US to ease foreign travel restrictions, vaccination mandatory

The United States will reopen in November to air travelers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the White House said on Monday, easing tough pandemic-related restrictions that started early last year. It gave no indication if it would apply the new vaccine rules to those land border crossings.

The decision, announced by White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients, marked an abrupt shift for President Joe Biden’s administration, which said last week it was not the right time to lift any restrictions amid rising COVID-19 cases.The United States had lagged many other countries in lifting such restrictions, and allies welcomed the move.

Biden looks to turn page on 20 years of war in UN address

US President Joe Biden begins his first visit to the UN General Assembly ready to make the case to world leaders that after closing the book on 20 years of war, the US aims to rally allies and adversaries to work together on a slew of crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and trade and economics.

The weeklong meeting of the General Assembly amounts to a major test of credibility for US President Joe Biden. (File Photo)

The president faced a healthy measure of skepticism when he arrived in New York on Monday to start a week of high-level diplomacy. The opening months of his presidency have included a series of difficult moments with friendly nations that were expecting greater cooperation from Biden following four years of Donald Trump’s “America first” approach to foreign policy.

Canada’s Trudeau sheds modest support amid early returns in close election

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were on track for a modest loss of seats in Atlantic Canada, the first region of the country to report national election results on Monday, in a race expected to return him to office with a fragile hold on power.

Trudeau heads a minority government that relies on the support of other parties to pass legislation. He called an election two years early in hopes of securing a parliamentary majority. But as the public’s unhappiness about the early call grew, the 49-year-old prime minister saw his lead evaporate. Liberal strategists now concede it will be hard for the party to win a majority of the House of Commons’ 338 seats.

Gabby Petito missing case: Investigators search her fiance’s family home

Police and FBI agents investigating the disappearance of Gabby Petito searched the Florida home of her fiance’s parents for computer files Monday, one day after finding a body in Wyoming that matched her description.

This Sept. 16, 2021, photo shows a Suffolk County Police Department missing person poster for Gabby Petito posted in Jakson, Wyoming. (AP)

The search marked the latest turn in a story that has captivated Americans and made international headlines: the vanishing of 22-year-old Petitio during a cross-country road trip as she documented “van life” with her fiance Brian Laundrie on social media. Petito and Laundrie left her home state of New York in June, heading west in the van with plans to visit national parks along the way. She posted her last photo on social media on Aug. 25.

CIA officer suffers Havana syndrome symptoms in India

An intelligence officer traveling in India this month with the CIA director reported symptoms consistent with the so-called Havana syndrome, signaling a possible escalation in the mysterious incidents that have affected U.S. officials since 2016, current and former officials said.

William Burns in Washington. (Tom Brenner/Pool via AP, File)

The circumstances of the incident are still being investigated, and officials have not yet determined whether the CIA officer was targeted because the officer was traveling with the director, William Burns, or for other reasons. If the incident was caused by an adversarial intelligence service, it may not have known the officer was traveling with Burns.