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Azerbaijan-Armenia
Lachin Corridor Blocked
Thousands of people rallied in Stepanakert, the largest city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, to protest the blockade of the only land link to Armenia. For nearly two weeks, Azerbaijani activists have blocked the Lachin corridor, the only road across Azerbaijan that links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, in protest of what they claim is illegal mining. Armenia’s parliament reported Karabakh was suffering from food, medicine, and fuel shortages following the closing of the corridor. Both the US and EU have urged Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin corridor, citing humanitarian consequences and damages to the fragile peace process as a result. Azerbaijan has denied blocking the roads and has insisted it was Russian peacekeepers who closed it. In Autumn of 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a six-week war, claiming more than 6,500 lives.
This map depicts the location of the Lachin corridor and the affected Nagorno-Karabakh region. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Yahoo! Finance
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Burkina Faso
Minibus Hits Deadly Landmine
A minibus hit a landmine on Christmas Day in Burkina Faso, killing at least 10 people and wounding five others. The bus was traveling from the town of Fada N’Gourma to the border town of Kantchari, near the Burkina Faso-Niger border. Those injured in the attack were taken to the local hospital while the rest of the passengers on the bus fled. The government is currently working to restore security and locate the missing passengers. No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion, however the attack took place in an area where the government is fighting groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) in North Africa. Violence linked to jihadist groups has killed thousands of people and displaced nearly two million in Burkina Faso for more than six years. The Christmas Day attack followed another mine explosion in the eastern region of the country on Saturday, injuring five soldiers.
This map depicts where jihadist groups are active in the Sahel region, including Burkina Faso where the government is battling insurgent groups. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: BBC
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Bangladesh
Dhaka Opens First Mass Rail
Today, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, inaugurated Line 6 of Dhaka’s first metro rail. Mass Rail Transit (MRT)’s Line 6 is a 12.4 mile (20 km) section of the rail that bridges governmental buildings in the north of the capital to health facilities in the center. The MRT aims to radically transform how people commute to work by alleviating traffic jams in the overcrowded city. According to Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’s research, traffic congestion amounts to a loss of 3.2 million daily working hours and $3 billion USD of economic loss. Many infrastructure projects in Bangladesh continue to be funded by foreign investors. Japan partially funded Line 6 and is also supporting two additional rail lines in Dhaka. Together, the three lines are projected to be used by two million people everyday once they are completed.
This map depicts a map of the planned MRT network in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Nicknamed the “lighthouse of the Pacific,” what live volcano is so accessible you can stand near the crater’s edge and look directly into its lava-filled belly?
A: Mount Yasur, Vanuatu
Mount Yasur stands 1,184 ft (361 m) above sea level on Tanna Island, Vanuatu, in the South Pacific, and is considered one of the most easily accessible live volcanos in the world. People, and even 4-wheel-drive cars, can get up close to the edge of the summit crater, which has a diameter of 1,312 ft (400 m). Observers are warned of Mount Yasur’s rate of danger (between 0 and 4) before reaching the rim. If the danger is scheduled at a 2 or higher, people cannot come up to the rim as there is a high likelihood that volcanic rocks and debris will shoot out as far as the crater’s edge and potentially hurt onlookers. Mount Yasur is most active during the region’s wet season, between late February and April. The volcano’s glow is said to have attracted Captain James Cook on the first European expedition to the island in 1774. Since Cook’s first sighting, Mount Yasur has been called the “lighthouse of the Pacific” for its almost continuous glow of Strombolian and volcanic activity.
Source
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Q: Which two U.S. states have the most shared borders?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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