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 

• Syria: Children among the dead amid reports of mass killings and looting (UN News) – Children are feared to be among more than 1,000 people reportedly killed in fierce fighting over the weekend in Syria’s coastal northwest, the UN Children’s Fund has said. Clashes erupted on Friday between Syrian Caretaker Authority forces and soldiers loyal to the former Assad regime. Eyewitness accounts much of the killing occurred in Alawite neighborhoods in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, the traditional stronghold of support for the former regime. 
• Ukraine reels from one of the deadliest days of war (UN News) – Attacks across Ukraine on Friday reportedly left 21 civilians dead and scores injured, making it one of the deadliest days this year, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country said in a statement issued on Saturday night. All the civilian deaths and 79 of the 81 injured on 7 March occurred in territory controlled by Ukraine. 
• Mass prison escapes stoke panic in DRC after rebel advance (The Guardian) – People warn of growing lawlessness amid concerns that thousands of escaped convicts may try to exact revenge. Mass prison escapes during the chaos of fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have captured two of its largest cities over the past two months, have caused panic among the public. 
• Toronto police seeking three suspects in pub shooting that injured 12 (Reuters) – Toronto Police said early on Saturday they were searching for three male suspects in a shooting that injured at least 12 people at a pub in the Canadian city. None of the injuries was life threatening, police posted on X, saying six of those injured had gunshot wounds. The victims in the Friday night shooting were from their 20s to mid-50s 
• US orders non-emergency staff to leave South Sudan as tensions rise (BBC) – The United States has ordered all its non-emergency staff in South Sudan to leave, amid rising tensions in the country. Fighting in recent days has threatened an already fragile peace deal between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar. The two leaders signed a peace agreement in 2018 to end a five-year civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people, but their relationship has remained fraught. 
• Gang infighting leaves 22 dead in Ecuador’s Guayaquil (Reuters) – Infighting between factions of a gang vying for control over territory in Ecuador’s largest city Guayaquil left nearly two dozen people dead, authorities said on Friday. Gun battles broke out across the northern neighborhood of Nueva Prosperina on Thursday afternoon between members of criminal group Los Tiguerones, local police chief Pablo Davila told reporters. 
• South Korean police prepare for ‘worst-case scenarios’ ahead of Yoon impeachment ruling (Reuters) – Police will be out in force, and subway stations and at least one school will be closed over safety concerns when South Korea’s Constitutional Court rules whether to oust or reinstate impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. 
• Russian forces recapture villages in Ukrainian-held pocket inside Russia (The Guardian) – Russia has taken control of several villages in the Kursk region and claims its forces are close to surrounding thousands of Ukrainian troops fighting on Russian territory. 
• Authorities in the Dominican Republic search for missing American university student (Associated Press) – Authorities in the Dominican Republic are searching for a 20-year-old university student from the U.S. who went missing in the popular tourist town of Punta Cana while on vacation. 

Demonstrations 

• Airport strike to all but freeze German air travel on Monday (Reuters) – More than half a million people are facing travel disruption at German airports on Monday where a 24-hour strike has led to thousands of flight cancellations in a dispute about workers’ pay. The operator of Frankfurt airport, Germany’s busiest, said no passenger flights would depart from there on Monday, with delays and cancellations also possible on Tuesday. 

Infrastructure 

• A Nairobi health clinic where people collect their HIV medication has been rationing supplies of antiretrovirals (Reuters) to one-month refills since the US government froze foreign aid. On the outskirts of the city, meanwhile, millions of life-saving doses sit on the shelves of a warehouse, unused and unreachable. 
• Only seven countries met World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards last year (Reuters), data showed on Tuesday, as researchers warned that the war on smog would only get harder after the United States shut down its global monitoring efforts. 

Environment 

• Indonesia – Floods and landslides (ERCC) – Heavy rainfall has been affecting Java Island since 3 March, causing flooding and landslides that have resulted in casualties and damage. As of 9 March, five people died and four are still missing in Sukabumi Regency, West Java province due to floods and landslides that occurred on 6 March. In addition, six people have been injured, at least 246 people have been displaced and 4,500 people have been affected by floods. 
• Argentina – Floods (ERCC) – In the past few days, Buenos Aires province experienced heavy rainfall and consequent floods that resulted in casualties and damage. At least 16 people have died, dozens are still missing and 1,450 people have been evacuated in the Bahía Blanca city area.  
• Colombia – Landslide (ERCC) – A landslide triggered by heavy rainfall occurred on 8 March in El Encano town in Pasto city of the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia, resulting in casualties and damage. As of 9 March, media reports four fatalities, 38 rescued people, and 200 affected people in El Encano town due to the landslide. In addition, at least 65 houses have been damaged, several roads have been blocked, and drinking water services have been interrupted. 
• Fires continued to burn after two ships collided off the coast of northeast England a day earlier (Reuters), adding to concerns the jet fuel carried by one and toxic chemicals aboard the other could cause an environmental disaster. 

Health 

• Ethiopia – Cholera (ERCC) – A cholera outbreak is significantly affecting Gambella region (Ethiopia) where, as of 8 March 2025, 1,320 cases and 29 deaths have been reported since the beginning of February 2025, with an average Case Fatality Rate of 2.2%. Cholera in Gambella region has spread from neighbouring South Sudan, where more than 36,180 cases and 600 deaths have been confirmed since the start of the outbreak in October 2024. 
• Five countries report new polio cases (CIDRAP) – Five countries reported polio cases this week, including Pakistan, which reported three cases of wild poliovirus type (WPV1), according to the latest update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). The three WPV1 cases, with onset of paralysis in January and February, were in Sindh and Punjab provinces. The cases bring the country’s total WPV1 cases in 2025 to six. Pakistan is one of two countries (along with Afghanistan) where wild poliovirus is still endemic. 

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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