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World
Underestimating COVID Deaths
According to new estimates by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, 6.9 million people have died of COVID-19 worldwide since the pandemic began, more than double official government estimates. Varied testing capacity and underreporting of deaths at long-term care facilities in early stages of the pandemic are some of the many reasons cited by IHME for low official figures. IHME calculated the new estimate by evaluating the pandemic’s multiple impacts on excess death rates compared with past mortality trends. Underestimations of death rates have varied in different parts of the world, with countries including Russia, India, and many in Subsaharan Africa and central Asia, likely underreporting deaths by as many as three to ten times.
This map depicts the predicted ratios of reported to actual COVID-19 deaths. Click on the map to learn more.
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United States
Cyberattack Stops Pipeline
A major pipeline delivering fuel to the United States’ eastern seaboard remains mostly shut down following a cyberattack on the system Friday. The Colonial Pipeline system carries 2.5 million barrels of diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel per day, about 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast. Multiple sources are reporting that the attack was perpetrated by a cyber-criminal gang known as DarkSide, believed to be operating out of several post-Soviet republics. The attack highlights vulnerabilities in America’s critical infrastructure. While fuel prices appeared steady this morning, the Department of Transportation issued an emergency waiver allowing tanker truck drivers to work longer and more flexible hours to transport petroleum products. However, an unrelated ongoing semi-truck driver shortage promises to complicate efforts to compensate for the loss of the pipeline’s supply capacity.
This map depicts the Colonial Pipeline system, which remains shut down after a cyberattack on Friday. Click on the map to learn more.
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Afghanistan
School Bombing Kills 68
At least 68 people, mainly schoolgirls aged 11 to 18, have been killed in a series of bomb attacks outside the Syed Al-Shuhada school in the Afghan capitol of Kabul on Saturday. The school serves a neighborhood that is home to a community of ethnic Hazara residents, who are mainly adherents to Shia Islam. Despite accusations by the Afghan government, the Taliban denied responsibility for the attacks, instead placing the blame on Islamic State, who have claimed responsibility for prior attacks on Shiite Muslims in the area. Fears are growing in Afghanistan about increasing violence as the Afghan government, the Taliban, and Islamic State contend for control of the country ahead of the withdrawal of United States forces. Partly in response to the attacks, the Taliban declared a three-day ceasefire for the upcoming celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr.
This map depicts the location of a series of deadly bombings at a school in Kabul. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Covering 8,088 square miles (20,947 km sq) and encompassing parts of both France and Spain, what area, called Euskal Herria by the native population, is home to Europe’s only language isolate?
A: Basque Country
Basque Country as it stands today includes three provinces of Spain and three in France, with some Basque-speaking enclaves in other nearby provinces. The origins of the Basque people are not fully understood. Their language is an isolate – a language with no known connection to any other living language in the world. This would suggest that their presence pre-dates that of the predominant Indo-European peoples in Western Europe. In the 20th Century attempts to suppress the Basque language by the Spanish government under Francisco Franco led to conflict with Basque nationalists.
Source
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Q: Running nearly 1,600 miles (2,600 km), which river is the largest to empty into the Indian Ocean from Africa?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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