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United States
Baltimore Bridge Collapse
The 1.6-mile-long (2.6 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, collapsed early on Tuesday when a large cargo ship crashed into it. At around 1:20am, the ship leaving the Port of Baltimore struck one of the support columns of the Key Bridge, causing it to collapse in seconds. All of the 24 crew members on board the 948-foot Singapore-flagged cargo ship Dali are accounted for and unharmed. At least seven vehicles were on the bridge at the time of impact and plunged into the Patapsco River. There is an ongoing search-and-rescue operation for at least seven people, including construction workers who were working on bridge repairs. Two people were rescued in the initial hours of the search, one unharmed and the other in critical condition. The authorities have found no evidence to indicate the incident was intentional or involved terrorism. All vehicle traffic has been rerouted from the bridge, which is part of Interstate 695, a major thoroughfare and one of Baltimore’s three toll crossings. Vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore is suspended.
This map depicts the location of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, which collapsed after a large vessel crashed into it. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: AP News
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Haiti
US Arms Fueling Gang Violence
According a report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the majority of weapons wielded by the gangs that have overrun Haiti originated in the United States. Haiti has no firearm or ammunition manufacturing capabilities, but the gangs’ weaponry is acquired by “straw men” buyers who purchase guns on behalf of smugglers in states with lax gun laws such as Florida, Arizona, and Georgia. This has allowed them to easily overpower underfunded police forces, taking control of more than 80% of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Weapon smugglers evade border and customs patrol by entering through clandestine airstrips, private ports, and informal roads, as well as across Haiti’s land border with the Dominican Republic. The UN report maintains that so long as there is strong demand from violent gangs and lax controls abroad, the smuggling of arms will continue.
This map depicts the flow of arms into Haiti, largely originating within the US, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Al Jazeera
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Australia
Persia Was First Human Hub
New research combining genetic, paleoecological, and archaeological evidence has shown the Persian Plateau was a critical early hub for migration by modern humans out of Africa. Paleoecological modeling shows after departing Africa via the Sinai Peninsula, the Persian Plateau offered a suitable habitat capable of supporting a larger population than other areas of southwest Asia. Migrating humans would have lingered there from 70,000 to 45,000 years ago before spreading out across Eurasia. This environmental analysis was then supported by genetic evidence. Ancient human remains found in China, representing humans who spread east from the plateau, and western Russia, representing humans who moved northwest towards Europe, both showed genetic traces of the “hub” population in Iran. The full results of the study led by researchers from Australia’s Griffith University can be found in Nature Communications.
This map depicts areas of human habitability at the time of human migration from the African continent 70 to 30 thousand years ago. The Persian plateau is shown in a box. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practiced religion?
A: Mauritius
Mauritius is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practiced religion. Hinduism came to Mauritius when Indians were brought as indentured labor to colonial French and later in much larger numbers to British plantations in Mauritius and neighboring islands of the Indian Ocean. European colonial powers banned slave capture and trading in the first half of the 19th century. However, the demand kept rising for low cost, high intensity labor to work on colonial plantations of sugarcane, cotton, tobacco and other cash crops. The British Empire brought in Hindu migrant laborers from India in place of enslaved laborers from Africa.
Source
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Q: What geographical feature divides Bulgaria into two watersheds?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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