30 April 2014 Last updated at 01:36
Oklahoma inmate dies after 'botched' lethal injection
A death row inmate in Oklahoma died of a heart attack after his execution was halted because the lethal injection of three drugs failed to work properly.
Clayton Lockett, 38, experienced a vein failure which prevented the drug cocktail from being fully effective.
The execution was halted after 20 minutes, during which he writhed and shook uncontrollably, US media report.
The execution of fellow inmate Charles Warner, due to take place just two hours later, was postponed for 14 days.
Almost half of Americans live with unhealthy levels of air pollution
Report finds 148m living in areas where smog and soot particles are health risk with climate change likely to worsen conditions
Nearly half of all Americans live in areas with unhealthy levels of airpollution, according to an American Lung Association (ALA) report released Wednesday.
Nearly 148 million people live in areas where smog and soot particles make it unhealthy to breathe the air, according to the ALA's annual study on US air quality.
The report, which is based on data collected between 2010 and 2012, found smog, or ozone, had worsened in 22 of the 25 biggest US metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles, Houston, Washington-Baltimore, New York City and Chicago – and said there was a high risk of more high-ozone days because of climate change.
Voting begins in Iraq as violence grips a divided country
Iraqis head to polls in first national election since US withdrawal of troops
Iraqis are heading to the polls today in their first national election since US forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011, with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki seeking a third term amid rising violence.
Iraq’s western province of Anbar is torn by fighting as Sunni Muslim militants battle the Iraqi military. Its economy is struggling and Maliki faces criticism that he is aggravating sectarian splits and trying to consolidate power.
Polls opened at 7am with a vehicle curfew imposed on the streets of Baghdad. Voters will choose from among 9,012 candidates and the parliamentary election will effectively serve as a referendum on Mr Maliki, a Shi’ite Muslim who has governed for eight years.
China: Party expels 'corrupt and degenerate' top official
April 30, 2014 - 4:45PMPhilip Wen
China correspondent for Fairfax Media
Beijing: China’s ruling Communist Party has expelled one of its senior officials, Li Chuncheng, and authorised a criminal investigation into his corrupt behaviour, the latest major move in an anti-graft drive encircling the country's former domestic security chief, Zhou Yongkang.
It comes nearly 18 months after Mr Li, then deputy party secretary of Sichuan province, became the first senior official detained in what has developed into China’s biggest anti-corruption probe and a flagship of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s efforts to strengthen his grip on the leadership.
Chinese authorities have to date said nothing regarding their investigation into Mr Zhou, one of China’s most formidable politicians in recent decades, which has broadened into the detention of his immediate relatives.
Poachers held after revenge attack on elephants
Three suspects will appear in court in Kenya next week after six elephants, including four juveniles, were found shot dead in a private reserve in one of the worst poaching incidents in several years.
A wildlife official said that it is thought that the killings were at least partly motivated by revenge against officials because the calves, not having tusks, had no value to poachers.
The poachers "would have no reason for killing juveniles. They are trying to hit back at the authorities," the official said.
The adult elephants had their tusks removed.
Kenya Wildlife Service said its rangers exchanged gunfire with poachers on Saturday evening.
In post-tsunami Japan, rebuilding a town begins with a child-care center
The center has become a place where mothers and children, many of whom still live in temporary homes, can reconnect, share their experiences, and support one another.
Along the water’s edge in Rikuzentakata, on the coastline of northeastern Japan, stands a single pine tree, its bark scarred by tsunami waves.
The area, once home to 23,000 people, is otherwise a barren landscape of splintered two-by-fours and tangled debris. Little else remains of this resort community that was renowned for its beautiful white sand beach.
On 11 March 2011, 30-foot swells swept away the city and many others like it. In Rikuzentakata, the tsunami left behind only a few large, gutted structures and destroyed 70,000 trees along the coastal pine forest, which had protected the rice paddies from the sand. Nearly 2,000 residents died, making it one of the hardest-hit communities. In all, almost 16,000 people lost their lives that day.
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