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North Korea
US Soldier Crosses Border
An American soldier, Private Travis T. King, crossed the inter-Korean border, known as the Military Demarcation Line, into North Korea without authorization on Tuesday, and is currently in North Korean custody. King was due to face disciplinary action in the US and had served time in a South Korean prison for assault before the incident. North Korea has not commented on the situation, and tensions in the region are already heightened due to North Korean missile tests and the deployment of a US nuclear-armed submarine in South Korea. While defections to North Korea from the US or South Korea are rare, they have happened in the past, and North Korea has used detainees for propaganda purposes and as a bargaining chip to leverage diplomatic concessions.
This map depicts the Military Demarcation Line between North Korea and South Korea, as well as the point where a US soldier crossed into North Korea. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: NY Post
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South Africa
Controversies over Putin’s Visit
The government of South Africa announced today Russian President, Vladimir Putin, will attend next month’s BRICS summit via video call instead of in-person. Putin had been invited to the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, however, he is the target of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant over the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. As a signatory to the Rome Statute behind the ICC, South Africa would be obligated to arrest Putin. President Ramaphosa had sought an exemption from the ICC, while South Africa’s opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), insisted Putin be taken into custody if he were to arrive in South Africa. Without specifically stating that arresting Putin would be an act of war, a Kremlin spokesman alluded to the potential consequences as being known by all parties. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov will attend the summit in Putin’s place.
This map depicts member states of the BRICS group, which will have its annual summit in South Africa. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend over the potential of his arrest. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Al Jazeera
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Australia-New Zealand
Women’s World Cup
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup opens tomorrow, July 20th. Hosted by both Australia and New Zealand, this is the first time the championship tournament will be hosted by two countries since first being held in China in 1991. The United States women’s national team are the current defending champions and are competing to become the first team ever to win the tournament three times in a row. This year’s tournament will also be the largest ever, with 32 teams playing 64 games over the next month. In the United States, the FOX television network will broadcast the English-language coverage of the matches while Telemundo will provide Spanish-language coverage. The opening match at Auckland’s Eden Park will feature co-host country New Zealand versus Norway on July 20 at 3 am ET, and the final will take place on August 20 in Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
This map depicts the locations and capacity of the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup stadiums. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What highly saline lake in West Africa is known for its pink hue?
A: Lake Retba (Lac Rose)
Located about 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Dakar, Senegal, just north of the Cap Vert Peninsula, Lake Retba is a small pink lake narrowly separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a sand dune. With salinity levels of around 40 percent, Lake Retba is one of the saltiest lakes in the world. It’s distinct pink hue is caused by algae that grows within its waters, Dunaliella salina. It’s color changes constantly, however the pink shading is strongest during the dry season, from November to June, due to less rain water diluting the higher salinity levels. Few organisms live in the lake, however the body of water is a popular tourist destination and the site of major salt production. Around 3,000 people work as salt collectors in the lake, an extremely risky and labor-intensive practice, with up to 75 million pounds (34 million kg) of salt being produced every year. Lake Retba is currently under consideration by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site.
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Q: What is the deepest known point of Earth’s seabed?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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