Last month, on 27 March to be exact - a Yemeni man was beheaded in the Saudi Arabian city of Jizan and then had his body 'crucified' (ie displayed in public on a pole). It wasn't a one-off. Last year the Saudi authorities also crucified a Sudanese man after his head had been severed by the executioner.

Earlier in March, Indonesian authorities carried convicted drug courier Adami Wilson, a Nigerian, to a remote location and executed him by firing squad. Wilson had complained that he had paid what he had been told was the necessary bribe to secure commutation of his sentence, but the promised mercy never came. He was executed in part because he admitted to corruption.

Saudi Arabia is reportedly considering abolishing beheadings – because of a shortage of swordsmen. Egyptian website Al-Ahram quotes daily newspa...