List of countries that mandate COVID-19 tests for China travelers

Canada require people flying from China, Hong Kong and Macao to test negative for COVID-19 before leaving for Canada, starting on Thursday, Jan. 5. (AP)
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Updated 06 January 2023
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List of countries that mandate COVID-19 tests for China travelers

  • WHO’s latest report showed 22,416 new hospitalizations for mainland China in the week to Jan.1 versus 15,161 the previous week

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: China defended on Thursday its handling of its raging COVID-19 outbreak after US President Joe Biden voiced concern and the World Health Organization (WHO) said Beijing was under-reporting virus deaths.
The WHO’s emergencies director, Mike Ryan, said on Wednesday in some of the UN health agency’s most critical remarks to date, that Chinese officials were under-representing data on several fronts.
China scrapped its stringent COVID-19 controls last month after protests against them, abandoning a policy that had shielded its 1.4 billion population from the virus for three years.
Authorities around the world are imposing or considering curbs on travelers from China as COVID-19 cases there surged following its relaxation of “zero-COVID” rules. China has rejected criticism of its COVID-19 data.
PLACES IMPOSING CURBS
United states
The United States will impose mandatory COVID-19 tests on travelers from China beginning on Jan. 5. All air passengers aged two and older will require a negative result from a test no more than two days before departure from China, Hong Kong or Macau. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said US citizens should reconsider travel to China, Hong Kong and Macau.
EU
European Union government officials recommended on Wednesday that passengers flying from China to the EU should have a negative COVID-19 test before they board. They also suggested all passenger on flights to and from China should wear face masks, that EU governments introduce random testing of passengers arriving from China and that they test and sequence wastewater in airports with international flights and planes arriving from China.
Sweden
Sweden will require travelers from China to show they have tested negative for COVID before they can enter the country, the government said.
UK
The UK will require a pre-departure negative COVID-19 test for passengers from China as of Jan. 5, the Department of Health said on Friday. However, a report in The Independent on Monday said passengers from China who arrive in the United Kingdom next week will not face compulsory COVID-19 tests on arrival.
France
France will require travelers from China to provide a negative COVID test result less than 48 hours before departure. Starting Jan. 1, France will carry out random PCR COVID tests upon arrival on travelers coming from China, a government official told reporters.
France has urged all 26 other European Union member states to test Chinese travelers for COVID.
Australia
Travelers from China to Australia will need to submit a negative COVID-19 test from Jan. 5, Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said on Sunday.
India
The country has mandated a COVID-19 negative test report for travelers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand. Passengers from those countries will be quarantined if they show symptoms or test positive.
Canada
Air travelers to Canada from China must test negative for COVID-19 no more than two days before departure, Ottawa said.
Japan
The country will require negative coronavirus test results within 72 hours of passengers boarding direct flights from China, the prime minister said on Jan 4. That is in addition to an existing regulation that passengers who had been in China in the seven days prior to their flight will be subject to a COVID-19 test on arrival in Japan. Those who test positive will be required to quarantine for seven days.
Italy
Italy has ordered COVID-19 antigen swabs and virus sequencing for all travelers from China. Milan’s main airport, Malpensa, has already started testing passengers arriving from Beijing and Shanghai.
Spain
Spain will require a negative COVID-19 test or a full course of vaccination against the disease upon arrival for travelers from China.
Malaysia
Malaysia will screen all inbound travelers for fever and test wastewater from aircraft arriving from China for COVID-19.
Taiwan
Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center said all passengers on direct flights from China, as well as by boat at two offshore islands, will have to take PCR tests upon arrival, starting on Jan. 1.
South Korea
South Korea will require travelers from China, Macau and Hong Kong to provide negative COVID-19 test results before departure, health authorities said.
Morocco
Morocco will impose a ban on people arriving from China, whatever their nationality, from Jan. 3.
Qatar
Qatar will require travelers arriving from China from Jan. 3 to provide a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 48 hours of departure, state news agency QNA said.
Belguim
Belgium will test wastewater from planes arriving from China for new COVID-19 variants as part of new steps against the spread of the coronavirus, the government announced on Monday.
Israel
Newly appointed Health Minister Aryeh Deri announced new COVID-19 testing requirements for travelers from China, joining other nations imposing restrictions because of a surge of infections, according to the Times of Israel.

