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Re-elected Croatian President Zoran Milanovic with wife Sanja Music Milanovic celebrate after winning Croatia's presidential election ON January 12, 2025 in Zagreb, Croatia.
Hard Numbers: Croatia’s populist prez, Sweden sails forth, Mayotte hunkers down again, Hindus commence world’s largest religious ceremony
74: Populist Croatian President Zoran Milanovic won an impressive landslide reelection on Sunday, taking 74% of the vote. His office is largely ceremonial, but the overwhelming margin of victory should send a message to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic – in power since 2016 – about the changing mood of the country.
3: Sweden, NATO’s newest member state, announced its Navy would contribute up to three warships to the alliance’s efforts to secure the Baltic Sea from Russia. The Swedish coast guard will also contribute a further four ships, with seven on standby. With increased resources, NATO aims to prevent possible provocations like severing undersea communication cables, 10 of which have been damaged since 2023.
1: Nearly one month to the day since the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte was devastated by Cyclone Chido, Tropical Storm Dikeledi brought more inundating rains and strong winds to the island. Over 200 people were still missing from the first storm, which killed at least 39 and injured over 5,000 while destroying entire neighborhoods, and the French government has deployed over 4,000 emergency personnel and security forces to the island.
400 million: At least 400 million pilgrims are expected to kick off the Maha Kumbh Mela festival on Monday in the Indian city of Prayagraj, where pilgrims will immerse themselves at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers over six weeks. Hindus believe the mystical Saraswati River will intermingle in the mundane waters and cleanse worshippers’ souls — but the government faces a big logistical challenge: This will be the world’s largest-ever religious gathering, and officials have assembled 150,000 tents, 3,000 kitchens, 145,000 lavatories, all served by 450,000 new electric connections, protected by 40,000 policemen, and transported by 98 special trains making over 3,300 trips.Jeff Larsen, left, and Robbie Jones watch cars drive on flooded streets during Tropical Storm Hilary in Palm Springs, Calif., on Sunday.
Out of the fire and into the flood
Just two years ago, the state of California suffered a record number of wildfires, the hottest summer in its history, and severe drought. In 2023, it’s facing the opposite: a deluge of rain and flooding from the first tropical storm to slam the state in 84 years.
Tropical Storm Hilary made landfall Sunday afternoon in the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, leaving a trail of devastation and killing at least one. A man drowned when a car was swept away by floodwaters in the town of Santa Rosalia; four other people were saved.
Despite being downgraded from a category 4 hurricane, Hilary still posed a risk of “life-threatening” floods. Californians were taking it seriously: Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the southern part of the state, airlines canceled 1,000 flights, and even the actors’ strike was paused.
Up to nine million people from San Diego to Los Angeles were on alert for the storm's high winds and flooding, with some areas getting more than half a year's worth of rainfall in just one day. (For context, the average August rainfall in southern California is zero.) A 5.1-magnitude earthquake also struck Sunday afternoon near Ojai, about 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles. By early Monday, the storm had toppled trees and caused landslides around San Diego, and 65,000 Californians were without power.
Then there’s the political fallout. US President Joe Biden was already criticized for his “no comment” remarks when asked about the devastating fires in Maui last week, and for not cutting short his vacation in Delaware as the tragedy unfolded. While he was on the phone daily with officials and issued a written statement of condolence early on, he only made his first public remarks about the fires five days later. He is scheduled to visit the Aloha state on Monday.
This time, Biden issued a statement on Tropical Storm Hilary as it hit Sunday afternoon. “As soon as [the storm’s] path became clear, my Administration took immediate action to prepare,” it read. Biden’s support included deploying federal personnel and supplies and prepositioning Coast Guard aircraft for rapid response and search-and-rescue missions. We will be watching to see whether Californians think he’s done enough.