Australia to lift 18-month travel ban on foreign travel in November
Global News
Australia introduced some of the toughest travel restrictions of any democracy in the world on people entering and leaving the island nation on March 20 last year.
Australia has outlined plans to lift a pandemic ban on its vaccinated citizens traveling overseas from November. But no date has yet been set for welcoming international tourists back.
Travel restrictions that have trapped most Australians and permanent residents at home over the past 18 months would be removed when 80% of the population aged 16 and older were fully vaccinated, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday.
Australia introduced some of the toughest travel restrictions of any democracy in the world on people entering and leaving the island nation on March 20 last year.
Most Australians have had to argue for rare exemptions from the travel ban to leave the country. There are a few exceptions from the ban including government employees and essential workers. Tourism is never accepted as a reason to cross the border.
Hundreds of thousands have failed to reach relatives’ death beads, missed funerals or weddings and have yet to be introduced to grandchildren because of restrictions aimed at keeping COVID-19 out of Australia.
New South Wales would likely become the first state to reach the 80% vaccination benchmark and Sydney’s airport the first to open to international travel, Morrison said.
“We’ve saved lives. We’ve saved livelihoods, but we must work together to ensure that Australians can reclaim the lives that they once had in this country,” Morrison said.
Sydney-based Qantas Airways announced international flights would resume from Nov. 14 to London and Los Angeles.
The ceasefire's first phase is set to end in two weeks and the second phase has yet to be negotiated, though talks were meant to begin two weeks ago.
The proposal did not offer any specific security guarantees in return, according to one current and one former senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks.
European leaders are reeling after Trump's decision to upend years of U.S. policy by holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Sources told Reuters that the United States had sent a document to European capitals asking questions that include possible future troop contributions.
It is the sixth swap since the ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19. Before Saturday, 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners were freed.
The latest fighting is part of a major escalation of a conflict over power, identity and resources dating back to the 1990s Rwandan genocide.
The red and white has been a symbol of national pride for many decades, and in the wake of Donald Trump's anti-Canadian rhetoric, a sense of patriotism is sweeping the country.
U.S. Vice-President JD Vance warned governments that internal threats to democracy are a greater threats than external antagonists like China and Russia.
Alarmed that U.S. security priorities lie elsewhere, a group of European countries has been working on a plan to send troops into Ukraine to enforce any peace settlement.
"There is no talk about strikes on nuclear infrastructure, nuclear energy facilities," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, denying Russia had any responsibility.
Ukrainians who fled to Canada following Russia's invasion say they feel betrayed by U.S. President Donald Trump's comments on the prospects for peace in Ukraine.
NATO's secretary-general said as the U.S. proceeds on Ukraine peace talks with Russia, the alliance will work to ensure Moscow never tries to attack Ukraine again.
European officials took an exceptionally firm line in public towards Trump's peace overture, saying they and the Ukrainians must be included in any negotiations.