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Yemen
Southern Separatists Seize Land
A separatist group backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has seized control of an oil-rich region in southern Yemen, raising tensions in the country’s stalemated civil war. The secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) seized most of the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, including oil facilities. Yemen has faced more than a decade of civil war that involves regional powers, with the Iran-aligned Houthis controlling the most populous regions of the country, including the capital Sanaa. Meanwhile, a loose coalition of powers, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, has backed an internationally recognized government in the south. The war has created a humanitarian crisis and shattered the economy. Since 2022, the violence has gradually declined as the sides have neared a stalemate in the war, with the Houthis reaching a deal with Saudi Arabia. This move by the UAE-backed separatists upends the Saudi-led political arrangement among the anti-Houthi partners.
This map depicts the areas under Houthi control in Yemen. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Reuters
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Norway
Machado Misses Nobel Ceremony
María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, did not attend the ceremony in Oslo, Norway. Machado’s daughter collected the Nobel Peace Prize on her mother’s behalf. Machado, whose fight against the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom she, the U.S. and many other nations consider an illegitimate leader, has forced her to live in hiding, last appeared in public 11 months ago. Machado won an opposition primary election and intended to challenge Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González took her place.
This map depicts Nobel Peace Prize laureates by continent. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The Statesman
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Antarctica
Robot Explores Beneath Ice Shelf
A tiny robotic float has accidentally become the first instrument to map the hidden waters beneath East Antarctica’s giant ice shelves. Drifting from its original target near Totten Glacier, the Argo float spent about eight months trapped under the Denman and Shackleton ice shelves, recording temperature and salinity along a roughly 186-mile (300 km) journey. Its measurements show that the Shackleton ice shelf is, for now, not in contact with warm water from below. However, Denman Glacier is not so lucky, with warmer currents that could sharply speed melting beginning to flow beneath it. Denman could eventually add about 5 feet (1.5 m) to global sea levels if the glacier completely melts. The float samples the thin layer of water right under the ice that scientists have determined has the largest impact on melt rates. The new data will help improve climate computer models and reduce uncertainty about how fast the Antarctic ice sheet might raise the oceans in the future.
This map depicts the journey of the robotic float beneath Antarctica’s Shackleton and Denman Ice Shelves. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What country has the most butterfly species in the world, home to approximately 20% of all known species?
A: Colombia
Colombia is one of the most geographically diverse countries in the world with habitats that support the world’s richest butterfly faunas, at 3,642 butterfly species. Butterfly habitats include the wet forests of the Pacific Chocó region through the cloud forests of the Andes and the dry forests of the northwestern lowlands to the grasslands of the llanos and the vast Amazon rainforest. The world’s longest terrestrial mountain chain, the Andes, begins to splinter as it enters Colombia, forming three parallel mountain ranges in the center of the country and a cluster of mountain islands. These areas provide even more butterfly habitats. Widespread forest loss is threatening the health of these butterfly species.
Source
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Q: What country is home to the westernmost point of the African mainland?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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