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Syria
ISIS Defeat
A Kurdish-Arab alliance, backed by the United States, has reportedly captured the last Syrian town held by ISIS, Hajin, in the Deir ez-Zour province near the Iraq border. After a week of airstrikes, it was confirmed that the Kurdish-led aliance was able to push ISIS from the area. Sources confirm fighting continues on Friday as there are still small pockets of ISIS members in the town. The Deir ez-Zour region grew to be an important area of control for ISIS in 2017 when Hajin became ISIS’ de facto capital.
This map depicts areas of control in the Deir ez Zour region. Click on the map to learn more.
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Sweden
Hodeidah Cease-Fire
U.N. sponsored peace talks in Sweden resulted in a cease-fire in the torn port city of Hodeidah in Yemen. Leaders from both sides agreed to end violence in the city and its surrounding area. Fighting by Houthi-rebels and Syrian-backed Yemeni fighters have lead to what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Houthi rebels will withdraw from the port city allowing local forces to relinquish control of the ports, and making way for humanitarian aid to enter the country. Yemen will once again be able to collect funds and pay its civil servants, some of whom have not been paid in over two years.
This map depicts areas of control and Saudi-backed Yemeni offensives in the port city of Hodeidah. Click on the map to expand.
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Space
Space Breakthrough
Virgin Atlantic’s space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, has successfully launched a commercial craft 51.4 miles up to the edge of space. This is considered a major milestone in the space tourism industry and founder, Richard Branson, hopes he will visit space within the year. The commercial craft, Unity, consisted of a two-member crew and is designed to carry six more passengers. Two or three more tests will be done in the coming months before flights are made available to the public. There are currently 600 people in line for the flight and tickets costs $250,000.
This map depicts a cross-cut view of Earth’s surrounding space area. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What U.S. state is home to the busiest international mail facility in the world?
A: New York
U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) international mail facility at New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport was built in 1980 receives and processes the most international mail. The USPS has other international mail facilities in Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Source
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Q: What river runs through Baghdad and, translated from Persian, means “the fast one”?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in Monday’s DailyGeo.
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