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Ukraine
Strike Hits Russian Barracks
The Russian government has acknowledged a successful airstrike by Ukrainian forces against Russian soldiers in Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense stated 63 soldiers were killed in a New Year’s Eve airstrike with HIMARS missiles on a vocational school converted to a barracks in the town of Makiivka, near the regional capital of Donetsk, in Russian-occupied territory. Russia’s official casualty count stands at odds with reports of hundreds of Russian soldiers killed from the Ukrainian government and popular Russian nationalist bloggers observing their government’s conduct of the war. Territorial gains by either side have largely come to a standstill as forces have dug in across a front roughly 550 miles (880 km) long, following a late summer and autumn where Ukrainian forces regained territory that had been occupied by Russia’s invading army.
This map depicts the eastern front of the Russian-Ukraine War, including where a Ukrainian airstrike on a barracks in Makiivka, near Donetsk, killed dozens of Russian soldiers on New Year’s Eve. Click on the map to learn more.
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Australia
Theme Park Helicopters Collide
Yesterday afternoon, two helicopters affiliated with the Sea World theme park on Australia’s Gold Coast collided in mid-air. One helicopter was landing while the other was taking off from Main Beach’s Sea World Drive. Four people died and three people were injured in the ascending helicopter that flipped and crashed into a sandbank after its rotor tore into the descending helicopter. Among the four deceased were British tourists, an Australian mother, and the pilot. The descending helicopter made a more controlled crash landing with six passengers, five of whom suffered minor injuries. Helicopter rides are popular for sightseeing in the Gold Coast, but the safety of the local operations is now being questioned. No further information on what drove the crash has been released as the investigation is ongoing.
This map depicts the location of Sea World in Australia’s Gold Coast, where two helicopters collided on Monday afternoon. Click on the map to learn more.
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Vatican City
Pope Emeritus Benedict Passes
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the first pope to retire in over 600 years, passed away on Saturday, aged 95. Benedict, a German cardinal born Joseph Ratzinger, took office in 2005 after the death of the popular and long-tenured Pope John Paul II, who had been the first non-Italian pope in centuries. Benedict dealt with many challenges for the Roman Catholic church, including clerical sex abuse scandals in the United States and around the world, and made global headlines when he elected to depart office in 2013. Since retiring, he lived in a monastery outside the public eye in the Vatican. His body is currently lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, where it will remain for viewing by the public through Wednesday. His funeral, the first ever to be presided over by a sitting pope for a former pope, will be held Thursday.
This map depicts Vatican City, which sits within the Italian capital of Rome, including the Mater Eccesiae monastery, where former pope Benedict XVI lived until he passed away this past Saturday, and St. Peter’s Basilica, where he lies in state and his funeral will be held. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: At 92 feet (28 m) below sea level, what is the lowest-lying capital city in the world?
A: Baku, Azerbaijan
The capital and largest city in Azerbaijan, Baku sits on the south side of the Abşeron Peninsula, on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. It sits in the endorheic basin of the Caspian – a depression in the Earth that has no natural outflow of water. All rainwater that falls in the basin flows towards the Caspian Sea and water only leaves the basin by evaporation. This topography gives Baku a hot climate similar to other notable endorheic regions including Israel near the Dead Sea or Salt Lake City in the basin of the Great Salt Lake.
Source
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Q: While it’s too late to hold a countdown anywhere for 2023, what was the last location on Earth to ring in the New Year?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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