Vox Sentences - The US reopens to vaccinated tourists

The Biden administration lays out guidelines for international travel to the US; a deadly attack on a Shia mosque in southern Afghanistan is the second in a week.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Ellen Ioanes.

US will welcome international tourists November 8

Andreas Solara/AFP via Getty Images

• The Biden administration announced Friday that international travelers who are fully vaccinated and show proof of a negative Covid-19 test within three days of travel will be able to fly into the US starting November 8. [NYT / Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Heather Murphy]
• The US has barred travelers coming from China since January 2020, and from several European countries, India, Mexico, Brazil, and elsewhere starting just a few weeks later. However, the US allowed travelers from 150 other countries during the pandemic and never gave clear metrics or deadlines as to when the harsher travel restrictions would be eased. [Reuters / David Shepardson]
• Travelers with any of the vaccines approved for use in the US, as well as those approved for emergency use by the WHO, will be cleared to fly. India’s Bharat Biotech shot isn’t on the list, and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is still under consideration by the WHO. [BuzzFeed / Julia Reinstein]
• The Biden administration made the announcement last month that it would ease up on pandemic-related travel restrictions from those countries facing the total ban but didn’t announce a firm date when the restrictions would be rolled back. White House spokesperson Kevin Munoz tweeted the confirmed date Friday, adding that the new policy is “guided by public health, stringent, and consistent.” [NBC / Rebecca Shabad]
• International travelers arriving by land or via passenger ferry will have to be vaccinated and show proof of inoculation upon request but are exempt from the Covid-19 test requirement. There will be limited exceptions to the vaccine requirements, but those have not yet been announced. [NPR / Brian Naylor]
• The new requirements will replace the less consistent rules put in place since the start of the pandemic and will open up the country for international tourism, paving a path forward for the beleaguered airline, hotel, and tourism industries. [CNN / Betsy Klein and Kate Sullivan]
• Canada has also recently opened up to foreign tourists, and Australia — with some of the strictest lockdown policies in place during the pandemic — will allow its citizens to leave the country or return after being stranded abroad starting in November. [BBC]

Suicide bombing at Kandahar Shia mosque kills dozens

• A suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Kandahar, in the south of Afghanistan, has killed as many as 50 and injured many more. It’s the second such attack in a week. [Washington Post / Ezzatullah Mehrdad, Helier Cheung, and Susannah George]
• Islamic State-Khorasan, the ISIS affiliate in the region, claimed responsibility for last week’s attack on a Shia mosque in Kunduz, which served the Hazara ethnic minority. But there were no immediate claims of responsibility for Friday’s bombing. [NPR / Scott Neuman]
• Early reports stated that four suicide bombers entered the Imam Bargah mosque — also called the Fatima mosque — during Friday prayers, where around 3,000 people were worshipping. [Reuters / Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam]
• It’s the deadliest attack in Afghanistan since American forces left August 31, and underscores the difficulty the Taliban will have in reining in rival groups hoping to gain a foothold in the country. [AP / Samya Kullab and Tameem Akhgar]

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Illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory continue; Israeli authorities approved a plan to build housing in the Palestinian area of Khirbet Tabalya, despite previous objections from Israeli allies Germany and the United States. [Al Jazeera / Zena Al Tahhan]

• The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will allow Texas to resume its ban on most abortions; the DOJ is asking the Supreme Court to lift that stay while the law is challenged in court. [NYT / Katie Benner and Adam Liptak]
• The Congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol will move to hold Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, in contempt for refusing to comply with its subpoena. [Washington Post / Jacqueline Alemany, Tom Hamburger, and Mariana Alfaro]
• President Joe Biden’s commission for Supreme Court reform cautioned against adding more seats to the Court, a tactic Democrats had floated as the Senate blocked Attorney General Merrick Garland’s confirmation and as Trump-nominated justices pushed the Court to the right. [CBS / Bo Erickson, Melissa Quinn, and Ed O’Keefe]

What four-letter word can open a lock?

Solve today's new Vox crossword puzzle, and stay tuned for more puzzles coming out Monday through Saturday.

"What is my sin? That I worked shoulder to shoulder with the British? I have no crime, I am not a criminal, I have done nothing wrong."

[Sayed, an Afghan interpreter who worked with the UK during the Afghanistan war. He has been denied resettlement because he is a "security threat" after the Home Office notified him he was eligible to move to the UK.]

The NBA introduced the 3-point line to the basketball court in 1979. At first, not much changed. But since 2014 it has started … breaking basketball. [YouTube]

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