Australia has reopened its international border for the first time in nearly two years, bringing joyful family reunions and a boost to tourism. The country imposed some of the world’s strictest travel bans after shutting itself off in March 2020 due to Covid. Australians and some others were allowed to return from late last year, but most foreigners have had to wait. There were tearful reunions at Sydney Airport on Monday as hundreds of people began arriving on flights. One young girl, Charlotte, shared an emotional hug with her grandfather. She told the local Nine Network: “I’ve missed him so much and I’ve looked forward to this trip for so long.” Double-jabbed visitors do not need to quarantine, but unvaccinated travellers must do so in a hotel for up to 14 days at their own expense.(BBC)…[+]

US President Joe Biden has agreed “in principle” to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the crisis over Ukraine. The talks proposed by France will only take place if Russia does not invade its neighbour, the White House said. The Kremlin, meanwhile, said there were no “concrete plans” for a summit. It is hoped that such talks could offer a possible diplomatic solution to one of the worst security crises in Europe in decades. US officials say intelligence suggests Russia is ready to launch a military operation, which Moscow denies.  The proposed summit was announced by the French presidency after two phone calls between President Emmanuel Macron and Mr Putin, which went on for almost three hours in total.(BBC)…[+]

This announcement from Buckingham Palace that the Queen has tested positive for Covid is a careful balancing act between telling the public about the Queen getting the virus – while at the same time playing down any sense of alarm. So the concern about the 95-year-old monarch has been countered by the assurance that the symptoms are mild and she is well enough to carry on working. Emphasising this business-as-usual approach, the Queen was back at work on Sunday to sign off a message of congratulations to the Winter Olympics curling teams. Like for the curlers, the royal brushers have smoothed a path for what might otherwise be a worrying message. In terms of what happens  next – the Queen is clearly going to be very carefully monitored by her personal medical team.(BBC)…[+]

Alarms rang out across the Brazilian city of Petrópolis on Thursday, warning of more heavy rain to come after floods and landslides killed at least 117 people with more than 100 missing.  The rescue mission has been temporarily called off and some people, fearing more destruction, are fleeing the city. One volunteer rescuer said that finding survivors under the rubble was now “practically impossible”. This week’s rainfall in Petrópolis was the heaviest in nearly a century. The downpours on Tuesday alone exceeded the average for the whole of February, triggering landslides and floods in the city north of Rio and turning streets into rivers of mud. Homes were engulfed and vehicles swept away. The first funerals took place on Thursday for the victims who had been formally identified, with the stories of those who died starting to come to light – like that of Helena, who had started at nursery just a few days before the landslide destroyed the home she shared with her family. “I enjoyed my baby’s company for little more than one year,” her mother Giselli Carvalho, who also lost her mother and niece in the disaster, told Brazilian news channel Globo TV. (BBC)…[+]