In focus

• Recent or ongoing harvests are generally contributing to greater food security in most parts of East Africa, West Africa, Central America and Asia while food insecurity levels are reaching their annual peak in Southern Africa.

Both Guatemala and Myanmar were affected by earthquakes during the reporting period. On 7 November, an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude struck the pacific coast of Guatemala, affecting more than 600,000 people followed by a second quake of 6.2 magnitude on 11 November. There were no immediate reports of major infrastructural damage caused by the second earthquake. The 6.8 magnitude earthquake which struck in Myanmar on 10 November, meanwhile, damaged infrastructure but the full extent of the impact remains unclear.

Despite a four-day truce which was supposed to come into effect on Friday 26 October, fighting has continued to escalate in Damascus province, Aleppo, Idlib, Daara and Deir Ezzor in Syria manifested by a new wave of airstrikes by the Syrian forces and attacks by the rebels on strategic army checkpoints and air bases.

De acuerdo a fuentes no oficiales, más de 80 personas han muerto como consecuencia del paso del huracán Sandy en la Costa Este de los Estados Unidos. Los mayores daños del huracán se han concentrado en Nueva York, Long Island y el sur de Nueva Jersey, aunque también ha causado inundaciones y cortes de luz en Connecticut, Massachussets, Rhode Island, Pensilvania, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Carolina del Norte y en la ciudad de Washington.

Nearly 40 people died after Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast of the United States. The most affected areas are New York City, Long Island and the south of New Jersey, although the storm also caused floods and power outages in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Washington, D.C.

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Jim Stipe

Baltimore, October 26, 2012, 2:00 pm — Catholic Relief Services continues to closely monitor the impact of Hurricane Sandy in Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica. Here is the latest from the field.

By Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, Aug 30 2012 (IPS) - The impact of Hurricane Isaac as it made its way through the Caribbean region highlighted both the fragility of some countries in the face of extreme meteorological events, which are expected to become more and more intense, and the different strategies adopted to mitigate the risk of disasters.

08/25/2012 23:13 GMT

by Clarens Renois

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 25, 2012 (AFP) - Tropical Storm Isaac battered Haiti on Saturday, leaving at least two people dead, and hit Cuba as Florida braced for a possible hurricane that forced a one-day delay to the Republican convention.

With winds of up to 95 kilometers (60 miles) per hour, the storm was expected to sweep across Cuba at night and become a hurricane on Sunday as it nears Florida, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

24 August 2012 – As tropical storm Isaac nears landfall in the Caribbean, regional emergency teams are ready to be deployed in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba in the event of any contingencies, the United Nations food relief agency said today.

According to media reports, the storm may become a hurricane by the time it reaches Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the afternoon, affecting as many as 500,000 people. The hurricane would then continue its path towards Cuba and the southern United States over the weekend.