Places monitoring situation
Philippines
The Philippines sees a need to intensify monitoring and implementation of border controls for incoming individuals especially from China, Manila’s health ministry said.


Trump halts all US military aid to Ukraine, White House official says

Updated 7 sec ago
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Trump halts all US military aid to Ukraine, White House official says

  • The move comes after Trump upended US policy on Ukraine and Russia upon taking office in January, adopting a more conciliatory stance toward Moscow

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has paused all military aid to Ukraine following his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, a White House official said on Monday.
“President has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Zelensky’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside office hours.
The move comes after Trump upended US policy on Ukraine and Russia upon taking office in January, adopting a more conciliatory stance toward Moscow — and after an explosive confrontation with Zelensky at the White House on Friday in which Trump criticized him for being insufficiently grateful for the Washington’s backing in the war with Russia.
On Monday Trump again said Zelensky should be more appreciative of American support after earlier responding angrily to an Associated Press report quoting Zelensky as saying the end of the war is “very, very far away.”
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, using an alternative spelling of the Ukrainian leader’s name.
But Trump also suggested on Monday that a deal to open up Ukraine’s minerals to US investment could still be agreed despite his frustration with Kyiv, as European leaders floated proposals for a truce in Russia’s war with its neighbor.
The Trump administration views a minerals deal as America’s way of earning back some of the tens of billions of dollars it has given to Ukraine in financial and military aid since Russia invaded three years ago.
When asked on Monday if the deal was dead, Trump said at the White House: “No, I don’t think so.”
Trump described it as a “great deal for us” and said he would give an update on the situation on Tuesday night when he addresses a joint session of Congress.


Russia ‘categorically’ against deploying European troops to Ukraine, Russian senior diplomat says

Updated 04 March 2025
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Russia ‘categorically’ against deploying European troops to Ukraine, Russian senior diplomat says

  • “Firstly, the European Union is not impartial, and peacekeepers must be impartial,” Ulyanov said on the Telegram messaging app

MOSCOW: Russia is categorically against the idea of potential deployment of European troops to Ukraine, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy in Vienna to international organizations said on Tuesday.
“Firstly, the European Union is not impartial, and peacekeepers must be impartial,” Ulyanov said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Secondly, Russia is categorically against it.”
 

 


White House seeks plan for possible Russia sanctions relief, sources say

Updated 04 March 2025
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White House seeks plan for possible Russia sanctions relief, sources say

  • Russia is one of the world’s biggest oil producers and if US sanctions on its energy system were eased, it could help prevent fuel prices from rising if Trump cracks down on oil exports from OPEC-member Iran

The United States is drawing up a plan to potentially give Russia sanctions relief as President Donald Trump seeks to restore ties with Moscow and stop the war in Ukraine, a US official and another person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The White House has asked the State and Treasury departments to draft a list of sanctions that could be eased for US officials to discuss with Russian representatives in the coming days as part of the administration’s broad talks with Moscow on improving diplomatic and economic relations, the sources said.
The sanctions offices are now drawing up a proposal for lifting sanctions on select entities and individuals, including some Russian oligarchs, according to the sources.
So-called options papers are often drafted by officials working on sanctions, but the White House’s specific request for one in recent days underscores Trump and his advisers’ willingness to ease Russian sanctions as part of a potential deal with Moscow.
It was not immediately clear what Washington could specifically seek in return for any sanctions relief.
Russia is one of the world’s biggest oil producers and if US sanctions on its energy system were eased, it could help prevent fuel prices from rising if Trump cracks down on oil exports from OPEC-member Iran.
The White House, the State Department, the Treasury Department and the Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Kremlin last year described relations as “below zero” under the administration of Joe Biden, a Democrat who backed Ukraine with aid and weapons and imposed tough sanctions on Russia to punish it for its invasion in 2022.
But Trump, who has promised a quick end to the war, has upended US policy swiftly to open talks with Moscow, beginning with a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 12 that was followed by meetings between US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.
US sanctions on Russia since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine have included measures aimed at limiting revenues from the country’s huge oil and gas industry and weakening its ability to fund the war.
Western governments led by Washington imposed a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russia’s oil exports. Biden also hit Moscow with designations on Russian energy companies and vessels that shipped its oil, including Washington’s toughest-yet measures on Jan. 10 shortly before leaving office.
Trump in January threatened to ramp up sanctions on Russia if Putin was unwilling to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. But more recently, Trump administration officials have openly acknowledged the possibility of easing sanctions on Moscow.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a Feb. 20 interview with Bloomberg Television that Russia could win economic relief, depending on how it approached negotiations in the coming weeks. Trump told reporters on Feb. 26 that Russian sanctions could be eased “at some point.”

