At the Aegis of Trump Leading Capitalist States Will Release 100 Million Barrels of Oil and Diesel Fuel After Prices Soar

By COLLIN BINKLEY and JOHN LEICESTER

3:11 PM EDT, October 2, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Group of Seven wealthy democracies said Friday that they plan to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products in the coming weeks, starting with “substantial” amounts of diesel after the fuel recently hit record high prices in the United States.

President Donald Trump said the diesel release would happen “immediately,” echoing a G7 promise to start “immediately” with a “frontloaded substantial release” of diesel within the next 20 days and the rest over four months.

Trump and his Republican Party face pressure to address surging prices ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, and Trump announced the action Friday on social media. The president’s approval ratings on the economy hit a new low, according to an AP-NORC poll, as the Iran war and his trade battles have increased U.S. prices for oil and other goods.

Gas prices in the U.S. and abroad have soared during the eight-month-long war, a cost Trump has repeatedly said is worth it for making sure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons. The national average for a gallon of diesel in the U.S. was $6.37 on Friday, according to AAA, after hitting a record $6.52 on Sept. 22. Diesel prices have hit records in Europe, too.

The release of diesel in Europe might mean less exports of diesel from the U.S., which could lower prices by 25-50 cents per gallon after a few weeks, said Michael Lynch, distinguished fellow at Energy Policy Research Foundation, a non-partisan research institution focused on energy and economics.

France holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group and made the announcement in a statement released after videoconference talks that Macron presided over. The G7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., plus EU representation.

The release follows on from a March announcement that International Energy Agency member countries would release 426 million barrels of oil and products to stabilize the oil market. European Union countries committed about 92 million barrels, a promise weighted toward refined products made from crude such as diesel.

“This common decision and this unity should bring down prices,” Macron said. “The volumes we’re releasing should also add liquidity to the market and bring down prices.”

In addition to the rise in the price of the crude oil from which diesel is made, other factors include the decision by Russia to ban exports due to Ukrainian drone strikes on its refineries. Europe does not import Russian diesel, but other buyers of Russian diesel such as Turkey and Latin American countries must now compete with Europe for available barrels.

Meanwhile refined product shipments from the Persian Gulf producers have fallen due to war damage and blocked export routes.

The statement pushed U.S. oil prices down 2% but “the impact was lessened by lack of clarity on an important question,” said Pavel Molchanov, investment strategy analyst at Raymond James. Is the 100 million barrels in addition to the amount already agreed in March, or “is this the final portion of the existing pledge?” he said.

Some Republicans in the U.S. had called for Trump to ban U.S. exports of diesel to try to bring domestic prices down. But the G7 statement said the group agreed not to limit energy exports to each other. Oil market analysts warn a U.S. export ban could lower prices in the short term but eventually backfire by reducing supplies of gasoline since diesel output can’t be lowered without also cutting overall refinery production.

The emergency release could also be a short-term fix with the potential to do long-term harm, said Jim Krane, energy research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute.

“Draining stocks will reduce retail fuel prices for a while, at the cost of leaving Europe with less emergency cover,” Krane said. “At some point in the future Europe and the rest of the G7 will have to refill their strategic reserves. Normally they try to do this when prices are low. Nobody knows when that will happen. It’s a risk.”

With two wars raging that involve attacks on refineries and exports, “it’s not the best time to be frittering away your emergency stocks -- especially when there is no visibility on future prices or peace agreements,” Krane said.

Trump had a conversation overnight with Macron about the need to address rising fuel prices and the availability of petroleum products, according to the French Embassy in the U.S. Macron on Friday then chaired the videoconference of G7 leaders to discuss the issue.

Besides his call with Macron, Trump on Friday called in to the meeting with the G7 leaders to negotiate the release of the European diesel stockpiles, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Trump on Thursday embarked on what he said would be a 32-day marathon of rallies to try to bolster his party’s chances for keeping control of the U.S. House and Senate in the November elections. The president has grown increasingly frustrated with what he sees as a disconnect between his achievements and the public’s view of his work. This week he gave himself an A-plus for his work on the economy but said “we’re doing an extremely poor job of promotion.”

___

Leicester reported from Paris. AP writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report. AP Business Writer David McHugh contributed from Frankfurt, Germany and Cathy Bussewitz contributed from New York.

Algerian Lawmakers Pass a Bill Restoring the Death Penalty for Arson

4:51 AM EDT, October 2, 2026

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algerian lawmakers have passed a bill reintroducing the death penalty for arson following deadly and devastating wildfires this summer.

The bill passed 307-17 with seven abstentions on Thursday. Algeria has not carried out an execution since 1993, but human rights groups say courts continue to impose death sentences.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had warned in August that those responsible for the fires that devastated large parts of the country would face the death penalty.

A moratorium on executions had been in effect since 1993, the year of the country’s last executions of three Islamic militants convicted over a bloody attack at Algiers International Airport.

The bill would also make child abduction a capital offense.

“The adoption of the death penalty for these acts is the appropriate legal response to eradicate these crimes,” Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa said.

The bill received support from conservatives and Islamists, who hold a majority in the National Assembly, the lower chamber. It was criticized by international organizations such as Amnesty International.

The official death toll from the wildfires was 12, but the actual figure is believed to be much higher, with videos on social media showing dozens of coffins lined up beside mass graves last month.

The bill is set to be reviewed by the upper house of Parliament before it is ratified.

Botswana Has So Many Elephants it Approved the Killing of 23 This Week for Independence Celebrations

Botswana's President Duma Boko speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

By SELLO MOTSETA

1:34 PM EDT, October 2, 2026

GABORONE, Botswana (AP) — Botswana’s government authorized the killing of 23 elephants for its independence day celebrations this week, drawing criticism from conservationists and one of its former presidents.

The licenses to hunt the elephants were issued in districts across the country, with each receiving a portion of the overall quota. The elephants would provide meat for needy rural communities, authorities said Friday in defense of the move.

While African savanna elephants are listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the southern African nation of Botswana has a large elephant population estimated at around 130,000, more than any other country.

Its controlled annual elephant hunting quotas have sparked criticism before, but the government has defended them as necessary to manage elephant numbers and try and limit human-elephant conflict. Botswana lifted a ban on hunting elephants in 2019, largely because of their burgeoning numbers.

Botswana has issued annual quotas to hunt between 200 and more than 400 elephants recently, depending on the year.

The government also authorized this week the killing of dozens of antelope as part of the initiative, which coincided with Botswana celebrating the 60th anniversary of its independence from Britain on Wednesday.

Botswana’s Elephant Protection Society said the decision to kill elephants was reckless and might provoke herds to be more hostile to people they live near. “When one elephant is shot, the rest become defensive,” it said.

Elephants can be extremely destructive and dangerous, and several African countries must confront the problem of elephant herds destroying farmers’ crops and infrastructure as well as killing or injuring people.

Human-wildlife conflict is a major issue for many African countries. Other nations, including neighbor South Africa, also issue annual quotas for the hunting of elephants.

Botswana, which attracts international tourists for its rich wildlife, has a policy to compensate local people for human-wildlife conflict incidents and hundreds of cases are recorded each year.

