News Watch

A severe storm system rolled through the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia on Oct. 28, shutting down air, ship and train transport. Along with the heavy rains, hurricane-force winds (up to 120 mph) toppled trees onto roads and train lines, ripped off roofs, caused structural damage to buildings and cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes. Fifteen deaths were attributed to the storm.

Street protests over teacher pay and the increased cost for public transport became violent and destructive in Rio de Janeiro and in Sao Paulo, Brazil, during October. 

Although many of the thousands of protesters in the street marches were peaceful, a smaller group of masked men, known as the Black Bloc anarchist group, were accused of using the protests to burn buses, set fires to banks, vandalize stores and start riots. Police responded with rubber bullets and tear gas. 

To shore up its struggling economy, the Greek government — in exchange for loans from the European Central Bank, the IMF and the European Commission — has committed to reducing the total number of government jobs by 15,000 by the end of 2014. In response, mass strikes by public sector workers occur frequently, and, showing support, private sector unions often join the strikes. The strikes are expected to continue.

As ITN went to press, the State Department had travel warnings on 34 destinations: Afghanistan, Algeria, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Haiti, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Israel/West Bank/Gaza, Kenya, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Republic of South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. ...

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In Pakistan, the southwest province of Balochistan suffered two major earthquakes (measuring 7.7 and 6.8) at the end of September, leaving at least 825 people dead and many hundreds more missing. More than 30 villages were flattened in the region, and an estimated 185,000 people were affected. 

Relief aid to the remote region was hampered by the rough terrain, lack of roads and the local villagers’ distrust of the Pakistan army. There were reports of attacks on rescue operations by...

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The Department of State warns against all nonessential travel to Pakistan. The presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups poses a potential danger to travelers throughout Pakistan. Attacks have included armed assaults on heavily guarded sites, including Pakistani military installations. Terrorist groups continue to seek opportunities to attack locations where Westerners are known to congregate or visit. Terrorists and criminal groups regularly resort to kidnapping for ransom...

The northeast region of Nigeria continues to suffer attacks from the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. In three attacks during September, 43 students at an agricultural college were killed, 14 persons were killed when travelers on a main road were stopped, and, at a military outpost, 143 civilians, three police officers and two soldiers were killed. 

Boko Haram proclaims it targets schools, the military and Westerners in their effort to create an Islamic state in Nigeria and allow...

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In the southern Philippines on Sept. 9, a group of about 375 militants took over the port city of Zamboanga on Mindanao island and grabbed about 200 civilian hostages. Government forces surrounded the city and began a 3-week battle to retake the city. 

195 of the hostages were freed. The government reported that 137 people were killed during the fighting, including 105 militants, nine civilians, 18 soldiers and five policemen. The city was heavily damaged; more than 10,000 houses were...

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