On January 30, as widely expected, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the China novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak as a global emergency as the virus quickly spared throughout China and beyond. Authorities are reasonably sure that the coronavirus originated in the city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and has since spread to multiple countries via person-to-person contact. As of January 30, 2020, there have been over 9800 cases in China, 213 of which resulted in death, and more than 100 cases were reported in 24 other countries around the globe.
Read More Read LessThe massive industrial explosion at the port of Beirut, which resulted in the deaths of over 150 people (and counting) injured some 5000 others and destroyed the port and surrounding neighborhoods, is likely to result in a new wave of demonstrations in the coming weeks aimed at the already unpopular government and likely the Hizbollah organization.
Read More Read LessThreatRate’s Kidnap for Ransom Annual Report offers global and regional kidnapping analytics and trend insights. Data is derived form various credible open sources and is focused only on insurable kidnap for ransom activity and outcomes that would be of interest to our corporate clients, governmental agencies NGOs and our academic collaborators. The report reviews global K&R analytics first, before taking a deeper dive into the three key regions were most kidnapping incidents took place in 2018. Only events that would meet the criteria of insurance providers are recorded. As such, the report does not cover global kidnappings of illegal immigrants by human traffickers or gang wars (“bad on bad”) kidnappings.
Read More Read Less