Domestic:
The state of Missouri executed Marcellus Williams on Tuesday, Sept. 24. He was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. after lethal injection was administered at 6:01. A stay of execution was denied by Missouri’s Supreme Court, governor and the United States Supreme Court. In 2001, Williams was convicted for the 1998 murder of newspaper reporter Felicia Gayle—a crime for which many believe him to have been innocent, with DNA evidence available to support his wrongful conviction and, now, execution. Gayle’s family, jurors and the prosecutor on his original case put out statements detailing their belief that Williams should not have been killed. His final statement reads, “All Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!!!” Williams was a devout Muslim, served as an Imam in prison and had his final visit with Imam Jalahii Kacem before his death. Demonstrators were present outside the prison where Williams was executed, protesting capital punishment and its role in Williams’ execution.
Hurricane Helene is making its way towards the Florida coast. Recently upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane and expected to reach Category 4 by the time it makes landfall, Helene is expected to hit the Big Bend region of Florida’s coast by the evening of Thursday, Sept. 26. Residents are making urgent preparations, bagging sand in preparation for flooding and commencing evacuations as weather forecasts attempt to chart expected landfall and damages. Mandatory evacuations have been posted in 20 counties in Florida so far. Other states surrounding Florida, including Georgia and North Carolina, have also declared states of emergency in anticipation of landfall, with some predicting that every aspect of their state will be affected. Several Floridian universities have closed, and about 90 percent of Florida’s school districts will not have schools open on Thursday. Residents are fleeing Florida’s coast, causing predictable shortages of gas and other necessities. Helene has reportedly been made larger and more threatening by superheated ocean temperatures, likely due to unchecked climate change.
International:
As the conflict perpetuated by Israel continues, Lebanon has increasingly found itself the site of bombings and other military incursions. According to reporting conducted by the BBC, the city of Tyre, located to the south of Lebanon, has been almost completely deserted as a result of Israeli airstrikes. Israel is carrying out “extensive strikes,” in correspondent Orla Guerin’s words, after Hezbollah fired a missile at Tel Aviv. Another BBC reporter, based out of Beirut, reports that an Israeli army chief has told troops to prepare for a ground incursion into Lebanon in the wake of these airstrikes. The United States and France have been reportedly composing ceasefire proposals, but violence and further warfare continues in both Lebanon and Gaza.
Thailand has passed a breakthrough bill that enables same-sex couples to legally wed in the country. The bill, which progressed through both the Thailand House of Representatives and Senate before being endorsed and fully legalized by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, has a “waiting period” of 120 days—LGBTQ+ couples will be able to register their marriages in Thailand beginning in Jan. 2025. Same-sex couples will be granted full rights, including legal, medical and financial partnerships. City officials are reportedly ready to perform same-sex marriages when the bill is fully realized in January. Led by the Pheu Thai Party, the Thai government has made the enactment of full marriage equality a priority. Thailand is the third country in Asia to legalize gay marriage, following in the footsteps of Nepal and Taiwan.
