The US State Department has issued a concerning warning to travelers.
As summer quickly approaches, many Americans will be packing their bags in anticipation for their first vacations of the year.
Some favorite spots for US citizens to visit include the UK, Canada, France, and Italy; and there’s another popular destination that people are being warned about going to. In 2023, nearly 37 million Americans visited the country in question — that being Mexico.
While people are not being told to cancel their trips to America’s neighboring country, the State Department is urging people to stay off dating apps while there.
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Nuevo Nayarit, and Nayarit are Mexican locations that have been specifically named in the warning.
Americans are being warned about kidnapping risks in Mexico (Getty Stock Image)
Issued on June 2, the security alert read: “U.S. Consulate General Guadalajara has confirmed several reports of U.S. citizens being kidnapped by individuals the victims met on dating apps in recent months in the Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Nayarit areas. Victims and their family members in the United States have at times been extorted for large sums of money to secure their release.
“Please be aware that this type of violence is not limited to one geographic area. Travelers should use caution when meeting strangers; meet only in public places and avoid isolated locations, such as residences or hotel rooms, where crimes are most likely to occur.”
The warning went on: “The U.S. Consulate General reminds U.S. citizens that in the State Department’s travel advisory for Mexico, Jalisco is classified as ‘Level 3: Reconsider Travel’ due to crime and kidnapping, and Nayarit is classified as ‘Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution’ due to crime.”
Reportedly kidnappers are using dating apps to target their victims (Getty Stock Image)
In regards to actions for people to take, the agency has urged people to be wary while using dating apps in Mexico, to only meet potential suitors in public places, and to tell a friend or family member the details of your plans such as location and time of meeting.
The US Embassy continued to say that people should call 911 if ‘faced with immediate security threats’.
“U.S. citizens in need of emergency consular services should contact their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate,” it added.
The cautioning comes after the Trump administration brought in a new ban that will prohibit people from 12 countries coming into the US.
The 12 nations included in the newly-created order are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Mario Tama
Niamh Shackleton
US issues urgent ‘do not travel warning’ for tourist destination as it explains extreme risks of people visiting
The US government has detailed seven major risks for US citizens who travel there
The US government has warned citizens ‘against travel’ to a major tourist destination ‘for any reason’.
The US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela released an urgent warning on its website on May 27.
The release urges US citizens not to travel to the country ‘for any reason’ and to also ‘avoid Venezuelan borders with Colombia, Brazil and Guyana’.
The State Department has warned against travel to Venezuela for years – the country’s Travel Advisory level at the highest level of four – with March 2019 seeing the temporary suspension of operations of the US Embassy in Caracas and withdrawal of diplomatic personnel.
However, with more US nationals having been wrongfully detained in the country, the department has ramped up its alert.
Diplomatic personnel left the US embassy in Caracas in 2019 (Lokman Ilhan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
The ‘severe risks’ facing US citizens in Venezuela
In a release shared earlier this week, the US government detailed the ‘severe risks’ which citizens face should they travel to the country.
The risks include:
- Wrongful detention
- Torture in detention
- Terrorism
- Kidnapping
- Arbitrary enforcement of local laws
- Crime
- Civil unrest
- Poor health infrastructure
The alert alleges ‘more US nationals are currently wrongfully detained in Venezuela than in any other country’.
“Other foreign nationals in Venezuela are also frequently unjustly detained,” it adds.
It states US citizens ‘may be unjustly charged with terrorism or other serious crimes and detained for long periods’ drawing on examples which have seen citizens ‘detained upon arrival at land borders, airports, and maritime ports of entry.’
It adds: “Venezuelan authorities do not inform the US government of the detention of US citizens and the US government is not able to visit those citizens. Venezuelan authorities do not allow detained US citizens to contact family members or private attorneys.”
But what about any US citizens currently in Venezuela?
US citizens have been urged not to travel to Venezuela (Getty Stock Images)
Details for US citizens currently in Venezuela
The government explains there ‘is no US embassy or consulate operating in Venezuela’ and it ‘cannot provide routine or emergency consular services to US citizens in Venezuela’.