ECONOMIC COOPERATION
The White House asked State and Treasury officials to devise a possible sanctions relief plan before Trump last week extended a state of emergency over the situation in Ukraine, the US sources said.
The state of emergency sanctions certain assets and people involved in Russia’s war. Those measures, imposed by then-President Barack Obama’s administration, have been in place since March 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea.
It is unclear which Russian sanctions the Trump administration would consider lifting first.
Trump could issue an executive order that would allow the administration to begin the process of easing some Russian sanctions, but he would also need to seek congressional approval to lift measures on certain entities, said John Smith, a partner at Morrison Foerster law firm and the former head of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Since 2022, Russia has been able to build a wartime economy with increased military spending and industrial production. But experts say the country’s economy is vulnerable and in desperate need of Western sanctions relief.
Russia says it is open for economic cooperation. The Kremlin said last week that Russia had lots of rare earth metal deposits and was open to doing deals to develop them after Putin held out the possibility of such collaboration with the US
Any formal economic deal with Moscow would likely require the US to ease sanctions.
Trump has been seeking a minerals deal with Ukraine — home to a trove of lithium deposits and rare earth minerals — as pay back for billions of dollars in US aid. However, no deal was signed after an explosive Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.


Trump slams Zelensky for saying the end of the Russia war ‘is still very, very far away’

Updated 04 March 2025
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Trump slams Zelensky for saying the end of the Russia war ‘is still very, very far away’

  • “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform about the comments Zelensky made late Sunday

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday for suggesting that the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine likely “is still very, very far away.”
The comments come as prominent Trump allies escalate pressure on Zelensky to dramatically change his approach to the US president, who has made quickly ending the war a top priority, or step aside.
The long complicated relationship between the leaders has reached a nadir following a disastrous White House meeting in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance excoriated Zelensky for not being sufficiently thankful for US support for Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the February 2022 invasion.
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform about the comments Zelensky made late Sunday while speaking to reporters in London.
Trump at an event at the White House later on Monday referred to Zelensky’s reported comments, and asserted the Ukrainian leader “better not be right about that.”
“If somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, I think that person won’t be around very long,” Trump added. “That person will not be listened to very long.”
Trump took issue with Zelensky suggesting it would take time to come to an agreement to end the war. The Ukrainian leader also tried to offer a positive take on the US-Ukraine relationship in the aftermath of last week’s White House meeting.
Asked by a reporter about the outlines of a new European initiative to end Russia’s war, Zelensky said: “We are talking about the first steps today, and, therefore, until they are on paper, I would not like to talk about them in great detail.”
“An agreement to end the war is still very, very far away, and no one has started all these steps yet,” he added.
But Trump was only further irritated by Zelensky’s suggesting it will take time for the conflict to come to a close.
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelensky, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US — Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia,” Trump added in his post. “What are they thinking?”
Zelensky took to social media soon after Trump’s latest criticism. He did not directly refer to Trump’s comments, but underscored that it “is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible.”
“We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns,” Zelensky added. “We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security.”
Trump’s national security adviser said Zelensky’s posture during Friday’s Oval Office talks “put up in the air” whether he’s someone the US administration will be able to deal with going forward.
“Is he ready, personally, politically, to move his country toward an end to the fighting?” Mike Waltz said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” earlier Monday. “And can he and will he make the compromises necessary?”
Waltz added another layer of doubt about US support as other high-profile Trump allies have suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelensky is becoming untenable.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that Zelensky “needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude or someone else needs to lead the country” for Ukraine to continue pursuing a peace deal negotiated by the United States.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has been a vociferous supporter of Ukraine, said soon after the Oval Office meeting that Zelensky “either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”
Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council, said Putin is likely in no rush to end the war amid the fissures between Trump and Zelensky and Europe and the US about the way ahead.
“He is not interested in ending the war,” said Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “He thinks Russia is winning. ... And he thinks that as time goes on, the West will be more fractured.”
Trump administration and Ukrainian officials had been expected to sign off on a deal during Zelensky’s visit last week that would have given the US access to Ukraine’s critical minerals in part to pay back more than $180 billion in aid the US has sent Kyiv since the start of the war. The White House has also billed such a pact as a way to tighten US-Ukrainian relations in the long term.
The signing was scrapped after the leaders’ Oval Office talks went off the rails and White House officials asked Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation to leave.
Trump on Monday, however, suggested he hasn’t given up on the economic pact, calling it “a great deal.” He added that he expected to speak to the deal during his Tuesday address before a joint session of Congress.


