Saudi Arabia imposes moratorium on drug-related executions
The state-backed Human Rights Commission said 27 executions were recorded in 2020. That is down from 184 the year before, according to rights watchdog Amnesty International.
Death & Grief
Death and grief are universal human experiences, yet how societies support the dying and the bereaved keeps improving. This archive covers milestones in end-of-life care, bereavement research, hospice access, and cultural shifts that help people mourn with more dignity and community.
Colorado becomes second U.S. state to legalize human composting
The US buries an estimated 5.3 million gallons of embalming fluid each year, which is toxic to the natural environment. Although cremation removes this factor, each cremation emits about as much as a 500-mile car drive.
First human-composting funeral home in the U.S. opens
Recompose, a Seattle-based company, now offers an innovative funeral service that turns human remains into healthy soil.
The global homicide rate fell by 46% worldwide between 1990 and 2015
Between 1990 and 2015, the number of homicides per 100,000 people fell by 46%, with countries in Oceania experiencing a 22% drop over the same period, and 36% in Asia.
The state of New York sees first drop in opioid deaths since 2009
After years of rising opioid-related overdoses deaths among state residents, 2018 finally saw a drop, from 2,170 deaths in 2017, to 1,824 deaths – a 15.9 percent decrease.
Japan records lowest suicide rate since statistics were first kept in 1978
2018 marks the ninth consecutive with a year-on-year decrease in suicides in Japan and the first time in 37 years for the total to fall below 21,000.
Washington State becomes first in the United States to allow human composting
The practice reduces the environmental impact and saves land from being taken up by cemetery plots and headstones.
New Jersey legalizes medically assisted suicide for the terminally ill
The bill allows adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live to get a prescription for life-ending medication. Currently, California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Hawaii, Montana and the District of Columbia allow physician-assisted suicide.
Neanderthals and early humans both buried their dead, and the Levant may be where it started
Around 120,000 years ago, two human species — Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens — began burying their dead in the caves and rock shelters of the Levant. A new analysis finds striking similarities and differences between the graves, and raises the possibility that burial itself began here, in competition and contact between species.
Humans bury their dead with intention at caves in what is now Israel
Around 90,000 B.C.E., anatomically modern humans at Qafzeh Cave near Nazareth buried their dead with red ochre, animal bones, and deliberate grave goods — some of the oldest evidence of ritual burial ever found. These acts suggest symbolic thought, grief, and the deep human need to make death mean something.