike delivered the fatal blow. Investigators said Pike later bragged about the murder and showed part of Slemmer's skull to others. 

A third person, then-18-year-old Shadolla Peterson, was arrested but given probation after agreeing to testify against Pike and Shipp.

Tennessee's history of execution failure, issues

Pike's survival of state-administered lethal injection drugs appeared to be unprecedented in the modern history of the U.S. death penalty. Medical experts told The Tennessean that a problem with Pike's IV or the delivery of the pentobarbital is among the most likely explanations for her survival, though exactly what happened remains unknown.

The failed execution is expected to intensify ongoing litigation over Tennessee's lethal injection procedures. Pike's attorneys had raised concerns before the execution about her thrombocytosis, a blood condition they argued could make lethal injection unnecessarily painful. They also questioned the state's ability to establish reliable IV access.

More: Christa Pike's veins, blood disorder were the focus of a three-day hearing

"Her concerns were called 'speculation,'" the Oct. 2 emergency motion stated. "They were laughed off, scoffed at, and dismissed. In the words of one media witness: we have a lot of questions, and the Department of Correction has a lot of answers that it needs to provide to the public about what happened here. We agree."

In May, execution personnel repeatedly tried to establish IV access for death row prisoner Tony Carruthers but could not properly place the second line required under the state's protocol. Dr. Mark Fowler then unsuccessfully attempted to place a central line. After Carruthers spent more than an hour strapped to the execution gurney, the state abandoned the execution.

Fowler had not placed a central line in at least 13 years, according to his deposition in litigation over Tennessee's execution procedures. Fowler testified that he had placed about a dozen central lines during his career and had no current hospital privileges. Fowler was also set to oversee Pike's execution on Sept. 30, according to news reports.

In 2022, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee temporarily halted executions after TDOC acknowledged it had failed to follow its own execution protocol. An independent investigation found systemic failures stretching back years, including the department's failure to consistently test lethal injection drugs for potency, purity and contaminants. The state resumed executions in 2025.

More: Unsuccessful Christa Pike execution follows years of lethal injection issues

Lee halts Tennessee executions as TDOC scrutiny grows

Meanwhile, Lee has halted executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year and ordered a comprehensive, third-party review into what went wrong during Pike's attempted execution. TDOC has not said if any accountability measures will be taken or released details on what the investigation entails.

Lee called the failed execution “deeply disturbing” and said the review would seek to determine exactly what happened. The pause postpones the execution of Gary Wayne Sutton, which was scheduled for Dec. 3.

Tennessee's candidates for governor quickly distanced themselves from TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada after the failed execution of Pike. Democratic nominee Jerri Green called for his immediate resignation on Oct. 2. Representatives for Republican nominee Sen. Marsha Blackburn and independents David Hatley and Lauren Pinkston told the USA TODAY Network in Tennessee they would not allow Strada to keep his job if they are elected. The election is set for Nov. 3.

Knox News reporter Allie Feinberg contributed to this story.

Reach Tennessean reporter Rachel Wegner at RAwegner@tennessean.com. Reach Tennessean reporter Kelly Puente at KPuente@tennessean.com.

This story has been updated to add more information and to add video.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Christa Pike unconscious, burned and intubated, court filing shows

This article originally appeared on The Tennessean at https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/courts/2026/10/02/christa-pike-intubated-burned-unconscious-new-court-filing/92055766007/

The host says she is "fine" but getting checked after leaving midway through Friday's This Morning.

Tech Randoms II: Lake Placid DH World Cup  Pinkbike

Tech Randoms II: Lake Placid DH World Cup  Pinkbike

Christa Pike was placed on a ventilator and unconscious in a hospital in the hours after her failed execution in Tennessee, her attorneys said in a court filing Friday.

Hospital staff, her lawyers said, were working to save Pike’s life and clear the two doses of the drug that the state uses to execute prisoners.

The stunning failure in Tennessee’s execution chamber on Wednesday has left both sides on the death penalty debate demanding answers. The state's governor has ordered an independent review.

In the court filing, Pike’s attorneys said they believed problems with the IV lines caused the lethal drug pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream.

“Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms. Pike’s body,” they wrote.

Instead of “remedying this failure,” they prepared and administered a backup set of pentobarbital syringe, her lawyers said.

