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Egypt
Cairo Train Crash
At least 25 people are dead and dozens injured due to a train which crashed into a barrier at full speed at Cairo’s main station. The crash caused the fuel tank to explode, resulting in a large fire. The incident was reportedly due to a physical altercation between two train conductors, as one of the drivers left controls unattended as he confronted the other driver. Hours after the crash, Hisham Arafat, Egypt’s transport minister, resigned. Deadly accidents in Egypt are common as their railway is one of the oldest and largest in the area. Egyptians have repeatedly expressed that the government has not done enough to ensure basic safety standards for the railway.
This map depicts the location of the train crash. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: AFP
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United Kingdom
Toxic Air
Air pollution warnings have been issued throughout the United Kingdom as high emissions, poor air quality, and weather patterns combine to create hazardous conditions, especially in London where emissions are already incredibly high. Additionally, winds travelling north from France and Germany are introducing additional pollutants to London air. It is the 101st time since May 2016 that the City of London has issued pollution alerts via their air quality alert system. Pollution alerts were also issued throughout another part of England as well as Scotland and Northern Ireland.
This map depicts the 10 worst air pollution locations in London. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The Guardian
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Israel
Possible War Crimes?
On Thursday, United Nations investigators stated Israeli security forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. A UN Commission of Inquiry investigated the deaths of 189 people and 6,100 other casualties at weekly protests between March 30 and December 31, 2018. Pro-Palestine protesters used the demonstrations to call for the easing of an Israeli blockade of the territory and for Palestinian refugees right to return to their previous lands. The commission said it “found reasonable grounds to believe that individual members of the Israeli security forces, in the course of their response to the demonstrations, killed and injured civilians who were neither directly participating in hostilities nor posing an imminent threat”. Intentionally shooting a civilian not directly participating in hostilities is a war crime. Isreal rejected the UN report.
This infographic depicts casualties and conflicts in Gaza during 2018. Click on the map to expand.
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| Can you tell what’s missing from this map? It’s New Zealand! In this map being sold by Ikea, Ikea has omitted the country, and shoppers were quick to point it out. It was first reported by a Reddit user who found the map in a store in Washington, D.C., and social media soon started poking fun at New Zealand. Even comedians John Oliver and Rhys Darby joined in, with Oliver and his team tweeting out an image of New Zealand for people to cut out and stick to maps, and Darby teaming up with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on how New Zealand being left out is a conspiracy theory. Ikea has apologized for their mistake and removed the product from their stores.
This is not the first time Ikea has excluded New Zealand from their maps. In some of their stores, there is a map decal on the walls that leaves out New Zealand. Surprisingly, many other maps have also left out the country, including maps in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the game of Risk, Central Park Zoo, and Starbucks. As a result, New Zealand tourism has created a #GetNZontheMap campaign. The country is often missing because of maps being created using the Mercator projection. The mercator positions New Zealand in the bottom right corner, so it could accidentally get cropped out. With a different or modified projection, this problem could easily be solved and assure New Zealand never gets left out.
Sources: Fortune, Yahoo, Stuff, NZHerald, NewstalkZB, Atlas Obscura
Graphic source: The Local Sweden |
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Q: What island is shared by three nations?
A: Borneo
Borneo is shared by Brunei, Malaysia (Sarawak) and Indonesia
Source
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Q: What are the eight major islands that make up the archipelago of Hawaii?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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