The World from PRX

Voting begins in India in world’s largest election

Full Episode
48:38

Deori tribal women stand in a queue to cast their vote during the first round of polling of India’s national election in Jorhat, India, Friday, April 19, 2024. Nearly 970 million voters will elect 543 members for the lower house of Parliament for five years, during staggered elections that will run until June 1.

Anupam Nath/AP

Voting has begun in India in what’s being called the largest election in recorded history. Nearly 1 billion people are eligible to vote in the election, which will happen over the next six weeks. Also, US and Iranian officials confirm an Israeli attack on the Iranian city of Isfahan, which is home to several key military sites. And, there’s a growing social media campaign to boycott Canada’s biggest grocery store chain, Loblaws, as prices rise across the market. Plus, the UN describes the current state of government and society in Haiti as “cataclysmic,” with armed gangs seizing control of much of the country.

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The largest election in the world begins in India
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US urges restraint and deescalation as Israel and Iran trade attacks
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Canadians threaten boycott of leading grocery chain over high prices
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One man’s quest to lay Ukraine’s war dead to rest
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As Haiti teeters, the US government resumes deportations
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