Lethal injection was adopted by the US because it was more ‘humane’ but an EU ban on certain drugs has led to painful and prolonged deaths, writes Leonid Bershidsky.

A botched execution that used a new drug combination left an Oklahoma inmate writhing on the gurney, leading prison officials to halt the proceedings before his eventual death from a heart attack.

THE crisis over chemical weapons in Syria has underlined a central dilemma for the West as it tries to deal with the country’s civil war — the lack of attractive alternatives to President Bashar Assad.

World leaders hailed President Barack Obama’s sweeping re-election, with allies pledging to deepen cooperation with the United States on fighting the world economic slump and maintaining security across the globe.

President Barack Obama’s re-election erased the last major threat to his signature healthcare reform law, but left questions about implementation as the focus shifts to tackling the mounting US deficit.

Voters in Oklahoma approved an amendment to the state’s constitution to end affirmative action programmes in state government that had been designed to increase the hiring of minorities and women in the state’s 115 agencies.

Americans like their team sports to be reduced to duels, the battle of stars who are more often than not defined by recent form.

US emergency service dispatchers are being credited with saving the life of a suicidal, pregnant woman — ringing them from Dublin.

AMERICAN sports stars are used to cameras whizzing above them to provide close-ups but a college footballer had a close call on Saturday.

NORMALLY the New York summer lingers like an unwanted late-night party straggler until just after the US Open champions are crowned in Queens.

The US state of Utah is set to execute a convicted killer by firing squad after a judge agreed to the inmate’s request, renewing a debate over what critics see as an antiquated, Old West-style of justice.