MELBOURNE, Australia — A China-born Australian democracy blogger will not appeal his suspended death sentence imposed by a Beijing court, with his family saying Wednesday a legal challenge would be detrimental to his welfare. Yang Hengjun was found guilty of espionage following a closed trial and sentenced two weeks ago to death with a two-year … Read more
ROME — A Vatican-affiliated Catholic charity made a last-minute appeal Tuesday to the U.S. state of Alabama to halt a planned execution using nitrogen gas, saying the method is “barbarous” and “uncivilized” and would bring “indelible shame” to the state. The Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community has lobbied for decades to abolish the death penalty around the … Read more
A legal battle over how death row prisoners in Alabama can be killed has reached a critical point. On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that the state can proceed with its planned execution of inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith using nitrogen gas. The execution is scheduled for later this month and would be the first ever … Read more
BANGKOK — A Japanese vacationer reaches right into a baggie of hashish he’s simply purchased in a central Bangkok weed store, pulling out a gram of buds to cut down in a small black grinder, earlier than rolling them neatly right into a joint. Solely the slight spillage onto the smoking lounge’s desk — and … Read more
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe has begun releasing greater than 4,000 prisoners underneath a presidential amnesty that authorities say will assist ease congestion in some overcrowded jails. About 800 prisoners have been launched Friday from the Central Jail and Chikurubi Most Jail within the capital, Harare. Jails in different elements of the nation started releasing prisoners … Read more