News Watch

The Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi was attacked by Al Shabaab terrorists, who held shoppers hostage and fought a 4-day siege with Kenyan security forces, Sept. 21-24. Although more than 1,000 people were successfully evacuated, at least 67 people were killed, both Kenyan and foreign, with many wounded and an estimated 39 still missing in the rubble once the fighting stopped. 

Al Shabaab stated the attack was in retaliation for Kenya’s participation in the multinational force...

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 Mexico was pounded along both the Gulf and Pacific coasts by hurricanes and tropical storms during September. The heavy rains and winds caused flooding, building damage and devastating landslides, resulting in at least 139 deaths, more than 50 people missing and tens of thousands of people being evacuated.

Twenty-four of Mexico’s 31 states were affected, with the worst damage in Guerrero, Veracruz and Tamaulipas. At the beach resort of Acapulco in Guerrero, roads were flooded or...

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The Department of State urges travelers to avoid Lebanon. A number of extremist groups operate in Lebanon, including some, such as Hezbollah, that the US government has designated as terrorist organizations. US citizens have been the target of numerous terrorist attacks in Lebanon in the past. 

Hezbollah maintains a strong presence in parts of the southern suburbs of Beirut, portions of the Bekaa Valley and areas in southern Lebanon. Sporadic violence involving Hezbollah or other...

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More than 100 elephants died in the Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, after drinking at water holes that had been poisoned with cyanide by ivory poachers. Although two water holes had been identified as poisoned, there may be more. The death toll of elephants and many other animals is expected to continue to rise until the water holes can be fenced off or cleansed. 

Eight poachers were captured in the park with a cache of ivory. Three of them were sentenced to 15 years in prison and...

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Because of potential threats against US government facilities and personnel, the Department of State recommends deferring nonessential travel to southeastern Turkey. Travelers should avoid demonstrations and large gatherings. There have been no direct attacks on US citizens.

As ITN went to press, the State Department had travel warnings on 35 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, Turkey and...

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The US Department of State warns people to defer travel to Egypt because of the continuing political and social unrest.

After the army removed Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, from office on July 3 following mass demonstrations, more than 1,000 people died in further protests. 

For the first half of August, army and police forces clashed violently with protesters supporting Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Clashes took place in many...

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In Iraq, sectarian violence as well as attacks by militants and terrorist groups have resulted in a terrible rise in the deaths of civilians and Iraqi security forces. UN figures put the death toll from Jan. 1 through July at more than 3,700, and the Associated Press reported another 500 killed in August. 

July 2013 was, by far, the most deadly month since 2008, with at least 1,000 killed in suicide bombings of cafés, roadside shootings and several prison breaks orchestrated by...

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