the US Army has issued new regulations governing the death penalty, raising speculation that the military might be preparing for its first execution since 1961.

Perrie Dyon Simpson was executed early morning for the 1984 murder of a retired minister, the North Carolina Department of Correction said.

Sri Lanka's High Court cleared a former deputy defence minister and his two sons over the killing of 10 men but handed down death penalties to five soldiers who were involved.

a young Iranian couple convicted of killing a mother and daughter during a burglary were hanged in Tehran's Evin prison.

the Cebu City Regional Trial Court, the Philippines, sentenced Edgar Belandres to death for fatally shooting a photojournalist in 2004.

the Punjab Rights Forum (PRF) appealed to President Abdul Kalam to implement a moratorium on the death penalty in India.

the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed the execution of Julius Murphy 24 hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection. The court ordered a state district court to review claims by Murphy, 27, that he is mentally retarded and cannot be subject to capital punishment.

the Bac Giang People's Court, Vietnam, handed out death sentences to Than Nhan Lam, 37, Than Nhan Sang, 28, Do Van Hoa, 37, and Nguyen Quang Thang, 37, on charges of drug trafficking.

an Inner Mongolia court sentenced a college president to death for hiring a man to kill his former employee.

a man was hanged in Tehran's notorious Evin prison for alleged murder charges. Death sentence for the man identified by his first name Esmail, was endorsed by the mullahs' supreme court.

New Jersey lawmakers have voted to suspend executions while a study commission examines the fairness and expense of the state's death penalty.

two Thai fishermen, Bualoi Posit, 23, and Wichai Somkhaoyai, 24, were sentenced to death for the rape and murder of student Katherine Horton after an unusually short trial and sustained political pressure.