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Myanmar
Rebels Seek Control of Border
Anti-junta fighters in Myanmar’s Chin state are seeking to gain more control of the porous border with India. The rebels took over two military outposts on the mountainous frontier next to India’s Mizoram state earlier this week as part of a major offensive against military leadership. Three ethnic minority forces launched a coordinated offensive in late October, capturing some towns and military posts. The military-appointed president last week said Myanmar was at risk of breaking apart because of an ineffective response to the rebellion – the most significant armed opposition since the 2021 coup deposed the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
This map depicts the major offensive by Myanmar rebels. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Reuters
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Guyana
Venezuela-Guyana Border Dispute
Guyana urged judges at the United Nations’ highest court on Tuesday to call for a halt to parts of a Venezuelan referendum on a territorial dispute that Guyanese representatives called an “existential threat” designed to result in the annexation of a large part of the country. These hearings at the International Court of Justice represent the latest legal battle between the South American neighbors in a dispute that dates back to an arbitration award by an international tribunal in 1899 that drew the border between them. The Tunisia-sized piece of land west of the Essequibo River is rich in gold, diamonds, timber, and other natural resources. The Venezuelan government maintains that Guyana does not have jurisdiction to grant concessions in maritime areas off the Essequibo. Guyana’s application asks the court’s judges to make a series of urgent orders, including calling for a halt to Venezuela’s plan to annex the region and to grant Venezuelan citizenship to the population. The court has ruled the case is admissible and that it has jurisdiction, but a final decision on the request is likely years away.
This map depicts the Essequibo region, the disputed territory between Venezuela and Guyana. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: France24
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United State
Telescope Spots Distant Galaxies
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has discovered two of the furthest galaxies found in Pandora’s Cluster. These galaxies are close to 33 billion light years away and appear different than other far-away galaxies that have been seen previously. Prior to the discovery of the galaxies, there were only three others that we have been able to see at this distance; these two galaxies are also much larger. Because the galaxies are so far away, visible light emitted from them takes billions of years to reach Earth, giving scientists insight into what parts of the universe looked like in its earlier stages. The region of space that holds these two galaxies, Pandora’s Cluster, was detected in 2022, when JWST began taking deep field images. Pandora’s Cluster was selected to study because of a gravitational phenomenon that magnifies the cluster. Of the initial 60,000 light sources detected here, 700 were chosen to study, and two of those are the newly discovered galaxies.
This map depicts the two newly discovered galaxies in Pandora’s Cluster. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Formerly connecting the US Midwest and Northeast, the New York Central Railroad was founded in 1853 by Cornelius Vanderbilt and Erastus Corning. Its street-level tracks on New York’s 10th and 11th Avenues received what infamous nickname?
A: Death Avenue
The New York Central Railroad ran through 10th and 11th Avenues in New York City. Hundreds of fatalities were reported over the decades, as the tracks ran at street-level. The railroads served many grocery outlets, meat warehouses, and factories along this corridor, which was also navigated by people, carriages, and cars. The city depended heavily on the railroad company for its supply of food. According to the Bureau of Municipal Research, from 1852 to 1908, 436 people were killed. The city took precautions in the 1850’s with an ordinance that a person on horseback was required to ride in front of the train to make people aware of the incoming train. This led to the formation of an organization known as the West Side Cowboys, who waved red flags and lanterns to warn those on street level. After declining to accept the railroad’s licensing fee in 1908, the city agreed with the company in 1929 to move the railroad above street level through the West Side Improvement Project, running through factories and warehouses to pick up goods, rather than through traffic. An elevated railway, the Highline, was thus created and opened in 1934, with the last train moving through in 1980. Since then, the rail line has been transformed into the High Line Park.
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Q: What is the world’s most populated island, known for its sinking capital city?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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