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

• Gaza: Northern aid push frustrated as regional tensions rise (UN News). UN humanitarians reported on Monday that a food convoy in Gaza had been hit by shelling after a deadly weekend of hostilities in Gaza in which at least 234 Palestinians were reportedly killed, stoking regional tensions in the Middle East.
• About 40 killed in violence near disputed Sudan-South Sudan border (Reuters). About 40 people, many of them civilians, have been killed in violence in a disputed area on South Sudan’s border with Sudan over the weekend and hundreds have sought refuge in a U.N. peacekeepers’ compound, a government official said on Monday.
• Myanmar border guards flee to Bangladesh amid clashes with rebels (Reuters). At least 95 Myanmar border guards, some of them wounded, have fled to Bangladesh over the last few days as fighting intensifies between rebel forces in Myanmar and the junta regime, officials in Bangladesh said on Monday.
• At least 6 Kurdish fighters are killed in a drone attack on a Syrian base housing US troops (AP). A drone attack on a base housing U.S. troops in eastern Syria killed six allied Kurdish fighters late Sunday, in the first significant attack in Syria or Iraq since the U.S. launched retaliatory strikes over the weekend against Iran-backed militias.
• Brazil’s military reinforces border with Venezuela and Guyana due to Esequibo (Reuters). A convoy of military trucks and armored vehicles set off for Brazil’s northern border on Friday to reinforce the presence of the Brazilian army in response to tensions over Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s Esequibo region.
• Ethiopia extends state of emergency in Amhara (Reuters). Ethiopia’s parliament on Friday extended by four months a state of emergency declared in August to respond to an insurgency in the northern region of Amhara that has resulted in hundreds of deaths and drawn accusations of widespread human rights abuses.
• Segun Aremu: Nigerian traditional monarch shot dead and wife kidnapped (BBC). Armed men have shot dead a traditional ruler, and kidnapped his wife plus one other person in south-western Nigeria, authorities say. Some 50 civil society groups want President Bola Tinubu to make that declaration, saying more than 1,800 people had been abducted since he took office last May. But the true number of abductions during that time could be more than double that figure, at almost 4,000 people, says Nigerian risk consultancy SBM Intelligence.

Demonstrations

• Senegal police fire tear gas on Dakar protest over postponed presidential vote (France 24). Protesters and police clashed in the Senegalese capital Dakar and at least one senior opposition figure was arrested Sunday, a day after President Macky Sall announced the indefinite postponement of the presidential election. Internet shutdown after Senegal election delay protests (BBC). Mobile internet access has been temporarily cut in Senegal, the government announced on Monday, a day after hundreds protested President Macky Sall’s postponement of the presidential election.
• Farmers are blocking key roads between Belgium and the Netherlands in the latest sign of their anger (AP). Farmers parked their tractors across key road crossings on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands on Friday in their latest protest against excessive red tape and competition from cheap imports.

Infrastructure

• Mexico City residents protest ‘unprecedented’ water shortages (Reuters). Frustrated Mexico City residents have been protesting weeks of water shortages, with officials warning of “unprecedented” low levels in a main system that supplies millions of people.
• Egypt’s Suez Canal recorded (Bloomberg) $428 million in revenue in January 2024, compared to $804 million in January 2023, a top canal official said. The revenue plunge is in large part due to Houthi attacks on Red Sea commercial shipping, and comes as Egypt is wrestling with a severe economic crisis.

Environment

• USA – Severe weather (ERCC). Severe weather, including heavy rain and strong winds, has been affecting California State, in western USA since 1 February, causing floods and severe weather-related incidents that have resulted in damage.
• Pakistan – Flood (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting southern Pakistan in the last few days, causing floods and leading to casualties and damage.
• Philippines – Floods and Landslides (ERCC). During the period of 28 January – 2 February, the Northeast Monsoon and a Low-Pressure Area (LPA) have affected Mindanao Island, southern Philippines causing floods and landslides and resulting in casualties and damage.
• Indonesia – Landslide (ERCC). A landslide triggered by heavy rainfall hit North Sumatra, particularly Adian Kotig District, resulting in casualties and damage.
• Chile – Wildfires (ERCC). Wildfires have been burning across parts of central Chile, particularly in the regions of Valparaíso, O’Higgins and Maule resulting in casualties and damage.
• Peru – Severe weather (ERCC). Since the past week, heavy rainfall has been affecting parts of Peru, triggering landslides and severe weather-related incidents that resulted in damage.
• Ecuador – Floods (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting northern and western Ecuador, in particular Esmeraldas, Manabí and Los Rios Provinces since 30 January, causing floods that have resulted in population displacement and damage.
• Pacific region (ERCC). Disasters such as cyclones, floods, droughts, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions frequently occur in the Pacific region, which is witnessing intense fluctuations in weather patterns due to climate change. Pacific countries rank among the highest in casualties and people affected by disaster per number of inhabitants.

Health

• Human infection with swine influenza A(H1N1) variant virus – Spain – 2024 (ECDC). A new possible case of human infection with swine influenza A(H1N1)v has been reported by Spanish authorities in an adult man who worked in a pig farm in the Catalonia region.
• Influenza A(H5N1) – Multi-country (World) – Monitoring human cases (ECDC). On 28 January 2024, the Cambodian Ministry of Health reported a second new human case of avian influenza. A(H5N1) infection detected this year. The case is a 69-year-old man from Siem Reap province.
• China reports woman’s death from H3N2-H10N5 flu coinfection (CIDRAP). Chinese health officials today announce that a 63-year-old woman from Anhui province who died in late November was coinfected with H3N2 seasonal flu and a H10N5 flu virus that is genetically related to avian subtypes.

Migration

• Bangladesh (ERCC). Bangladesh is currently home to almost one million Rohingya refugees who fled targeted violence, large-scale armed attacks, and human rights violations in neighbouring Myanmar. Their situation remains precarious, and many continue to embark on dangerous journeys to countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.

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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