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The suspect, from the western state of Washington, allegedly gave money and advice to the attacker over the internet.

Law enforcement in the northwestern United States have charged a suspect in connection with a deadly shooting at a Canadian school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.

On Tuesday, prosecutors charged 30-year-old James Cody Bryant, a resident of Washington state, with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country.

Bryant allegedly provided money and technical advice to the attacker in conversations over the internet, starting six months before the February 10 attack.

The shooting was “a horrific tragedy for that small community and for all of Canada”, acting US Attorney Neil Floyd said at a news conference in Seattle. “Indeed, here in the Pacific Northwest, we felt the pain of those families devastated by this violence.”

Canadian officials have described the attack as one of the country’s worst mass shootings.

The suspect, 18-year-old transgender woman Jesse Van Rootselaar, shot and killed her mother and half-brother at their home before travelling to the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire.

Six people were killed, including five students, and 27 other victims were injured. Van Rootselaar, a former student at the school, died by suicide at the end of the attack.

Police in Canada said at the time that Van Rootselaar had a history of mental health issues.

Alleged online advice and financial support

US prosecutors allege Bryant and Van Rootselaar had been in touch through the social media service Discord and had discussed how to carry out the mass shooting.

The pair discussed how to maximise notoriety after the attack, with Bryant allegedly agreeing to livestream it through Twitch, Floyd said on Tuesday.

Bryant also allegedly provided money for items like a pair of shoes for the attack and instructed Van Rootselaar on how to start and then drive a car to reach the school.

Prosecutors alleged Bryant, whom officials cited by The Associated Press and Reuters say identifies as female, had admitted to investigators that she was “maybe the only one who could have stopped the shooter”.

Warning signs ignored

In September, the British Columbia government sued the technology company OpenAI in a California court, saying its ChatGPT platform played a role in the shooting.

Van Rootselaar, the Canadian officials alleged, had been flagged by OpenAI’s safety team for her statements about gun violence, and her account had been suspended. But law enforcement authorities were not alerted to the problem.

In its lawsuit, British Columbia sought financial compensation from the company to cover its emergency response to the shooting and community recovery efforts.

It also asked the court to force OpenAI to reform how it identifies and handles users who threaten violence.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he was “deeply sorry” his company had not contacted law enforcement in a public letter two months after the shooting.

“While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered,” he wrote, adding that OpenAI would take steps to prevent such “tragedies” in the future.

The lawsuit filed in California alleges Altman’s company never undertook the promised policy changes.

By the time of the filing, OpenAI was facing more than 30 other lawsuits in California, where it is based, from victims’ families, survivors and others affected by the Tumbler Ridge attack over alleged negligence.

Paramount Skydance has completed its $110bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery to form Skydance.

The deal, which closed on Tuesday, brings together two entertainment giants that own movie studios and theme parks, but also brings two of the United States’ most influential news brands under one roof — CNN and CBS News.

Skydance CEO David Ellison, son of tech tycoon Larry Ellison, who is also a close ally of US President Donald Trump, has appointed Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO. Kreiz previously led Mattel.

The road to the merger has included lawsuits from unions and 12 different state attorneys general. But the deal was ultimately settled after the company agreed to appoint an independent editorial board to oversee both news networks amid concerns that the merger would lead to skewed coverage at the two networks.

On Monday, the company announced that Mark Thompson will stay on as CNN’s editor-in-chief, while Bari Weiss, editor-in-chief at CBS News, who was appointed to the role a year ago on Monday, will stay in her position.

Thompson’s continuation brought “a sigh of relief” among journalists at CNN, its media industry newsletter, Reliable Sources, reported.

Ever since the merger had been announced, there had been a wave of concerns at the network that major changes would be made to CNN if the Ellisons took over.

A looming future

There are still a lot of unknowns about what news will look like under Skydance. In a memo to staffers on Monday, Thompson said that “the specifics of how CNN will plug into and operate in the new company have yet to be finalized.”

