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Burkina Faso
Mass Civilian Killing by Army
A new report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) confirms 223 people were massacred in late February by the Burkina Faso military. The massacres were committed in the Nondin and Soro villages in Thiou district in the country’s northern region. Considered the worst abuse by the military since 2015, the massacres are part of a military campaign accusing civilians of collaborating with Islamic armed groups. Half of the country is still out of the government’s control, with 20,000 people killed and two million displaced. The junta government at Ouagadougou has suspended the BBC and Voice of America (VOA) radio networks from reporting on the killings for a period of two weeks. Calls have been made by the HRW for the United Nations and the African Union to aid local investigative efforts.
This map depicts the locations of the mass killings of civilians committed by the Burkina Faso army in Nondin and Soro villages. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: France24
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Italy
Venice Launches Entry Fee
Venice has implemented the world’s first tourist entry fee in an attempt to curb mass tourism and make the city more livable for its residents. The pilot program, which came into effect on Thursday, will exact a fee of 5 euros ($5.40) from day-trippers visiting Venice. Visitors arriving between 8:30am and 4:00pm local time will be charged the fee, while access is free outside of those hours. Those who fail to pay the fee can expect to be fined between 50 euros (about $53) and 300 euros (about $322). The charge does not apply to visitors staying in the city overnight, who are provided with a QR code to pass through the gates located at the main access points of the city. Protesters were seen clashing with riot police over the pilot program on Thursday, rallying against the measure.
This map depicts the control points in Venice where tourists will be charged an entry fee. Click on the map to learn more.
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United States
La Niña Likely to Follow El Niño
La Niña conditions are likely to develop between April and August 2024, says the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). The announcement comes as El Niño conditions weaken in the southern Pacific after peaking between November and January of this year. El Niño and La Niña are the two opposite conditions associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation phenomenon, with El Niño denoting unusually warm surface ocean temperatures in the southern Pacific and La Niña associated with cool ones. Both El Niño and La Niño have profound and generally opposite effects on global temperatures and precipitation patterns. In California, El Niño winters are wet and cool while La Niña winters tend to be dry and warm. La Niña years often follow particularly strong El Niño events. Scientists have deemed the previous El Niño event one of the five strongest since 1950, pointing to record-breaking heat across the globe. This news comes as researchers in Ecuador and Peru predict an intensification of El Niño and La Niña events in coming years, with more dramatic swings in ocean surface temperatures likely.
This map depicts weather patterns in North America associated with the La Niña phenomenon. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What two countries are part of the mineral-rich Copperbelt of Central Africa?
A: Zambia & Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Central African Copperbelt, a region which straddles the boundary between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, holds exceptionally rich and high-grade copper deposits. The zone is up to 160 miles (260 km) in width and contains more than a tenth of the world’s known copper deposits. These deposits have been worked from as early as the 6th century CE. The beginning of large-scale industrial resource extraction at the start of the 20th century was fueled by imperial rivalry between Belgian and British interests. Demand for copper and cobalt has risen in recent times due to the metals’ applications in the energy transition. Copper is important in the production of electrified technologies.
Source
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Q: What is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in Monday’s DailyGeo.
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