BRAZIL
Crime targeting travelers has increased at and around Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport. In recent months a traveler was robbed at gunpoint inside the terminal in front of a check-in counter; another was assaulted in a bathroom; others were victims of carjackings on the roads near the airport. Part of the problem may be that a police unit that patrols the airport was reduced by 50 percent.
NEPAL
The cautious optimism for a political settlement to the Maoist insurgency may be waning. The unilateral ceasefire declared by the Maoists is set to expire Jan. 2, and fighting flared Dec. 26 when the rebels attacked an army patrol in Rolpa in western Nepal. The Maoists have also called for a seven-day general strike known here as a “bandh” to begin Feb. 5.
RUSSIA
Foreign students in St. Petersburg are increasingly the victims of racist attacks, with assaults now occurring at triple the rate of last year. A Cameroonian man was killed and a Ken-yan wounded in separate attacks around the same time Dec. 24. The victim was the second African student killed in St. Petersburg in two months. Similar incidents also occur sporadically in Moscow.
YEMEN
Two Austrian tourists were kidnapped by a local tribe Dec. 22 and released unharmed two days later in Marib province, one of two regions that the U.S. Embassy recommends travelers avoid. The Embassy’s warning was released two days before the kidnapping and cited information on current tensions in Marib and Saada. Travel for Embassy personnel to these areas is restricted until the end of the Eid el Adha holiday in mid-January.
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For the latest on world conditions, check the State Department’s automated service at 888-407-4747; fax 202-647-3000; travel.state.gov.
