US to resume federal executions after 16 years

The US government’s move to resume executions after a 16-year break has drawn sharp criticism from rights groups and leading democrats.

Several candidates for the democratic presidential nomination called for the death penalty to be abolished.

On Thursday, attorney general William Barr said five inmates would be executed.

They had been convicted of murders or rapes of children or the elderly

The executions have been scheduled for December 2019 and January 2020.