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 death toll passes 45,000 as UN school suffers new deadly strike (UN News) – Authorities in Gaza reported on Monday that more than 45,000 people have been killed in the enclave in the last 14 months, as humanitarians condemned new deadly airstrikes across the war-torn Strip, including on a UN school-turned-shelter. Images taken at the school in Khan Younis showed the apparent impact point of one shell in a concrete upper floor where people had been living at the time of the attack late Sunday night. 
• Top Russian general is killed in a Moscow bombing claimed by Ukraine (ABC News) – A senior Russian general was killed Tuesday by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow, a day after Ukraine’s security service leveled criminal charges against him. A Ukrainian official said the service carried out the attack. Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed as he left for his office. Kirillov’s assistant also died in the attack. 
• Mexico arrests more than 100 local police officers for various abuses and offenses (AP News) – In the largest of the two incidents, 92 municipal police officers in the southern state of Chiapas were arrested after they tried to stop state authorities from assuming command of a police surveillance camera office. 
• The congolese army lost more territory to M23 rebels they have been battling in the East (France24). The Rwanda backed militia have displaced thousands since its resurgence in 2021 and reportedly forced soldiers into retreat after siesing the town of Matembe in North Kivo. The latest clashes followed the cancellation on Sunday of a crucial peace summit about the conflict. 
• Almost 800 arrested over Nigerian crypto-romance scam (Reuters) – The suspects, including 148 Chinese and 40 Filipino nationals, were detained on Dec. 10 at the seven-storey Big Leaf Building in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren said. 

Environment 

• Vanuatu hit by magnitude 7.4 earthquake, U.N. reports six unconfirmed deaths (Reuters) – The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated 116,000 people had been affected by the earthquake. It said there were six unconfirmed deaths and damage to the two main water reservoirs. 
• Heavy rainfalls and extreme heatwave warnings forecast for parts of Queensland (ABC News) – Parts of Brisbane, Australia have been submerged by flash flooding overnight, with more rainfall predicted for parts of Queensland. 

Migration 

• UN refugee agency expects one million Syrians to return in the first half of 2025 (Guardian) – UN refugee agency official has said that about one million Syrian refugees are expected to return to the country in the first six months of 2025, asking countries to refrain from forced returns. 

Humanitarian 

• Human Rights Watch reports that since September 2023 (HRW), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters and allied militias have raped scores of women and girls, including in the context of sexual slavery, in Sudan’s South Kordofan. 

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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