Human Race

EXECUTED: Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin and henchman "Chemical Ali" was executed on Jan. 25, eight days after he was sentenced to death for the 1988 gassing of 5,600 Kurds—the largest use of chemical weapons on civilians in history. Ali Hassan al-Majid was better known by his nickname and as the King of Spades in the pack of cards of "most wanted" Iraqis issued by the U.S. military in 2003. It was his fourth death sentence received in Iraqi courts for crimes against humanity stemming from pogroms under Saddam that killed hundreds of thousands of Kurds and Shiites.

RELEASED: Mehmet Ali Agca, 52, the Turkish man who shot and severely wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981, is a free man after completing another prison sentence for murdering a journalist in 1979. Agca's reasons for targeting the pope have remained cloudy over the years, but he is reportedly seeking millions of dollars in exchange for interviews and book deals.