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Iraq
Deadly Shopping Mall Blaze
Only a week after its opening, a large fire tore through Kut’s new Al-Kornish Hypermarket, killing at least 61 people late Wednesday night. The blaze reportedly broke out on the first floor, before rapidly engulfing the five-story building that included a restaurant and supermarket. Although the official cause of the fire has not been established, survivors said an air conditioner exploded. Iraqi infrastructure unfortunately has served as the site of many fatal fires and accidents due to corruption, poor enforcement of safety standards, and the degradation of infrastructure. Rescuers were able to evacuate at least 45 people from the mall, but many remain missing.
This map depicts the eastern Iraqi city of Kut, where a fire broke out in a new shopping mall, killing at least 61 on Wednesday. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The Guardian
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Pakistan
Heavy Rain Hits Punjab, Kills 63
Torrential monsoon rains in Pakistan’s Punjab province have killed at least 63 people and injured 290 within just 24 hours, pushing the nationwide death toll to nearly 180 since the monsoon season began in late June. Authorities in Rawalpindi, Punjab, declared Thursday a public holiday and urged evacuations near swollen rivers, while Chakwal district – the hardest hit – received nearly 17 inches (423 mm) of rain, leading to severe flooding. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, rainfall this July is already 82% higher than during the same period in July 2024, with more storms expected through the weekend. With over 13,000 glaciers melting rapidly, Pakistan remains highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, as seen during the catastrophic 2022 floods that killed 1,700 people and caused more than $30 billion in economic damage.
This map depicts heavy monsoon rain over Punjab and surrounding northern regions. Click on the map to learn more.
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Israel
Neanderthal Food Preferences
New research suggests that different groups of Neanderthals, who lived around the same time, had distinct preferences when it came to butchering animals. Researchers investigated cut marks on animal bone fragments recovered from two caves 43 miles (70 km) apart: the Amud Cave with 249 bones dated between 70,000 and 50,000 years old, and the Kebara cave with 95 bones dating between 60,000 and 50,000 years old. The caves are known to have been occupied by two different Neanderthal groups during wintertime, who would have used flint-based tools and ate a similar diet. These findings suggest they used different butchery techniques, involved different numbers of individuals during meal preparation, and butchered animals in different states of decay. The distinct patterns of cuts between bones found in Amud and Kebara suggests food preparation may have been culturally specific and passed down through generations.
This map depicts two caves in northern Israel, Amud and Kebara, where two Neanderthal groups lived between 70,000 and 50,000 years ago. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: The Annamite Range runs parallel to what country’s coastline?
A: Vietnam
The Annamite Range runs parallel to Vietnam’s coastline. It forms a natural border between Vietnam and Laos and follows a gentle curve that divides the basin of the Mekong River from Vietnam’s coastal plain along the South China Sea. The heavy summer and autumn rainfall supports a tropical mountain rainforest, although U.S. military operations during the 1960s and ’70s and cutting for fuel and timber exports during the ’80s and ’90s resulted in widespread deforestation. From the peaks and highlands to the slopes and lowlands, these tropical evergreen forests support a diverse range of plants and animals. The Annamites provide the last sanctuary in the world for many endemic monkeys, birds and plants as well as large mammals such as the Javan rhino, Asian elephant, and Indo-Chinese tiger.
Source
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Q: The land area that once connected Great Britain to continental Europe is now submerged under what sea?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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