The Department of State warns of the risks of travel to Niger. Terrorist organizations in the region continue to threaten reprisal attacks against, and kidnappings of, Westerners and countries that assisted with military operations in Mali, including Niger. Travel to most of Niger’s border areas is not advised. 

The government of Niger maintains security checkpoints in the city of Niamey. Do not drive away from or through a checkpoint until you are given clear permission to do so. ...

As of March 28, the number of confirmed cases of polio in Syria had reached 38, with scores more children having symptoms. One case was confirmed in Iraq. 

Syria had been declared polio-free in 1999, but the crippling disease reappeared in October 2013 in the Deir al-Zor (Deir Ezzor) province, where much of the infrastructure has been destroyed by the ongoing civil war. 

Despite the deaths of two doctors and injury to a third, medics in Syria are going door to door to try to...

Towns along the Pacific coast in Chile and Peru were evacuated on April 2 after an 8.2-magnitude earthquake occured off the coast of the Iquique province in northern Chile, causing waves more than six feet high. At press time, the number injured was not known. A quake measuring 7.6 followed on April 3, with no reports of damage.

Chile’s Secretary of Tourism reported that 90% of Chile’s tourist sites were completely unaffected and operating normally, while landslides closed roads in...