In Afghanistan on Sept. 17, 26 people at an election rally in the town of Charikar were killed by a suicide bomber from the Islamist militant group the Taliban, and 22 more were killed in a main square in Kabul by another suicide bomber. More than 90 people were injured in the two attacks. Afghanistan’s president had been scheduled to speak at the election rally.
Dear Globetrotter:
In his letter titled “Protecting a Bank Account from Theft” (July ’19, pg. 38), Stanley Mui wrote about precautions he uses when traveling with both debit and credit cards. We use a Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card as well as a Bank of America debit card. Bank of America has a couple of excellent security protections for their cards.
I was in India with a group on a surgical mission in May 2019. We would catch a flight from New Delhi’s airport at 3 a.m., meanwhile we were dropped off at Connaught Place to shop and then to eat dinner at the Punjab Grill (www.punjabgrill.in), located across the street from lots of tourist shops and a big open area with stands and shops.
I travel alone, so I always carry two ATM cards when traveling, a Charles Schwab Visa debit card and a Fidelity Cash Management Visa debit card, in case one is pickpocketed. I always notify Schwab and Fidelity about my travel plans so the cards won’t be blocked when I try to use them overseas.
I will carry an ATM card only on the day that I need to use it. Otherwise, I just take enough cash for the day.
In central Strasbourg, France, on Dec. 11, a man attacked pedestrians with a gun and knife, including some in a Christmas market, killing three people and wounding 10 others. Three of those 10 died from their wounds within the next week.
The gunman was wounded at the scene in a shootout with security forces but escaped. He was found after a 2-day manhunt and was killed in a second shootout with police. The man was identified as a native-born French citizen with a long criminal history. Authorities had placed him on a watch list as a "possible Islamist terrorist threat" in 2015.
In late August, at least 16 men armed with rifles entered the Tawali Resort, at Milne Bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea, taking about 20 guests hostage and robbing them of all their money and luxury items. The guests were from North America, Europe and Asia. No one was injured during the robbery.
According to a statement from an anonymous former employee, it was the third time the resort had been robbed in this fashion in the last few years.
Some of Sweden's crown jewels — two crowns and an orb — were stolen from Sträng näs Cathedral, outside of Stockholm, on July 31. The items were on display in an alarmed glass case in the cathedral, which is open to the public.
The crowns, dating to 1611, were part of the burial regalia of 17th-century king Charles IX and his wife, Kristina, and had been put on display in the cathedral when the bodies were moved in the 19th century.
Two families carried out suicide bombings in Indonesia in May.
On May 13, a family of six committed bombings in the city of Surabaya in the state of East Java. A mother and her two daughters, aged 9 and 12, attacked one church, while the father and their two sons attacked two other churches. At least 18 people were killed, including the bombers, and more than 40 were injured.
I don’t give much thought to petty crime when I travel abroad. I’m well aware that it happens; I’ve been preaching about the importance of wearing a money belt for decades. And for decades — probably about a total of 4,000 days of travel — I’ve never been hit by a thief. Well, my happy streak finally ended. I was pickpocketed in Paris last summer.