UN food program closes its southern Africa office in the wake of Trump administration aid cuts

Villagers fetch water from a makeshift borehole in Mudzi, Zimbabwe, July 2, 2024. (AP)
Updated 04 March 2025
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UN food program closes its southern Africa office in the wake of Trump administration aid cuts

  • The WFP didn’t say how much funding it had lost from USAID, but it received $4.4 billion in assistance from the United States last year, around half its total annual budget and more than four times the amount given by the second biggest donor, Germany

CAPE TOWN, South Africa: The United Nations’ World Food Program is closing its southern Africa office in the wake of the Trump administration’s aid cuts, a spokesperson said Monday.
Tomson Phiri said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press that the UN food agency had launched a multiyear plan to streamline its structure in 2023 but as “the donor funding outlook becomes more constrained, we have been compelled to accelerate these efforts.”
Phiri said the WFP would consolidate its southern and East Africa operations into one regional office in Nairobi, Kenya. The southern Africa office in Johannesburg will close.

Officials from USAID and WFP inspect a donation of $11 million worth of food aid at a ceremony in Harare, Zimbabwe, Jan 17. 2024. (AP)

Phiri said food programs would continue.
“Our commitment to serving vulnerable communities is as strong as ever, and WFP remains committed to ensuring our operations are as effective and efficient as possible in meeting the needs of those facing hunger,” he wrote.
The WFP didn’t say how much funding it had lost from USAID, but it received $4.4 billion in assistance from the United States last year, around half its total annual budget and more than four times the amount given by the second biggest donor, Germany.
The Trump administration announced last week it was terminating 90 percent of USAID’s foreign aid contracts because they didn’t advance America’s national interests, stopping $60 billion in spending on humanitarian projects across the world.
The move comes after southern Africa was hit by its worst drought in decades last year, destroying crops and putting 27 million people in danger of hunger, according to the WFP. The WFP made a call for $147 million in donations to help some of those in need even before President Donald Trump started cutting US foreign aid.
The WFP provides food assistance to more than 150 million people in 120 countries worldwide, it says. It won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 and its last six leaders since 1992 have all been Americans, including current executive director Cindy McCain, the widow of former US Sen. John McCain.
Few UN agencies have been specific about the impact of the US aid cuts.
The UN’s International Organization for Migration reportedly has cut 3,000 jobs linked to resettlement in the United States, and family planning agency UNFPA has estimated that a number of its operations will be affected.
Many UN aid agencies have said they are still assessing the impact and remain unclear about whether some programs or projects will benefit from waivers that could allow US donations to continue to flow.