Botswana’s elephant numbers were an international talking point in 2024 when then-President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his government responded to criticism of trophy hunting from the U.K. and Germany by offering to send tens of thousands of elephants to those countries.

“It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion on our affairs in Botswana,” Masisi was quoted as saying by German newspaper Bild, adding that managing elephants was “no joke.”

This week’s elephant hunting was defended by Dimakatso Ntshebe, deputy director at the government’s department of wildlife and national parks.

“Wildlife conservation must deliver meaningful benefits to the communities that live alongside wildlife and contribute to its protection,” he said Friday.

But Ian Khama, who served as Botswana’s president from 2008 to 2018 and now holds a traditional governance role as a regional chief, said he disagreed with the move, and it created an “expectation” that elephants would be killed for future national events.

An Ebola Treatment Center Was Burned Down as the Death Toll in DR Congo Passes 4,000

By DIEUDONNE DIROLE and OPE ADETAYO

9:17 AM EDT, October 2, 2026

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s Ebola outbreak has killed more than 4,000 people, authorities said, as they struggle to contain what has become the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history.

The latest figures released by the Health Ministry on Thursday showed that 4,018 people have died among 8,300 cases recorded since the outbreak was declared in eastern Congo on May 15.

Some health workers, meanwhile, gathered at the epicenter in Ituri Province to demand payment for wages owed them. The protesters, who included surveillance team members, waved placards saying, “No money, no data!” and “No payment for months.”

Some of the workers haven’t been paid for August and September, said Biongi Beiza, one of the protesters in Bunia, Ituri’s capital. “There is no explanation from the administration,” he said.

Congolese authorities did not immediately address the issue. Front-line workers have gone on strike several times since the outbreak began, further hampering efforts to contain the disease.

A senior U.N. official said an Ebola-hit displacement camp housing a transit center for infected patients was burned by soldiers earlier this week as they were looking for weapons in Kigonze, on the outskirts of Bunia, forcing 19,000 people in the camp to flee.

Creating such transit and treatment centers has been a struggle, requiring money and staff, all of which are in short supply, said Julien Harneis, the U.N. senior Ebola coordinator. “When we lose a center, that means we lose capacity, we lose investment, and we have to start again. And above all, it means that people do not get access to the care that they really need,” Harneis said.

Infected aid worker evacuated to the Netherlands

An aid worker with Médecins Sans Frontières, known in English as Doctors Without Borders, was infected with Ebola while working in Congo, the group said in a statement.

The worker arrived in the Netherlands late Thursday on a special medical flight and was transferred to a high-level isolation unit, the Leiden University Medical Center said in a statement.

“The human cost of this crisis is unprecedented in the DRC, with communities facing the largest Ebola disease outbreak ever recorded in the country,” MSF said.

At least 50 health workers have died after contracting the virus.

Mobile labs are helping detect cases quickly

One way local authorities have tried to contain the outbreak is through mobile laboratories. In Butembo, an Associated Press journalist watched a medical team operating one such lab near an Ebola treatment center on Thursday.

Test results that used to take 72 hours can now be obtained in six hours with the mobile labs, said Lota Kalubi, a doctor at the treatment center.

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The labs have also made it easier to get to locations usually difficult to reach, said Michel Ngimba with the National Institute of Biomedical Research in Butembo. “So we can go, if today we have an emergency, for example, in Katwa, we can start up the vehicle, and we can move the lab to Katwa,” said Ngimba.

Insecurity and community resistance are hampering containment efforts

The World Health Organization has recently raised the alarm about the virus’ rapid spread into new health zones, stretching limited resources. The current outbreak is on track to exceed the deadliest on record, West Africa’s regional outbreak between 2014 and 2016, which killed 11,000 people, WHO has said.

The number of newly confirmed cases is falling, but that could be attributed to insecurity and challenges in getting communities to cooperate in some of the hot spots, Africa CDC said on Thursday. While the spread of the disease has slowed in some areas, it has accelerated in others.

Confirmed cases fell from around 850 cases and 470 deaths a week in mid-July to an average of 490 cases and 230 deaths in September.

A Congolese politician was beaten to death earlier this week in one of the emerging hot spots after defending government measures to deal with the outbreak, highlighting tensions and mistrust in communities.

Authorities last month launched a village-centered approach that involved working with local leaders to educate people about the virus, but those efforts face resistance from residents who dismiss Ebola as a hoax. There is also deep distrust in the country’s government for reasons including how it’s managed past Ebola outbreaks and chronic corruption.

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Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria. Sebastien Kitsa Musayi in Butembo, Congo, Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria, and Mike Corder in the Netherlands contributed.

Guinea-Bissau Military Government Blocks Former President Embaló’s Return

Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

By ASSANA SAMBU

8:27 AM EDT, October 2, 2026

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau (AP) — Guinea-Bissau ’s military government has barred former President Umaro Sissoco Embaló from returning to the country, citing security and public order concerns.

Embaló, who ruled the Portuguese-speaking West African nation between 2020 and 2025, planned to return on Oct. 4 and said he would run in elections expected in December. He has been living in exile in Morocco since military officers took power in Nov. 2025, following a disputed election in which both he and the opposition candidate claimed victory.

The decision to bar him from returning followed a meeting of military leaders who said in a statement on Thursday that “the necessary security conditions” for Embaló’s return were not currently in place. According to the military command, the measure is needed to ensure national security and public order.

In response, Embaló told his supporters he would be contesting the December elections, which intended to restore civilian rule.

“I hope the judicial authorities will review our candidacy with impartiality and independence, and in accordance with the principles of justice,” he said.

In August, the military government held a referendum that approved sweeping changes to the constitution, including expanding presidential powers and trimming the country’s parliament.

What’s Behind French Student Protests that Turned Violent?

The school protests coincide with public sector strikes over planned budget cuts.

A student raises a placard reading "I thought we were fraternal" during a rally on a day of nationwide public sector strikes and demonstrations, in Rennes, western France, on September 29, 2026.

By Caolán Magee

30 Sep 2026

Protests over crowded classrooms, teacher shortages and lengthy school days have spread across France, with police detaining more than 400 people, many of them minors, on Tuesday.

The movement began at high schools in the Paris area last week before expanding nationwide. Some school blockades turned violent as protesters burned rubbish bins and hurled bottles at officers, who responded with batons and tear gas. Authorities said 48 law enforcement officers were injured.

The unrest coincided with a public sector strike over the government’s budget plans, adding to political tensions and a headache for Emmanuel Macron ahead of next year’s presidential election. Here is what we know.

What happened during the protests?

The French education ministry says protests have affected about 400 of France’s 3,700 lycees (high schools).

Protests began in Paris last week, where teenagers have been blockading their schools for several days. This week, demonstrations and blockades have spread around the country. On Tuesday, protesters set fire to rubbish bins outside a high school in Lille, northern France, and threw bottles, paving stones and other projectiles at police.

Confrontations have also been reported in Bordeaux, Rennes, Nantes, Lyon and Marseille. In some cases, officers responded with tear gas after bus shelters and advertising hoardings were vandalised. According to AFP, high school students piled up rubbish bins at the entrance to the Lycee Gabriel Guist’hau in Nantes.

About 80 students gathered outside the Lamartine school in Paris, brandishing slogans complaining of getting “More hours of lessons than sleep”.

