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Iran
U.S. & Iran Trade Strikes
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted an American air base in Kuwait, after fresh U.S. strikes on southern Iran overnight. The Iranian missile launch came after the U.S. shot down Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz and struck a military site in Bandar Abbas, a strategic port city in southern Iran. It is the second time in three days that the U.S. has attacked targets in Iran, saying they were conducted in self defense. The IRGC said the attack on the U.S. air base took place in the early hours of Thursday morning and targeted “the source” of earlier U.S. strikes on Iran. U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said Iran’s attack on Kuwait was an “egregious ceasefire violation,” and that all the drones were intercepted. The renewed hostilities threaten a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. Negotiations are ongoing to end the three-month war that has choked traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and caused global energy prices to shoot up.
This map shows the port city of Bandar Abbas, where U.S. strikes took place early Thursday morning. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: BBC
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Belgium
Europe Rethinks China Imports
The European Union (EU) is considering new tools to reduce its dependency on Chinese imports, including supplier-diversification rules, import quotas, tariffs, anti-dumping duties, and stronger use of its Anti-Coercion Instrument. In 2025, EU imports from China reached $651.6 billion (€559.4 billion), producing a trade deficit of $419 billion (€360 billion) that continues to widen in 2026. The EU’s heavy reliance on China is raising concerns about the supply chain, economic security, and industrial competitiveness. Affected sectors include solar panels, batteries, rare earths, electric vehicles, semiconductors, chemicals, robotics, wind power, grid equipment, military systems, transport networks, and core manufacturing. China has pushed back by warning of countermeasures and accusing the EU of selectively using trade data to justify the new import measures. China has also recently barred some Chinese companies from engaging with the European Commission over foreign subsidy investigations.
This map depicts the European Union’s foreign dependencies and geopolitical exposure. Click on the map to learn more.
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World
Core Flow Reversed Around 2010
Satellite data captured by the European Space Agency (ESA) has revealed that the flow of Earth’s outer core reversed direction under the Pacific Ocean around the year 2010. At 1,370 miles (around 2,200 km) beneath the Earth, the flow of molten iron and nickel in the outer core is what drives the Earth’s magnetic field. What was once a weak westward flow beneath the Pacific changed direction to moving strongly eastward over the course of a few years, eventually connecting to a series of “geomagnetic jerks” when the magnetic field made a sudden change in behavior in 2017. The movement of the outer core is derived from measurements taken from ground-based monitoring stations and satellites that track changes in the magnetic field. While these changes haven’t had a direct effect on people on the Earth’s surface, changes to the magnetic field can impact navigation and communications systems.
This map depicts the direction of the flow of molten iron and nickel in the Earth’s outer core in 1999 and 2016, showing the change in direction from weakly westward to strongly eastward beneath the Pacific Ocean. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What country is home to the world’s oldest surviving rainforest?
A: Australia
Dating back some 180 million years, Daintree is one of the oldest continuous vegetations in the world, even older than the Amazon Rainforest by about 10 million years. The ancient jungle stretches about 460 square miles (1,200 sq km) and is the largest within Australia and the third largest in the world. It is also the only place in the world where two world heritage sites stand side by side, as the rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef on the northeast coast of Queensland. As one of the most biodiverse rainforests in the world with over 3,000 plant species, Daintree is also home to many unique species found nowhere else on the planet, including the Ulysses Butterfly, Boyd’s Forest Dragon, and the Southern Cassowary.
Source
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Q: The Mekong River runs for some 2,700 miles (4,350 km), rising in southeastern China and flowing through six countries before emptying into the South China Sea. Which country has the largest share of the river?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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