The top court in Arkansas has halted two executions that were due to start a series of seven in 11 days. The state's Supreme Court acted hours before convicted murderers Don Davis and Bruce Ward were due to die, but the Davis decision could yet be reversed. But there was a victory for the state when a federal court lifted an order that blocked all seven executions. There were two rulings - in the first, the Arkansas Supreme Court stayed the executions of Davis and Ward, in a 4-3 decision. In the other decision, the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals in St Louis vacated the weekend ruling to halt all seven executions.

Source: The Star April 18, 2017 02:15 UTC