At the Lycee Brequigny in the northwestern city of Rennes, Brittany’s largest high school, about 100 students threw projectiles at the building, an AFP video journalist reported.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told BFM TV that 440 people had been detained nationwide, although the tally was not final. About two-thirds were subsequently placed in police custody, he said.

Nunez condemned protesters who arrived with their faces covered and carrying projectiles, saying there was no justification for seeking confrontations with officers. He also said there had been seven incidents in which hydrochloric acid was thrown at police. AFP reported that police carrying riot shields struck students with batons when a crowd formed in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis.

Vincent Latour, professor of British studies at Universite Toulouse Jean Jaures, told Al Jazeera the movement was expanding. “The number of secondary schools involved has doubled over the last couple of days,” he said.

Why are students protesting?

The protests are over conditions in France’s lycees, where students generally spend their final three years of secondary education, between the ages of 15 and 18.

Their complaints include large class sizes, absent teachers, inadequate school buildings and exhausting schedules. Outside the Lamartine lycee in Paris, students held placards protesting against their timetables, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported. One read: “8am-6pm. More hours of lessons than sleep.”

Latour said the grievances had been building since heatwaves in June exposed problems with school buildings. “There has been discontent since successive heatwaves in June this year, which revealed the poor state of schools, with poor insulation and no air conditioning,” he said.

“The current wave is happening against a background of difficult conditions: missing teachers, teachers who are absent and not replaced, continued difficult material conditions, and discontent over working conditions and pay.”

In Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Mayor Bally Bagayoko joined hundreds of students outside the Paul-Eluard lycee. He described their protest as “completely legitimate” and said poorer areas received fewer resources than wealthier ones.

Latour said some students also questioned the government’s priorities, pointing to its emphasis on restrictions such as the ban on wearing the abaya in state schools.

“Some students argue they should concentrate on what matters: offering pupils and students decent learning conditions,” he said.

How are the protests linked to the strikes?

The school protests coincided with a nationwide public-sector strike against the government’s proposed budget, which includes 54 billion euros ($61.3bn) of funding cuts and savings.

Caroline Cheve, secretary-general of the FSU education union federation, said pupils and teachers essentially shared the same frustrations.

“They’re in overcrowded classrooms. Sometimes they don’t have enough teachers because of staffing shortages. They see the same reality as we do, and they’re angry,” she said.

The government also proposes freezing state employees’ base salaries in 2027 to save about 2 billion euros ($2.27bn). Unions say this would be the fourth consecutive annual freeze.

Teachers, firefighters and other public sector workers therefore joined Tuesday’s action by students. The education ministry said just over 11 percent of teachers and other school staff participated. Ryad Rani, president of the Union Syndicale Lyceenne, a high school students’ union, called for nationwide school blockades alongside the public sector strike, while urging protesters to “remain peaceful”.

He said students were protesting against a “general lack of resources”, classes containing as many as 32 to 35 pupils, and shortages of teachers and other staff.

Rani criticised instructions from the interior and education ministries telling police to maintain order outside schools with a proportionate use of force.

“We’re talking about pupils of 15-18 years old and the government’s only response is automatic and institutionalised repression. It’s unacceptable,” he told BFM TV.

What has been the political response?

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu condemned violence outside schools and accused political opponents of encouraging an escalation. “Fireworks, fires, violence near high schools: nothing justifies endangering students, staff or police,” he wrote on X.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the left-wing France Unbowed party, accused the government of ordering a crackdown on high school students. “This brutality is irresponsible and has a clear racist undertone. Hands off our youth,” he wrote, calling on elected officials and party activists to intervene.

Lecornu called Melenchon’s intervention an “irresponsible escalation” and rejected the accusation of racism as “an insult”.

“Exploiting their anger for partisan purposes is wrong,” he wrote.

The dispute comes as Lecornu seeks support for the 2027 budget in a divided parliament, while parties position themselves ahead of the presidential election next spring.

Latour said the school protests were unfolding amid wider anger over public services, high fuel prices and pressure on household finances. “The political climate is rather explosive because of the upcoming presidential election,” he said.

He suggested left-wing parties could seek to bring different protest movements together, including those involving school pupils.

Latour also said unrest could spread to universities, where funding pressures had intensified. “There is potential for a series of protests in French universities, given the underfunding of French universities over the past few years,” he said.

“There was a deterioration over the last year, which seems set to continue.”

Transport Suspended in Some French Cities as School Protests Continue

France

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a crisis meeting Thursday as students staged new protests against understaffing, onerous schedules and overheated classrooms, with public transport affected in several cities. More than 1,900 people, most of them students, have been detained and hundreds of police injured amid the increasingly violent protests, the interior ministry reported.

Modified: 01/10/2026 - 21:10

By FRANCE 24

Anti-riot police officers face protesting students outside Le Corbusier secondary school in Aubervilliers, northern Paris, on October 1, 2026.

Anti-riot police officers face protesting students outside Le Corbusier secondary school in Aubervilliers, northern Paris, on October 1, 2026. © Lou Benoist, AFP

French students set fire to bins and erected blockades outside schools in several cities, protesting against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and crumbling facilities.

Several school principals were injured, harassed or assaulted during blockades at high schools on Thursday, according to reports from regional education authorities, prefectures and union representatives.

Riot police have lined up against the students, and the force has launched internal probes after accusations of brutality against three pupils, said Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.

Police have already detained hundreds of protesters at the lycées, which students aged 15 to 18 attend for their final three years of secondary education in France.

In ​the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, crowds of young people massed in front of a line of police. One student ​held up a sign that read: "Can we explain ourselves without being teargassed?"

The interior ministry said police and gendarmes had made 1,949 arrests on Thursday, while 305 officers had been injured. Nunez condemned what he described as "unbridled violence".

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a crisis meeting in the afternoon, asking his ministers to cancel their travel plans over the coming days due to the blockades led by high school students in order to let prefects handle the situation, his entourage reported.

The government said the demonstrations had become "urban violence" and cited the intelligence service to justify claims that it had been organised by the radical left.

Manuel Bompard, a leading figure in the left-wing France Unbowed party (LFI), quickly dismissed the claim, accusing the government of "sinking into conspiratorial thinking".

"LFI has always advocated non-violent demonstrations," LFI lawmaker Louis Boyard told BFM TV after a readout of the crisis meeting was shared with reporters.

"The government, by turning it into a political battle, has added fuel to the fire by insulting and repressing high school students," he added.

"This sense of frustration will not be dealt with through batons; it will be dealt with by showing ‌consideration for these young people," he said.

This latest wave of social unrest comes with tensions already running high over inflation, particularly soaring fuel prices – and just seven months away from France's presidential election, where opinion polls suggest far-right leader Marine Le Pen is the frontrunner.

A security source said there had been 900 blockades or related incidents across the country on Thursday.

More than 160 schools were shut down, and university students joined the protests in Paris, Marseille and other cities.

And the authorities in the Paris region said around 50 schools had been "the scene of violence, clashes and damage".

'It's unbearable'

Since last week, pupils have staged protests outside schools over a range of grievances. They range from timetables, class sizes and a shortage of teachers to overheated classrooms during this year's heatwaves.

The protests have spread across the country from the Paris suburbs.

