On Jan. 14 in Iraq, two suicide bombers targeted Tayaran Square in east-central Baghdad, killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 90.
Two other suicide-bomber attacks occurred in Baghdad on the same day. In the Jamila district, in the northeast of the city, two people were killed and six were injured, and at a police checkpoint in the city’s north, at least five people were killed.
A gunman with an explosive device attacked a Coptic-owned shop south of Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 29, killing two people. Before being detained by authorities, he attempted to enter a Coptic church. During the attempt, six civilians and one police officer were killed.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Egyptian authorities said the attacker was known to police and was responsible for other deadly terrorist attacks in the past.
At least 14 people, identified as teenagers, were killed in the Casamance region of southern Senegal on Jan. 6 as they gathered firewood. An additional seven people were injured in the attack. Authorities arrested 24 for the attack.
It is not known why the victims were targeted, but authorities believe it involved members of the pro-independence rebel group Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), which operates in the region. MFDC has remained largely peaceful since a cease-fire agreement in 2014.
One protester was killed and another injured on Jan. 20 in clashes with riot police in the city of Saba in northern Honduras. Protesters had gathered over a disputed presidential election in November that was won by the incumbent president, Juan Orlando Hernandez.
The US Department of State is urging travelers to postpone or cancel unnecessary travel to mainland Honduras due to the ongoing political protests, and the potential for violence, surrounding the election dispute.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an outbreak of yellow fever in southeastern Brazil in January. From July 1, 2017, through Jan. 14, 2018, there were 35 confirmed cases, resulting in 20 deaths, with an additional 145 suspected cases. The worst-hit area was São Paulo, which had 20 confirmed cases and 11 deaths.
With winds of up to 119 miles per hour, Tropical Cyclone Ava made landfall in eastern Madagascar on Jan. 5, causing flooding and landslides that killed at least 29 people and displaced more than 13,000. No major cities experienced damage from the cyclone.
The river Seine overflowed its banks in late January, peaking at 19.2 feet above normal on Jan. 29, causing minor flooding in Paris. The flooding forced the evacuation of about 400 people and caused some Métro stations as well as the lower levels of the Louvre to be closed.
In Kiribati, the ferry MV Butiraoi, carrying 88 passengers, disappeared after leaving Nonouti island on Jan. 18 on its way to Betio island, normally a 2-day trip. On Jan. 28, eight people in a dinghy from the ship were spotted by a New Zealand search plane and rescued by a fishing ship.
In South Africa on Jan. 3, a train carrying about 900 passengers struck a truck stopped on the tracks near Johannesburg, causing the front carriages to catch on fire and killing at least 19 people, with at least 268 others injured. The driver of the truck was arrested.
On Jan. 9, also near Johannesburg, a passenger train struck the back end of another train, injuring more than 800 people. That incident was still being investigated as of press time.
Sailing on the Rhine River, the Swiss river-cruise boat Swiss Crystal, one of several dozen hotel ships in Europe operated by Scylla AG, struck a vehicle bridge on the A24 motorway in Duisburg, Germany, on Dec. 26, causing minor injuries to 25 passengers. The boat was carrying 26 crew members and 103 passengers, who were from the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Another Scylla river boat was provided for passengers who wished to continue to their final destination in the Netherlands.