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The US will reopen its land borders for non-essential travel in early November, ending restrictions that have been in place since March 2020.

Vehicle, rail and ferry travel between the US and its neighbours Canada and Mexico has been largely restricted to essential activity, such as trade, for the last 19 months.

Foreign visitors will need to be fully vaccinated to enter the country – a rule which will also be implemented for essential travellers – like truck drivers – by mid-January.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters after a Democratic policy meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. President Joe Biden is urging Republican senators to "get out of the way" and let Democrats suspend the nation's debt limit to keep the U.S. government from getting dangerously close to a devastating credit default. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Chuck Schumer welcomed the decision. Pic: AP

They will necessarily need to show proof of vaccination unless they are referred by US Customs and Border Patrol for secondary inspections, officials said.

Proof of a negative COVID-19 test will not be required either.

US officials said the move would be formally announced later today.

Canada and Mexico have been pushing the White House to ease travel rules that have hit border communities especially hard.

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Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer welcomed the decision, saying: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, members of our shared cross-border community have felt the pain and economic hardship of the land border closures. That pain is about to end.”

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COVID rules for arrivals to UK made easier

White House staff said the “Title 42” order, which has essentially cut off access to asylum for migrants since it was issued by former president Donald Trump, would remain in place.

A similar easing of restrictions is set to begin for air travel at around the same time.

The US previously announced it would lift air travel restrictions early next month for fully vaccinated visitors from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe.

Foreign visitors will need to show proof of vaccination and a recent negative COVID-19 test before boarding a flight.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday the country would accept travellers who have had vaccines approved by the US or World Health Organisation.

These are the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), Oxford/AstraZeneca, Covishield, Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.

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At least 10 killed after vehicle hits crowd of people in New Orleans

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At least 10 killed after vehicle hits crowd of people in New Orleans

At least 10 people have been killed after a vehicle struck a crowd celebrating the New Year in New Orleans, emergency officials have said.

Another 30 people have been injured in the incident, which took place on the corner of the popular Bourbon Street, in the French Quarter of the city.

It happened at around 3am local time.

The city’s emergency preparedness campaign, NOLA, managed by New Orleans Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness, has said there has been “mass casualty incident”.

New Orleans. Pic EarthCam/AP
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The scene in New Orleans. Pic EarthCam/AP

“The 8th District is currently working a mass casualty incident involving a vehicle that drove into a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street,” NOLA said.

“Public safety partners are responding on scene.”

New Orleans

Earlier they warned people to “get yourself away from the area”.

Pic: NOLA, City Of New Orleans
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The NOLA website warning of a ‘mass casualty event’. Pic: NOLA, city of New Orleans

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Woman burned to death inside subway train identified by New York police

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Woman burned to death inside subway train identified by New York police

A woman who died this month after being set on fire inside a New York subway train has been identified by police as a 57-year-old woman from New Jersey.

The woman, Debrina Kawam, was registered to an address in Toms River, New Jersey, according to New York Police Department (NYPD).

Officials had previously said they were using forensics and video surveillance to try to piece together the identity of the victim.

She burned to death while apparently sleeping in a subway car in Brooklyn on Sunday 22 December.

A 33-year-old man, Sebastian Zapeta, was taken into custody hours after police sent out images of a suspect who had been spotted by high school students.

Zapeta was charged with murder and arson on Friday and is being held in prison.

Federal immigration authorities say the suspect is from Guatemala and entered the US illegally.

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New York City mayor Eric Adams said today the victim had had a “brief stint in our homeless shelter system” at some point, and that authorities had contacted her next of kin.

“Hearts go out to the family, a horrific incident to have to live through,” Mr Adams said during a news briefing on another matter.

“It impacts on how New Yorkers feel. But it really reinforces what I’ve been saying: People should not be living on our subway system, they should be in a place of care. No matter where she lived, that should not have happened.”

Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a subway train, appears in court in New York, on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. Pic: AP
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Sebastian Zapeta appeared in court on Christmas Eve. Pic: AP

Prosecutors allege Zapeta set Kawam on fire on a stopped F train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station, fanned the flames with a shirt, and then sat on a platform bench and watched as she burned.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

“This was a malicious deed. A sleeping, vulnerable woman on our subway system,” Brooklyn district attorney Eric Gonzalez said after the charge was announced.

Zapeta has yet to enter a plea in the case.

He was arrested hours after the Kawam’s death following the police receiving a tip off from a group of high school students who recognised images of the suspect circulated by police.

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Jimmy Carter dies: President Biden leads tributes to ‘a man for all time’

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Jimmy Carter dies: President Biden leads tributes to 'a man for all time'

US President Joe Biden says the world has lost a “remarkable leader” and a “man for all time” after the death of Jimmy Carter.

Mr Carter, who was US president between 1977 and 1981, died at his home in Georgia while surrounded by his family on Sunday afternoon.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was aged 100.