University students also joined in Thursday, blocking access to around 30 campuses, a student union said.

Among reports of school staff being targeted was one incident in the southern port city of Marseille when a school principal and his deputy were inadvertently splashed with petrol as protesters were trying to fill containers.

In the northwestern city of Nantes, firefighters had to intervene to extinguish a fire in the entrance of a high school "following a gathering marked by violence towards staff", the regional education board said.

Authorities reported violence near high schools, mainly in Nantes, blaming "violent individuals" who "join the students to carry out acts of vandalism".

In the northeastern city of Strasbourg, trams were ordered to halt to "restrict the movements of rioters and demonstrators", the regional prefect said.

Raphael, a 17-year-old who did not give his surname for fear of reprisals, was among the protesters outside a school in Strasbourg, where some used barriers to obstruct the nearby tramway tracks.

"There are 35 of us per classroom. With 35°C in summer, it's unbearable. There aren't enough toilets, and there are water leaks in some rooms," Raphael said.

"The building is falling apart, the cafeteria is too small. There's zero budget, zero resources, not enough supervisors," he said.

Nearby, students took photos of themselves in front of burning rubbish bins, holding up the sign with their school's name ripped off the tram stop.

Most pupils did not take part in any vandalism, instead breaking into a sprint down an avenue when the police fired tear gas.

In the southern city of Toulouse, hundreds of young people flooded the tram tracks, some toppling trash cans and starting fires, hurling projectiles or smashing bus shelters, AFP journalists said.

In the northern city of Lille, AFP reporters saw young people wearing black hoodies destroy the glass of a bus stop. Firefighters intervened to put out the flames on upturned dustbins set on fire.

The government has accused the left-wing LFI of encouraging the protests.

But LFI's candidate for the 2027 presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, said on Wednesday that his party "called for non-violent methods of struggle".

In neighbouring Belgium, there were protests and damage at a handful of schools in the eastern city of Liège, police said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

French High School Protests Spread, Hundreds of Arrests Amid Unrest

According to interior ministry figures, 1,027 high schools out of the 3,700 across France had been affected by the movement's actions against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and crumbling facilities.

Le Monde with AFP

Published today at 11:20 am 

French students set fire to bins and erected blockades outside schools in several cities, protesting overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and crumbling facilities. Several school principals were injured, harassed or assaulted during blockades at high schools on Thursday, October 1, according to reports from regional education authorities, prefectures and union representatives.

Police have already detained hundreds of protesters at the high schools. The interior ministry said police and gendarmes had made 1,949 arrests on Thursday, while 305 officers had been injured.

According to interior ministry figures, 1,027 high schools out of the 3,700 across France had been affected by the movement's actions, with blockades at 222 of them. The authorities in the Paris region said around 50 schools had been "the scene of violence, clashes and damage."

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez condemned what he described as "unbridled violence." The office of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the demonstrations had become "urban violence" and cited the intelligence service to justify claims that it had been organized by the radical left.

Manuel Bompard, a leading figure in the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI), quickly dismissed the claim, accusing the government of "sinking into conspiratorial thinking" in comments to Agence France-Presse. LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon demanded to know which arm of the intelligence service had said that.

This latest wave of social unrest comes with tensions already running high over inflation, particularly soaring fuel prices – and just seven months away from France's presidential election, where opinion polls suggest far-right leader Marine Le Pen is the frontrunner.

School staff targeted

Since last week, pupils have staged protests outside schools over a range of grievances. They range from timetables, class sizes and a shortage of teachers to overheated classrooms during this year's heatwaves. The protests have spread across the country from the Paris suburbs.

Riot police have lined up against the students, and the force has launched internal probes after accusations of brutality against three pupils, said Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. University students also joined in Thursday, blocking access to around 30 campuses, a student union said.

Among reports of school staff being targeted was one incident in the southern port city of Marseille when a school principal and his deputy were splashed with petrol. A journalist with TV channel M6 was attacked at the same school, local officials said.

In the northwestern city of Nantes, firefighters had to intervene to extinguish a fire in the entrance of a high school "following a gathering marked by violence towards staff," the regional education board said.

Authorities reported violence near high schools, mainly in Nantes, blaming "violent individuals" who "join the students to carry out acts of vandalism." In the northeastern city of Strasbourg, trams were ordered to halt to "restrict the movements of rioters and demonstrators," the regional prefect said.

In neighboring Belgium, there were protests and damage at a handful of schools in the eastern city of Liège, police said.

French PM Holds Crisis Meeting as Student Protests Spread Nationwide

High school protests in France spread to universities on Thursday as students demanding more funding, smaller classes and the replacement of absent teachers continued blockades across the country. The government has announced a new platform to hear high school students' grievances, after days of protests that have left students and police injured. 

Issued on: 01/10/2026 - 11:58

By RFI

The unrest disrupted public transport in several cities, while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a crisis meeting as the government sought to contain the protests.

Some 340 demonstrations were under way outside high schools by mid-morning on Thursday, with more than 160 schools closed as a result, police said.

Around 30 university campuses were blocked on Thursday, the Union Étudiante (Student Union) said, including sites in Paris, Strasbourg, Marseille, Lyon, Reims, Poitiers and Nanterre.

The movement began in high schools about a week ago and had spread to 356 schools across the country by Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said.

Student grievances range from timetables, class sizes and a shortage of teachers to overheated classrooms during this year's heatwaves. 

Widening mobilisation

On Thursday, hundreds of pupils in Strasbourg blocked traffic and a tram line outside Couffignal high school and set rubbish containers on fire. In Saint-Denis, north of Paris, clashes broke out between young people and police, with mortar fireworks and tear gas used.

In Nantes, a fire broke out at Nelson Mandela high school after a rubbish-bin fire spread to the building, students told French daily Le Parisien.

At Victor Hugo high school in Marseille, the head teacher, deputy head, secretary-general and another staff member were attacked and splashed with petrol, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional authorities said.

In Auchel, northern France, the head teacher of Fernand Degrugillier vocational high school was injured in the ear by a mortar firework and taken to hospital.

The Pas-de-Calais prefecture said 37 people had been detained following violence around schools in the department.

French high school and university students protest outside the Lycee Frederic Bartholdi high school in the Seine-Saint-Denis department near Paris, 1 October 2026.

The latest incidents follow violence at school blockades earlier in the week.

On Wednesday, 625 people were detained during high school blockades, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said – noting an "expansion of the movement" and condemning an "escalation of violence" outside certain schools.

Eighty-three police officers and gendarmes were wounded.

The minister condemned the "targeting of law enforcement officers, the throwing of projectiles, acts of violence, verbal abuse, attempted arson, and what amounts... to urban violence".

Authorities reported burning rubbish bins, mortar fireworks and barricades in several locations.

Since the blockades began, 119 students and school staff have been injured, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said.

Clashes between French teens, police as school blockades intensify

Government response

Lecornu convened an interministerial crisis meeting at the Interior Ministry on Thursday afternoon. Nuñez, Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste and Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin were among those due to take part.

The prime minister also asked ministers to cancel or postpone official trips planned for the rest of the week and early next week so that prefectures could concentrate their resources on dealing with the protests.

Schools were asked to provide lessons remotely when damage or blockades prevented pupils from being received safely.

