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 

• Hong Kong: Rushed adoption of new security law a ‘regressive step’ – UN rights chief (UN News). The accelerated adoption of a national security bill in Hong Kong represents “a regressive step” for human rights there, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday. European Union, UN criticize new Hong Kong security law (Reuters). The European Union and the United Nations said Hong Kong’s new national security bill was deeply worrying and could erode fundamental freedoms in the China-ruled city. 
• Mali – Food insecurity (ERCC). On 19 March, combatants supposedly affiliated to Islamic State of Greater Sahara intercepted 25 civilian cars transporting critical foodstuff to Tessit from Ansongo. Several of these vehicles and a number of people are still retained. 
• Terrorism threat against Denmark has increased, security service says (Reuters). The threat of terrorism in Denmark and against its interests abroad has risen because of Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza and a series of Koran burnings in Denmark last year, the Danish security and intelligence service PET said on Thursday. The PET rated the overall threat level at 4 out of 5, but said the risks within that level had increased.
• Three killed, 12 injured in Afghanistan suicide bombing – police (Reuters). A suicide bombing in front of a bank killed at least three people and injured 12 others in Afghanistan’s Kandahar city on Thursday, local police said.
• Somali pirates return, adding to global shipping crisis (Reuters). As a speed boat carrying more than a dozen Somali pirates bore down on their position in the western Indian Ocean, the crew of a Bangladeshi-owned bulk carrier sent out a distress signal and called an emergency hotline. 
• US-organized helicopter flights begin carrying Americans from Haiti (Reuters). U.S. government-chartered helicopter flights began carrying American citizens from the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Wednesday amid rising violence, the State Department said, with a first flight transporting more than 15 people to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
• As election nears, Venezuelan government keeps arresting opponents allegedly tied to criminal plots (AP News) As Venezuela’s government would have it, President Nicolás Maduro and members of his inner circle have been the target of several conspiracies since last year that could have left them injured or worse.
• New flare-up of local violence in South Sudan kills 15 (Reuters). Young men shot dead 15 people in South Sudan’s eastern Pibor region, including a county commissioner, a senior official said on Wednesday, amid a rise in local conflict ahead of a national election.
• French hate crimes surged after outbreak of Gaza war, government report shows (France24). Racist, xenophobic and religion-based hate crimes surged 32 percent in France last year, government figures showed Wednesday, with a spike following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
• Russia launches largest missile attack on Kyiv in weeks (Reuters). Russia staged its largest missile attack in weeks on Kyiv and the surrounding region on Thursday, injuring at least 17 people and damaging schools, residential buildings and industrial facilities, officials said. 

Infrastructure

• Australia tightens student visa rules as migration hits record high (Reuters). Australia will begin enforcing tougher visa rules for foreign students this week as official data showed migration hit another record high, which is likely to further exacerbate an already tight rental market. 
• Gaza’s Shifa hospital a war zone as Blinken meets Sisi in Cairo (Reuters). In Gaza itself, Israel’s offensive focused on the Al Shifa hospital, the only partially working medical facility in the north of the Strip, for a fourth day, and local residents said they had seen buildings inside the complex in flames. Starving children fill hospital wards as famine looms (Reuters). More than five months into Israel’s ground and air campaign, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, there are widespread shortages of food, medicines and clean water in Gaza, doctors and aid agencies say. 
• Kenyan public hospitals stop providing emergency services as doctors’ strike enters second week (AP). Thousands of doctors have stayed away from hospitals since last Thursday over poor pay and working conditions.

