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Israel-Palestine
Ceasefire Moves to Phase Two
The U.S. government has announced that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas is set to move to the second phase. The 20-point ceasefire plan devised by U.S. President Donald Trump and approved by the United Nations Security Council began in October 2025. As part of the second phase, the U.S. government has approved the appointment of a “Palestinian Technocratic Government,” to be overseen by an international “Board of Peace” chaired by President Trump himself. This phase crucially requires the disarmament of Hamas, the militant group that served as the de facto government of Gaza for years, and for the Israeli Defense Forces to withdraw further back to occupy less territory in Gaza.
This map depicts the current line of control between the Israeli Defense Forces (shaded purple) and Hamas (in white) in the Gaza Strip. Click on the map to learn more.
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Iran
UN Security Council Meeting
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss deadly protests in Iran, amid threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene militarily in the country. Demonstrations that began in late December, fueled by soaring inflation, rising food prices, and the collapse of the national currency, triggered a deadly and widespread crackdown, with thousands injured and detained. Activists say the nationwide protests have killed at least 2,677 people. U.S representative Mike Waltz criticized the Iranian government’s response to the protests, and said “all options are on the table to stop the slaughter.” The influential 15-member UN body heard from Iran’s deputy UN representative, who warned at the meeting that Iranians did not seek a confrontation but would respond to any aggression. The UN has called for independent investigations into all killings and warned against the possible use of the death penalty against protesters.
This map depicts protests and their sizes since December 29th, 2025. Click on the map to learn more.
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Saudi Arabia
Cheetah Mummies Help Rewilding
Seven naturally-preserved mummified cheetahs have been discovered in five caves in Saudi Arabia, shedding light on the evolutionary history of these animals across an area in which they are now extinct. Cheetahs have experienced a severe reduction in available habitat and 91 percent loss of their historic range. Various subspecies live in pockets of Africa, but the Asiatic cheetah, once present across Saudi Arabia, is now critically endangered, with just a tiny wild population left in Iran. Radiocarbon dating of the mummies showed that one of the mummified remains was 4,223 years old and the youngest was 127 years old. This gap tells us about the span of occupancy by cheetahs in the region and that they were persistent in this landscape for millennia. The presence of these specimens, their ages at the time of death, and the length of time spent in the caves, along with the prey items with which they were found, all help build a picture of their historic ecology. This is useful in developing rewinding and restoration programs for the area.
This map depicts the location of the study area in northeastern Saudi Arabia where mummified cheetahs . Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Where can you find the only moving National Historic Landmark in the U.S., often cited as the world’s only moving historical monument?
A: San Francisco, California
In 1964, San Francisco’s cable cars were named the first moving National Historic Landmark. Their continued operation and minimum level of service are locked into San Francisco’s City Charter. The world’s first cable car line, on Clay Street, began service in August 1873. Cable cars were invented by Andrew S. Hallidie, a Scots-born mining engineer. Legend says he saw horses struggling and slipping trying to pull a railcar filled with passengers up one of San Francisco’s hills and decided to adapt his mining conveyor technology to pull rail cars, by means of an endless loop of cable under the street, between the tracks. They are the world’s last manually operated cable car system.
Source
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Q: What country is home to the oldest river in the world?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in Tuesday’s DailyGeo.
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