Free Republic

Foreigners can enter the US with one Covid shot received from August, 2022They can also still enter after receiving at least two Covid vaccinationsUS health officials are pushing ahead with a Covid vaccine mandate for travelers entering the country — despite no evidence it reduces infection rates.There was an expectation the unpopular policy would be ditched when the federal government officially ends the nation's public health emergency on May 11, when any still-standing pandemic measures are expected to be ended.But, in an announcement Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated the policy rather than dropping it.The US...

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Shubham Chandra knows how dangerous the coronavirus can be: He lost his dad during the pandemic. So when he cleared customs at Newark Liberty International Airport and saw people offering anonymous COVID-19 testing, he was happy to volunteer. “It’s a minimum amount of effort to help a lot of people,” said the 27-year-old New York City man, who had just stepped off a plane from Cancun, Mexico. The airport testing is part of the government’s early warning system for detecting new variants, which began expanding recently in the wake of a COVID-19 surge in China.

Spain's Ministry of Health has lifted all COVID-19 restrictions for travelers. European Union citizens and travelers from non-EU nations will no longer be required to show proof of vaccinations or tests or file health control forms. "All COVID-19 travel restrictions for travelers to Spain have been lifted," according to a government website. "The rules that previously applied to travelers coming to Spain no longer apply." There's no longer any requirement for tourists from other countries to produce any COVID-19 documents to enter Spain. Until now, proof of vaccination, a negative test or COVID-19 recovery certificate were needed. ... Spain is...

She is currently represented by David L. Axelrod and Jay Ward Brown in her appeal of that verdict. The actress has also recently hired Kirk Pasich on her legal team in an attempt to get multiple insurance companies to cover her legal bills, which may surpass $15million, Heard's expenses soared over $8million before the Virginia trial even began. Heard's team appears to want homeowner's insurance to cover those bills The battle concerns Travelers Commercial Insurance Company and New York Marine General Insurance Company. Travelers initially sued New York Marine in July 2021 to gain reimbursement for half of what it...

Graham Filler, a state legislator in Michigan, describes two recently enacted civil forfeiture bills as a "reform" that closed a dangerous "loophole." In reality, the new laws open a dangerous loophole by authorizing forfeiture of cash carried by travelers at Michigan airports without a criminal conviction. That change represents a substantial reversal of reforms that Michigan enacted in response to complaints about a system that allows police to seize and confiscate property based on little more than a bare allegation that it is somehow connected to criminal activity. "Traveling with cash is not a crime," notes Institute for Justice senior...

Dutch health authorities on Sunday confirmed that 13 airplane passengers returning from South Africa to the Netherlands had tested positive for the omicron COVID-19 variant. As the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said in a press release, 624 passengers returning from South Africa were tested for COVID-19 on Nov. 26 at the Schiphol Airport. Of these passengers, 61 tested positive for the coronavirus and 13 were found to have contracted the omicron variant.

"The coverings need to be at least two or more layers of breathable fabric secured to the head with ties, ear loops or elastic bands," CNN reports. The Center for Disease Control has issued a new coronavirus order requiring DOUBLE masks to be worn for all forms of public transportation in the United States. From CNN: The CDC announced an order late Friday that will require people to wear a face mask while using any form of public transportation, including buses, trains, taxis, airplanes, boats, subways or ride-share vehicles while traveling into, within and out of the US. The order...

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) on Thursday issued a new guidance requiring travelers flying from the United Kingdom to the United States to provide a negative Wuhan coronavirus test. The new requirement is set to go into effect on Monday.According to the Associated Press, airline passengers must provide a negative COVID-19 test within three days of their trip. The results have to be provided directly to the airline."Airlines must confirm the negative test result for all passengers before they board," the CDC said in a statement. "If a passenger chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny...

Travelers left behind more than $926,000 in unclaimed money at airport security checkpoints nationwide during the 2019 fiscal year, including nearly $10,000 at San Diego International Airport, the Transportation Security Administration announced Friday. The TSA, which released figures regarding cash collected at airports during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2019, said in most cases "this money consists of coins that passengers remove from their pockets while undergoing security screening." Of the total amount, nearly $19,000 was foreign currency. The airports that accumulated the top five amounts of unclaimed money were: 1.John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York...

