Anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr has launched his longshot bid to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination next year.
Mr Kennedy, a member of the country’s most famous political families who has in recent years been linked to far-right figures, started his campaign in Boston on Wednesday and likened it to the American revolution.
“My mission over the next 18 months of this campaign and throughout my presidency will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country,” he said.
Self-help author Marianne Williamson is also running in the Democratic race.
Mr Kennedy, a nephew of murdered president John F Kennedy and the son of his assassinated brother Robert F Kennedy, was once a bestselling author and environmental lawyer who worked on issues such as clean water.
But more than 15 years ago, he became fixated on a belief that vaccines are not safe.
He emerged as one of the leading voices in the anti-vaccine movement and his work has been described by public health experts and even members of his own family as misleading and dangerous.
Mr Kennedy had been long involved in the movement, but the effort intensified after the Covid-19 pandemic and development of the coronavirus vaccine.
His anti-vaccine charity, Children’s Health Defence, prospered during the pandemic, with revenues more than doubling in 2020 to $6.8 million, according to filings with charity regulators.
Mr Kennedy's organisation has aimed false claims at groups that may be more prone to distrust the vaccine, including mothers and black Americans, experts have said, which could have resulted in deaths during the pandemic.
His push against the Covid-19 vaccine has linked him at times with anti-democratic figures and groups.
Mr Kennedy has appeared at events pushing the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, and with people who cheered or played down the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
He has repeatedly invoked Nazis and the Holocaust when talking about measures aimed at mitigating the spread of Covid-19, such as mask requirements and vaccine mandates.
Mr Kennedy has sometimes apologised for those comments, including when he suggested that people in 2022 had it worse than Anne Frank, the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp after hiding with her family in a secret annex in an Amsterdam house for two years.
He has at times used his family’s legacy in his anti-vaccine work, including sometimes using images of John F Kennedy.
His sister Kerry Kennedy, who runs Robert F Kennedy Human Rights, the international rights group founded by their mother Ethel, said her brother has at times removed some of the content at her request.
Ms Kennedy told AP in 2021 that her brother is “completely wrong on this issue and very dangerous".
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
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Brief scoreline
Switzerland 0
England 0
Result: England win 6-5 on penalties
Man of the Match: Trent Alexander-Arnold (England)
