News Watch

Typhoon Goni made landfall with the strength of a super typhoon at Catanduanes island, northeast Philippines, on Nov. 1, killing at least 16 people and damaging upwards of 90% of the city of Virac, home to more than 70,000 people. As the storm approached, more than 370,000 people evacuated the region.

The northern regions of the Philippines are more sparsely populated than the south. The capital, Manila, was unaffected by the storm.

The US Department of State posts up-to-date travel advisories on every country and many territories, ranking each 1 (Exercise Normal Precautions), 2 (Exercise Increased Caution), 3 (Reconsider Travel) or 4 (Do Not Travel). Note: A country’s regions are also ranked and may have different rankings than the country as a whole. Visit travel.state.gov and click on “Travel Advisories” at the top of the page.

At press time, COVID-19 infections had been confirmed in 189 countries and territories to date, with more than 44 million cases and, resulting from those, more than 1.17 million deaths.

On Oct. 29, the Marshall Islands reported the first cases of COVID detected in that country. The infections were not the result of community transmission; they were detected in two workers at a US military base who were in quarantine after arriving from Hawaii.

With daily cases having reached...

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A magnitude-7 earthquake occurred in the Aegean Sea, between the west coast of Turkey and the Greek island of Samos, on Oct. 30, killing more than 80 people and injuring at least 900. The quake caused minor tsunamis that flooded coastlines of both countries but caused no deaths or major damage.

Most of the dead were reported in the Turkish city of İzmir, which, at more than 3 million people, is Turkey’s third-largest city. Multiple apartment buildings there collapsed in the...

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Thousands of protesters in Bangkok have demanded reforms to the government and monarchy in demonstrations ongoing since September — a rare event, since criticism of any member of the royal family is a crime in that country.

Protesters began demanding that the prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, step down from his position. Prayuth was one of the leaders of a military coup that took control of the government in 2014, and he was named to his position after controversial elections...

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Civilians protesting police brutality in Lagos, Nigeria, were fired upon by soldiers on Oct. 21. The Nigerian government denied anyone had died, but it was later revealed that at least 12 protesters were killed.

Protests have been ongoing in Lagos and the capital, Abuja, since Oct. 10, at first against a secretive and violent police unit known as SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad). Nigeria’s president disbanded SARS on Oct. 11, but protests continued. Since protests began, at...

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Three people were killed in Nice, France, on Oct. 29 when a man armed with a knife attacked people in a church. The attacker was shot by police and detained. Authorities described the attack as an act of Islamist terrorism.

In a second incident on the same day, in the town of Montfavet, a man threatening police with a handgun was shot and killed. The man’s motive was not known at press time.

The French government moved its terrorism-alert level to the highest position...

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The US Department of State posts up-to-date travel advisories on every country and many territories, ranking each 1 (Exercise Normal Precautions), 2 (Exercise Increased Caution), 3 (Reconsider Travel) or 4 (Do Not Travel). Note: A country’s regions are also ranked and may have different rankings than the country as a whole. Visit travel.state.gov and click on “Travel Advisories” at the top of the page.

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