The ministry was preparing to roll out a consultation platform allowing all high school students to submit their concerns and demands. A national review of the proposals will then be used to provide what the government called “structured responses”.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron said: “I hear and I understand the anxieties, sometimes the anger, that our youth can have, whether about the climate, technological changes or geopolitical situations.”

He said he and the government were trying to respond “in the most concrete way possible”.

However, Macron said none of these debates or fears could justify the unrest and criticised hard-left politicians he accused of "legitimising violence".

Placards in front of an entrance to the Paris 8 University campus during a blockade by students, 1 October 2026. The placards read: "We're blocking everything. Everything is going wrong" and "At university just like in high school: resistance".

Hundreds held, dozens wounded as French school protests escalate

Police under investigation

France's police watchdog, the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), has opened three investigations into incidents in which students were injured during protests, Nuñez said.

The investigations concern incidents in Sevran, north-east of Paris, Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, north-west of the capital, and Tours in central France.

In Tours, a young man was injured in the head on Wednesday and taken to hospital. The public prosecutor said his injuries were “compatible” with being caused by a projectile fired from a police LBD, a type of non-lethal weapon.

Nuñez defended the conduct of the security forces, saying they had intervened “with a great deal of proportionality”.

USL, France's second-largest student union, called on Wednesday for protests to go into a “second act”.

It invited unions, associations and political organisations to join Thursday's demonstrations and further protests on 6 October, demanding “massive funding” for schools and universities.

The UNEF, France's third-largest student organisation, has also called on students to take to the streets across the country.

It is protesting against what it describes as a mass reduction in university places, as well as a freeze on housing benefit payments.

(with newswires)

Hundreds of French Schools Remain Closed as Student Protests Turn Violent

France

Some 400 French schools have been closed and will remain shuttered on Friday as the student protests that began in high schools in the Paris region last week have spread across France and grown increasingly violent. The students are protesting grievances including teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings. The government has blamed the hard left for initiating the movement.

Issued on: 02/10/2026 - 08:24

By FRANCE 24

French high school students lit fires outside schools and faced off with police on Friday as a protest movement that has forced the closure of some 400 establishments showed no sign of abating.

The movement, which began last week in the Paris region and rapidly spread nationwide, has seen teenage pupils at lycees in their final years of schooling block access to buildings and clash with police.

The students say their school hours are excessively long, conditions inadequate including overheated classrooms, and that there are too many staff absences.

The government says the grievances are legitimate but has condemned what it has described as “urban violence”.

Students have accused police of using excessive force and causing injuries by regularly firing tear gas canisters to disperse the protests.

In Paris on Friday, fire damaged the entrances of two high schools – Leonard de Vinci in the south of the city and Gaston-Bachelard in the southeast – with the fire brigade called to extinguish the blazes, an AFP photographer said.

‘Held hostage’

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said “the high school student movement is being held hostage by ultra-violent fringe groups,” adding that nearly 400 high schools out of the 3,700 in the country were expected to be closed on Friday.

Many high schools have also planned to conduct classes remotely, particularly in the southern city of Marseille.

At least 65 staff members have been injured – including 40 high school principals – since the start of the movement, Geffray told BFMTV. Some 170 students have been wounded while over 100 high schools have suffered “severe damage”.

“Parents must clearly step up and tell their children not to go” to the protests, he added. “What matters now is ensuring our children are no longer out on the streets, because they are in danger.”

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said he has asked prosecutors to hold parents liable for damage caused by their children during the protests and to “pay for repairs”.

Since the start of the movement, around 2,000 people have been taken into police custody” – 90 percent of whom were minors”, Darmanin told RTL.

‘We’ve won’

In the western city of Rennes, the tension was already palpable outside the Jean-Mace high school with students dressed in black, wearing balaclavas and standing not far from a heavy police presence.

“As far as we’re concerned, we’ve won – our school is closed this morning,” said Lola, 16, who declined to give her last name.

She condemned what she said was police violence. “It makes us even angrier – the police have no right to hit us or use tear gas on us.”

Police used tear gas at the Kerichen high school in Brest, in western France, an AFP photographer said.

The protests have also made a strong political echo just over half a year before presidential elections, with the government accusing the hard left France Unbowed (LFI) – whose firebrand leader Jean-Luc Melenchon is again standing for the presidency – of being behind the movement.

But senior LFI official Manuel Bompard accused the government of “descending into conspiracy theories”.

In a bid to ease tensions, Geffray said he was Friday meeting with education unions and high school student associations to find common ground for dialogue.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Ethiopia Decides to Close Embassy in Asmara, Declares 10 Eritrean Diplomats Persona Non Grata

Addis Ababa, October 1, 2026 (ENA)—Ethiopia has decided to close its Embassy in Asmara, Eritrea, and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats in Addis Ababa persona non grata and ordered them to leave the country within 48 hours.

In a statement issued today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the decision was taken in response to Eritrea’s direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence against Ethiopia.

It added that ten Eritrean diplomats were declared persona non grata for their involvement in activities that pose a direct threat to Ethiopia’s national security, in breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The diplomats are given 48 hours to leave Ethiopia.

The Ministry urged the Eritrean government to cease acts contrary to the principles governing relations between sovereign states.

Despite the measures, it said Ethiopia continues to value its historical, cultural and people-to-people ties with Eritrea and remains committed to peaceful coexistence, regional stability and integration.

The Ministry also reaffirmed Ethiopia’s commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes and cooperation with countries in the Horn of Africa to advance lasting peace, security and regional integration.

Ethiopia Declares Egyptian Diplomatic Staff Member Persona Non Grata

Addis Ababa, October 1, 2026 (ENA)—Ethiopia has declared an Egyptian diplomatic staff member persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 48 hours.

Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally notified the Egyptian Embassy in Addis Ababa that Ahmed Moharam Ahmed Soliman, a member of Egypt’s diplomatic staff, has been declared persona non grata, the ministry said in a statement. 

“In accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Ministry hereby notifies the Embassy that Ahmed Moharam Ahmed Soliman has been declared persona non grata. The Ministry expects the Embassy's diplomatic staff member to leave Ethiopia within Forty-Eight (48) hours from the date of this notification.”  

 The ministry said the decision was taken in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the international framework governing diplomatic relations between states.

According to the notification, the Egyptian diplomat is going to leave Ethiopia within 48 hours of the date of the communication.

The statement added that: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Addis Ababa the assurances of its highest consideration.”

Ethiopia Expels 10 Eritrean Diplomats as Tensions Between Neighbors Escalate

By SAMUEL GETACHEW

4:59 PM EDT, October 1, 2026

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats out of the country Thursday and closed its embassy in Eritrea, sharply escalating tensions between the neighbors hours after blasts were heard across the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and as fighting raged in the northern region of the country.

Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry gave the diplomats 48 hours to leave Addis Ababa, citing their “involvement in activities that pose a direct threat to Ethiopia’s national security.” Ethiopia last week accused Eritrea of financing rebels in the Tigray region, who took control of several towns in renewed fighting against federal forces.

Eritrea’s Foreign Ministry called the move “astounding” and said it had “no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia with all the negative corollaries that this entails.”

An intelligence service official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that there had been three blasts in three different locations in Addis Ababa overnight, but declined to provide further details.

