Foreign travel: State Department warnings on Ukraine, Kenya and more
Los Angeles Times - 5 hours ago
The U.S. State Department has issued several travel warnings in the
last month, some a surprise, some less so. It also issued a Worldwide
Caution on April 10, telling Americans to stay constantly alert
because of terrorist threats. To read the full text, go to
http://www.lat.ms/1mSrbaF. Warnings issued on specific countries
include:
Ukraine: The State Department issued a warning for Ukraine on March 21
but updated it April 16. It asks U.S. citizens to "defer all
nonessential travel to" Ukraine, which gained its independence in 1991
from the then-Soviet Union. The State Department says that U.S.
travelers should also avoid the "Crimean Peninsula and eastern regions
of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Lugansk due to the presence of Russian
military forces." To read the full warning: http://www.lat.ms/1rxYgZH.
El Salvador: On April 25, the State Department updated its warning on
El Salvador, the smallest of seven Central American countries, because
of "crime and violence levels [that] remain critically high." U.S.
citizens are not necessarily targeted, the warning notes, but from
mid-February to mid-April, 10 people a day have been killed, "the
highest homicide rate since 2011.... Since January 2010, 31 U.S.
citizens have been murdered in El Salvador, including a 9-year-old
child in December 2013. During the same time period, 335 U.S. citizens
reported having their passports stolen, while many others were victims
of violent crimes." The warning includes information on the big
problems with gang violence within the small country. To read the full
warning: http://www.lat.ms/1hIMhYj.
Kenya: A tourist favorite partly because of its wildlife preserves,
Kenya says U.S. citizens "should evaluate their personal security
situation in light of continuing and recently heightened threats from
terrorism and the high rate of violent crime in some areas." The April
4 warning is a follow-up to a Sept. 27 warning and notes that the
"U.S. government continues to receive information about potential
terrorist threats aimed at U.S., Western and Kenyan interests in
Kenya, including in the Nairobi area and in the coastal cities of
Mombasa and Diani." To read the full warning:
http://www.lat.ms/1h7A8Iw.
Colombia: Although noting that the situation has improved in this
South American country, the State Department issued an April 14
warning that notes that "violence linked to narco-trafficking
continues to affect some rural areas and parts of large cities."
Americans have not been targeted, it notes, but the warning urges
travelers to stay alert for "terrorist and criminal activities"
throughout the country," adding that kidnapping continues to be a
problem in rural areas. To read the full warning:
http://www.lat.ms/S2OMLZ.
Democratic Republic of Congo: In an April 23 warning, the State
Department says that U.S. citizens need to be aware of the "risks of
traveling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa)"
and outlines places that travelers should be aware of. The warning
comes on the heels of the April 15 ambush of Emmanuel de Mérode,
director of the eastern Congo's Virunga National Park since 2008. The
park, a
UNESCO World Heritage site, is home to a population of increasingly
rare mountain gorillas and also supplies of oil and other minerals.
"Armed groups, bandits and elements of the Congolese military remain
security concerns" in the eastern part of the country. The warning
also details health risks. To read the full warning, which does not
mention the De Mérode ambush, go to
http://www.lat.ms/1tW41V7.
Measles alert
The Centers for Disease Control reminds travelers that measles has not
been eradicated and has cropped up in the Philippines, where 20,000
cases were reported from Jan. 1-March 20. By mid-April, 17 U.S.
travelers have returned home from the island nation with the disease,
which the Measles and Rubella Initiative calls "one of the most
contagious diseases ever known and is an important cause of death and
disability among young children worldwide," adding that the disease
still kills 330 people a day. The World Health Organization says that
since the beginning of the year, 3,500 cases of measles have cropped
up in Vietnam. To learn more:
http://www.measlesrubellainitiative.org; the CDC at
http://www.lat.ms/1kmsPAA; and WHO at
http://www.lat.ms/1fmpwuu.
Snake surprise
You generally think of pythons (if you think of them at all) in the
tropics and subtropics, but in Austria? Not so much. But last week the
police were summoned to help a motorist who had found a 10-foot-long
specimen near a highway about 60 miles west of Vienna. The snake
wasn't running wild, though; it was in a sack. Police are seeking its
owner.
Sources: U.S. State Department, Centers for Disease Control, Measles
and Rubella Initiative, World Health Organization, Associated Press.
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-foreign-1-20140504,0,2267007.story
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