It ultimately advises: “There is no safe way for Americans to travel to Venezuela.
“[…] The US Department of State recommends that all US citizens in Venezuela leave immediately.”
It also notes citizens shouldn’t go near any of the Venezuelan borders with ‘Colombia, Brazil, and Guyana’ either – which ‘are not clearly marked in many locations’.
“Do not go near the border due to the risk of crossing into Venezuela accidentally and being detained,” it adds.
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Joe Raedle
Topics: US News, World News
Poppy Bilderbeck
All the places the US has issued ‘do not travel warning’ for as tourist destination is added
The State Department have listed a few risks that US citizens could face
These are all the places the US government has issued a ‘do not travel’ warning for, following the addition of a major tourist destination to the list.
On May 27, the US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, urged US citizens to avoid travelling to the country and the surrounding borders between Venezuela and ‘Colombia, Brazil and Guyana’ for ‘any reason’.
It’s something that the State Department has warned about for many years amidst political unrest and high levels of crime, and a list of risks to US travellers was given by the government, which included wrongful detention and kidnapping.
However, Venezuela isn’t the only country that the US government believes could potentially harm vacationers, as the State Department’s Travel Advisory List regularly updates the risks certain countries pose to American travellers.
And there are a few more countries that US citizens have been told ‘not to travel’ to.
What countries fall under the US ‘do not travel’ list?
The US State Department recently updated its advice about travelling to Venezuela (Getty Stock Photo)
According to the State Department, countries are assigned a level from one to four, with one indicating ‘exercise normal precautions’ and four denoting a ‘do not travel’ warning.
Their website goes on to say that each level is reviewed within a certain timeframe, as levels one to two are revisited in 12 months, whereas three to four are revised ‘at least every six months’.
First of all, the US government has advised against all forms of travel to both Ukraine and Russia amid the ongoing war between the two nations.
The countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Libya, and Burkina have also been issued with a ‘do no travel’ warning by the US government.
The State also warns about visiting Yemen due to ‘terrorism, civil unrest, crime, health risks, kidnapping, armed conflict, and landmines’.
The US government also advises against travel to North Korea, as they add: “Do not travel to North Korea due to the continuing serious risk of arrest, long-term detention, and the threat of wrongful detention of US nationals. Do not travel to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for any reason.”
The state has warned against visiting North Korea (Getty Stock Photo)
The Trump Administration has also issued a ‘do not travel’ alert to Democratic Republic of the Congo due to ‘armed conflict, crime, civil unrest, kidnapping, and terrorism’.
Meanwhile, the ongoing risk of ‘terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, hostage taking, armed conflict, and unjust detention’ means the US has issued a ‘do not travel’ warning on Syria.
The full list of countries the US has issued a ‘do not travel’ warning are:
- Somalia
- Venezuela
- Burma (Myanmar)
- Russia
- North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)
- Burkina Faso
- Yemen
- Iran
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Syria
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Afghanistan
- Lebanon
- Central African Republic
- Belarus
- Iraq
- Ukraine
- Haiti
- Libya
- Mali
Featured Image Credit: KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images
Callum Jones
Experts issue urgent warning as common practice causes deadly liver injuries to rise in the US
Plenty of people think they’re being healthy when they do this
Experts have issued a warning about a common practice many will partake in every day that has been linked to deadly liver injuries in the US.
To put it simply, the liver plays a crucial role in the function of the human body and is responsible for assisting more than 500 activities, including filtering harmful substances from the blood.
Some livers metabolize toxins more slowly than others, meaning some drugs can overwhelm and cause harm to even the healthiest of livers out there.
But what about supplements? They’re something lots of us take everyday, thinking it’s good for our health and overall wellbeing.
Well, experts may say otherwise.
Liver damage can happen to the healthiest of people (Getty Stock Photo)
Medics are warning that herbal and dietary supplements could be causing liver damage, with a 2017 study finding 20 percent of liver toxicity cases nationwide are linked to herbal and dietary supplements.
