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Russia-United States
Historic Prisoner Swap
The largest, most elaborate prisoner exchange between Moscow and the West since the Cold War took place on Thursday. Twenty-four prisoners were gathered to be exchanged at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, before boarding jets to fly them home. Russia received eight prisoners who had been held in Europe and the US on charges from cybercrime to espionage to murder. In return, 16 inmates were released from Russian jails: three American citizens, six other Western prisoners, four political prisoners and human rights advocates, and three Russians with ties to deceased opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. The key concession was the return of Russian hitman Vadim Krasikov, who was in jail in Germany. Four former prisoners landed in the US Thursday night. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, veteran Paul Whelan and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were the three freed Americans, as well as Russian-British dissident and American green-card holder Vladimir Kara-Murza.
This map depicts the locations where the prisoners who were swapped by Russia and the US were being held. Click on the map to learn more.
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Nigeria
Nationwide Protests
Protests across Nigeria against the country’s poor governance and soaring cost of living have claimed the lives of at least seven people. There was a harsh police response as thousands of protestors have taken to the streets across numerous Nigerian cities. In the northern Nigerian city of Minna, six people lost their lives when police attempted to remove a roadblock that demonstrators had set up to obstruct a large highway. In response to the protests, some cities in Nigeria have imposed a curfew. Nigeria’s challenging economic circumstances have led to the planning of protests across the country during the first ten days of August. This economic crisis is the largest in decades, with high inflation of food, fuel, and energy prices occurring alongside a collapse in the value of the naira.
This map depicts where people have died in Nigeria and where curfews are imposed due to protests against economic challenges. Click on the map to learn more.
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Antarctica
Lost Sub’s Findings Unveiled
The underside of Antarctica’s Dotson Ice Shelf, as captured by a lost unmanned submarine, has finally been revealed. A research team from Sweden’s University of Gothenburg deployed the submersible, known as “Ran,” in a number of surveys to examine the effects of warming ocean waters on the Dotson Ice Shelf in western Antarctica. Ran was lost under 1500 feet (457 m) of ice this past February, but the results of its mapping over 50 square miles (129 km sq) in 2022 have now been released in a paper in Science Advances. The survey results show structures being formed in the ice by currents bringing warm waters miles deep into the ice shelf, and the underside also features dune-like structures and tear-drop shapes being pitted out of the ice. Scientists hope a better understanding of the melting patterns of glacial ice will give them greater insight into the possible timeline for a critical melting of Antarctic ice, which has the potential to cause world ocean levels to rise.
This map depicts the survey area of the Ran unmanned submersible under western Antarctica’s Dotson Ice Shelf. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What is the largest island and smallest province of South Korea?
A: Jeju Island
Jeju Island is the largest island and smallest province of the Republic of Korea. The island is located in the East China Sea 60 miles (100 km) southwest of South Jeolla province, of which it once was a part. Jeju is one of three special self-governing provinces in South Korea, meaning that the province is run by local politicians. The Jeju people are indigenous to the island, and it has been populated by modern humans since the early Neolithic period. Until 938 the island was an independent kingdom called Tamna. During the Goryeo period (935–1392) and the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), it was used as a place of political exile and for grazing horses. Jeju achieved provincial status in 1946, but its special self-governing status wasn’t recognized until 2006.
Source
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Q: What country is home to the largest and least damaged tropical savanna?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in Monday’s DailyGeo.
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