BRITNEY'S on the verge of the "biggest comeback ever", Pete Doherty's getting special treatment in jail, and 22 people a day are executed in China.
That's 8,000 people a year killed for crimes including fraud and drug taking. Puts it all in perspective really, doesn't it?
The figure comes from an Amnesty International report on the death penalty. The report stated that China's official figures - 470 deaths last year - put it ahead of other nations, but that the country's high levels of secrecy about its justice system mean the figure is more likely to be in the thousands.
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With all the fuss about Tibet and the Olympics, Beijing is particularly under the spotlight, but it's worth bearing in mind that between them, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the US are responsible for 88 per cent of all known executions in the world.
The rate is falling, but not fast enough.
China protests are de rigeur at the moment, thanks to the horrible irony of the Olympic torch making its way to one of the world's worst human rights abusers.
But let's hope that once the Games are over this new-found political awareness doesn't revert to a passing interest, overshadowed by the antics of Z-listers in Heat magazine.
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