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Czechia
Gunman Kills 14 in Prague
On Thursday, a 24-year-old student opened fire from the roof of Charles University’s Faculty of Arts building in central Prague, killing 14 and injuring 25 in independent Czechia’s worst mass shooting. The gunman shot downwards to Jan Palach Square and the Charles Bridge, close to Prague’s Old Town, an area popular with tourists at Christmas. University staff were told to barricade themselves in rooms during the attack. Police sealed off part of Prague’s city center, evacuated the entire building, and later stated that the shooter had committed suicide. Czechia has declared a day of mourning on Saturday to remember those who lost their lives in the shooting.
This map depicts where a gunman killed 14 and injured 25 at Charles University in Prague, Czechia. Click on the map to learn more.
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Mexico-United States
Railway Closures Raise Concerns
The federal government has closed railroad crossings in two Texas towns bordering Mexico, raising concerns about the potential impact on cross-border trade and American consumers. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Sunday that it would temporarily stop railroad operations in Eagle Pass and El Paso starting Monday, but it did not say for how long. This closes two of the six available railroad systems between Mexico and the U.S., impacting the delivery of goods throughout the entire nation. CBP reported as many as 10,000 people entered the country illegally every day through the southwest border this month. Closing the railroad crossings makes more customs officers available to assist overwhelmed U.S. Border Patrol agents who need to take migrants into custody. Union Pacific, one of the two carriers affected by the rail closures, estimated its losses — in goods, wages, and transportation costs — will exceed $200 million for each day the crossings are closed.
This map depicts the two railroad crossing closures along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, in El Paso and Eagle Pass. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Trains
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Northern Mariana Islands
US Military Reactivates Air Base
The United States Air Force is currently preparing to reactivate a historic airbase on the Pacific island of Tinian. Located 124 miles (200 km) north of Guam in the Northern Mariana Islands, Tinian was the home of the largest fleet of B-29 bombers during World War II, and was the location from which the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which ended the war were launched. Tinian’s activation is part of the Air Force’s current operational strategy called Agile Combat Deployment, which calls for distributing combat aircraft across several locations throughout the Western Pacific. Through this strategy, an adversary would have to make multiple broadly distributed attacks to have a meaningful effect on overall American combat forces in the region. Tinian’s reactivation comes after the United States secured new locations in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, approval to upgrade bases in northern Australia, and agreements for trilateral military cooperation with Japan and South Korea.
This map depicts the location of the Northern Mariana Islands, where the United States Air Force is working to reactivate its airbase on Tinian Island. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What was the name used for native Indian surveyors working for the British during the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in the 19th century?
A: Pundits
During the colonial period, the British were banned from many countries in south and central Asia as they asserted control over British India. Neighbors like Tibet had banned all foreigners in 1850 to protect themselves as Britain and Russia clashed over their competing desire to control the region. Still desiring to map Chinese-held Tibet, Afghanistan, Nepal, and other regions past India’s mountainous northern border, the British turned to their Indian subjects, who could convincingly play the part of a local trader or devout Buddhist. “Pundits,” a British corruption of the Hindi word “pandit” for learned person, was the term the British used for their cartographer-spies. Famous pundits such as Nain Singh and Kinthup were tasked with strategically important reconnaissance, including measuring the terrain, describing its resources, notable features, and the best way to cross it, while also analyzing its people, trade, and military. As locals, they could blend in, use inconspicuous mapping tools, and be disguised without raising suspicion.
Source
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Q: The first confirmed surface conquest of the North Pole was conducted by snowmobile in what year?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in January 2nd’s DailyGeo.
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