News Watch

Clashes between Somali and Oromo people in the central-Ethiopian state of Oromia killed at least 61 people and injured more than 100. The violence began after a prominent member of the Oromo community was killed on Dec. 14 and a military group made up of ethnically Somali Ethiopians was accused, leading to reprisal killings. Both Oromos and Somalis were killed in subsequent attacks.

The US Department of State warns of the risks of traveling in Ethiopia. Reports of unrest continue,...

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At least 41 people were killed and more than 80 wounded when a suicide bombing occurred at a Shia cultural center in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Dec. 28. At least two other explosions occurred after the bombing, but authorities said that they caused no fatalities.

The Islamist militant group Daesh (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack. Daesh, a radical Sunni group, has been targeting Shia sites in Afghanistan since first forming a a branch in the country in January 2015.

In the state of Borno, northeastern Nigeria, two suicide bombers struck a market in the town of Biu on Dec. 2, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 50. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has regularly used suicide bombers to target civilian locations since it began an insurgency in the region in 2011, is suspected.

An improvised explosive device was detonated in a bank of lockers in a supermarket in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Dec. 27, injuring at least 10 people. The lockers are set up for customers to deposit their backpacks and other bags during shopping. As of press time, no group had claimed responsibility for the bomb, but Russian authorities have called it an act of terrorism.

As of press time, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank were continuing to engage in protests following President Trump’s announcement, on Dec. 6, that the US would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. At least 10 Palestinians had been killed and more than 100 had been injured in clashes with Israeli military and police.

In addition, Hamas militants in Gaza fired rockets into Israel, and Israel responded with artillery fire. No casualties or damage had been reported in...

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The US Department of State recommends avoiding travel to Venezuela because of concerns regarding violent crime, social unrest and pervasive shortages of food and medicine.

Protests may occur with minimal public notice, and from April through August 2017 they occurred daily and often turned violent. Security forces typically deployed a range of strong countermeasures, including using tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons as well as rubber bullets, birdshot, buckshot and other live...

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The number of cases of cholera in Yemen reached more than one million in December 2017, with at least 2,200 people dying of the disease since the first case was reported in April 2017.

Easily treated with antibiotics, cholera is a bacterial disease that causes watery vomiting and diarrhea and can cause fatal dehydration. It is contracted from drinking contaminated water.

Yemen is currently embroiled in a civil war and is under a blockade enacted by a coalition of Arabian...

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An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale occurred on the island of Java, Indonesia, on Dec. 15, leaving at least four people dead and 11 others seriously injured. Major damage to buildings was reported across the island. The earthquake was felt in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, about 131 miles north of the epicenter in south-central Java.

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