News Watch

September 2011 issue | Appears on page 16

Horn of Africa drought

The worst drought in 60 years has caused a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. More than 10 million people are suffering from food shortages and lack of water. Where the countries meet, there has been little to no rain in more than two years.

Somalia is hardest hit, with an estimated 3.7 million people on the verge of starvation. Tens of thousands of Somalis have flooded into refugee camps in Kenya desperate for food and medical aid.

December 2010 issue | Appears on page 16

Indonesia’s two disasters

• A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck off of western Sumatra, Indonesia, on Oct. 25, causing a 10-foot-high tsunami that killed more than 431 people on Pagai Selatan and Pagai Utara, two of the Mentawai Islands. At press time, 88 others were missing.

The quake occurred upon the same undersea fault line that caused the devastating tsunami in December 2004. Any tsunami generated there would strike the Mentawis in just a few minutes.

• On the island of Java, Mount Merapi, Indonesia’...

CONTINUE READING »
December 2010 issue | Appears on page 16

Typhoon Megi

With winds gusting up to 160 miles per hour, Typhoon Megi hit the Philippines on Oct. 18, killing 28 people, destroying 31,000 thousand homes in the northeast region of the island Luzon and damaging 100,000 more.

As Megi passed through Taiwan on Oct. 20-22, its torrential rains caused flooding and landslides that left 14 dead and 23 missing. Over 47 inches of rain fell in the northeast regions.

Weakened, on Oct. 23 the storm made landfall in southeast China, an already drenched...

CONTINUE READING »
December 2010 issue | Appears on page 16

Sudan dangers

Travel anywhere in Sudan is potentially dangerous, warns the Department of State, which has received information on terrorist threats against US and European interests there. Westerners have been victims of kidnappings, carjackings and armed robberies. Armed militias have instigated sporadic violence and attacked locations in southern Sudan. Land travel at night should be avoided.

Travel in the Darfur region is particularly dangerous, as clashes continue between Sudanese government...

CONTINUE READING »
December 2010 issue | Appears on page 16

Risks in Nigeria

The US Department of State continues to warn of the risks of travel to Nigeria. Violent crime remains a problem throughout the country, including crime by persons in uniform. Twenty-one foreign nationals have been kidnapped in Nigeria in 2010. 

Since March, five improvised explosive devices have been detonated in the Niger Delta region.

In September, over 150 members of the Boko Haram extremist religious sect escaped from prison in northeast Bauchi and Borno states, some of...

CONTINUE READING »
December 2010 issue | Appears on page 16

Avoid Lebanon

The Department of State continues to urge avoiding all travel to Lebanon. US citizens have been the targets of numerous terrorist attacks in Lebanon in the past, and the threat continues. 

While Lebanon enjoys periods of relative calm, public demonstrations occur frequently and may become violent. Demonstrators sometimes block the primary road between Beirut and Rafiq Hariri International Airport. Access to borders and seaports also can be interrupted with no warning.

On Aug....

CONTINUE READING »
December 2010 issue | Appears on page 17

Terrorists in Yemen

The Department of State warns that terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), are active in Yemen. AQAP claimed responsibility for a Sept. 25 attack in Sana’a during which two gunmen fired on a bus with Yemeni security agents, wounding 10.

British motorcades in Sanaa were attacked on Oct. 6 and April 26. There have been other terrorist incidents.

On May 24, two US tourists and their Yemeni driver and translator were kidnapped near Sana’a.

December 2010 issue | Appears on page 17

Karachi killings

A series of political and ethnic killings in Karachi, Pakistan, in October left more than 70 people dead, many who worked for the Awami National Party. A market in Shersah and residences in Baloch and Pathan were attacked by gunmen.

The violence was sparked by clashes over the election held on Oct. 18 for an assembly seat left vacant after a member was assassinated in August.