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A drone view shows a flooded area following heavy rainfall in Rock Valley, Iowa, U.S. June 22, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video.
Hard Numbers: Massive US floods, Dagestan attacks, Bad booze, Deadly Hajj, Toodaloo to Taylor Swift
1,000,000: Over a million people in the Upper Midwest were under flood warnings on Sunday after several days of heavy rain forced thousands to evacuate in parts of Iowa and South Dakota. Iowan officials said the inundation has already exceeded the 1993 flood that killed 50 people, and the worst of the flooding is expected Monday and Tuesday.
15: Terrorists in Russia’s Dagestan province killed at least 15 police officers, four civilians and an Orthodox priest in coordinated attacks on churches, synagogues, and police stations in two cities on Sunday. Dagestan is a majority Muslim region with a history of extremist violence, and the tragedy follows ISIS-K's brutal slaying of 140 civilians in a Moscow concert venue in March, but no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.
54: At least 54 people in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu have died after drinking alcohol polluted with methanol. Dozens more have been hospitalized. Methanol is, chemically speaking, also a type of alcohol, but it needs to be filtered from ethanol (the fun stuff) or it can cause severe liver damage, blindness, and death. The likely culprit is homebrewed alcohol, which many in India consume despite the health risks because store-bought booze is too pricey.
1,000: Over 1,000 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi officials said Sunday. No explanations were offered for the deaths, but the governments of Jordan and Tunisia blamed excessive heat, and reporters on the scene witnessed pilgrims passing out, vomiting, and collapsing under the searing sun.
88,446: Taylor Swift said 88,446 people attended her concert in London’s iconic Wembley Stadium on Friday. The Prince of Wales attended – he was celebrating his 42nd birthday – and netted a selfie with the pop star and two of his children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump talks with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization Plenary Session at the NATO summit in Watford, Britain, December 4, 2019.
Trump wins big in Iowa, worrying Canadians
Anyone expecting a two-way race in Iowa was disappointed this week. Former President Donald Trump netted the biggest caucus win in history on Monday and looks set to cruise to the Republican nomination. This means Eurasia Group’s No. 1 Top Risk of 2024 – which says the “two major parties’ likely presidential candidates are uniquely unfit for office” – is evolving before our very eyes. After all, Trump is facing dozens of felony charges, while Biden would be four years short of 90 at the end of another term.
North of the border, the majority are more worried about a Trump 2.0. A poll this week from the Angus Reid Institute finds roughly two-thirds of Canadians concerned that US democracy will crumble under another Trump administration, while nearly 50% think the country is headed toward becoming an authoritarian state.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is also concerned. After the Iowa caucuses, he said a second Trump term “won’t be easy,” and he asked whether the US wants to be “a nation that is optimistic and committed to the future? Or will they choose a step backwards …” In short, Trudeau is on Team Biden.
But he’s also getting ready, just in case. Trudeau is pulling his Cabinet together next week for a meeting before Parliament resumes after winter break with the Canada-US relationship on the agenda as the government games out how to deal with a potential Trump return. The Liberals didn’t get on well with the Trump administration, and there’s reason to believe a second round would be just as bad – or worse.
While a Trump win would be another headache for Trudeau, it’s not his biggest one. With a Canadian election due by October 2025, the Trudeau government may not have to grapple with any US administration for much longer anyway. The latest polls and projections find the Liberals trailing the Conservatives by a dozen points or more.