World News Highlights: US Court halts execution of Christa Gail Pike for Tennessee murder she committed at 18

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday halted the execution of death row inmate Christa Pike in Tennessee, less than two hours before she was scheduled to become the first woman that state has put to death in more than two hundred years.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a "short stay of execution" to give it time to weigh Pike's claim that her allegations of childhood sexual abuse were not adequately considered during her sentencing. The court did not provide a specific timeframe.

Pike, whose clemency petition highlighting childhood trauma and sexual abuse was denied by Governor Bill Lee, would be the only person in the ⁠modern era ​of US capital punishment to be executed in Tennessee for a crime committed as a teenager.

The Tennessee attorney general's office immediately asked the US Supreme Court to vacate the stay order.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an 11th-hour bid for a stay of execution, which is set to take place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the state capital.

Pike, now 50, was 18 in January 1995 when she, a 17-year-old boyfriend and a third ​companion ​lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate at their Knoxville Job Corps vocational center, into ⁠a wooded area where they tortured and killed her. Reuters

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham says the U.K. has “strong indications” that Iran played a part in the incident that saw five men arrested near a U.S.-run air base in England late at night.

Burnham told British broadcasters on Wednesday that British and American officials are carrying out a “complex and serious” investigation into how five men and three vans came to be near the perimeter of RAF Fairford.

Five British men in their 20s were arrested Sunday on suspicion of explosives offenses and planning an act of terror, before being released on bail a day later. Police say they found a quantity of an accelerant – gasoline – in the vans, but no explosives.Burnham did not provide details about what the suspects were planning or why the U.K. thinks Iran was involved. AP

Oil prices rose on Wednesday and were on track for significant monthly gains on stalled US-Iran peace talks and tightening US fuel markets.

The Brent November futures contract, which expires on Wednesday, was up $1.12, or 1%, at $103.71 a barrel at 10:50 a.m. EDT. The more active December contract ⁠was ​up $2.65, or 2.8%, at $98.81. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.98, or 2.2%, at $91.98.

Brent is headed for a monthly gain of around 14%, its biggest since July, while WTI is on track for about a 5.5% rise.

Qatar said on Tuesday it hopes that shuttle diplomacy between Tehran and Washington can lead to a breakthrough.

However, US President Donald Trump denied reports by Axios and ​CNN ​that cited US officials as saying he was willing to give Iran ⁠sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds in return for "concrete" steps by Tehran on its nuclear programme.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia resumed oil tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu ‌after restarting operations on its East-West Pipeline.

Goldman Sachs estimates Gulf oil exports have recovered to 23.3 million barrels per day over the last week, in line with their 2025 average, as exports doubled in September, it said in a note on Tuesday. Reuters

Spain would welcome Britain back into the European Union "with ⁠open ​arms", Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ​told reporters ​on Wednesday ⁠during a joint ‌news conference with France's Emmanuel Macron.

Sanchez's comments came after ⁠new ⁠British Prime Minister Andy ⁠Burnham ‌said ​his country ‌should consider options ‌for ​its future ​relationship ​with the EU, ​including rejoining the ⁠bloc. Reuters

Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad group have agreed to form an unlikely electoral coalition with a former top Fatah official who has close ties to the United Arab Emirates, Israel's closest ally in the Middle East, Palestinian officials told The Associated Press.

The alliance could be well positioned to threaten the dominance of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party over the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority - but only if the first national elections in 20 years actually happen, which is very much in doubt.

Abbas has said parliamentary elections will be held November 28 in Gaza and the West Bank. But he has repeatedly delayed elections, most recently in 2021, when Fatah appeared headed for defeat. When Hamas won the last elections, in 2006, Israel and Western countries boycotted its government, fueling months of unrest that led to its takeover of Gaza the following year.

Islamic Jihad deputy Secretary General Mohammed al-Hindi confirmed the formation of the electoral alliance in a rare interview with The Associated Press in Istanbul on Monday. He said it would support "a unified national list" that could be made up of independent figures rather than members of the groups.

It would include a bloc led by Mohammed Dahlan, a former Fatah security chief who was exiled in 2010 after a bitter falling-out with Abbas and had previously been driven from Gaza by Hamas. Dahlan has since cultivated close ties with the UAE, where he serves as an adviser to the ruler. AP

Ukraine's total war costs will reach $155 billion this year and the government is struggling to close a $27 billion funding gap to ensure it can still conduct combat operations at the start of 2027, Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said on Wednesday.

Koretskyi said the government planned to ⁠cover $7 ​billion of the gap by postponing expenditure, reallocating money from other parts of the budget and cutting some costs, and was in talks with partners on how to cover the remaining $20 billion.

It is the first time Kyiv has released an estimate of its annual war costs, meaning there is no comparable figure ​for 2025, ​but officials have said that the cost of the ⁠conflict has risen as the use of missile and drone technology has increased.

The $155 billion figure covers both domestic state spending and off-budget military aid from Ukraine's ‌Western allies, including air defence missiles, ammunition and aircraft delivered as hardware rather than cash.

Koretskyi said it was critical that Ukraine plugged the $27 billion gap in its 2026 military spending, as this would help to cover defence orders for the start of next year.

"Our ability to conduct active combat operations, including in the first quarter of 2027, depends on this funding. This applies to our long-range capabilities and our ability to take the war back to where ⁠it came from," Koretskyi said.

"This ⁠is a critical need that must be met." Reuters

Inflation rose far quicker than expected in some of the euro zone's biggest economies this month due to the energy-price shock of the Iran war, increasing pressure on the European Central Bank to raise interest rates again.

The ECB has lifted rates twice this year to prevent rapid price growth from getting embedded, and investors have sharply raised rate hike bets ⁠in ​the past few weeks as natural gas, petrol and diesel prices have all soared.

France's harmonized inflation rate was 3.4% year-on-year in September, up from 2.6% in August, while in Italy it jumped to 4.1% from August's 3.2%, all above the ECB's 2% target, data showed on Wednesday.

In Germany, inflation rose sharply in five key ​German ​states in September, suggesting Germany's national inflation rate —which will be ⁠released later on Wednesday — could increase this month. Reuters

Russia pressed on with its weekslong missile and drone barrage of Kyiv and areas around the Ukrainian capital, killing four people including a child while targeting the power grid and a key internet exchange point, officials said Wednesday.Moscow’s steep escalation of its aerial campaign since the end of August heaps pressure on Ukraine as it braces for winter, when Russia regularly bombards energy facilities to deny Ukrainians heating and running water.Ukrainian officials say Moscow is not engaging with U.S. efforts to halt the fighting, 4 ½ years after Russia invaded its neighbor. Moscow says it wants a comprehensive settlement rather than a temporary truce, although its demand for Ukraine to surrender land is unacceptable for Kyiv.A child was killed and three other people were rescued from the rubble of a private home in Vyshhorod, in the wider Kyiv region, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration.Russia has exploited gaps in Ukrainian air defenses by firing ballistic missiles and new jet-powered drones, both of which are hard to stop. AP