A diplomatic source who requested anonymity for his safety described hearing a blast at 7 p.m. near the defense headquarters, followed by a siren. Residents near the defense headquarters also said they heard a blast near a factory in the area past midnight.

It remains unclear whether the blasts were related to an attack or were part of training exercises at the defense headquarters.

The explosions came hours after the National Intelligence and Security Service banned the flying of drones in Addis Ababa and surrounding areas.

In Tigray, the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front recently took over the region’s main airport, forcing a suspension of flights.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front Chairperson, Debretsion Gebremichael, on Thursday said the fighting was a “continuation of the previous war” and that his fighters would keep attacking and defending Tigray from its enemies.

The United Nations has called for de-escalation of the fighting and dialogue between the government and seven opposition groups that recently formed an alliance to challenge Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The renewed fighting has shattered a 2022 peace agreement that ended a devastating two-year war in Tigray. The TPLF is an armed political group based in Tigray, and for years it was the dominant party in a coalition that ruled Ethiopia between 1991 and 2018. It has been outlawed by Abiy’s government.

New fighting brings fresh hardships

Displaced people living in camps since the 2020 war in Tigray said Thursday that they could hear gunfire from kilometers (miles) away near the Hitsats camp in northwestern Tigray.

The camp is home to about 16,000 people who have been living there for six years and are now afraid they may be displaced again.

“We hear fighting supported by heavy artillery, and drones hover in the sky every day,” a resident told The Associated Press over the phone.

Residents in the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, say communication, banking and other essential services have been disrupted by the fighting.

Abdelaziz Ahmed, 35, a merchant, said the lack of cash caused by disruptions to banking services was affecting his business.

“People cannot buy anything because they lack cash, so we cannot sell. My current stock won’t last more than a month. My only hope is that all these challenges pass and peace is restored in Tigray,” he said.

A taxi driver who declined to be named because of fears for his safety said fuel prices had doubled on the black market.

“The war has made life extremely difficult. We don’t even have money for food or rent,” he said.

DR Congolese Politician is Killed for Defending Ebola Efforts as Mistrust Complicates Response

By SEBASTIEN KITSA MUSAYI and EVE BRENNAN

6:18 PM EDT, September 30, 2026

BUTEMBO, Congo (AP) — Mourners gathered Wednesday to bury a Congolese politician who was beaten to death after publicly defending the government’s response to Ebola, a killing that highlights the mistrust health workers say is hampering efforts to slow the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history.

Marie-Célestin Karondwa, a local official with Congo’s ruling Union for Democracy and Social Progress party, was attacked Sunday at his home in Butembo, an Ebola hotspot in the eastern North Kivu province, after defending the government’s response efforts during a radio program, the party said.

“They beat him up and then set the house alight,” Sagesse Kavira, Karondwa’s granddaughter, told The Associated Press at his funeral on Wednesday. He later died from his injuries at a local hospital.

The killing follows a series of attacks on health workers and other responders as the Central African nation battles its 17th and deadliest Ebola outbreak, which has so far recorded over 8,000 cases including nearly 4,000 deaths.

Authorities this month launched a village-centered approach to fight the Ebola outbreak. But those efforts continue to face resistance from some residents who dismiss Ebola as a hoax amid a widespread distrust in the country’s government for various reasons, ranging from how it’s managed past Ebola outbreaks to chronic corruption.

Responders say skepticism about the disease has complicated efforts to work with residents, including in remote communities and emerging hot spots that already face shortages of medical supplies and healthcare workers.

The mistrust is particularly difficult to overcome in eastern Congo’s rebel-controlled territories, where decades of conflict with rebels as well as human rights abuses have left many residents wary of outsiders and state authorities.

The local politician killed in Butembo had been using the radio show to call on the public to obey response measures, particularly social distancing and handwashing, Jean-Baptiste Katsongo Lwatswa, first federal vice-president of UDPS in Butembo, told the AP.

“That is believed to have provoked the anger of certain young people,” he said.

Enoch Muhindo Balimatangi, a resident of Butembo, said there’s fear and mixed feelings about Ebola among locals. “Some say that the illness exists, while others refuse to accept that it does. That’s frightening!” he said.

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A key challenge in slowing this particular outbreak is the absence of approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo virus that is causing it. Clinical trials for those are currently ongoing in Ituri province, the epicenter.

In its latest situation report, the World Health Organization warned the disease remains serious and there are “persistent challenges in timely case detection and access to early and adequate patient care.”

WHO has also said the outbreak continues to outpace efforts to track and slow it, and is on track to exceed the deadliest on record, West Africa’s regional outbreak between 2014 and 2016, which killed 11,000 people.

—-

Brennan reported from Dakar, Senegal. Justin Kabumba in Goma, Congo, contributed.

Zimbabwean Tycoon Killed in Helicopter Crash Had Cultivated Presidents as Friends

By Farai Mutsaka

1:33 PM EDT, October 1, 2026

HARARE (AP) — The death in a helicopter crash of Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo, his wife and three others has reverberated across government and industry circles on the continent, as investigators began examining what caused the aircraft to go down.

Family spokesperson Herbert Chivayo said the process of identifying the victims was “painful” because of the impact and damage of Wednesday’s fiery crash near the capital, Harare.

A government spokesperson and police initially put the death toll in the crash at six, but police said in a statement Thursday that there were five people on board who died, including two crew members. Police also formally identified Wicknell Chivayo and his wife, Lucy Muteke, as among the victims in their new statement.

Chivayo was a close ally of Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and often posted pictures of encounters, including dinners, with heads of state from across Africa.

In a condolence message, Mnangagwa said he was “numbed” by the death, describing Chivayo as “consummately philanthropic.”

The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe said preliminary observations showed that the helicopter hit the ground, spilling fuel that ignited and burned surrounding grass. Officials said the cause of the crash had yet to be established. A black box was being examined, state broadcaster ZBC News reported. The mangled wreckage lay on the burnt grass as workers from a funeral parlor collected the victims’ remains.

Chivayo lived a lavish lifestyle

The grim scene was a stark contrast to the flamboyant public life the businessman had cultivated. Just hours before the crash, he posted photographs of two luxury vehicles he said he was gifting two of his lawyers, along with $750,000 in cash.

He ended the post with the words: “Saved the best for last.” The giveaways were typical of a man who made extraordinary wealth and generosity central to his public image. Over the years, Chivayo gave away dozens of luxury cars, buses, cash and other gifts to celebrities, church leaders, sports figures, politicians and social media followers, frequently broadcasting his largesse online.

But perhaps more striking than the cars was the company he kept.

Chivayo, 43, nurtured unusually close relationships with African political leaders, regularly posting photographs and videos of encounters with presidents including Mnangagwa, Kenya’s William Ruto, Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu and others.

In August, Chivayo posted a video showing Ruto driving him to a helicopter after attending a traditional engagement ceremony involving the Kenyan president’s daughter.

“I’ve lived large and had many different and exceptionally beautiful experiences in my opulent lifestyle, but certainly this was the first,” Chivayo wrote. Both Ruto, behind the wheel, and Chivayo are seen laughing, with Chivayo’s wife grinning from the back seat.

Ruto called him “a dear friend.”