Read more: ‘Jimmy who?’ The US president 1970s America really needed

FILE - Sen. Joe Biden and former President Jimmy Carter are seen at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Aug. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
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File pic: AP

Making a televised address from his family holiday in the US Virgin Islands, Mr Biden said his predecessor represented “the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away”.

“Jimmy Carter stands as a model for it means to live a life of meaning and purpose,” he said.

“I see a man not only not our times, but for all time. We could all do well to be a little more like Jimmy Carter.”

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Asked if there were any lessons president-elect Donald Trump could learn from Mr Carter, Mr Biden answered: “Decency, decency, decency”.

It was revealed in February last year that Mr Carter was receiving hospice care and would “spend his remaining time at home with his family”.

He had decided against “additional medical intervention” following a series of brief hospital stays.

Jimmy Carter as Georgia's 76th governor.
Pic: Jimmy Carter Library
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Jimmy Carter as Georgia’s 76th governor.
Pic: Jimmy Carter Library

The Carter Center says there will be opportunities for the public to pay their respects in Atlanta, Georgia, and Washington DC before a private interment in his hometown Plains, while final arrangements for his state funeral are still being made.

Mr Biden says his team is “working to see to it that he is remembered appropriately.”

Among those who have paid tribute to Mr Carter are:

US president-elect Donald Trump

The incoming US president Donald Trump, who takes office on 20 January, said: “The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country, and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans.

“For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.”

Former US president Barack Obama

Fellow Democrat Barack Obama honoured Mr Carter’s achievements in the White House, including “the Camp David Accords he brokered that reshaped the Middle East… nominating a pioneering women’s rights activist and lawyer named Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the federal bench… [and] becoming one of the first leaders in the world to recognise the problem of climate change”.

He also paid tribute to the “longest, and most impactful, post-presidency in American history”, during which he monitored more than 100 national elections, helped virtually eliminate Guinea worm disease, and built or repaired thousands of homes around the world with his wife Rosalynn as part of Habitat for Humanity.

The 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington ** STORY AVAILABLE, CONTACT SUPPLIER** Featuring: Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 28 Aug 2013 Credit: Michael Reynolds/Pool/startraksphoto.com  (Cover Images via AP Images)
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The Obamas have bid farewell to Jimmy Carter (second from left). Pic: AP

Former US president George W Bush

Mr Bush said his predecessor “dignified the office”.

“And his efforts to leave behind a better world didn’t end with the presidency. His work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center set an example of service that will inspire Americans for generations.”

FILE ... From left, former President George H.W. Bush, President-elect Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, former President Bill Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter, meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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Carter gathered with fellow former presidents including George W Bush in 2009. Pic: AP

Bill and Hillary Clinton

Former president Bill Clinton, who worked with Jimmy Carter after he left the White House, and secretary Hillary Clinton said he “lived to serve others – until the very end”.

“From his commitment to civil rights as a state senator and governor of Georgia; to his efforts as president to… secure peace between Egypt and Israel at Camp David; to his post-presidential efforts at the Carter Center supporting honest elections, advancing peace, combating disease, and promoting democracy… he worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world,” they said in a statement.

Former US vice president Al Gore

Mr Gore praised Jimmy Carter for living “a life full of purpose, commitment and kindness” and for being a “lifelong role model for the entire environmental movement”.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer

In his tribute, Sir Keir said Mr Carter “redefined the post-presidency with a remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights at home and abroad”.

The King

The UK’s monarch said he learned of President Carter’s death with “great sadness”, adding that he was “a committed public servant, and devoted his life to promoting peace and human rights”.

The King added: “His dedication and humility served as an inspiration to many, and I remember with great fondness his visit to the United Kingdom in 1977.

“My thoughts and prayers are with President Carter’s family and the American people at this time.”

Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown

Mr Brown said he was “so sad” to hear of the death of his “good friend”.

The former UK leader said Mr Carter would be “rightly remembered as a statesman of unimpeachable integrity, who was admired around the world for his lifelong charitable work, his unwavering support for human rights and for his wonderful generosity of spirit”.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter wear traditional Ghanaian attire, a gift from the chief of Tingoli village in northern Ghana, during a field trip to assess Carter Center disease prevention work in Africa in February 2007. Pic: The Carter Center
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Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were given traditional Ghanaian attire as a gift from the chief of Tingoli village in northern Ghana, during a field trip to assess Carter Center disease prevention work in Africa. Pic: Carter Centre

French President Emmanuel Macron

“Throughout his life, Jimmy Carter defended the rights of the most vulnerable people and tirelessly led the fight for peace,” the French president wrote on X.

“France sends its heartfelt thoughts to his family and to the American people.”

Husam Zomlot, former Palestinian ambassador to the US

Mr Zomlot, now ambassador to the UK, said Mr Carter would be “remembered by the Palestinian people as the first US president to advocate for the freedom of Palestine and the first to warn about Israeli apartheid”.

He added: “He worked for decades to achieve a just and lasting peace in Palestine and the rest of the region.”

Chip Carter

Mr Carter’s son Chip said: “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights and unselfish love.

“My brothers, sister and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs.

“The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honouring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”

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