Until recently, Ireland did not blaze much of a trail when it came to human rights at home. The 20th century saw plenty of shameful treatment of vulnerable people, normalized by a deep and often blind devotion to a religious institution that preached a message of compassion. […] The 21st century has seen some improvements but there is still a long way to go. Recent events in the United States and ensuing Black Lives Matter protests have shifted the focus once again to our State’s reliance on Direct Provision. We are no gold star winners either when it comes to...

Newly resurfaced footage of then-President George W. Bush urgently warning of the risks posed by pandemics in 2005 -- "If we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare," Bush said at the National Institutes of Health -- has drawn belated praise from his detractors, and raised new questions as to the state of the federal government's disaster preparedness since his administration. In particular, a USA Today fact-check recently confirmed that the Obama administration had allowed the N95 mask stockpile to deplete following a series of crises, and apparently ignored calls for experts to renew...

The property, which overlooks Central Park, narrowly saw off competition from Vatuvara Private Island in Fiji The third-best hotel has been named as Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, which was last year's number one Ranking was drawn up by a luxury travel magazine, which also asked readers for their favourite UK hotels He may not be everyone's cup of tea when it comes to politics. But one thing Donald Trump knows is how to run a good hotel. The evidence? Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York has been named as the best hotel in the world by readers...

A final plan for tolls for users along the future Interstate 10 Bridge and Bayway could be known in July, a state transportation official said Friday. It will be unveiled ahead of the August release of the final environmental impact statement on the entire $2.1 billion project. But at least one state lawmaker says more time is going to be needed to hash out tolls and their impact on local motorists. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for the experts and the work being done by the state DOT,” said state Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Daphne. “But it’s probably fair...

The Zika scare of 2016 could lead to a yellow fever panic this year if South Florida residents let down their guard when it comes to protecting themselves from disease-carrying mosquitoes. There hasn’t been a yellow fever outbreak in the United States in more than 100 years, but state health officials are concerned that a large outbreak in Brazil and others in South and Central America could lead to infected travelers bringing the disease to South Florida, which has the right mosquitoes and climate for it to spread. The disease is deadlier than the Zika virus. Zika raised alarms because...

Caltrans will widen striping and increase visibility on 1,027 lane miles of U.S. Highway 101 from the San Benito/Santa Clara County line to the Santa Barbara/Ventura County line, thanks to funding by Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.“The wider and brighter striping will make it easier for all drivers and truckers to see the lane lines,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman. “The highly reflective striping will improve safety for road users, especially during rainy days. The six-inch striping will also take up more surface so it will be more durable and last longer,...

In an op-ed published in the Financial Times, John Reed says large banks like the one he used to run are now "inherently unstable and unworkable." The man who was one of the chief architects of the "Big Bank" model now says says the United States never should have repealed the Glass-Steagall banking act in 1999. That's exactly what Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley have been arguing on the campaign trail. They want the law reinstated. Hillary Clinton and the Republican candidates do not. As CEO of Citi from 1984 to 2000, Reed was one of the...

Believe it or not, adorable dogs aren't for everyone. That's one of the reasons why the San Francisco International Airport has added a new member to its four-legged "Wag Brigade" - a pig named LiLou. SFO's Wag Brigade allows SPCA animals certified by the Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) Program to greet and comfort hurried travelers as they arrive, depart, or languish through a layover. LiLou is the program's first pig.

California health officials on Friday urged travelers returning home from the Olympics as well as countries where Zika is spreading to continue to wear insect repellent and to practice safe sex for several more weeks, to help prevent the spread of the virus in the Golden State. While Zika is spread primarily through the bite of the black-and-white-striped Aedes mosquito, the virus also can be passed through sex, health officials said. They are mostly concerned with people returning home from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, because Brazil has been hit hard by the virus. “Continue using insect repellent to...

America's roads and bridges got a real workout in 2015. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, drivers last year logged more miles on our roads than in any year in U.S. history — more than 3.1 trillion miles — an increase of more than 3% over 2014. Wisconsin is part of that trend with more than 60 billion of those miles traveled. But, too often, Wisconsinites find themselves idling in traffic or on slow-going, bumpy roads. I'm sure it was not a surprise when a study commissioned by the Local Government of Wisconsin Institute concluded last spring that Wisconsin...

The United States on Thursday began enforcing new visa rules on some travelers who have visited or who have dual nationality with states considered seedbeds of terrorism, AFP reports. The Department of Homeland Security said would-be visitors to the United States who have been to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria since March 2011 will now always have to apply for a visa. This will be the case even if the traveler is from a country in the U.S. visa waiver program -- the 40 nations seen as friends of America whose citizens can visit freely. .....