News Watch

In the northern town of Hombori, Mali, two Frenchmen working for a cement firm were abducted on Nov. 23, 2011. On Nov. 25, three more Westerners were kidnapped and a fourth tourist, a German, was killed on a street in Timbuktu.

The Department of State warns that, while most of the recent incidents of terror in the Philippines have occurred in the Sulu Archipelago, including on Mindanao — with bombings resulting in injuries and death — attacks could occur in any area of the country.

Three office buildings in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, collapsed on the evening of Jan. 25, killing at least 17 and leaving 22 missing in the rubble. A 20-story building went down first, pulling two nearby buildings down with it. They were located just behind the Municipal Theater downtown.