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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) criticized resident Joe Biden for contemplating stricter travel restrictions for U.S. citizens returning from abroad, despite their COVID-19 vaccinations status, as opposed to those same restrictions not applying to illegal immigrants. The Biden administration is considering forcing Americans returning from international travel to quarantine for seven days even if they have tested negative for COVID-19. In contrast, depending on the location and if they turn themselves in, illegal immigrants are sometimes not tested for the virus before being allowed to travel within the United States. The ongoing border crisis has lead to even some Democrats...

Thousands of protesters gathered in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, to protest new COVID-19 restrictions aimed at combatting the spread of the new omicron variant. Among other things, the Czech government banned the popular Christmas markets and any public consumption of alcohol, such as mulled wine, which Czechs and visitors often drink at such markets.

Switzerland remains one of the least vaccinated countries in western Europe, though they have managed to make it to roughly 65%. Now, as with many other European nations, they are facing a sustained surge in new COVID cases, with infection rates rising as much as 40% each week for several straight weeks. So what does the government plan to do about it? They already instituted an immunity passport system requiring proof of vaccination to engage in many common activities. Some suspected that the Swiss Health Minister might attempt to implement even harsher restrictions such as making the vaccine mandatory, as...

Belgium and the Netherlands are the latest European countries to implement new COVID-19 restrictions as virus cases rise, The Associated Press reported Friday. The Belgian government has reinforced past COVID-19 restrictions, including the closure of nightclubs and having restaurants and bars close at 11 p.m. for the next three weeks.

Hannah Arendt’s seminal work The Origins of Totalitarianism (1948) makes for sobering reading in the world we see developing around us in the year 2021. Indeed, we find ourselves in an impasse of epic proportions where the essence of what it means to be human is at stake. The totalitarian attempt at global conquest and total domination has been the destructive way out of all impasses. Its victory may coincide with the destruction of humanity; wherever it has ruled, it has begun to destroy the essence of man.” – Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, first published 1948.. Although it...

Germany's state and federal politicians are working to implement new rules to combat COVID-19 as the country's cases surge. The country saw almost 40,000 new cases on Tuesday, marking the third daily case record in just a week, according to The New York Times. New rules have been proposed and will be discussed in Parliament on Thursday but they would not be enacted into law prior to next week and are not as strict as experts have recommended, the Times reported.

The HBO star claimed Friday that red states were "a joy" to visit these days while blue states were "a pain in the a--" because of coronavirus rules... Bill Maher railed against ongoing COVID restrictions, declaring the pandemic "over." ... "Just resume living," Maher ... "I know some people seem to not want to give up on the wonderful pandemic, but you know what? It's over. There's always going to be a variant. You shouldn't have to wear masks. I should be to … I haven't had a meeting with my staff since March of 2020. Why?" "I know some...

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will lift long-running COVID-19 travel bans against residents of most European countries on Nov. 8 and implement a new vaccination-and-testing rule — while also making travel tougher for Americans who are unvaccinated. Under the new policies, most travelers to the US must get tested for the virus within three days if they took one of the World Health Organization’s approved vaccines. The new rules tighten restrictions on unvaccinated US citizens and permanent residents, who will have to get tested within one day of travel — versus three days currently. The slow repeal of the nearly...

Moscow officials said on Thursday that Russia’s capital will start implementing COVID-19 restrictions to combat a surge of coronavirus infections and deaths that have rocked the country, the Associated Press reported. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that between Oct. 28 and Nov. 7, places including entertainment spots, gyms, restaurants and nongrocery stores would be closed to the general public for that period in addition to kindergartens and schools. Only those who have a COVID-19 digital pass, which indicates proof of vaccination or previous COVID-19 encounters, will be allowed to frequent certain entertainment venues like theaters and museums, according to the...

Manitoba has announced new restrictions that will take effect on Tuesday. Our province is moving to Restricted (Orange) level on the Pandemic Response System. Updated orders that will come into effect on October 5th will include: limiting households to guests from one other household for private indoor gatherings when any unvaccinated person who is eligible to be vaccinated is on the property (even if the unvaccinated person lives at that location) limiting households to 10 guests outdoors, when any unvaccinated person who is eligible to be vaccinated is on the property (even if the unvaccinated person lives at that location)...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week listed Norway as a country with a “very high” risk of travel after the Scandinavian nation lifted its COVID-19 pandemic restrictions last week. The CDC now designates the country “Level 4: COVID-19 Very High,” according to its website. “Avoid travel to Norway,” the CDC’s website said in an update Monday about Norway, the country with the highest human development index in the world. “If you must travel to Norway, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel.” Norway announced the removal of all its CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus...

