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

• Sudan – Surge of Violence in Darfur (ERCC). Fighting increased in South Darfur. Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed to have taken over Nyala, Sudan’s second largest city. Since 22/10, more than 140 people were reportedly killed due to intercommunal fighting and 17 500 people displaced due to renewed clashes. Emergency International had to evacuate the Pediatric Hospital of Nyala and stop its medical operations. Women and girls abducted, held ‘in slave-like conditions’ in Darfur (UN News). The UN human rights office (OHCHR) expressed alarm on Friday over reports that in Sudan, women and girls are being abducted, chained and held in “inhuman, degrading slave-like conditions” in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Darfur.
• Mali – Conflict, impact on education (ERCC). During the last week of October and beginning of November, the non-state armed group JNIM interrupted lessons in several schools in the regions of Timbuktu and Sikasso. Both teachers and students were threatened to stop lessons and all teaching material was set on fire. Pupils from nearby schools were warned and dispersed before the attackers arrived. UN retreat from Mali in disarray as violence surges (Reuters). Bloody confrontations have surrounded at least two U.N. bases, and two have also been looted, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the withdrawal. At least a dozen peacekeepers have been injured by explosive devices hit by U.N. convoys heading south, according to U.N. statements.
• Gunmen kill at least 20 in pre-dawn attack in Cameroon – local official (Reuters). Gunmen opened fire on people as they slept in a town in western Cameroon in the early hours of Monday, leaving at least 20 dead, a local government official said. Armed groups have carried out attacks, kidnappings and killings in the North West and South West regions of the predominantly French-speaking African country. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack.
• Gunmen kill 5 people in an apparent dispute over fuel theft in central Mexico, police say (AP News). Gunmen on motorcycles shot five men to death Saturday on the outskirts of the Mexican city of Puebla in an apparent dispute over stolen fuel, authorities said. Puebla is just east of Mexico City and has long been plagued by gangs that drill illegal taps into government pipelines to steal fuel. Shootouts between the gangs and authorities are not uncommon.
• Israeli troops encircle Gaza City and expected to enter in force within 48 hours (The Guardian). Gaza severed into two parts, says Israel, as US sends missile-carrying submarine to Middle East. Israeli fighter jets struck 450 Hamas targets in Gaza (Reuters) and troops seized a militant compound in the past 24 hours, the IDF said, while the enclave’s health ministry said the air strikes killed dozens of people. A Reuters journalist in Gaza described the overnight bombardment as one of the most intense so far.
• Since Hamas attack, France’s Jewish community faces a surge in anti-Semitism (France24). Witnessing the explosion of acts of anti-Semitism in France since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas, many members of France’s Jewish community are struggling to adapt to their new reality.

Demonstrations

• Pro-Palestinian crowds try to storm US base in Turkey (YAHOO!News). Earlier this week, the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, an Islamist Turkish aid agency, organized a convoy to travel to the Incirlik air base in the Adana province in southern Turkey to protest Israeli attacks on Gaza and U.S. support for Israel.

Environment

• Italy – Severe weather, update (ERCC). Heavy rainfall and strong winds due to Storm Ciaràn have been affecting northern Italy (in particular Tuscany, Veneto, Liguria and Emilia-Romagna Regions) since 1 November, causing floods, rivers overflow, landslides and several severe weather-related incident (particularly due to strong winds) that have resulted in casualties and widespread damage. The worst affected is the Tuscany Region.
• Brazil – Severe weather (ERCC). Heavy rainfall and strong winds have been affecting the São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul States, in southern Brazil, since 2 November, causing flooding and landslides that have resulted in casualties and damage.
• France – Severe weather (ERCC). After the storm “Ciaràn”, a new storm named “Domingos” occurred across western and central France over the past few days. Heavy rainfall and strong winds have been affecting particularly the Nouvelle-Aquitain Region since 4 November, causing several severe weather-related incidents (in particular due to the strong wind) that have resulted in casualties and damage.
• Nepal – Earthquake (ERCC). Following the 6.4 M earthquake that occurred on 3 November and affected Jajarkot and Rukum Districts of Karnali Province in southern Nepal, the number of fatalities and damage is increasing. Nepal earthquake: More tremors occur three days after deadly quake (Reuters). A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Nepal on Monday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said, followed by another slightly weaker temblor, injuring three people, just days after 153 perished in the country’s worst quake since 2015.
• Kenya – Floods (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting eastern Kenya (in particular the Mandera County, the northeasternmost county of the Country, bordering with Ethiopia and Somalia) since 2 November, causing floods and rivers overflow (particularly the Dawa River) that have resulted in casualties and damage.
• Spain – Wildfire (ERCC). A wildfire has been burning in the Montitxelvo municipality within the Valencian Community in eastern Spain since the afternoon of 2 November. National authorities have reported that more than 400 people have been evacuated from the municipalities of Terrateig and Montitxelvo as strong winds have aggravated the fires.
• Somalia floods: Fourteen killed and thousands trapped in their homes (Yahoo News). At least 14 people have died due to flooding triggered by heavy rains in Somalia and thousands remain trapped. The flooding began last month due to the rising water levels in the Juba and Shabelle rivers which caused them to overflow.
• South America’s Lake Titicaca nears record low water level as El Niño bites (Yahoo News). The water level at Lake Titicaca on the Peru-Bolivia border is edging towards a record low, exacerbated by the weather phenomenon known as El Nino that is expected to get still more intense in coming months.

Health

• India’s New Delhi blanketed by toxic haze, world’s most polluted city again (Reuters on MSN.com). India’s capital New Delhi was wrapped in a thick layer of toxic haze on Friday and some schools were ordered closed as the air quality index (AQI) plummeted to the “severe” category.

Migration and Displacement

• Mexico – Population Displacement (ERCC). Mexico is facing unprecedented numbers of vulnerable people in mobility. A record breaking number of 150,000 refugee requests is expected by end of year.
• Pakistan speeds up Afghans’ repatriation after deadline expires (Reuters on MSN.com). Pakistan opened more border centres on Friday to speed up the return of tens of thousands of undocumented Afghan nationals, an official said, two days after a deadline for Afghans in the country illegally to leave.

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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