India’s normal election kick-off

Two state elections in India have delivered combined outcomes for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who pulled out all of the stops to bolster his celebration in what’s extensively seen as a kickoff to the 2024 normal election. In the PM’s home state of Gujarat – the place Modi served as the highest elected official for 13 years – his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party deepened its grip on the state, reaping greater than 80% of seats within the state legislature on the time of this writing. (Modi is accused of turning a blind eye to brutal inter-ethnic riots there in 2002 that led to greater than 1,000 deaths, principally Muslims killed by Hindu vigilantes.) Meanwhile, in northern Himachal Pradesh, the incumbent BJP misplaced to the principle opposition Congress Party, which has struggled on the nationwide stage lately. What’s extra, regardless of a giant push to take care of its 15-year grip on the town of Delhi, Modi’s celebration additionally misplaced a key election in the capital to the Aam Admi Party, established in 2012 on an anti-corruption platform. Still, with these races kicking off the nation’s run-up to 2024, Modi is clearly the dominant political pressure in India: He has a staggeringly excessive approval ranking of 77% and has overseen a booming financial system that’s on track to change into the world’s third largest by 2030.

Marriage lastly will get some respect within the US

Same-sex and interracial {couples} within the US now not want to fret concerning the authorities — or the courts — breaking apart their marriages. On Thursday, the US House in a 258-169 vote passed the Respect for Marriage Act, which mandates federal recognition for these unions. Thirty-nine Republicans joined all the Democratic caucus in supporting the invoice, which incorporates an modification allowing spiritual organizations to refuse companies to marriages they don’t agree with. That modification was added within the Senate final month with a purpose to tackle Republican considerations about spiritual freedom. The invoice requires states to acknowledge same-sex marriage licenses issued legally in different states, but it surely permits states to refuse to situation same-sex marriage licenses of their very own. The Supreme Court’s controversial decision to overturn Roe v. Wade earlier this yr raised fears that the conservative-dominated bench would possibly transfer to overturn related privacy-based rights to interracial or same-sex marriage as properly. This invoice, which now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for a signature, makes that inconceivable.

Iran sends message by hanging protester

In yet one more signal that the Islamic Republic of Iran is not serious about reform, the regime on Thursday performed the primary identified execution of an individual for taking part in nationwide protests which have introduced the nation to a standstill for nearly three months. After a sham trial, Mohsen Shekari, 23, was sentenced to loss of life for allegedly blocking a street in Tehran again in September and attacking a member of the Basij paramilitary – a ruthless volunteer pressure that operates below the draconian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – with a machete. Shekari was convicted of “waging war against God,” which carries the loss of life penalty in Iran. While it’s inconceivable to know precisely what number of Iranians have been arrested for the reason that in-custody loss of life of Mahsa Amini by Iran’s morality police, that quantity is believed to be properly into the 1000’s. Some analysts say that whereas the regime has been attempting to indicate restraint (by its requirements) in responding to the continuing protests, this growth is an indication that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is now keen to take off the gloves fully to scare protesters into submission. But are the gray-bearded mullahs underestimating the dogged dedication of Iranian girls? TIME certain appears to suppose so.