Chivayo’s Rolls-Royces, private aircraft, designer shoes, luxury watches, shopping trips abroad and multimillion-dollar gifts were a constant presence on social media, while his relationships with presidents gave him visibility far beyond Zimbabwe.

Business dealings have raised eyebrows

He had received multiple government contracts, some of which drew controversy or allegations of fraud that were thrown out by courts or dismissed by investigating authorities.

On Zimbabwean social media, some people openly celebrated his death, citing his wealth and political connections as reasons for their anger over the country’s economic hardships and allegations surrounding his business dealings. One prominent news website ran the headline: “We are not mourning — Zimbabweans celebrate death of controversial businessman.”

Others pushed back against the celebrations. “What kind of people are we who celebrate someone’s death? It’s un-African,” opposition lawmaker Chalton Hwende wrote.

Christa Gail Pike Wasn't Tennessee's First Failed Execution This Year. Here's What to Know

Nation 

Oct 1, 2026 6:07 PM EDT

A failed execution in Tennessee is raising more questions about the state's capital punishment protocols after Christa Gail Pike survived two doses of a lethal injection Wednesday evening.

Pike, who was alive and snoring after officials administered both doses of pentobarbital, was taken to a hospital. Her lawyers said Thursday at a news conference that she is in critical condition and receiving life-saving care, but they do not know her prognosis.

"The state of Tennessee has shown us again that they are not capable of carrying out an execution consistent with basic human dignity," said Pike's lawyer Randy Pivey. "Last night was not just inefficient, it was cruel and it was torturous. It was also predictable."

Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who said the incident was "deeply disturbing," halted executions for the remainder of the year and ordered a third-party review.

"Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the state's most important responsibilities," Lee told reporters Thursday. He said Tennesseans expect death penalty sentences to be "carried out in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but effective, and that didn't happen.

He described Pike's botched execution as a "tragedy," and said he was "highly disappointed."

In a statement Wednesday, Tennessee's Department of Correction said it "followed every step" of the state's execution protocol.

"The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening," the statement said.

Pike's case is unique in more than one way, but it's not the first time an execution has been botched in Tennessee this year.

Here's what to know about Pike, Tennessee's execution protocol and other cases of botched executions.

What to know about Pike's case, sentencing

A jury convicted Pike of first-degree murder for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike, who was 18 at the time of the murder, was sentenced to death in 1996.

She admitted to cutting Slemmer's throat, beating her, throwing asphalt at her head and taking a piece of her skull as a souvenir. A pentagram was also carved on Slemmer's body.

In 2001, Pike was convicted separately of attempted first degree murder after she assaulted a fellow prisoner.

Pike's execution had been scheduled for Wednesday morning. However, an appeals court halted the execution an hour before it was set to begin.

Pike's lawyers argued that the state had only recently changed its position on the veracity of her history of mental illness and sexual abuse. According to the defense, during her trial, the state had described Pike as a "'pathological liar' and suggested that she was making up her history of abuse and rape."

In Pike's clemency petition, which Lee denied on Monday, her lawyers detailed Pike being raped and physically abused as a toddler, child and teenager. Following the killing, mental health experts and the state's Department of Correction diagnosed Pike with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the pause later on Wednesday, allowing the execution to proceed in the evening. She would have been the first woman to be executed in the state in 200 years.

What is Tennessee's protocol for capital punishment?

Both Lee and the Department of Correction have asserted that officials followed the state's protocols in Pike's attempted execution.

Under Tennessee law, lethal injection is the primary method for carrying out a death sentence.

Executions in Tennessee resumed in 2025 after a three-year pause that Lee implemented after an independent review found the corrections department had carried out executions using untested drugs.

According to the state's lethal injection protocol, officials intravenously administer two 50 mL syringes of pentobarbital, a barbiturate drug that affects the brain and nervous system, before waiting for five minutes. If the prisoner has not died, the state can administer another set of injections.

The protocol does not detail what happens if a person doesn't die following the second dose.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, no prisoner in the modern era has survived the administration of lethal injection drugs.

Several prisoners on death row, including Pike, have sued the state over its protocol, which was established by Frank Strada, the corrections department's commissioner. Strada, who Lee appointed in January 2023, had previously served as commissioner in Arizona where he oversaw several botched executions.

The lawsuit argues that Tennessee switched from a three-drug protocol to a riskier one-drug protocol. According to the lawsuit, evidence shows that pentobarbital poses "a high risk of a tortuous death."

In January 2025, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland rescinded the federal government's use of pentobarbital for executions.

What to know about other botched executions in Tennessee

In May, Tennessee called off Tony Carruthers' execution after officials were unable to establish an IV line despite attempting to do so for more than an hour. Carruthers' lawyers described him "wincing and groaning" while the officials tried to find a vein.

In a lawsuit, Carruthers' lawyers said the doctor who was tasked with establishing the IV hadn't placed one in a patient in over a decade and did not have hospital privileges.

Lee paused Carruthers' execution for a year, but did not call for a review or a halt to other executions.

Following Carruthers' botched execution, Republican state lawmakers called for Lee to commission an independent review.

In July, more than 50 medical professionals sent Lee a letter urging the governor to suspend executions until the corrections department could "demonstrate meaningful improvements in its planning, training, and operations around the entire execution process."

They cited Tennessee's requirement that health professionals participate in executions as contributing to the problem, arguing that medical ethics prohibit providers from participating in executions.

"This means that the health care professionals who agree to take part in Tennessee's executions are those willing to set aside their professional ethics," the letter said.

Despite this, in August, the state executed Anthony Darrell Hines who was convicted of murder in 1985.

Lawyers for Tennessee Woman in Botched Execution Say She’s Alive But in Critical Condition

By Adam Friedman

October 1, 2026 5:04 pm

 Emergency vehicles at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. The execution of death row inmate Christa Pike was halted nearly two hours after the state of Tennessee began the lethal injection protocol. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Lawyers for Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike confirmed Thursday she is in critical condition and receiving life-saving medical care after her botched execution.

Pike was transported to a hospital Wednesday night after Tennessee halted her execution when two rounds of its lethal injection protocol failed. Media witnesses to the execution were told to leave the building when Pike could still be heard “snoring.”

Pike, 50, was set to be the first female put to death in Tennessee in nearly two centuries for the killing of her classmate Colleen Slemmer. Her lawyers are appealing to the court to stop her from being put to death after seeking a pause in the execution for a review of Pike’s history of sexual abuse and neglect as a child.

​Randy Spivey, one of Pike’s attorneys, said they had been warning of this exact outcome but that the court ignored it, adding that between Pike’s abuse as a child, solitary confinement in prison and now failed execution, she’s suffered more than any person should.

Gov. Bill Lee and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to give her a reprieve this week before the execution failed.

​“What she has endured over the past 30 years is in a class of its own,” Spivey said. “This should not happen again … the governor must commute her sentence now.”

When the execution failed Wednesday, Lee announced he would seek an independent investigation and pause all executions for the rest of 2026 but did not make an announcement about Pike’s sentence. Lee is term-limited and will leave office in January.

Pentobarbital, the Drug Used in Tennessee’s Failed Execution, Has Come Under Past Scrutiny

ASSOCIATED PRESS

2:23 PM EDT, October 1, 2026

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.

