US speeds up pace of federal executions as Trump nears final days of presidency

Trump will leave office having executed about a quarter of death-row prisoners, despite waning US support for capital punishment

As Donald Trump's presidency winds down, his administration is ratcheting up the pace of federal executions despite a surge of coronavirus cases in prisons, announcing plans for five starting Thursday and concluding just days before the 20 January inauguration of the president-elect, Joe Biden.

If the five go off as planned, it will make 13 executions since July when the Republican administration resumed putting inmates to death after a 17-year hiatus and will cement Trump's legacy as the most prolific execution president in over 130 years.