World Status Report

This report intends to give the UTD Community a snapshot of international risks, and other issues as reported by the linked media and official sources from the U.S. and other countries.

More health and security information for each country can be found in the travel advisories issued by the governments of the United States, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, and the CDC, ECDC, and WHO sites. Not all advise in these sites will apply to US travelers.

Please note the publication date of this report and go to the direct sources linked for the most up-to-date information.  The information in this report may change without prior notice.

Security

• In a call for greater pressure from the Council for human rights reforms in Eritrea (UN News), the UN Special Rapporteur noted that the country lacks “rule of law, a constitution, a national assembly, an independent judiciary, and a democratic society. Civic space in Eritrea remains restricted, with no independent media, and dissent is far too often met with arbitrary detention, disappearance, or death.”
• Two years since a military coup in Myanmar, OHCHR the UN rights office (UN News), warned on Friday that the generals’ “scorched earth” policy had left thousands of civilians dead, 80 per cent of townships impacted by fighting and the army “stretched so thin” on the ground, that it resorts to airstrikes.
• Increasingly sophisticated and high-calibre firearms and ammunition are being trafficked into Haiti (UN News), fueling an ongoing surge of gang violence that has plagued residents for months, according to a new UN assessment released on Thursday.
• The current spate of deadly violence is distancing the prospect of a two-State solution to end the Israel-Palestine conflict, as the occupation is “eating away” at both societies (UN News), the UN rights chief told the Human Rights Council on Friday. At least 6 Palestinians killed during Israeli West Bank raid (AP). The Israeli army raided a home in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, triggering a battle that killed at least six Palestinians and wounded more than two dozen others, Palestinian health officials said.
• Two survivors of Mexico kidnapping recovering in US hospitals (BBC). Two surviving Americans who were kidnapped at gunpoint in Matamoros, Mexico last week are being treated at US hospitals. Their two friends died during the incident, after unidentified gunmen opened fire as the group of four drove a white minivan on 3 March through Matamoros, a city of 500,000 people located directly across the border from the Texas town of Brownsville. Matamoros is in Tamaulipas state, one of six Mexican states that the US state department advises travelers not to visit because of “crime and kidnapping”.
• Syrian state media: Israeli strike damages Aleppo airport (AP). An Israeli airstrike hit the international airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo early on Tuesday, putting it out of service, Syria state media said. There was no comment from Israeli officials and it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

Demonstrations

• On 6 March, the Peruvian Ministry of Defense confirmed that six soldiers lost their lives in Puno department while trying to get to Juli town to help secure the area following protests that turned violent (ERCC). The soldiers initially tried to cross the river using a bridge, but it was blocked by protesters, and were swept away by the strong current and subsequently drowned.
• French strikers maintain pressure to reject pension plan (ABC). French train and metro drivers, refinery workers, garbage collectors and others are holding further strikes against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age to 64.
• Protests against Nigeria’s election results intensify (YAHOO!News). Thousands of Nigerian opposition supporters protested Monday against the country’s presidential election results, as calls for a revote intensified.
• Violent protests ignite in Greece over train crash as prime minister apologizes (YAHOO!News). Greece has been plunged into anger following the crash last Tuesday between a freight train and a passenger train. The two trains collided head-on with each other, causing both to derail and burst into flames.
• Thousands of people braved tear gas and water cannons (NYT) to rally in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, yesterday in protest of a bill that would require all organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents.”

Infrastructure

• As well as causing untold suffering for the people of Ukraine, the consequences of Russia’s invasion of the country have spread far beyond the two nations (UN News), fueling alarming cost increases and product shortages, and creating food shortages around the world.
• South African leader grapples with ever-worsening power cuts (ABC). South Africa’s ever-worsening power crisis — putting homes and businesses without electricity for up to 10 hours per day — is strangling Africa’s most developed economy.
• An explosion in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka kills 14 and injures more than 100 (NPR). Firefighters are carrying victims out of the wreckage on stretchers. Officials are investigating the cause of the blast. Two other recent explosions were blamed on gas leaks.

