California suspends death penalty

LOS ANGELES: Governor Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty in California on Wednesday, granting a reprieve to 737 condemned inmates, the largest death row population in the United States.

Newsom, a Democrat who took office in January, has been a staunch opponent of the death penalty, last carried out in California in 2006. "The death penalty has been an abject failure. It discriminates based on the colour of your skin or how much money you make," he told a news conference.