Meanwhile, according to a 2022 study in the journal Liver Transplantation, from 1995 to 2020, supplement-related liver failure which put patients on the donor waiting list increased by eight times.
Robert Grafton was a regular taker of such supplements, but things changed when he reported dark urine and itching one weekend and recognised the symptoms of liver failure.
Grafton told NBC: “I stopped taking everything, thank goodness. If I hadn’t known, if I was not in the medical field, I might have thought, ‘Oh, I think I’m getting sick. I need to take some more of these supplements to help me feel better.’
“My liver enzymes were super elevated, my bilirubin was really high — all the signs of liver failure. I pretty much broke down, my wife as well. I was, at that point, thinking it was liver cancer, pancreatic cancer or something.”
After many sleepless nights, Grafton was told by doctors he had a ‘drug-induced liver injury’, which had been brought on by the supplements.
Dr. Dina Halegoua-De Marzio, who treated Grafton during his time of need, has since issued a warning about these supplements.
Experts have issued a waring about supplements (Getty Stock Photo)
“I think people assume these things are safe,” the health expert said. “The No. 1 reason we see people taking these are for good health or to supplement their health, and so I don’t think that they realize that there is a real risk here.”
It’s important to note the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not monitor supplement safety before they are put on store shelves, so it’s important you know the risks.
In a statement provided to NBC News, the FDA warned: “Dietary supplements may contain ingredients that can have strong effects in the body, even if the ingredients are natural or plant-derived.
“Adverse events are more likely to occur if consumers take supplements in high doses, take multiple supplements or take supplements instead of or in addition to medications.”
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/herstockart
Callum Jones
Experts issue urgent warning about these US cities which are ‘sinking’ putting 34,000,000 people at risk
Many cities in the United States are said to be at risk
Scientists have issued a chilling warning about some US cities which are said to be ‘sinking’ as a result of global warming.
Climate change is a divisive topic, one that seems to create disagreements even at the top of government.
So, if the head honchos of the US are struggling to agree on the matter, then it doesn’t provide many answers surrounding climate change to the general public.
Experts in the field however are always a good source to listen to, with scientists now warning 34 million people in the US could be at risk.
A new study published in Nature Cities discussed this worrying trend, with the hope officials may take climate change more seriously.
“While often considered solely a coastal hazard due to the relative sea-level rise, subsidence also threatens inland urban areas, causing increased flood risks, structural damage and transportation disruptions,” the study states.
“We estimate that at least 20 percent of the urban area is sinking in all cities, mainly due to groundwater extraction, affecting ~34 million people. Additionally, more than 29,000 buildings are located in high and very high damage risk areas.”
Experts have issued a warning about New York (Getty Stock Photo)
It’s believed that cities such as New York, Dallas, and Seattle are all slowly falling into the Earth, as estimates illustrate that around 20 percent of urban land across the US is currently affected by alarming levels of subsidence.
After using satellite data to create high-resolution maps of land movement between the years of 2015 and 2021, experts came to some intriguing findings.
Houston showed the highest levels of ‘sinking’, while the likes of Las Vegas, New York and Washington DC all have high numbers.
Study author Leonard Ohenhen told Newsweek: “In drought-prone regions, reduced surface water availability may increase dependence on groundwater, accelerating aquifer depletion and land compaction.
Houston has showed the highest levels of ‘sinking’ (Getty Stock Photo)
“Additionally, in coastal cities, the combination of subsidence and rising seas leads to increased relative sea-level rise—meaning the land is sinking while the water is rising, compounding the hazard.
“This shortens the timeline for when cities reach critical thresholds for chronic flooding.”
The expert added: “When fluid is removed from the ground, particularly those composed of clay-rich or compressible sediments, the pore spaces collapse, leading to land compaction and surface subsidence.
“Houston, in particular, has experienced decades of aquifer drawdown. Subsidence is a silent but powerful force reshaping our cities.
“It’s a slow, often invisible process that undermines infrastructure, increases flood risk, and quietly erodes urban resilience.”
