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

• Mali – Conflict, impact on civilians (ERCC). On November 7, in the aftermath of the withdrawal of MINUSMA, airstrikes attributed to the Malian Armed Forces have been reported over Kidal. At least 6 civilians, including children, may have been killed according to various sources, in a context where information is at stake for all parties to conflict. Due to the rising tensions in the northern regions, including Kidal, preventive displacements have been observed over the last weeks, however no official record is available so far.
• Nigeria – Violence against civilians in the North-East (ERCC). On 5 November, armed groups attacked farmers, killing at least 15 and abducting unspecified number of them, in the villages Koshebe, Karkut and Bulabulin in the Mafa LGA, about 15 km from the capital Maiduguri in Borno State. This attack follows two attacks on civilians in the Yobe State on 30 and 31 October where at least 40 villagers were killed according to media reports.
• Cameroon- Surge of Violence (ERCC). Between 20 and 52 people, including women and children, were massacred in their sleep on the night of 5 to 6 November and at least 40 persons would have been injured according to OCHA. The attack displaced 350 people who fled the violence. The circumstances of the accident are still unclear.
• Rebel Fighting Cuts Power Lines to Congolese City of Goma (Voice of America). The main power lines to the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have been cut due to an escalation in rebel fighting nearby, leaving hospitals and water systems without power, the electricity network operator said on Tuesday.
• Conflict in Sudan Growing in Scope, Brutality as World Remains Silent (VOA). A senior U.N. refugee official Tuesday warned that “an unimaginable humanitarian crisis” was unfolding in Sudan, with millions of people being forcibly displaced from their homes by an increasingly vicious conflict.
• Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the human rights situation within Russia itself has deteriorated significantly (UN News). Mariana Katzarova, the first UN Human Rights Council-appointed expert on human rights in Russia, spoke about the worsening conditions in her report presented to the UN General Assembly last month in New York.
• Israel targets Gaza tunnel network, UN repeats calls for humanitarian pause (Reuters). Air strikes on the Gaza Strip killed a Hamas weapons maker and several fighters, the Israeli military said on Wednesday, as its air and ground offensive targeted the militants’ tunnel network beneath the besieged Palestinian enclave.
• 21 Syrian pro-government militiamen killed in overnight ambush by Islamic State group, reports say (AP). The Islamic State group ambushed pro-government militiamen in an overnight attack in eastern Syria, killing at least 21 fighters, pro-government media and an opposition war monitor said Wednesday.
• Armed drones shot down over Iraq airport where US forces based (Reuters). Three armed drones were shot down on Tuesday in two separate attacks over Erbil airport in northern Iraq where U.S. forces and other international forces are stationed, Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said in a statement.

Demonstrations

• Police in Madrid clash again with protesters opposing Catalan separatists (The Irish News (US) on MSN.com). Police in Madrid have clashed for a second night with protesters who oppose negotiations between Spain’s acting government and Catalan separatist parties over a possible amnesty for thousands involved in Catalonia’s independence movement.
• Two killed in Panama protest as anti-government tensions rise (Reuters). Two people taking part in an anti-government protest in Panama were shot dead on Tuesday by an unknown assailant, authorities said, aggravating social tension that has welled up since anger over a lucrative mining contract sparked demonstrations.

Infrastructure

• France is cancelling more than 16,000 flights in 2024 due to air traffic control upgrades (YAHOO!News). Thousands of flights are being cancelled at Paris’ main airports in January and February while France upgrades its air traffic control systems.
• Hundreds of thousands still in the dark three days after violent storm rakes Brazil’s biggest city (AP News). At least 400,000 customers in Brazil’s biggest city still had no electricity Monday, three days after a violent storm plunged millions into darkness around Sao Paulo, the power distribution company Enel said.
• For millions of Australians who could not pay for goods, book rides, get medical care or even make phone calls (Reuters), a nine-hour near-total service blackout from the company which provides 40% of the country’s internet became a lesson in the risks of a society that has moved almost entirely online.

Environment

• Sri Lanka – Severe weather, floods and landslides (ERCC). Since 1-2 November, several Districts of Sri Lanka are experiencing heavy rainfall and strong winds that caused floods, landslides and severe weather-related incidents leading to casualties and damage.
• Honduras – Severe weather (ERCC). Heavy rainfall have affected  Honduras on 3 November, causing floodings that have resulted in casualties and damage.
• France – Severe weather and floods (ERCC). Since 6 November, heavy rainfall has been affecting dozens of towns in northern France, particularly the Hauts-de-France Region, causing floods and the overflows of some rivers, including Liane and Aa rivers that resulted in casualties and damage.
• Malaysia – Floods (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting Selangor State, southwestern Peninsular Malaysia, since 5 November, causing floods that have resulted in evacuations and damage.
• Ethiopia – Floods (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting southern and eastern Ethiopia, in particular the Somali Region since early November, causing floods, flash floods and the overflow of some rivers, particularly the Genale River that have resulted in casualties and damage.
• Nepal – Earthquake, update (ERCC). After the recent 6.4 M earthquake – registered by the Nepalese authorities – that occurred on 3 November and affected the Karnali Province in southern Nepal, the number of casualties and damage is increasing.
• Worst floods in decades hit Somalia (Reuters), killing twenty-nine people and forcing more than three hundred thousand to flee their homes, Somalia’s disaster management agency said. Soil in Somalia had already been damaged by an unprecedented drought, the area’s worst in forty years.
• Heavy rainfall over recent weeks has caused widespread flooding in various countries of East Africa (floodlist). Fatalities, displacements and material damages have all been reported in areas of Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi and Malawi.
• Australia records driest October since 2002 due to El Nino (Reuters on MSN.com). Australia recorded the driest October in more than 20 years due to an El Nino weather pattern which has seen hot, dry conditions hit crop yields in one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, the national weather bureau said on Wednesday.
• Reeling under toxic air, India’s capital shuts schools (Reuters on MSN.com). Reeling under hazardous air quality levels, India’s capital New Delhi shut down all schools for an extended period on Wednesday, the latest in a series of measures to protect residents from growing air pollution.
• The decision by Chile’s National Forestry Corporation to permanently ban hikers from a popular glacier in Patagonia has incensed adventurers and local guides alike (AP). What officials see as a question of safety — citing rapid, destabilizing melting — has sparked a debate over the risks of ice-climbing in a rapidly changing climate.

Health

• CDC expands testing of international air traveler samples to include flu RSV, and other respiratory viruses (CDC). CDC is conducting a new pilot on samples it is collecting as part of its Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) program that will provide early detection of flu, RSV, and select other respiratory viruses, in addition to SARS-CoV-2.  The pilot, which will last for several months, will be implemented by Ginkgo Bioworks and XpresCheck. Samples that test positive for these viruses will be sequenced and uploaded to public databases to provide valuable information to public health officials and policy makers.
• Study shows link between global warming, deaths from respiratory illness (CIDRAP). The investigators found that summer temperatures accounted for 16.2% and 22.3% of overall fatal hospitalizations. Though hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses were highest in cold weather months, case-fatality rates (CFR) peaked in August.
• Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever infects health workers in Pakistan outbreak (CIDRAP). A Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) outbreak in Pakistan’s Balochistan province has now infected hospital workers, one of them fatally, infectious disease news tracking groups reported over the weekend.

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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