Iran has issued death sentences for three people arrested during the massive street protests triggered by the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ignoring international pleas for the release of all protesters.
Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio on Monday delayed two executions while the state and the courts re-examine lethal injection procedures after executioners were unable to inject lethal drugs into a condemned man's veins last month.
Death row inmate Romell Broom (photo) had his execution rescheduled after executioners repeatedly failed to find a vein for the deadly injection. Broom's lawyers said the failed attempt violates constitutional protection against cruel punishments.
Conditions faced by Japan's death row inmates are pushing them to insanity, says human rights group Amnesty International, citing that prisoners and their families have no knowledge of when their execution will take place.
Norway on Tuesday condemned a Congolese military court's death sentence passed on two of its nationals, calling the move "completely unacceptable”. The two are charged with murdering their driver during a visit to the country.
Amnesty International says Iraq, which reinstated the death penalty in 2004, now has one of the world’s highest death penalty rates. The human rights group estimates that 1,000 are waiting on death row.
Last week, China's Supreme Court said it wished to drastically reduce the number of death sentences handed out each year - reportedly more than the rest of the world put together. But abolishing the death penalty altogether is not on the agenda.
A Cairo court has sentenced Egyptian tycoon Hisham Talaat Mustafa and a hitman to be hanged for the murder of Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim. Mustafa, a stalwart of the ruling National Democratic Party, paid $2 million for the hit.
51-year-old Michael Lynn Riley was executed on Tuesday for the murder of a young woman in 1986. An appeals court had granted a stay of execution in September 2005 after lawyers argued that he was mentally challenged.
