Important Takeaways:
- Erdogan Suffers Historic Loss in Turkey Municipal Elections
- Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan suffered an unprecedented defeat at the ballot box against the main opposition party amid rampant inflation and the highest borrowing costs since the president swept to power more than two decades ago.
- Turkey’s lira weakened in early trading on Monday after Erdogan’s AK Party fell behind the main opposition Republican People’s Party, known as CHP, in Sunday’s municipal elections for the first time ever, according to early results published by state broadcaster TRT.
- Poll results show voters turned against the ruling party in much of the country, but the change was more dramatic in urban areas. That was mainly due to persistently high inflation even after Erdogan allowed the central bank to raise the nation’s key interest rate to 50%, the highest level since the ruling party first came to power in 2002. While higher lending costs resulted in a slump in consumer sentiment, they have yet to reverse the trajectory of price increases, which are running at an annual rate of just under 70%.
- “Voters appear to have punished his party and candidates for economic hardships at the municipal elections,” Emre Peker, Europe director for Eurasia Group, said of the president. “Erdogan is no longer immune to voter concerns over the economy, which he most recently sidestepped in May 2023 to secure reelection.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Rising global threats force ‘epoch-making’ shift in world order
- The return of great power competition across the globe is forcing countries to adapt, spurring major changes to alignment and spending from Europe to the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East.
- The change is everywhere on the map — but most evident in countries like Sweden and Japan as the nation’s make dramatic changes to meet rising threats from Russia and China.
- “I’ve described the security environment as the most dangerous I’ve seen in 40 years in uniform,” said U.S. Adm. John Aquilino, head of Indo-Pacific Command, before the House Armed Services Committee this month.
- The rise of new tensions has driven up defense spending worldwide. In an annual report this year, the International Institute for Strategic Studies found defense spending was up 9 percent worldwide last year, reaching $2.2 trillion.
- European countries collectively drove spending up from about $350 billion in 2021 to more than $388 billion in 2023, while Asian nations bumped that from more than $500 billion to higher than $510 billion in the same time frame.
- The spending bumps go hand-in-hand with public opinion. A November Ipsos poll of 30 countries found 84 percent of people believe the world is becoming more dangerous, up from 74 percent in 2018
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Important Takeaways:
- Powerful X-class solar flare slams Earth, triggering radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean
- Scientists spotted the flare erupting from the bottom of the sun on Thursday (March 28), using satellites from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to the organization’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
- The flare, which peaked at 4:56 p.m. ET, was categorized as an X1.1 flare. X-class flares are the most powerful type of explosion the sun can produce, according to NASA.
- The explosion was so powerful that it ionized the top of Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in a “deep shortwave radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean,” SpaceWeather.com reported.
- The solar outburst was also accompanied by an enormous belch of plasma known as a coronal mass ejection (CME). NOAA scientists were initially concerned that the CME would collide with Earth, potentially resulting in a geomagnetic storm that could impact satellites, radio communications and other infrastructure. However, on Friday (March 29) the agency announced that the outburst would likely miss Earth.
- This solar event comes on the heels of a “double” X-class flare that occurred Monday (March 25), triggering the most powerful geomagnetic storm on our planet in six years. Not only that, but the unique event was made up of two simultaneous explosions, also known as a sympathetic solar flare.
- The abundance of back-to-back solar events has led scientists to think the sun may have entered its explosive era of peak activity, known as solar maximum — which seems to be starting a year earlier than previous forecasts predicted. However, researchers will have to wait until the sun “calms down” to know for sure.
- So far in 2024, seven X-class flares, including the latest one, have burst from the sun, which is already half the number that reached Earth in 2023, Live Science previously reported.
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Important Takeaways:
- Ahead of Easter rush, officials say drought must not put off Barcelona tourists
- Tourists arriving at Barcelona’s airport or gazing at its iconic Sagrada Familia basilica will this Easter holiday be met with large signs in English that read: “Drought alert. During your stay, save water”.
- Reservoir levels are only around 15% of their capacity, prompting curbs on water use by residents, visitors, agriculture and industry. Beach showers are shut and swimming pools cannot be filled with tap water, among other restrictions.
- Catalan officials have appealed for tourists to act responsibly, but are also adamant the drought should not put them off coming to the Spanish city and region most-visited by foreigners, where tourism accounts for 14.5% of the local economy.
- Barcelona’s hotel association warned in February the city could not afford to project an image abroad of hotels with empty pools. Hotels’ lobbying prompted the authorities to relax a total ban on filling pools, allowing desalinated water to be used instead.
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Important Takeaways:
- As World Marks Easter, ISIS Urges Global Attacks on Christians, Jews in Honor of Ramadan
- As the Christian world celebrates Easter, the Islamic State (ISIS) is calling upon Muslims to attack Christians and Jews globally during the closing weeks of Ramadan, specifically targeting Western and democratic nations, including America, Israel, and European states, as part of its ongoing jihad campaign.
- The directive was issued via Telegram by Islamic State spokesperson Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari, who also praised the recent deadly attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall music venue that saw at least 143 people killed by terrorists from ISIS-K (the Afghanistan affiliate of ISIS) who fired on some of the estimated 6,000 attendees of a rock concert.