State officials have not offered any explanation about what went wrong during the execution attempt

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee demanded a review of the state’s execution procedures and indefinitely postponed Pike’s execution and another one slated for this year. Other Republican political leaders in Tennessee said the state should review whether to stop single-drug lethal injections and consider other options to carry out death sentences.

The execution team worked for an hour to administer the lethal drugs, said Pike's defense lawyer Randy Spivey, who counted at least seven needles in her left arm.

Neither the initial nor the 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.

This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/christa-pike-ventilator-unconscious-failed-183858410.html

1. Updated COVID-19, flu vaccines available in N.B. on Oct. 13  CBC
2. Flu and COVID-19 vaccinations are underway. Here’s each province’s approach  Global News
3. Flu and COVID vaccine rollout announced  Thunder Bay News - TBNewsWatch.com
4. COVID-19, flu shots available to New Brunswickers later this month  CTV News
5. COVID-19, Flu, RSV Vaccines available in October for high-risk people  BayToday.ca

1. Updated COVID-19, flu vaccines available in N.B. on Oct. 13  CBC
2. Flu and COVID-19 vaccinations are underway. Here’s each province’s approach  Global News
3. Flu and COVID vaccine rollout announced  Thunder Bay News - TBNewsWatch.com
4. COVID-19, flu shots available to New Brunswickers later this month  CTV News
5. COVID-19, Flu, RSV Vaccines available in October for high-risk people  BayToday.ca

1. Top Democrats slam ‘Trump’s failing economic agenda’ after weaker-than-expected jobs growth – US politics live  The Guardian
2. Labor market faltered in September as jobs increased by just 29,000, unemployment rate rose to 4.2%  CNBC
3. U.S. job growth in September slows more than expected one month before midterms  The Globe and Mail
4. US jobs market sees sharp slowdown ahead of midterm elections  BBC
5. Market Outlook: Slower U.S. hiring eases October Fed hike expectations  BNN Bloomberg

• NFL announces violation of personal conduct policy

• York pleaded no contest after arrest at Ohio trailer park

The NFL suspended San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York for six games Friday after his arrest earlier this year in a prostitution sting in Ohio.

The league announced that York also was fined $500,000 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. York has not attended any games or league meetings so far this season and was credited with three games served. He is eligible to return on 20 October, following the team’s game the previous night against Washington.

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MIAMI (AP) — A former Miami congressman and longtime friend of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison in connection with a secret $50 million lobbying campaign on Venezuela’s behalf during the first Trump administration.

Republican David Rivera has been jailed since jurors found him guilty in May on all counts, including failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of his work for former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ’s government.

Rivera, 61, appeared stone-faced as Judge Melissa Damian denounced him for betraying his life’s mission, saying he would surely have been judged harshly his many friends had the millions of dollars come from the Cuban regime instead of its allies in Caracas.

“Nobody would accept that’s ok and I don’t think this is different,” the judge said. “There’s no dispute this money came from the Maduro regime.”

The seven-week trial offered a rare glimpse into Miami’s role as a crossroads for foreign influence campaigns aimed at shaping U.S. policy toward Latin America, highlighting the city’s reputation as a magnet for both anti-communist crusaders and corruption among its sizable exile population.

It included testimony from President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas and a top Washington lobbyist — all of whom testified they felt betrayed when learning of Rivera’s mammoth consulting contract with a U.S.-based affiliate of Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA.

Attorneys for Rivera plan to appeal and in June applied for a presidential pardon. Rivera faces additional federal charges in Washington, D.C., in a related foreign lobbying case.

Prosecutors said betrayal featured coded figures — ‘Sombrero’ and ‘Miss Clairol’

In an indictment unsealed in 2022, prosecutors alleged that Rivera was tapped by then Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez — now Venezuela’s acting president — to work Republican connections to get the first Trump administration to abandon its hard line and crippling sanctions on Venezuela.

As part of the charm offensive, Rivera and a co-defendant, political consultant Esther Nuhfer, sought to manipulate influential friends, including Rubio and Sessions. Their goal was to normalize relations with the new Trump administration even as the Maduro government faced sanctions over serious accusations of human rights violations.

But Rivera and Nuhfer didn’t disclose their lobbying work as required, for fear it would have ended Rivera’s political career as an anti-communist stalwart, prosecutors argued at trial.

“The United States and the public were the true victims of this fraud,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Cruz said in urging a stiff sentence. “He used his position of trust — and betrayed it consistently and repeatedly.”

