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 

• Blast kills 2 Mexican soldiers and wounds 5 others in suspected booby trap by drug cartel (Reuters) – An improvised land mine apparently planted by a drug cartel killed two Mexican soldiers and wounded five others, Mexico’s defense secretary said Tuesday. Gen. Ricardo Trevilla acknowledged that the army had already suffered six deaths from such improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, between 2018 and 2024. But he didn’t specify whether those six had been killed by bombs dropped from drones, or by buried roadside bombs, both of which have been used by gangs in Mexico. 
• Israeli troops remove Israeli settler group who crossed into Lebanon (Reuters) –   Israeli soldiers removed a small far-right group of Israeli civilians who had crossed into Lebanon, appearing to put up a tent settlement, in what the military said on Wednesday was a serious incident now under investigation. The Times of Israel reported 10 days ago that the group, advocating the annexation and settlement of southern Lebanon, said they had crossed the border and established an outpost. 
• Armed men attack Haiti hospital as violence shows no signs of abating (Reuters) – The bandits set the Bernard Mevs hospital on fire on Monday night, destroying four operating rooms and all the laboratory equipment, said the hospital director, who asked not to be named. No patients or staff were harmed in the assault because the hospital had been evacuated following threats from a local gang leader. The U.N. humanitarian affairs agency warned earlier this year that Haiti’s health system was “nearing collapse,” with violence increasingly putting doctors and medical services in harm’s way. 
• Argentine president demands release of soldier arrested in Venezuela (Reuters) – Argentine President Javier Milei demanded that Venezuelan authorities immediately free an Argentine soldier arrested earlier this month who Milei said entered Venezuela to visit family, in the latest flare-up between the two South American nations. 
• Ghana Supreme Court rejects legal challenges to anti-LGBT bill (Reuters). Ghana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed two separate cases challenging the legality of one of Africa’s most restrictive pieces of anti-LGBT legislation, paving the way for the president to sign it into law. 
• UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen says that the war in Syria has not fully ended (France24). In a testimony to the UN Security Council yesterday, he flagged the risk of ongoing fighting between armed groups in the country’s north.  
• Russia detains suspect over murder of chemical weapons chief Igor Kirillov (Reuters) – Russia had detained an Uzbek man who had confessed to planting and detonating a bomb which killed a top general, Igor Kirillov, in Moscow on the instructions of Ukraine’s SBU security service. Kirillov, who was chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed outside his apartment building on Tuesday along with his assistant when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off. 

Demonstrations 

• Liberia’s parliament building catches fire as anti-government protests enter day 2 (AP News) – The protests are being held against moves to remove the parliament speaker, who faces accusations of corruption. The demonstrators are also calling for the president to step down. On Tuesday, police arrested dozens of protesters and used tear gas to disperse the crowds. It is the second time in a week that the parliament building has caught fire, though there was no indication that the incidents are connected. 

Infrastructure 

• Fighting to keep the lights on: Ukraine shows resilience to frequent power grid attacks (France24). For the first time in weeks, there should be no power cuts in Ukraine this Wednesday. The brief respite comes in spite of Russia’s relentless strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure. 

Environment 

• Around 90,000 children impacted by Cyclone Chido in Mozambique (UN News) – Tropical Cyclone Chido struck northern Mozambique over the weekend, bringing torrential rains and powerful winds that caused devastation for communities in Cabo Delgado province. Current assessments show the storm destroyed or damaged over 35,000 homes, displaced thousands of families, and impacted more than 90,000 children. 
• Vanuatu earthquake death toll rises to 14 as rescuers search for survivors (Reuters) – People remained trapped in a collapsed building in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila on Wednesday a day after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific nation, killing 14 people including two Chinese nationals. Three people were communicating with rescue teams from beneath the rubble of one building, while two survivors had been pulled from the ruins of another, Police Commissioner Robson Iavro said. 

Health 

• Avian flu reported in 108 countries across five continents (UN News) – Avian influenza has caused the deaths of more than 300 million birds worldwide and the virus is increasingly crossing species barriers, according to UN health officers. More than 500 bird species have been infected along with at least 70 mammalian species, including the endangered California condor and polar bears. 
• Further lab tests show severe malaria behind unexplained DR Congo outbreak (CIDRAP). Officials also said malnutrition was one of the factors in the illnesses, and that the current case total is 592 with a case-fatality rate of 6.2%. 

Humanitarian 

• Winter rains and aid obstacles worsen ordeal for one million Gazans (UN News) – Nearly one million Gazans risk spending winter without adequate shelter as UN agencies struggle to provide cold weather assistance, amid ongoing Israeli bombardment, repeated evacuation orders and restrictions on aid deliveries, they warned on Wednesday. Attacks on civilian infrastructure have not stopped, particularly in North Gaza, where the UN World Health Organization reports appalling conditions at Kamal Adwan Hospital – and where 61 out of 95 attacks on school buildings since 6 October 2024 took place. 

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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