BBC News

The head of Tennessee's prison service, Frank Strada, resigned after this week's botched attempt to execute Christa Pike. She was given two lethal injections but neither killed her, and she is now unconscious on life support in hospital. Executions in Tennessee have been halted for the rest of the year while investigators review what happened. Pike's lawyers are seeking to have her sentence commuted, while the victim's mother said she was heartbroken and believed her daughter's soul would not rest until her killer was dead. In the UK, controversial plans for some criminal trials in England and Wales to be heard without a jury were scrapped. The proposal had been introduced under the previous prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to tackle a record backlog, allowing a judge alone to decide cases carrying sentences of fewer than three years, and it was scrapped under the new prime minister, Andy Burnham. The Ministry of Justice said only complex fraud and financial cases would be judge alone, while the Justice Secretary, Alex Norris, said he had changed course after hearing the strength of feeling. The Criminal Bar Association welcomed the decision but warned that plans to keep more middle-ranking cases before magistrates could backfire because of a shortage of magistrates.

The president of Cornell University, Michael Kotlikoff, said the alleged gang rape of a woman student in 2024 was deeply disturbing and that Cornell would examine the role of fraternities and sororities on campus after public backlash over the school's response. The student is suing Cornell and seven men over the alleged assault. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kiev on an unannounced visit in a show of support for President Zelensky amid escalating Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. He was expected to announce a package including a billion euros in military aid and 350 million euros for repairs in the energy sector. Prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates described the investigation into a Flydubai flight that nearly crashed on its way to Israel as a terrorist operation. They said the co-pilot attacked the captain with an axe before trying to seize control of the aircraft, and media outlets reported the co-pilot's name as Omani national Hamam al-Hamami, though there was no official confirmation. A retired airline captain explained that axes are standard cockpit equipment and said it was remarkable that the aircraft and those on board survived.

The Conservatives began their party conference in Birmingham, with Kemi Badenoch at her second conference as leader. The Tories remained behind Labour and Reform UK in the opinion polls, and Badenoch said she would scrap the cap on free childcare so families earning over 100,000 pounds a year could also receive it; critics said the money could be better spent on poorer families. The report noted that Labour under its new leader had been energised and that Reform UK faced questions about donations. Brazilians voted in the first round of a presidential election, with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro as the two clear front-runners. Flavio Bolsonaro, a senator and eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, promised tough measures on crime and an amnesty for his father and those convicted after the January 8th riots, while Lula, aged 80 and seeking a fourth term, campaigned on sovereignty and his record of social programmes and falling Amazon deforestation. A run-off was possible on 25 October if no candidate won more than 50 per cent. Tens of thousands protested in Spanish cities over the housing crisis after right-wing politicians rejected rent freezes, with the protest sparked by last month's eviction of an 87-year-old woman. Partial results from Latvia's election showed a big boost for Prime Minister Andres Kulsbergs and his United list at around 36 per cent, though he would still need to form a coalition. Ceremonies in Bulgaria marked the return of the remains of Tsar Samuel after more than 1,000 years, following a deal with Greece; North Macedonia expressed consternation over the return.