- Following the attack, the Islamic State faction circulated a selfie taken by the gunmen, lauding the “bloody attack” against a “large crowd of Christians.”
- Urging the group’s supporters to attack “crusaders” everywhere, the terror group’s spokesman told them, “We ask God that you make it to Palestine so you could fight the Jews face to face in an endless religious war.”
- Furthermore, he called for increased attacks by ISIS members in Mozambique and the Philippines.
- The disclosure comes as French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced last week that the terror threat system had been raised to its highest level. It had previously been raised to its highest level in October after a teacher was stabbed to death by a Chechnyan migrant amid calls from the Palestinian terror group Hamas for a global “day of jihad” in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks on Israel.
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Important Takeaways:
- Trailer hauling Bibles intentionally set on fire on Easter Sunday in Wilson County
- Investigations are underway after a suspicious trailer fire in Wilson County on Easter Sunday
- Juliet Police Department swiftly responded to the scene, accompanied by the Mt. Juliet Fire Department who worked quickly to extinguish the blaze.
- Early investigations, led by the WSCO, show that the trailer was full of Bibles. Officials believe that the trailer was intentionally dropped off in the middle of the intersection and intentionally set on fire. No injuries have been reported following the incident.
- One of our reporters spoke with Sheriff Robert Bryan, who said he has no doubt the Bibles were burned intentionally. He says investigators are currently reviewing the security footage, and the car appears to be an out of state plate.
- The investigation is ongoing, and as of now we don’t have any more details.
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Important Takeaways:
- Biden White House Faces Strong Backlash for Declaring Transgender ‘Visibility’ Day on Easter
- The Biden administration received strong criticism for President Joe Biden’s Good Friday declaration calling for “all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity.”
- The “Day of Visibility” for transgendered people was Sunday, March 31, which coincided this year with the Easter celebrations of Jesus’ resurrection.
- The declaration drew an immediate outcry from Christian leaders in both the evangelical world and government.
- Messianic Jewish columnist and author Michael Brown wrote, “This is not a poorly timed announcement. It is not even a slap in the face. It is a kick below the belt accompanied by a laugh and a smile. It is as insulting as it is perverse, no matter how much we care for our trans-identified friends and colleagues and want them to experience wholeness and freedom in the Lord.”
- House Speaker Mike Johnson said on social media that the White House “betrayed the central tenet of Easter.” He called the decision “outrageous and abhorrent.”
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Important Takeaways:
- China Warns Citizens Inside USA: Prepare for “Various unexpected situations”
- A strange warning has been issued by China to any of its citizens located in the United States: “take safety precautions and be prepared for ‘various unexpected situations.’
- According to the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs, several Chinese students and company employees have recently been subjected to “unwarranted interrogations and harassment” by US airport law enforcement officers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its WeChat account on Friday.
- Their phones, computers and other luggage items were searched piece by piece, and several people were banned from entering the country, it said.
- To most casual observers, this “warning” from China makes no sense. At worst, perhaps twenty people from China have had unusual incidents trying to enter the United States; hardly a reason for such a large warning. Unless . . .
- So-called “Conspiracy theorists” are wondering if this “warning” is actually a “signal” to Chinese forces already inside the US; sort of a notice to “prepare for action?”
- [Even the South China morning Post reported on this] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3257317/china-issues-travel-advisory-citizens-visiting-us-warning-unwarranted-interrogations-and-harassment
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Important Takeaways:
- Rains Wash Away Part of California’s Iconic Highway 1 Near Big Sur, Stranding Tourists, Locals
- Spring rains washed away part of California’s famous Highway 1 near Big Sur on Saturday, stranding 1,600 people who had to be moved past the collapsed portion in convoys.
- The rain was coming down at a rate of 2 inches per hour at one point, according to the National Weather service.
- When the convoy first opened, around noon, an estimated 300 cars were waiting to travel northbound. It took 50 minutes to clear out all the waiting vehicles. This presumably included Easter weekend visitors to Big Sur who were stranded by the closure and had to spend the night in temporary lodging and emergency shelters.
- The 2023-2024 winter has been the third-wettest winter in parts of California since records began nearly 80 years ago. The rains and snow followed an exceptionally snowy 2022-2023 winter, which broke a five-year drought.
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Important Takeaways:
- At Least 32 Shot During Easter Weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Chicago
- ABC 7 reported that the weekend’s first fatal shooting occurred Friday, when a 29-year-old man was shot in a drive-by incident in a parking lot “in the 800-block of 87th Street.”
- At 12:20 p.m. Saturday, a 41-year-old man was shot and fatally wounded while sitting inside a home “in the 8200 block of South Elizabeth Street.” He was transported to a hospital, where he died.
- Five females were shot on Easter Sunday at 1:00 a.m. The Associated Press noted that this shooting occurred when “an unknown assailant fired multiple shots toward them and fled the scene.”
- The Chicago Sun-Times pointed out that 103 people were killed in Chicago January 1, 2024, through March 31, 2024.
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