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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 

China: 55 sentenced at mass trial in Xinjiang, including 3 sentenced to death

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May 27, 2014: Chinese authorities used a public rally in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to sentence 55 people on charges including terrorism.

At least three people were sentenced to death. Others were jailed for murder, separatism, and organizing or participating in terror groups.

The official Xinhua news agency said 7,000 locals and officials witnessed the mass sentencing at a stadium in northern Xinjiang's Yili prefecture.

At the event, Yili Deputy Communist Party Chief Li Minghui said the rally demonstrated a "resolute determination" to crack down on what China calls the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism.

Beijing announced a year-long security crackdown following an attack that killed 43 people and wounded more than 90 in the regional capital, Urumqi, on 23 May 2014.

Following the Urumqi attack, China said it broke up 23 terrorist gangs and arrested more than 200 people in three areas of southern Xinjiang. 

Source: VOA News, May 28, 2014
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