News Watch

September 2009 issue | Appears on page 18

Honduras discontent

The Department of State recommends deferring nonessential travel to Honduras at this time.

On June 28, the Honduran military ousted President Manuel Zelaya and sent him out of the country. There are military or police checkpoints throughout Tegucigalpa, and demonstrations both against and in favor of the new regime are expected to continue. Demonstrators have blocked roads. (Do not try to pass roadblocks.) Daily curfews with varying hours have been announced.

September 2009 issue | Appears on page 18

Plane crash in Iran

All 168 people aboard a Caspian Airlines plane were killed when it crashed in Qazvin, Iran, 16 minutes after taking off from Tehran on July 15. Heading to Yerevan, Armenia, the Russian-built Tupolev aircraft caught fire and went down about 150 kilometers north of Tehran.

September 2009 issue | Appears on page 18

Quake in southern China

A 6.0 earthquake destroyed thousands of homes, killed one person and injured more than 300 on July 10 in Yunnan province in south-central China. The province borders Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam and is next to Sichuan, where a 7.9 quake left almost 90,000 people dead in May 2008.

September 2009 issue | Appears on page 18

Mexico fighting dengue

Mexico is conducting a mosquito-eradication program to combat dengue fever. The rate of infection has increased 15% over the 2008 level, with almost 20 times the number of cases in 2000. For the first time, dengue has been detected in 21 of Mexico’s 31 states. The disease has spread all over Latin America, in fact, with Brazil and Argentina also reporting record numbers of cases this year.

Travelers are advised to use mosquito repellant, wear long pants and sleeves, use nets, stay...

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September 2009 issue | Appears on page 18

Plague in North Africa

WHO has confirmed several cases of bubonic plague in Tobruk, Libya, with one death. Although not uncommon in parts of Asia and Southern and Eastern Africa, this is the first outbreak in two decades in Northern Africa. Health officials are on alert in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

The disease does not pass from human to human but is carried by fleas. Using flea repellants, avoiding flea-infected hosts and using good sanitation are recommended for prevention.

September 2009 issue | Appears on page 18

Current warnings for September 2009

As ITN went to press, the State Department had travel warnings on 28 destinations: Kenya, Afghanistan, Burundi, Nigeria, Haiti, Iran, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Mali, Chad, Nepal, Lebanon, Georgia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Colombia, Algeria, Eritrea, Syria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Philippines, Israel/West Bank/Gaza, Côte d’Ivoire and Somalia.

For details, call the State Department at 202/647-5225 or visit http://travel.state.gov/...

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August 2009 issue | Appears on page 20

Air France jet crash

On June 1, Air France flight AF-447 heading from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed in the Atlantic killing all 228 people on board. Some bodies and wreckage of the A330-200 were recovered, but, as of press time, the “black boxes” had not been found nor the cause of the crash determined.

August 2009 issue | Appears on page 20

Yemenia Airbus crash

Yemenia Airways flight 1Y626 crashed in the Indian Ocean near Comoros on June 30 killing 153 passengers and a crew of 11. A young teenage girl survived. The 19-year-old Airbus A310 was attempting to land at Moroni, Comoros. Passengers in France had transferred onto the plane in Sanaa, Yemen. The cause of the crash is not yet known.