Japan’s government says the coronavirus state of emergency will end Thursday so the economy can be reactivated as infections slow. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Tuesday that virus restrictions will be eased gradually. With the lifting, Japan will be entirely free of emergency requirements for the first time in more than six months. Japan’s current state of emergency, declared in April, was repeatedly extended and expanded. Despite public weariness and frustration over the measures, Japan has managed to avoid the more restrictive lockdowns imposed elsewhere while recording about 1.69 million cases and 17,500 deaths from COVID-19. […] With the lifting,...

While speaking about the vaccination rates in New South Wales, Australian chief health officer Kerry Chant expressed optimism that they’d soon reach a 90 percent vaccination rate for the 16 and over population. Even still, however, she quickly poured cold water on the idea of life returning to normal ever again. "We will not be going back to pre-COVID levels. We are always going to have to be mindful that COVID exists," she said. "We're going to have to engage with booster shots, we're going to have to engage with advice from time to time when we see outbreaks. We're...

So far, the results of Denmark’s decision to lift all restrictions are promising—and then some.. On September 3 Denmark lifted all of its COVID restrictions, becoming the first country in the European Union to do so. At the time, Denmark had achieved a fully-vaccinated rate of 73 percent in adults, a figure well below targets set by US National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, but slightly higher than the European average. Even though Denmark had achieved a 96 percent fully vaccinated rate in the key 50 and older demographic, there was still uncertainty surrounding Denmark’s decision to lift...

Norway will end all COVID-19-related restrictions starting Saturday, Sept. 25, the government announced, joining a growing list of countries and states that have removed pandemic curbs. “It is 561 days since we introduced the toughest measures in Norway in peacetime … Now the time has come to return to a normal daily life,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg told a news conference on Friday. The virus can now be considered as one of several respiratory illnesses with seasonal variation, said Geir Bukholm, the assistant director for the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, according to local media. In Norway, COVID-19 has been...

(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch announced today that it received 12 pages of *records showing the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and National Education Association (NEA) influencing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director and the White House with their own their own “embargoed vaccine research,” as well as school reopening policy. Additionally, the CDC Director states that she used the unions’ language in the CDC’s school reopening policy.The documents were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the CDC asking for:All emails exchanged between CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky and email accounts ending in aft.org...

Orange County, California is slowly making its way back to normal but Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 tyranny reigns supreme in Los Angeles County.Los Alamitos, Calif. — Orange County, California is slowly making its way back to normal but Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 tyranny reigns supreme in Los Angeles County. The campaign to unseat Newsom began last year as California constituents grew weary of government overreach, bureaucratic lockdowns, school closures, and restrictions on dining and shopping that were not rooted in science. After Newsom attended a maskless indoor dinner at an expensive restaurant in violation of his state’s own COVID-19 rules,...

Australia’s medicine and therapeutics regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has introduced new restrictions on the prescribing of ivermectin for COVID-19 and other off-label use.The TGA, an agency under Australia’s Department of Health, announced that the changes were introduced “because of concerns with the prescribing of oral ivermectin for the claimed prevention or treatment of COVID-19.”The new restrictions mean that general practitioners may only prescribe the drug for TGA-approved conditions and not for other non-approved purposes—also referred to as “off-label” use. No penalties were specified in the TGA announcement in the event of a GP skirting the rules.The Epoch Times...

Sweden announced it will remove most of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions starting this month, according to a news release on Tuesday.An announcement from the Swedish government said that restrictions on public venues such as restaurants, theaters, and stadiums will be removed on Sept. 29.As most adults are vaccinated, Sweden has started to ease some restrictions during a summer lull in the pandemic. Deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, have remained low in the country in recent weeks.Vaccine passports, which are being rolled out in several U.S. cities, France, Italy, Switzerland, Israel, and in...

DALLAS, TX—As new restrictions on abortion go into effect in Texas, more and more concerned residents are speaking out about their loss of abortion access. We caught up with Dallas resident Debbie Woods to discuss the impact of the new law on her life. “I probably get four or five abortions a year, so this will definitely impact me directly,” Woods said. "I just can't have a kid right now. I’m sleeping over at a different guy’s house like five nights a week. Nobody’s going to want to hook up with me if I’ve got a baby in tow!” Woods...