Natural Disasters

• Vanuatu has been affected by two destructive cyclones and a 6.6 M earthquake between 1 – 4 of March 2023 (ERCC). Tropical cyclones damaged homes, livelihoods, and infrastructure and caused the loss of communications in several areas. Little information on the impact is available yet due to the challenging connectivity.
• Madagascar reports as of 8 March, due to the severe weather caused by the re-formed FREDDY (ERCC), eight fatalities, one person still missing, more than 14,500 displaced and a total of nearly 40,400 affected people across south-western and western Madagascar, over 1,000 destroyed houses.
• Since 5 March, heavy rain hit the Municipality of Bandeirantes in the north of the State of Paraná in southern Brazil (ERCC), causing floods and resulting in displacement and damage.
• Since 17 February, parts of Paraguay have been confronted with heavy rains (ERCC) resulting in severe floods in the departments of Alto Paraguay, Concepción and Amambay, prompting the Government to declare a State of Emergency in the affected areas.
• Heavy rainfall, strong winds and thunderstorms have been affecting central Indonesia, in particular Sulawesi Island, since 5 March (ERCC), causing floods and strong wind-related incidents that have resulted in casualties and damage. On 6 March, a huge landslide, triggered by heavy rainfall, occurred in Serasan District (Natuna Regency, northern Riau Islands, north-western Indonesia) resulting in casualties and damage.
• Following the escalation of heavy raining and monsoon flooding in Malaysia (ERCC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) reported more than 27,000 people were evacuated in Johor.
• Heavy rainfall, strong winds, and tornadoes continued to affect southern USA (ERCC), in particular Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas over the past few days, causing floods and a number of severe weather-related incidents (in particular due to the strong wind) that have resulted in casualties and damage. In addition, heavy snowfall affected California over the last few day, leading to casualties and damage.
• Tropical Cyclone Freddy (UN News), threatening communities in Madagascar and Mozambique for a second time in as many weeks, could become the longest-lasting storm of its kind on record, the World Meteorological Office (WMO) said on Tuesday.
• Australian officials warn of bushfire threat as heatwave grips Sydney (Reuters on MSN.com). Australian officials on Tuesday warned of rising risks of bushfires in the east after about two years of frequent flooding and rain, as a severe heatwave pushed temperatures in several regions, including Sydney,

Health

• Sudan declares dengue fever cases in Khartoum for the first time (Sudan Tribune) Sudan on Wednesday declared a fever epidemic in Khartoum state, after confirming 533 cases of the disease, with another 928 suspected cases being monitored.
• In February 2023, Cambodia reported two human H5N1 (avian influenza) infections (ECDC), an 11-year-old girl and her father, one of which was fatal.
• Veterinary officials in France reported H5N1 avian flu in samples from red foxes (CIDRAP), part of ongoing detections in mammals, and two South American countries that recently reported H5N1 in wild birds for the first time reported their first virus findings in poultry.
• As of 27 February 2023, after the powerful earthquake affecting Türkiye and Syria (ECDC), there have been 506 cases of cholera including 21 associated deaths in north-west Syria. In addition, 50 000 suspected cholera cases are estimated in the region.
• Malawi’s deadly cholera outbreak could worsen (UN News) if – as expected – Tropical Cyclone Freddy triggers further heavy rainfall in the south of the country, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
• Eight countries report more polio cases (CIDRAP). Israel’s health ministry recently reported an illness in an unvaccinated 8-year-girl from Safed.
• In week 8, 2023 (the week ending 26 February 2023), increasing trends in COVID-19 case rates among people aged 65 years and above were reported by 15 out of 26 EU/EEA countries (ECDC), compared to the previous week. Over the past one to four weeks, increasing trends in severe disease and COVID-19 deaths have been observed in some countries. The values of these indicators remain below those observed in December 2022. However, increases of up to 50% have been observed in some countries.
• COVID-19 survivors may be at higher risk of gastrointestinal disorders at 1 year (CIDRAP). Long-COVID patients were more likely to have reflux, peptic ulcers, pancreatitis, dyspepsia, gastritis, irritable bowel syndrome, and other GI conditions.

Please note the publication date of this report and go to the direct sources linked for the most up-to-date information.  The information in this report may change without prior notice.

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