Environment

• Indonesia – Floods (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting central, in particular the Central Java Province and north-eastern Indonesia, mainly the Maluku Province since 14 March, causing floods that have resulted in casualties and damage. 
• Brazil – Strong wind (ERCC). Strong wind has been affecting south-eastern Brazil, in particular the Paraná State over the past few days, causing some severe weather-related incidents that have resulted in casualties and damage. 
• France – Snow avalanches (ERCC). Three avalanches occurred in the Alps on 19 March, resulting in one dead and one injured person. 
• Iraq – Floods and flash floods (ERCC). According to the International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), three people died, 11 others were injured and 627 people have been evacuated in at least ten localities of the northern Duhok Governorate, Kurdistan region. In Erbil Governorate, Kurdistan region, 516 people have been affected by floods in areas like Terawa, Badawa, Koyistan, and Dara Tow. 
• Thailand – Severe weather (ERCC). Storms and strong winds were reported on 19 March over seven Provinces of northern Thailand (Nan, Lampang, Chiang Mai, Phetchabun, Loei, Udon Thani, and Maha Sarakham) resulting in damage. 
• Papua New Guinea – Landslides and floods (ERCC). According to media, as of 21 March, 23 people died across the Chimbu Province, central Highlands Region due to three landslide events that occurred on 18 March. In addition, media also report the severe flooding of the coastal village of Lese Kavora, in the neighbouring Gulf Province due to storm surges. 
• Democratic Republic of the Congo – Severe weather (ERCC). Heavy rainfall, strong winds and thunderstorms have been affecting the central Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular the Maniema Province, since 16 March, causing floods, landslides and a number of severe weather-related incidents (particularly due to the strong wind) that have resulted in casualties and damage. Maniema is also experiencing record temperatures, with an average of 40°C recorded this week in Kindu, the province’s administrative centre. 
• Argentina – Floods (ERCC). On 19-20 March, heavy rainfall affected Buenos Aires Province, north-eastern Argentina, particularly La Plata City area, causing floods and resulting in casualties and damage. According to the International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), one person died, six people were injured, 300 others were displaced and 400,000 were affected across La Plata area. 
• Intense heat prompted authorities in South Sudan to close schools this week (NYT), with no immediate announcement of when they will reopen. South Sudan is highly exposed to extreme climate events including droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures. The current heat wave is expected to last at least two weeks.
• State of Global Climate report confirms 2023 as hottest year on record by clear margin (WMO). Records broken for ocean heat, sea level rise, Antarctic sea ice loss and glacier retreat. Extreme weather undermines socio-economic development. Renewable energy transition provides hope. Cost of climate inaction is higher than cost of climate action.
• UN weather agency issues ‘red alert’ on climate change after record heat, ice-melt increases in 2023 (AP). The U.N. weather agency is sounding a “red alert” about global warming, citing record-smashing increases last year in greenhouse gases, land and water temperatures and melting of glaciers and sea ice, and is warning that the world’s efforts to reverse the trend have been inadequate. The World Meteorological Organization said there is a “high probability” that 2024 will be another record-hot year.

Health

• China reports 3 more H9N2 avian flu infections (CIDRAP). China has reported three more H9N2 avian flu infections, all involving children, Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection said today in its weekly avian flu update. The infections raise the country’s number of H9N2 infections this year to four and come just a week after the mainland reported its first case of the year, which involved a 6-year-old boy from Anhui province. 
• Mpox deaths falling everywhere but Africa, says expert panel (UN News). Cases of Mpox are falling everywhere except in Africa, a UN health agency expert panel has said, warning that the virus is causing “high mortality” in children under 15 years old. 
• WHO warns of yellow fever spread in 13 African nations (CIDRAP). The World Health Organization (WHO) said today in an outbreak notice that 13 countries in Africa have reported confirmed or probable yellow fever cases since the start of 2023. The countries are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, South Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.  
• Dengue outbreak in Argentina on track to break records (Reuters). A major outbreak in Argentina of dengue, a mosquito-borne illness that can be fatal, is on track to smash previous records, reflecting wider worry around South America where warmer and wetter weather has led to a surge in cases.
• Climate change unleashing torrent of infectious disease threats, physicians caution (CIDRAP). The shorter and milder winters, warming oceans, altered precipitation patterns, and extreme weather of climate change are fueling the spread of infectious diseases, experts warn in JAMA.

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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