21.   Opponents of the death penalty say two mentally retarded inmates were executed while Bush was governor of Texas.

22.   Texas is also scheduled to execute an inmate later Thursday.

23.   The court has stopped a number of executions as it considers a Virginia case that challenges the constitutionality of executing retarded inmates.

24.   The Georgia House voted overwhelmingly Monday to phase out electrocution and execute inmates by injection.

25.   The three death-row inmates were executed in secret Thursday, according to Akira Ishikawa of Amnesty International Japan.

26.   The three death-row inmates were executed in secret Friday, according to Kyodo News Service, which quoted a leak by anonymous judicial sources.

27.   The three inmates were executed in secret Thursday, according to Akira Ishikawa of Amnesty International Japan.

28.   Thirty-four other states execute inmates by injection.

29.   Twenty-three death-row inmates were executed by hanging Tuesday, including a policeman who fatally shot four people in a personal grudge.