38 TOURISTS KIDNAPPED IN COLOMBIA

- -- Colombia: Two large groups of tourists have been kidnapped recently near
Utria National Park, known for its dramatic coastline and touted as an
ecotourism destination. Twenty-six tourists on a fishing trip were abducted
a few days after a group of 12, mostly teenagers, was taken hostage at La
Fortuna, 60 miles north of the park. In an attempt to reduce incursions of
guerrillas and drug traffickers, Ecuador is closing the Rumichaca border
crossing between Tulcan, Ecuador, and Ipiales, Colombia, at night beginning
today.

- -- Indonesia: Smog season has returned to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra,

and haze from illegal fires set by large timber companies to clear logged
land and by farmers has spread to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Rains
during the weekend helped douse some of the fires and clear the air in
Pontianac and Polankaraya, the cities in Borneo most affected, but the
rainy season doesn't start for two more months, and more fires are likely.
Flights to Pekanbaru, Sumatra, were delayed by the smog. Air quality
throughout the region could worsen during the next two months.

- -- Nepal: Maoists have called for a bandh, a general strike, Sept. 16. Such
strikes usually shut down all transportation, including taxis and private
vehicles, and are often enforced violently. If the locals are observing the
strike, it is wise to do so as well. Nepal has been hit by an especially
severe monsoon season, with about 500 deaths and many landslides. A plane
carrying 15 tourists from Jomsom to Pokhara crashed in bad weather Aug. 22,
but the cause has not been confirmed. The monsoon season usually ends in
September.

- -- Pakistan: The U.S. Consulate in Karachi, closed Aug. 5 because of
security concerns, is operating again but only by phone from a secret location.

The phone numbers for the old consulate offices remain in service.