The intersection of Century and Aviation boulevards near Los Angeles International Airport will be closed from 2100 July 25 to 0600 July 28 to accommodate a construction project. Southbound Aviation Boulevard between Arbor Vitae and 104th streets will also be closed during this period. Expect traffic disruptions near LAX. Travelers will probably experience delays when arriving for check-in or departing the airport. Traffic delays near LAX will probably be worst during the airport’s peak arrival and departure periods, which typically occur from 0600-0900, 1100-1400, and 1900-2300.

Thousands are expected to participate in anti-government protests ahead of and during President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address in Manila on July 28. The National Capital Region Police Office is deploying approximately 10,000 officers to maintain order during the event. Police will likely announce street closures and traffic diversions, particularly along Commonwealth Avenue and Batasan Road, which leads to the Batasan Pambansa complex, on July 28. Protests could also occur in other urban centers, such as Angeles City, Bacolod, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Metro Cebu, Cotabato City, Davao, General Santos City, Iloilo, and Legazpi City. Serious unrest is unlikely, but small-scale skirmishes are possible. if demonstrators disobey police orders and try to rally in prohibited areas.

The FAA has lifted the ban on US carriers flying to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport. However, it warns that the situation with the conflict in Gaza remains very fluid. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is still recommending that airlines avoid flights to Israel, and numerous carriers are still not flying to the country.

An Air Algerie flight with 116 people on board has dropped off radar, prompting a search for the missing plane. Flight 5017 lost radar contact 50 minutes after takeoff from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, early Thursday. It was supposed to arrive at Algiers’ Houari Boumediene Airport about four hours later. The plane belongs to a private Spanish company, Swiftair, but it appears to have been operated by Air Algerie. A search is under way.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when all eating, drinking, and smoking stops between dawn and dusk, ends on or about July 29 with the feast of Eid-al-Fidr.

The State Department’s global database for issuing travel documents has crashed, resulting in major delays for potentially millions of people around the world waiting for U.S. passports and visas. Unspecified glitches in the department’s Consular Consolidated Database have resulted in ‘significant performance issues, including outages’ in the processing of applications for passports, visas and reports of Americans born abroad since Saturday. The problem is worldwide and not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category. The ‘extensive backlog’ of applications has hampered efforts to get the system fully back on line.

The Norwegian government announced that foreign fighters from Syria may be planning an attack in Norway over the coming days. The Norwegian police are not aware of where, when, or in what method this attack could take place. However, public gatherings, government facilities, businesses, and especially American Embassies tend to be the targets of choice for terrorists and extremist groups. Travelers are advised to use caution.