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Russia
Russia Withdraws from CFE
Russia has formally withdrawn from the Cold War-era Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE). The CFE was signed in 1990 and set limits on conventional military equipment. Russia has not been an active participant in the CFE since 2007, and formally withdrew at midnight on Tuesday after announcing plans to withdraw earlier this year. NATO condemned Russia’s decision to exit the treaty, but has suspended its own observation of the treaty’s stipulations upon Russia’s withdrawal. NATO stated that it would be “unsustainable” to operate under the terms of the treaty if Russia does not.
This map depicts the zones of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe prior to Russia’s withdrawal. Click on the map to learn more.
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United States
CDC Expands Virus Surveillance
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expanding surveillance for at least 30 diseases at more airports around the country. Its Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) program, which was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, is expanding its nasal swab and wastewater sample collection to test new pathogens and variants of SARS-CoV-2. Nasal swab tests were conducted beginning in 2021, and since 2022, wastewater samples have been taken from planes to undergo genome sequencing to identity variants of pathogens. The program is also expanding to detect more contagions, such as influenza A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus, at international airports in Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York City.
This map depicts US airports where the CDC has implemented more surveillance. Click on the map to learn more.
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World
Mantle Holds Crashed Planet
A team of scientists has revealed evidence that Earth’s mantle holds remnants of another planet that crashed into the Earth roughly 4.5 billion years ago. In a study recently published in the journal Nature, researchers posited two previously-discovered, continent-sized masses deep in the Earth known as large, low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) are the remnants of the smaller, denser planet, called Theia. What’s more, Theia’s collision into Earth is also believed to have produced a massive amount of debris that was ejected into space and eventually coalesced into the Moon. Scientists had known for a few years about the presence of the LLSVPs based on seismic data. The collision theory to explain the origin of the Moon had also been around for some time. This study is the first to connect the two phenomena, while also providing clues to Earth’s unique chemical make-up and continental movement that makes it habitable for life.
This map depicts the large, low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs), which are masses of dense material in the Earth’s mantle posited by scientists to be the remnants of a smaller, denser planet called Theia that struck the Earth over 4 billion years ago. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: How many countries are signatories to the Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure development strategy launched by the Chinese government in 2013?
A: 152
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, is a vast collection of development and investment initiatives originally devised to link East Asia and Europe through physical infrastructure. Xi’s vision included creating a vast network of railways, energy pipelines, highways, and streamlined border crossings, both westward—through the mountainous former Soviet republics—and southward, to Pakistan, India, and the rest of Southeast Asia. In the decade since, the project has expanded to build power plants, roads, railroads, and ports around the world, significantly broadening China’s economic and political influence in Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America, and the Middle East. The initiative has met with opposition in some Belt and Road countries that have experienced debt crises. Some analysts see the project as an unsettling extension of China’s rising power.
Source
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Q: What is the name of this hill, which has been the site of two world expositions and a major fire in Paris, France?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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