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

• On 22 April, a triple suicide bomb attack by non-state armed groups against the military camp and airport in Sévaré in Central Mali (ERCC), killed at least 10 civilians and wounded 60. Most of the victims are internally displaced persons living in the Serema site. The blast destroyed about 20 houses in the neighbourhood.
• Violence keeps increasing in Burkina Faso (ERCC). Media report that on 20 April, dozens of civilians (reports range from 60 to 150 civilians) have been killed by men wearing military uniforms in villages of the municipality of Barga (province of Yatenga in the region Nord), at 35 km of the town of Ouahigouya.
• The ongoing war in Ukraine endangers the lives of civilians (ERCC) and causes severe damage to housing, water and electricity supply, heating, and public infrastructure such as schools and health facilities. Millions of people have no access to basic needs.
• The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan (UN News) issued a strong statement on Friday calling on both sides in the military power struggle to “implement humanitarian pauses” allowing civilians and aid workers to access essential supplies.
• On April 22, 2023, the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum suspended its operations (DOS), and the Department of State ordered the departure of U.S. direct hire employees and eligible family members from Embassy Khartoum due to the continued threat of armed conflict in Sudan. The U.S. government cannot provide routine or emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Sudan, due to the current security situation.
• Curfew in Jamaica district after gunmen wound 7 boarding bus (AP News). Police enforced a curfew in a community on the southern fringes of Jamaica’s capital Saturday after gunmen fired on people boarding a public minibus, wounding seven, including three children.
• Mexico migrant camp tents torched across border from Texas (ABC). Witnesses say makeshift tents were deliberately set ablaze in a large camp of migrants in Mexico across the border from South Texas this week

Demonstrations

• Kenya’s Odinga to restart anti-government rallies (Africa News). Kenya’s opposition will resume anti-government protests from May 2, with demonstrations limited to Nairobi, nearly three weeks after suspending rallies to take part in a dialogue with authorities.
• Strikes ground flights at German airports, railway walkouts to follow (Reuters). Industrial action grounded dozens of flights at two major German airports on Monday as security workers and ground services employees in the capital, Berlin, and in Hamburg held a one-day strike over pay.
• 3,000 migrants begin walk north from southern Mexico (AP). Around 3,000 migrants set out Sunday on what they call a mass protest procession through southern Mexico to demand the end of detention centers like the one that caught fire last month, killing 40 migrants.
• Mass protests against Israel’s judicial reform hit 16th week (YAHOO!News). In central Tel Aviv, crowds gathered in a show of defiance against plans they see as an existential threat to Israeli democracy. They were waving the blue and white Israeli flags that have become a hallmark of the protests over the past three months.
• Hundreds of people across rebel-held northwestern Syria yesterday  demonstrated against the warming ties (Al Jazeera) between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and multiple Arab nations.

Infrastructure

• Yemen’s fragile health system is “severely overburdened” (UN News) the World Health Organization’s (WHO) leading official for emergency operations in the country said on Friday, and more international funding is urgently needed to stop it deteriorating further. Some 46 percent of health facilities across the country are only partially functioning or completely out of service, due to shortages of staff, funds, electricity, or medicines.

Natural Disasters

• On 21 April, the Sangay volcano located in central Ecuador (ERCC) erupted an ash column 8 km high above the crater which was directed towards the west of the volcano.
• On 21 April, strong winds and a very large tornado hit central Myanmar, including the capital city Naypyitaw (ERCC), causing several wind-related incidents resulting in casualties and severe damage.
• On 22-23 April, the Island of Sumatra has been affected by heavy rainfall (ERCC) that caused displacement and damage.
• Heavy rainfall has been affecting several provinces of Angola since early April (ERCC), causing floods that have resulted in casualties and widespread damage.
• India’s heat is underestimated and harming its progress, study says (NBC News). The full extent of the damage from India’s sizzling heat that’s causing more deaths, illnesses, school shutdowns and crop failures is underestimated by lawmakers and officials in the country and slowing the nation’s development.

Health

• WHO elevates XBB.1.16 to variant of interest as levels rise in US and other countries. The subvariant could spread globally and fuel increased cases, due its growth advantage and immune escape properties.
• Marburg cases rise to sixteen in Equatorial Guinea (Reuters). Equatorial Guinea has confirmed 16 positive cases of Marburg disease since the beginning of the outbreak, the country’s health ministry said on Thursday. Marburg virus disease is a viral haemorrhagic fever that can have a fatality rate of up to 88%, according to the WHO. There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat it.
• Lassa fever (LF) remains endemic in Nigeria (Scientific Reports) with the country reporting the highest incidence and mortality globally. Recent national data suggests increasing incidence and expanding geographic spread.

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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