That means looming fears of layoffs and consolidation still weigh on both news divisions as the combined company will carry $80bn in debt, while the entertainment giants look to cut costs, grow their streaming footprint and have pledged to produce 30 movies per year.

Thompson’s stay may be temporary, as The New York Times reported that his contract is up in the spring.

It is also not yet clear whether the networks will stay separate or combine in the long term, amid concerns that CBS News’ Weiss could be handed additional charge of CNN. In the past, the network’s top talent, including journalist Anderson Cooper, has threatened to leave if she came on board.

Weiss took over the network one year ago, and viewership has slumped across the board. Most recently, the news magazine programme 60 Minutes saw viewership slump during its season premiere last month, dropping 21 percent from the prior year and marking its worst viewership for a season premiere in 25 years, according to Nielsen ratings.

Editorial questions

The terms of the attorneys general’s lawsuit settlement require an independent editorial oversight board for both the networks. Skydance has 180 days to put it together. Press freedom experts do not believe that will help maintain editorial independence.

“It doesn’t take effect for 180 days. The newsroom can be totally overhauled in 180 days,” Seth Stern, director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, told Al Jazeera.

It is not the first time a publication has appointed an editorial board to weigh in on concerns about editorial influence. In 2007, when News Corp acquired Dow Jones, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, the Bancroft family, which owned the publisher at the time, was concerned that new owner and media mogul Rupert Murdoch would impact the paper’s editorial independence with his conservative tilt.

The paper appointed a five-person independent committee to preserve editorial integrity. But it was later revealed, including by former members of the board during a roundtable discussion hosted by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, that it did not deliver the oversight that it was originally intended to provide.

In Skydance’s case, the board is to be made up of five journalists appointed by Ellison, and there is no requirement for the company to disclose its findings to the public. The terms say that no more than two people on the board can be affiliated with the same political party.

“The truth isn’t dictated by the fifty-yard line between political parties. Sometimes neither political party is even close to the truth. So having a commitment to bipartisan representation, as opposed to a commitment to truth-telling, totally misunderstands what news is,” Stern said.

On Wall Street, the new company began trading under the ticker symbol SKYD. Since opening on Tuesday, the stock has dropped 2.5 percent.

The 50-year-old has regained consciousness and is receiving care nearly one week after being sent to the hospital following a botched lethal injection.

Lawyers for Christa Pike say she is awake and able to speak after her botched execution attempt by the state of Tennessee on September 30.

Tuesday’s statement marks the first public indication that Pike’s condition has improved after she was transported to a Nashville hospital after receiving two doses of pentobarbitol, lethal injections intended to end her life.

Her failed execution has sparked debate about the use of the death penalty in the United States. Pike is thought to be the first person to have survived such an injection in the country.

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” Pike’s lawyers said in a statement.

“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”

The statement also expresses gratitude to medical workers who the lawyers say have “treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her”.

Pike’s lawyers had previously stated that she was unconscious and on a ventilator. They described her arms as “swollen, burned and blistered” by the failed execution.

Pike was convicted and sentenced to die in 1996 for her participation in the murder of a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, when she was 18 years old. Two co-defendants received lesser sentences.

Pike’s defence lawyers had pointed to her mental health struggles in their attempts to commute her sentence. But the Slemmer family had advocated for the death penalty, pointing to the violent nature of the 19-year-old’s murder.

Accounts of Pike’s failed execution describe her kicking off the sheet covering her body and, at one point, appearing to snore. She reportedly expressed feeling pain as the lethal injections were administered.

The incident has brought attention to the prevalence of botched executions in the US criminal justice system.

Critics have argued that botched executions — defined as those that deviate from established procedures through unforeseen issues, delays or administrative incompetence — can cause unnecessary pain and suffering for those being put to death.

Citing the researcher Austin Sarat, the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit, estimates that 3 percent of executions in the US from 1890 to 2010 were botched.