The botched execution in Tennessee of Christa Pike, who survived despite being subject to two doses of lethal injection on Wednesday, has reignited furious debate about the death penalty in the U.S.
Witnesses say Pike, who was strapped to a gurney, was administered a supposedly lethal dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital but after several minutes said her arm was burning. She then asked "please try up on my shoulder higher."
Lebanon’s parliament Tuesday abolished the death penalty, making it the first country in the Arab world to replace the sentencing with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labor, according to the AP.
Aggravated hard labor is already written into Lebanese law but has rarely been implemented in recent years. The country's financial crisis and overcrowded prisons have limited the authorities' resources and capacity.
The Trump administration announced Friday that it will authorize firing squads as a federally permitted method of execution, deepening its push to revive the death penalty and drawing a stark contrast with Pope Leo XIV and Catholic teaching. Within hours of the Justice Department’s announcement, the first pontiff from the United States the death penalty as an affront to human dignity.