US

US opens up to fully vaccinated travellers

From November, foreign travellers will be allowed to fly into the US if they are fully vaccinated, and undergo testing and contact tracing.

The US has had tough restrictions on travel in place since early last year.

The move answers a major demand from European allies, and means that families and friends separated by the restrictions can be reunited.

White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients announced the new rules on Monday, saying: "This is based on individuals rather than a country-based approach, so it's a stronger system."

US man files $1m lawsuit after Michigan teacher cuts child's hair

Jimmy Hoffmeyer's lawsuit says the constitutional rights of his mixed-race daughter have been violated.

He has pulled his daughter out of the school.

An investigation by the school district concluded in July that while the teacher had broken school policy she had not acted with racial bias.

She was reprimanded but allowed to keep her job at Ganiard Elementary School in Mount Pleasant.

Fears Hurricane Ida could cause a spike in COVID-19

Fortune has not been kind to Joey Cirilo of late.

In March 2020, his girlfriend - who has a pre-existing heart condition - was left immobilised for weeks with a "really bad" case of COVID-19.

Then this year Mr Cirilo, 36, lost his job at a local charity, leaving him without a steady source of income.

And now, his life has been "completely changed" again, he said, this time because of Hurricane Ida.

The most powerful Atlantic storm of the 2021 hurricane season has forced the evacuation of thousands from Louisiana, Mr Cirilo among them.

Death toll climbs to 41 across four US north-east states

The US is facing climate-related destruction across the country and tackling it is "a matter of life and death", the president said.

New York City and New Jersey saw unprecedented levels of rainfall.

Some residents became trapped in flooded basements and cars.

Four states suffered loss of life:

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said at least 23 people had died in his state - most of them stuck in their vehicles as the waters rose

US investigates civilian deaths in Kabul strike

The strike, near Kabul airport, killed 10 members of one family, including six children, relatives have told the BBC.

The US military said it was targeting a vehicle carrying at least one person associated with the Afghan branch of the Islamic State group.

The US was assessing and investigating reports of civilian deaths, it added.

American commanders said there were "significant secondary explosions" after the drone strike - implying there were explosives at the scene - which may have harmed people nearby.

US mother fights off animal attacking her son

The boy was playing outside his home in Calabasas in the Santa Monica mountains, west of Los Angeles, when the lion pounced on him.

The child was dragged across the front lawn, but his mother ran out and struck the mountain lion with her bare hands until it let go of her son.

The animal was later found and shot dead by wildlife authorities.

The boy suffered injuries to his head and torso, but is now in a stable condition at a hospital in Los Angeles, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Taliban to allow at-risk people to leave after 31 August - US

Blinken said the Taliban have made a commitment to allow American citizens and at-risk Afghans to leave the country after 31 August evacuation deadline. He stressed that US efforts to help people who wanted to leave would not end on that date.

The secretary of state said that up to 1,000 US nationals - possibly more - could still be in Afghanistan and the administration was making exhaustive efforts to trace them.

Asked by a reporter why the US should do what the Taliban want, Blinken said the focus was on getting US citizens and others to safety.

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US orders civilian jets to join evacuation

Eighteen aircraft will transfer people to third countries from safe sites outside Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.

Many thousands of Afghans are crowded outside Kabul airport, desperate to flee the country after the Taliban swept to power on 15 August.

President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the US had evacuated nearly 28,000 people in the past week.

"There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and the heart-breaking images you see," Mr Biden told reporters at the White House, adding: "We have a long way to go and a lot can still go wrong."

US will not lock down despite surge driven by Delta variant, Fauci says

A sufficient percentage of Americans have now been vaccinated to avoid lockdowns, Fauci said on ABC's "This Week".

"Not enough to crush the outbreak, but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter," he said.

The average number of new coronavirus cases reported nationwide has nearly doubled in the past 10 days, according to a Reuters analysis.

Even if states do not resort to lockdowns again, the spread of the Delta variant could still threaten the economy.

Fauci says US heading in wrong direction as cases rise

Dr Anthony Fauci said the Delta variant of Covid-19 was driving the spike in areas with low vaccination rates.

He said health officials were considering revising mask guidance for vaccinated Americans to curb cases.

Offering booster jabs to vulnerable people was also under review, he said.

The coronavirus situation in the US is becoming "a pandemic among the unvaccinated", Dr Fauci, the chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, told broadcaster CNN on Sunday.