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World
Chinese Vaccine Roll Out
China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine has been approved by Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They are the first countries in the world to approve a Chinese vaccine, produced by the state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm. The approvals provide a significant boost for China’s plans to roll out its vaccines worldwide. This map by Bloomberg shows the countries around the world that are linked to the Chinese vaccine thus far. Some countries are officially working with the Chinese under a testing or manufacturing agreement, while others have been offered a priority in supply. Bahrain and the UAE say that the vaccine is 86% effective, but scientists say there is a lack of public data to support the claim. Peru temporarily suspended trials of the vaccine after an ‘adverse event,’ not yet confirmed as vaccine-related, was reported during a clinical trial. The vaccine has already been administered to hundreds of thousands of people in China under emergency authorization.
This map depicts the almost 100 countries that have vaccine links with China. Click on the map to learn more.
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China
Hong Kong 12 Members Charged
Yesterday, China brought formal changes against ten of the twelve Hong Kong activists, known as the “Hong Kong 12,” who were caught attempting to flee to Taiwan in a speedboat in August. After leaving a small port in northeastern Hong Kong, the group was intercepted 45 miles off the coast of the island, just 23 miles outside Hong Kong’s territorial waters. Eight of the activists were charged with illegal boundary-crossing, an offense that may result in up to one year in prison, while the two charged with organizing the escape, may receive sentences of up to seven years. The group, which included two minors who have not yet been charged, has served as a rallying cry for continuing pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. The activists have been held in mainland China and denied contact with their families and lawyers while awaiting trial, where the justice system records an estimated conviction rate of 99%. Chinese authorities have increased surveillance along the escape route used by the group in the South China Sea, as more than 200 protestors from Hong Kong are believed to have fled to Taiwan since 2019.
This map depicts the location of the speedboat interception in August. Click on the map to expand.
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Atlantic Ocean
A-68A Approaches South Georgia
The iceberg from Antarctica, A-68A, has been drifting closer to the remote island of South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The iceberg (which is larger than Luxembourg) recently approached the island’s submarine shelf, an area where the waters are much more shallow (less than 200 meters deep). Some scientists hypothesize that the iceberg extends deep below the waterline and that while drifting towards the island, it could potentially hit the seafloor and become “grounded.” Biologists worry that this potential “grounding” could have harmful effects on the island’s wildlife, namely its penguins. Klaus Strübing from the International Ice Charting Group believes the iceberg may already be grounded. Strübing and others have been using radar images from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1 to track A-68A since it first broke off in 2017. A group of researchers from British Antarctic Survey will fly out to the Falklands, quarantine, and then embark on a three-day voyage onboard their research ship to assess the iceberg in mid-January.
This map depicts the size and location of the drifting A-68A iceberg and the shallowness of the waters surrounding the remote island of South Georgia. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Over 300 m (984 ft) deep, the world’s deepest blue hole is located in which body of water?
A: South China Sea
Located about 25 km (16 mi) south of Discovery Reef in the Paracel Islands, Dragon Hole or Longdong is approximately 100 m (330 ft) deeper than the previous record-holder, Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas. Described by locals as the “eye”, researchers found more than 20 species of fish in the upper part of the sinkhole but below 100 meters, it is largely oxygen-free, meaning life is unlikely to survive there.
Source
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Q: Created in 2006, which national monument is the largest contiguous fully protected conservation area under the U.S. flag?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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