Cramm for 4/22/19
THE HIGHLIGHTS
All eyes are on Sri Lanka.
THE BACKGROUND.
Yesterday, a series of bombings throughout Sri Lanka killed at least 290 people and injured hundreds more. The bombings - mostly carried out by suicide bombers - took place at multiple churches and luxury hotels. 3 law enforcement officials were also killed during a separate blast. The bombings occurred during Easter services, when the churches were filled with people. And people from countries all over the world - including the US - were killed during the attack.
THE DETAILS.
Sri Lanka hasn’t experienced this kind of violence since the country’s civil war ended around 10 years ago. Sri Lanka is declaring a national state of emergency and shut down all social media access immediately after the bombings - reportedly to help stop the spread of misinformation in the fear that it’d lead to more violence. And there are fears that more bombings could be on the way - already, police have found over 87 detonators in a bus station in Sri Lanka’s capital.
THE REACTION.
The whole world is mourning this horrific tragedy - with many countries pledging to help. Meanwhile, the government is apologizing after it came out that they received multiple warnings in the days before the bombings. One of these warnings was allegedly about Nations Thawahid Jaman (NTJ), a local Islamist group that’s known for defacing Buddhist statues. The gov says they believe an international terror group and/or a religious extremist group is behind the bombings.
SO…?
Officials are currently investigating who’s responsible for this attack. TBD, TBD, TBD.
THE ACTION
POLITICS: Everyone is talking about Ukraine. Reminder: last month, Ukraine had its presidential election. The candidates: Prez Poroshenko and...Volodymyr Zelensky. Big deal, because Zelensky is a comedian...known for playing a president….on a TV show. Say it out loud. The election put Zelensky with more votes, but since neither candidate got a majority, it went to a runoff. That runoff was yesterday. And spoiler: Zelensky won - with over 70% of the votes. The election’s also a very very big deal because Zelensky is Jewish. And ICYMI, Ukraine’s not exactly known for being all that friendly to Jews. Meanwhile, Poroshenko says he’s conceding defeat - but won’t be leaving politics.
USA: Recently, the FBI said ‘this feels wrong’ and arrested Larry Hopkins - a member of an armed militia that’s been detaining thousands of migrants at the US-Mexico border. Reminder: earlier this week, a video was released showing this militia - called the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP) - holding migrants and turning them over to US Border Patrol. The reaction...was not good. As in the ACLU compared the UCP’s actions to kidnapping. So yesterday, the FBI arrested one of the UCP’s members - Larry Hopkins - on felony charges of being in possession of firearms and ammunition. And added that it’s not the job of “armed vigilantes” to enforce the rule of law. Now, the UCP is clapping back and calling the arrest politically motivated.
WORLD: Yesterday, yellow vest protests in France resumed more than a week after Notre Dame caught on fire. The why: many aren’t happy that around a billion dollars have been pledged to help rebuild Notre Dame….while people live in poverty. Hundreds of people have already been arrested in the protests, with dozens injured as the protests grew violent. Stay tuned. In other news, Boeing’s not having a good day. Recently, a New York Times investigation revealed that employees have complained about the “shoddy” production of the Boeing 737 Dreamliner. This comes after two 737 Max 8 planes crashed over the course of five months.
WHAT TO KNOW
“123456:” what tens of millions of people use as their passwords, according to a new study. Feeling a bit exposed right now.
SAY WHAT?
“Florida man pretending to be a deputy tried to pull over a real detective and got arrested” - an actual headline. Another example of human genius.
STAY CONNECTED
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