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

• At least 21 people killed in suspected terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso (France 24 on MSN.com). Twenty-one people, most of them members of the security forces, have been killed in Burkina Faso in attacks by suspected jihadists, security sources said on Wednesday.
• Massive fire as Sudanese factions battle for control of arms factory (Reuters on MSN.com). A massive fire broke out on Wednesday near a military complex containing an arms factory in southern Khartoum that Sudan’s army has battled to defend in some of the fiercest fighting for weeks in its conflict with a rival faction, witnesses said.
• Israeli army raids Palestinian city of Ramallah, 35 wounded in clashes (Reuters). Clashes erupted after Israeli forces raided the city of Ramallah in the West Bank early on Thursday in what the military said was an operation to demolish the house of a Palestinian accused of a Jerusalem double-bombing last year.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday that Russian forces were shooting at Ukrainians (CNN) trying to rescue people from flooded areas following Tuesday’s collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam. At least three people have died, an exiled Ukrainian mayor said, and the humanitarian organization CARE International said that landmines are likely floating in the floodwaters.
• Taiwan activated its defense systems (Reuters) after reporting 37 Chinese military aircraft flying into the island’s air defense zone, some of which then flew into the western Pacific, in Beijing’s latest mass air incursion.

Infrastructure

• Ukraine – Destruction of the Kakhovka Dam – update (ERCC). The collapse of Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine has led to water levels raising to 5m in Kherson region, flooding 30 settlements. Water levels are expected to keep rising possibly reaching 6m, according to Ukrainian authorities. Ukraine dam disaster: Lack of clean water, spread of disease, major risks.
• Demand for VPN connectivity surged by 60 000% after deadly protests in Senegal (News24). Social media platforms were blocked because they were used to mobilise the protests that rocked the country after the sentencing of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
• A crippling power crisis has added to the misery of the Bangladeshis as they reel under the country’s longest heatwave in decades (Al Jazeera). Tens of thousands of primary and secondary schools have been shut down by the government this week as temperatures surged to more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in Dhaka. Other cities such as Rangpur recorded a high of 41 degrees Celsius – the highest there since 1958. Bangladesh could face further power cuts due to higher demand, its power minister said, as a fuel shortage sparked shutdowns of several power generating units, including its biggest coal-fired plant.

Natural Disasters

• Philippines – Floods and landslides (ERCC). Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms have been affecting Mindanao (in particular the Davao region, south-eastern Mindanao) since 5 June, causing floods and landslide that have resulted in damage.
• Canada – Wildfires, update (ERCC). Devastating wildfires continue to burn across several parts of Canada, particularly in the Provinces of Quebec, Alberta and Nova Scotia, sending plumes of fine particulate matter over the country and affecting also the north-eastern and eastern States of the USA.
• Dominican Republic – Severe weather (ERCC). Heavy rainfall and strong winds have been affecting western Dominican Republic (in particular the Provinces of Baoruco, San Juan, Independencia and Azua) since 4 June, triggering landslides and causing floods, rivers overflow and a number of strong wind-related incidents that have resulted in damage.
• Philippines raises alert level at rumbling volcano after rockfall, quakes (Reuters on MSN.com). The Philippines raised the alert level at the popular Mayon volcano by a notch on Thursday, after detecting volcanic earthquakes and hundreds of rockfall events. At “alert level 3” on a scale of 5, Mayon has increased chances of lava flows and a potential for explosive activity within weeks or even days.

Health

• Northeast Nigeria – Nutrition crisis (ERCC). According to the latest data, the number of severely acute malnourished (SAM) children with medical complications (life-threatening condition) admitted for treatment in Borno State, Northeast Nigeria increased by 61% between January and April 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. This is the highest admission rate for the last six years.
• Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ law It stipulates capital punishment for “serial offenders” against the law (Reuters) and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex. It also decrees a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality.  The HIV/AIDS treatment center in Kampala is almost empty, days after Uganda enacted this law (Reuters). The usual daily influx of patients has all but dried up. Antiretroviral drugs pile up unused. “The LGBT community in Uganda is on lockdown now,” a resident medical officer said.

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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