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Vatican City
Pope Francis Funeral Tomorrow
The funeral of Pope Francis is due to take place tomorrow, April 26. Since Wednesday, his body has been lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, within the Vatican City. Pope Francis will be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, making him the first pontiff to be buried outside the Vatican in over a century. Tomorrow’s ceremony will be simpler than previous processions, a shift reflective of changes Pope Francis made to the “Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis” (“Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff”) in November 2024. An expected 250,000 mourners will attend the funeral, while millions around the world watch the event through live coverage. Over 130 delegations from around the world plan to attend, which include at least 50 heads of state. High profile leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Argentinian President Javier Milei will be in attendance.
This map depicts where Pope Francis will be buried on April 26. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Anadolu Ajansı
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Democratic Republic of the Congo
DRC Government & M23 Ceasefire
The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the M23 rebel group have agreed to halt hostilities as part of an ongoing effort to reach a broader peace agreement. The announcement comes amid heightened regional and international pressure to end a surge of violence in eastern DRC that has left an estimated 7,000 people dead since January. To negotiate the agreement, Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame met with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha, Qatar. In a joint statement issued late Wednesday, both parties pledged to cease fighting immediately and denounced hate speech and intimidation. The declaration, read on Congolese state television and shared by M23 representatives on social media, emphasized a mutual commitment to dialogue and the protection of civilians.
This map depicts M23 advances in eastern DRC. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Reuters
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United Kingdom
Ancient Iceberg Tracks Uncovered
A team of researchers from the United Kingdom’s British Antarctic Survey have revealed evidence that giant icebergs drifted around the British Isles during the last ice age. Using 3D seismic data, the team found grooves in the seabed carved out of the sediment around 18,000 to 20,000 years ago, caused by the undersides of city-sized tabular (flat-topped) icebergs as they bottomed out while floating along in the North Sea. The size of the grooves indicate they were created by icebergs anywhere from 165 to 590 feet (50m-180m) thick. The icebergs would have been calved from an ice sheet that covered the British Isles and was retreating as the climate warmed. Scientists hope their reconstruction of the timeline of the disintegration of the British ice sheet will give greater insight on what to expect from the continued disintegration of Antarctic ice sheets.
This map depicts the extent of the ice sheet that covered much of the British Isles 18,000 years ago, and location of marks found on the bottom of the North Sea caused by icebergs produced from that ice sheet’s gradual disintegration. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What is the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa?
A: Equatorial Guinea
Formerly a colony of Spain with the name Spanish Guinea, the country now known as Equatorial Guinea achieved its independence on October 12, 1968. It consists of Río Muni (also known as Continental Equatorial Guinea), on the continent, and five islands (known collectively as insular Equatorial Guinea): Bioko (formerly Fernando Po), Corisco, Great Elobey (Elobey Grande), Little Elobey (Elobey Chico), and Annobón (Pagalu). Continental Equatorial Guinea is a roughly rectangular territory bounded by Cameroon to the north and Gabon to the east and south. Despite a veneer of Spanish culture and of Roman Catholic religion that is thicker in Bioko than on the mainland, many Equatorial Guineans live according to ancient customs, which have undergone a revival since independence.
Source
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Q: Which lake used to be the fourth-largest lake in the world but has shrunk by 90% since the 1960s?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in Monday’s DailyGeo.
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