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India
Air India’s Dreamliner Crashes
A Boeing 787‑8 operated by Air India crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad en route to London on Thursday, killing all 242 people on board, in the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade. Search and rescue operations are ongoing. The aircraft model, also known as the Dreamliner, had maintained a strong safety record, free of major accidents during its 14 years in service, but it has not escaped scrutiny for a variety of issues with its assembly that have raised concerns over the years. However, the specific cause of today’s crash may take months or years to determine.
This map depicts the crash location of an Air India flight which went down shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The Mirror
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South Africa
Deadly Eastern Cape Flooding
The death toll from floods in Eastern Cape, one of South Africa’s poorest provinces, rose to 57 on Thursday as rescue attempts were delayed by a lack of resources. Parts of southeastern South Africa have been lashed by heavy rain and snow since the weekend, in a severe winter cold front that has disrupted transportation and power networks. Rescue teams are still working through debris and floodwater to find missing people after heavy rain caused a river to burst its banks in the predawn hours of Tuesday. Floods hit the nearby town of Mthatha and surrounding areas. Officials said at least 58 schools and 20 hospitals in the Eastern Cape were damaged, while hundreds of families were left homeless after their houses were submerged or washed away.
This map depicts the location of severe flooding in Eastern Cape province, South Africa. Click on the map to learn more.
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Colombia
Sunken 18th Century Ship Found
Historians are hailing the discovery off the coast of Colombia of what has been described as the “holy grail of shipwrecks.” The ship is believed to be the wreck of the San José, a Spanish galleon sunk by a squadron of British ships in the Caribbean Sea near Cartagena, Colombia, in 1708. The San José was part of a fleet carrying a massive cargo of treasure from Peru to Spain, with its load of gold, silver, gems, and other valuables believed to be worth as much as $20 billion. Researchers say they’ve identified the ship by the design of a hoard of coins photographed by an unmanned submersible. The hand-struck coins are confirmed to have been minted in Peru in 1707. Ownership of the wreck and its treasure is now being contested between the governments of Colombia and Spain, private treasure hunters who claim to have first discovered the debris field, and Indigenous groups claiming reparations for abuses during the Spanish colonial period.
This map depicts the location of a shipwreck believed to be the San José, a Spanish galleon carrying a massive treasure haul that was sunk by the British in 1708. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What is the oldest country in the world?
A: Iran
In the World Population Review, Iran has been officially recognized as the oldest country in the world in terms of its earliest known organized government and sovereign identity, dating back to 3200 BC. This distinction places Iran ahead of other ancient civilizations such as Egypt (3100 BC), Vietnam (2879 BC), Armenia (2492 BC), and North Korea (2333 BC), which round out the top five in the global list. The Western Asian nation is bordered by the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, and the Gulf of Oman and is a mountainous country. The concept of sovereignty in Iran has deep historical roots that persisted through a succession of dynasties and empires, including the Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sassanids, laying the groundwork for a continuous national identity unmatched in duration.
Source
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Q: What country was the first place where coffee was cultivated commercially?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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