CHINA
Justice talks death penalty
China’s chief justice said Sunday that his country, which is believed to execute more people than the rest of the world combined, gave the death penalty “to an extremely small number of criminals” in the past 10 years. The actual number of executions in China is a state secret. A 2007 decision that all death sentences must be reviewed by the Supreme People’s Court is believed to have reduced the number of executions dramatically. Chief Justice Zhou Qiang said in his report to the national legislature that the court has “strictly controlled and prudently applied” the death penalty. Dui Hua, a U.S.-based rights group, estimated that about 2,400 people were executed in 2013, one-tenth the number in 1983.
SOUTH KOREA
Lawmakers mull changes
South Korean politicians want to ensure that the country never again sees a leader like Park Geun-hye, who was booted from office over an explosive corruption scandal. But they are far apart on whether doing so would require rewriting the country’s three-decade-old constitution. Several parties, including conservatives scrambling to distance themselves from Park, say South Koreans should vote in a new constitution in addition to a new president in early May. They say the shocking downfall of Park shows that the constitution places too much power that is easily abused and often goes unchecked into the hands of the president.
JORDAN
Girls’ killer is released
A Jordanian soldier who killed seven Israeli schoolgirls during a class trip to his country was released Sunday, after serving 20 years in prison, an official said. Ahmed Daqamseh had killed the eighth-graders in a 1997 shooting rampage at the scenic “Island of Peace” border post where he was stationed. Seven other girls were wounded at the time. The release could raise tensions between Israel and Jordan.
INDIA
Ruling party wins big
India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party won landslide victories in results announced Saturday from key state legislative elections that are seen as a referendum on the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nearly three-year-old government. Leaders from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party said the party’s victory in Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state, would boost Modi’s chances of winning another term as India’s prime minister in 2019 elections.
Compiled from wire reports