News Watch

December 2018 issue | Appears on page 19

Indonesia tsunami update

Since ITN went to press last month and reported on the event (pg. 16), the total number of casualties from the Sept. 28 earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi was finalized. The official count is 1,754 dead and 2,549 wounded, with an additional 683 people still considered missing.

December 2018 issue | Appears on page 19

Yemen crisis

An air strike on a vegetable market in Hodeidah Province, Yemen, killed at least 21 civilians and injured nine others on Oct. 24. The attack came from a Saudi-led coalition of Arabic nations that has been engaged in war with Houthi rebels in the country since 2015.

It is not known who was being targeted in the strike, but Houthis control the nearby port town of Bayt al-Faqih, which has been the scene of ground fighting between Yemeni government forces and Houthi since September.

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December 2018 issue | Appears on page 19

Gaza and Israel exchange fire

Two rockets were fired from Gaza on Oct. 17, one of which struck a house in the Israeli city of Beersheba, causing significant damage. The family living in the house had escaped to a missile shelter after the rockets set off an early-warning system, and there were no injuries. In response, Israel struck back with missiles at multiple sites operated by the Islamist militant group Hamas in Gaza, killing one person.

It was later determined that a lightning strike was responsible for the...

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December 2018 issue | Appears on page 19

Tunisia suicide bombing

A woman detonated a suicide bomb on a main street in the center of Tunis, Tunisia, on Oct. 29, injuring nine people in what is being called an act of terrorism. Authorities believe she was targeting police, eight of whom were among the injured. At press time, no group had taken responsibility for the attack, and the woman was unknown to authorities.

It was the first act of terrorism in Tunisia since June 2015, when a gunman opened fire on a crowded Tunis beach.

December 2018 issue | Appears on page 59

Syrian border crossings reopen

On Oct. 15, Syria reopened two border crossings that had been closed due to its civil war.

On its border with Jordan, to the south, the Nassib crossing reopened to civilian traffic months after it was retaken from rebels in July.

On its border with the Golan Heights in Israel, to the west, the Quneitra crossing reopened to UN forces. The UN had ceased operations in the area and closed the crossing in 2014 after 45 peacekeepers were abducted by al-Qaeda-allied rebels in Golan....

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December 2018 issue | Appears on page 59

Congo ebola outbreak surges

An ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been ongoing since Aug. 1. As of Oct. 23, there were 212 confirmed cases of ebola, resulting in 124 deaths, with an additional 35 deaths considered to have probably been caused by the disease.

The number of new cases of ebola spiked in October, mostly in the city of Beni, North Kivu province, where containment and treatment actions were suspended due to attacks by armed rebel groups.

December 2018 issue | Appears on page 59

Caribbean Zika-free

On Oct. 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it was removing the Caribbean region from its Zika-country-classification list after studies from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) found that no Caribbean nation had reported a new case of Zika since February 2017, indicating that the circulation of the virus in the region has been interrupted.

Authorities in the US, Canada and the UK confirmed that no Zika had been detected in travelers returning from the...

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December 2018 issue | Appears on page 60

Tourists drown on Costa Rican river

Four American tourists and their tour guide were killed on Oct. 18 when their raft capsized on the Naranjo River in southwestern Costa Rica. The river was swollen by heavy rains, and the conditions were windy at the time of the incident. Two other rafts being used by the group also capsized, but no other deaths occurred.

At press time, Costa Rica was investigating the raft company, which had not been publicly named.