To hide his work, prosecutors allege, Rivera also set up an encrypted chat group called MIA — for Miami — with his main conduit to the Maduro government: Venezuelan media tycoon Raúl Gorrín, who was subsequently charged in the U.S. with bribing top Venezuelan officials.

Members of the group used playful code words to discuss their activities: Maduro was the “bus driver,” Sessions “Sombrero,” Rodríguez “The Lady in Red,” and their windfall payments “La Luz,” Spanish for “The Light,” according to copies of text messages presented to the jury. Rubio was known as “Miss Clairol,” because rubio means blond in Spanish.

Defense said only missing paperwork made the $50 million contract illegal

At Friday’s sentencing, attorneys for Rivera repeated their trial argument that the former congressman believed he was under no requirement to disclose the work. The three-month, $50 million contract with Rivera’s one-man consulting firm, they said, was focused on luring oil giant ExxonMobil back to Venezuela — commercial work that is generally exempt from the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

“David Rivera does not deserve to die in prison because he failed to file a FARA registration,” defense attorney Ed Shohat said at Friday’s hearing. “If he had filed that paper, that form, everything he did, including the $50 million contract, which totally distorted this case, is perfectly legal.”

Wholly distinct from that consulting work, they say, were Rivera’s meetings with Rubio and Sessions, which were focused on ushering in leadership in Venezuela that would be less hostile to the U.S. – not supporting Maduro in normalizing relations with the U.S.

“There’s not one word in any chat, not one document, not one thing he did to help Nicolás Maduro,” said Shohat.

Prosecutors said Rivera used the contract with the affiliate, New York-based PDV USA, as cover for illegal lobbying.

“This is a classic money laundering case,” the judge said Friday in rejecting Rivera’s motion to lower the federal guidelines range.

Where did the money go? A luxury yacht, among other things

The partners tried to hide the work — backdating documents and coming up with sham agreements, like one to justify a wire transfer of $3.75 million to a South Florida company that maintained Gorrín’s luxury yacht, prosecutors said.

The political activity included setting up meetings for Rodríguez in New York, Caracas, Washington and Dallas. As part of the effort, Rivera roped in Sessions, who later tried to broker a meeting for Rodríguez with the ExxonMobil executive who took over as CEO when Rex Tillerson became Trump’s first-term secretary of state. After a secret meeting in Caracas with Maduro, Sessions also agreed to deliver a letter from the Venezuelan president to Trump.

The outreach quickly unraveled, however. Within six months of taking office, Trump sanctioned Maduro and labeled him a “dictator,” launching a “maximum pressure” campaign to unseat the president.

And now, nearly a decade later, Rodríguez has emerged as the second Trump administration’s trusted partner after the U.S. military’s ousting of Maduro.

Rubio's former housemate faced scandal before, but Cuban Americans support him

Before being elected to Congress in 2010, Rivera was a high-ranking Florida legislator and shared a Tallahassee home with Rubio, who eventually became the Florida House speaker.

Rivera faced earlier controversy, including allegations that he secretly funded a Democratic spoiler candidate in a 2012 congressional race. Last year, federal prosecutors dropped that case after an appeals court threw out a sizable fine imposed by a lower court. Rivera was also investigated — but never charged — for alleged campaign finance violations and a $1 million contract with a gambling company while serving in the Florida Legislature.

Despite all that, Rivera remains popular among Miami’s Cuban American establishment.

Friends of the former congressman, including the former president of Florida International University and Miami-Dade County’s supervisor of elections, packed the courtroom to show their support.

Sessions, in a letter seeking leniency that was read into the record by his chief of staff, said his former congressional colleague devoted decades to public service, much of it focused on defending liberty and democracy.

“I don’t think it’s productive for society by sending David away for a long, long time,” testified Liliana Ros, a longtime Miami GOP committee member.

This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/former-gop-rep-david-rivera-182044649.html

Residents of Ras al-Ahmar say Israeli restrictions have cut access to water, animal feed, healthcare.

1. Nuit Blanche returns to Toronto this Saturday for the 20th anniversary of the all-night arts event  CP24
2. Six striking works of art you need to see at Nuit Blanche this year  Toronto Life
3. Going to Nuit Blanche? Here’s everything you need to know about road closures, TTC and more  NOW Toronto
4. 7 must-see Nuit Blanche Toronto installations and one you might want to skip  blogTO
5. What you need to know about Nuit Blanche 2026 in Toronto  CityNews Toronto