Tennessee officials haven’t explained yet what went wrong during the execution.

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 is used.

Witnesses to pentobarbital executions frequently report that inmates stop breathing and become still less than a minute after getting the drug.

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.

‘It Was a Mess’: Tennessee Fails to Execute Woman After 2 Lethal Injections

Christa Pike’s attorneys said she was being treated at a hospital, but her condition is unknown. May Martinez, the mother of the murdered teenager Colleen Slemmer, called the failed execution “a mess.”

Tennessee death row inmate hospitalized after surviving two lethal injections

Oct. 1, 2026, 10:48 AM EDT

By Erik Ortiz, Abigail Brooks, Phil Helsel and Rebecca Cohen

An injection of a lethal drug failed to execute the lone woman on Tennessee’s death row Wednesday, a stunning development after the Supreme Court had stepped in to allow the state to put her to death.

Attorneys for Christa Pike said early Thursday that she was being treated at a hospital, but they did not know her condition. A spokesperson for the Department of Correction did not answer an emailed question Wednesday evening about whether she was alive but said she was “transported to an off-site medical facility.”

Pike, 50, is the state’s only woman on death row. She was convicted of murdering a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, 19, in 1995 and sentenced to death. Pike was 18 at the time of the murder.

In a news conference Wednesday night, journalists who witnessed the failed execution described snoring and complaints from Pike about pain, as well as her kicking her feet so often that she knocked off the sheets laid on her. At times, the curtain was closed and journalists could only hear sounds.

In a federal court filing seeking to halt her execution, Pike’s lawyers said witnesses saw executioners injecting “both syringes of lethal injection chemicals,” but that Pike remained alive.

They said Pike “has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat” and that curtains to the death chamber “have gone down twice,” according to the lawyers.

In a phone interview with NBC News early Thursday, Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, described the failed execution attempt.

“It was a mess,” she said.

Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, said in a statement that he was ordering “a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.” He added that the last remaining execution for this year in Tennessee will not be carried out as planned.

Lee told reporters Thursday morning that he did not know Pike’s current condition and lamented that he was “disappointed ... about what happened last night.”

He said there are still questions about what happened during the twice-failed execution and how it went wrong. As far as he knows, he said, the proper protocol was carried out.

“Tennesseans deserve a justice system that is fair, that’s consistent, that is faithfully administered,” he said. “My responsibility is to uphold the sentences that Tennessee juries have handed down, even when it’s difficult, and that is exactly what we intend to do in the days ahead.”

‘Nothing about today was normal’

An ambulance was seen arriving at the prison where Pike was to be executed and then leaving. Medical aid was being administered, according to online federal court records.

“It appeared that this did not go like they thought it was supposed to go,” said John North, an investigative producer at NBC affiliate WBIR in Knoxville. “But we don’t know that. When we left the building, so far as we knew, she was probably still alive.”

Tori Gessner, a reporter and anchor at WKRN-TV of Nashville who has witnessed five executions in the state, said at a news conference: “Nothing about today was normal, typical, at all.”

Media witnesses said the curtain to the death chamber opened for the first time at 7:26 p.m.

At 7:34 p.m., Pike was heard saying, “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open,” Gessner said. Pike then talked about that spot on her arm and asked, “Does this happen like that?” Gessner added.

Pike’s lawyers said the second dose of the lethal injection drug was administered at about 8 p.m. before the curtain to the execution chamber was closed again. Media witnesses said they could still hear Pike snoring and the sound of doors opening and closing before they were eventually let out of the prison.

A spokesperson for the Department of Correction said the state “followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office” and that “the lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective.”

It’s the second time an execution did not go as planned in Tennessee this year. Tony Carruthers, convicted in three 1994 killings, was granted a one-year reprieve after executioners in May could not find a vein for a backup IV.

“Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution,” Pike’s attorneys said in a statement.

The process of the execution began after the Supreme Court vacated a lower court’s Wednesday morning order that had temporarily blocked it.

The high court’s decision hours later capped a flurry of last-minute legal maneuvering in a bid by Pike’s defense team to spare her life. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

Austin Sarat, a lawyer with expertise in failed executions, said that a situation like Pike’s is “quite unusual” and that there have been fewer than 10 true failed executions in the last 80 years. He said a failed execution differs from a botched execution, which is when something goes wrong with the execution procedure but the person still ends up dead.

The majority of failed executions on record were lethal injection attempts, but in all cases except Pike’s, the failures involved the administering doctor’s inability to find a vein, meaning the lethal drugs had not yet started to flow, Sarat said, calling Pike’s case “uncharted territory.”

Victim’s mother furious

“They went to try to execute her, and she didn’t die,” said Martinez, who wanted the execution carried out and was furious with the governor, the director of the Department of Correction and the attorney general.

Martinez told NBC News that Pike never expressed remorse during Wednesday’s attempted execution. “Not nothing ... about what happened, you know, to Colleen,” Martinez said.

She criticized the communications from officials.

“They didn’t say anything, and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the victims to leave. And we left,” Martinez said.

“We didn’t know anything until we got up to the office and saw the commissioner,” she said. “And he said that it didn’t work ... and she’s on her way to the hospital.”

Asked what her message to the governor and attorney general was, Martinez was terse in her reply: “They f----- up.”

Pike was set to be the first woman in more than 200 years that the state has put to death, according to historical records.

Pike does not deny the brutal killing that saw her and two teenage accomplices work together to torture, slash and fatally beat Slemmer. The case became sensationalized when investigators said it was tied to the occult because someone had carved a pentagram into Slemmer’s chest and Pike bragged to another student that she had kept a fragment of the victim’s skull as a “souvenir.”

But Pike’s current supporters argue the state should consider her age at the time, her mental illness and her allegations of severe sexual abuse. “I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I’d done,” Pike has said.

Appeals court stayed execution based on child abuse claims

About an hour before her scheduled execution at 10 a.m. local time in Nashville, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it needed to review claims made by her lawyers. At issue was whether Pike could reopen a court proceeding centered around her allegations that she was sexually abused beginning when she was a child — abuse that the state did not dispute at a special hearing in August.

The appeals court in a split decision agreed to a “short” reprieve halting her execution “in order to properly analyze the parties’ fully briefed arguments and resolve the issues on the merits.”

In turn, the state attorney general’s office asked the Supreme Court to intervene, arguing that the execution needed to go on to “avoid rewarding Pike’s abusive delay tactics.”

In their dissent, the three liberal justices wrote that vacating the lower court’s temporary stay of execution “interferes with the Sixth Circuit’s routine administrative handling of a capital case and unnecessarily prevents that court from giving due consideration to Pike’s claim.”

“I see no reason to shortcircuit the ordinary process of appellate review, particularly in light of the grave consequences of an erroneous decision,” Sotomayor wrote.

Lee and the Supreme Court had said this week they would not stop Pike’s execution.

Christa Pike letter

A letter Pike wrote before she learned Gov. Bill Lee denied clemency.via the Rev. Mikey Noechel.

Before she learned Monday that Lee would not intervene in her case, Pike wrote in a letter to NBC News, shared by her spiritual adviser: “Whether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace.”

“I am not afraid to die,” wrote Pike, who has been on death row for more than three decades. “I’m only nervous about the process.”