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

• Myanmar – Fighting and displacement (ERCC). Intense fighting continues in northern Shan State following the coordinated attacks by a group of ethnic armed organisations on 27 October. The insurgency is spreading across the country, with different opposition forces launching attacks against military outposts in Kachin, Sagaing, Magway and Kayah. The Myanmar military focused on airstrikes, killing and injuring scores of civilians. Myanmar junta attacked on new fronts, thousands flee to India (Reuters). Ethnic minority insurgent groups attacked security posts in Myanmar on Monday, residents, rebels and an official said, as fighting erupted on two new fronts, and thousands of people crossed into neighbouring India seeking safety.
• Myanmar Fighting Blocks Key Trade Routes with China (VOA). A surprise offensive by Myanmar ethnic armed groups has blocked two strategically vital roads to the country’s biggest trading partner, China, choking cross-border commerce and denying the cash-strapped junta taxes and foreign exchange.
• The Philippines and China report a new maritime confrontation near a contested South China Sea shoal (AP). Chinese and Philippine vessels engaged in a new confrontation in the South China Sea on Friday. The incident was the latest in a series of maritime confrontations between the two nations over territorial disputes that risk turning into more serious armed engagements.
• US conducts more strikes in eastern Syria, military says, following continued attacks on forces in region (CNN). The strikes mark the third time in three weeks that the US has attacked targets in the region, as it holds Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for repeated rocket and drone launches against facilities housing US troops in Iraq and Syria.
• Israeli forces reached the gates of Gaza City’s main hospital (Reuters), the primary target in their battle to seize control of the northern half of the Gaza Strip, where medics said patients including newborn babies were dying for lack of fuel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel had offered fuel to Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital (Reuters), which suspended operations after running out of fuel, but that the militants had refused to receive it.
• Brazilian police arrest third man suspected of links to Hezbollah (Reuters). Brazilian police on Sunday arrested another man suspected of links to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Last week, Brazil arrested two people in Sao Paulo in an operation to break up a suspected Hezbollah cell allegedly planning attacks on Jewish targets in the south American nation.
• The battle for dominance in the Black Sea raged on this week between Ukraine and Russia (CNN), as elsewhere each side’s forces continued the bitter fight for control in Ukraine’s east with winter looming.

Demonstrations

• About ten thousand people protested against the government (Reuters) of President Xiomara Castro in Honduras’s capital, Tegucigalpa, after members of her ruling party used a committee vote to approve a new interim chief prosecutor without holding a full congressional vote.
• Anti-mining protesters in Panama say road blockades will be suspended for 12 hours on Monday (AP news). Indigenous anti-mining protesters that have paralyzed Panama’s key roadways for weeks said they will temporarily suspend blockades for 12 hours Monday as a show of good faith to citizens affected by the demonstrations.

Infrastructure

• Mexico City imposes another round of water restrictions in the face of drought ‘crisis’ (AP). Mexican officials imposed severe, months-long cuts to Mexico City’s water supply at midnight Friday, acting just a month after initial restrictions were ordered as drought dries the capital’s reservoirs.
• The return of North American flights to Asia-Pacific is accelerating heading in to 2024 (Reuters), as carriers bet on the region as the next source of high-margin revenue at a time of soaring costs.

Environment

• Sri Lanka – Severe weather, floods and landslides, update (ERCC). The humanitarian impact is still increasing following heavy rainfall and strong winds that caused floods, landslides and severe weather-related incidents across most parts of the country since the beginning of the month
• France – Severe weather and floods, update (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting northern France since early November, causing floods and the overflow of the Aa and the Liane Rivers, that resulted in casualties and damage.
• Iceland – Volcanic unrest (ERCC). Since 25 October, intense seismic activity related to a magma intrusion has started in the Reykjanes peninsula in south-western Iceland, damaging roads and buildings. As of 12 November around 1,000 earthquakes – all below 3.0 M – have been recorded in the area of unrest. The civil protection has preventively evacuated all the people living in Grindavik Town, almost 3,700 residents and closed all the routes to the town.
• Indonesia – Floods and landslides (ERCC). In the last few days, heavy rainfall and strong winds have been affecting central and northern Indonesia, in particular the Aceh Province in northern Sumatra Island and the Bogor Province in western Java Island, causing flooding and a landslide that have resulted in displacement and damage.
• Philippines – Severe weather (ERCC). Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms have been affecting southern Philippines, in particular the Mindanao Island since 7 November, causing floods and rivers overflow, that have resulted in casualties and damage.
• Malaysia – Floods, update (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting the south-western Peninsular Malaysia, particularly the Selangor State since 8 November, causing floods that have resulted in evacuations and damage.
• Dominican Republic – Flash floods (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting several part of the Dominican Republic in the last few days, in particular Monsignor Nouel, La Altagracia and Dajabón Provinces, causing river overflows and flash floods that have resulted in casualties and damage.
• Guatemala – Severe weather (ERCC). Heavy rainfall and strong winds have been affecting most of the country since the beginning of the rainy season (May 2023) causing floods, landslides and a number of severe weather-related incidents (in particular due to strong wind) that have resulted in casualties and damage.
• Australia will offer permanent residency to Tuvalu’s population of 11,200 (AFR) under a world-first resettlement agreement for “climate refugees” displaced by global warming as part of a far-reaching treaty with the tiny Pacific nation. Under the deal, Australia will offer Tuvalu a security guarantee giving Canberra the right to veto any attempts by other countries to strike a security agreement with the island state, nullifying the risk of another Solomon Islands-style pact with Beijing that sent shockwaves throughout the Pacific.

Health

• West Nile Virus (ECDC). Since the last update, and as of 8 November 2023, 13 human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection have been reported by EU/EEA countries and 1 case was reported by EU-neighbouring countries. Since the beginning of the 2023 transmission season, 692 human cases of WNV infection have been reported by EU/EEA countries and 92 by EU-neighbouring countries.
• Measles (ECDC). In September 2023, 258 confirmed cases of measles were reported by nine countries. Between January and September 2023, 1 331 cases of measles were reported in The European Surveillance System (TESSy) by 19 countries.
• Chikungunya and denge (ECDC). In 2023 and as of 31 October, approximately 440 000 CHIKVD cases and over 350 related deaths have been reported worldwide. A total of 26 countries reported CHIKVD cases from the Americas (16), Africa (5) and Asia(5). In 2023 and until the beginning of November, over 4.5 million cases and over 4 000 dengue-related deaths have been reported from 80 countries/territories globally. The current likelihood of local transmission events of chikungunya and dengue viruses occurring in areas where the vector is present in mainland EU/EEA is moderate.
• Zimbabwe – Worsening cholera situation (ERCC). As of 7 November 2023, Zimbabwe has recorded 6,685 suspected cholera cases and 136 suspected deaths. For the last two weeks, the number of new cases recorded weekly surpasses 500 – the highest rate to date this year.

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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