Source: Lonely Planet
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Thursday 12 August 2021 14:07:35
Québec Is the First Province in Canada to Launch Vaccine Passports
Québec is the first province in Canada to announce the introduction of a vaccine passport. Similar to programs in New York City and Europe, the pass will allow individuals to prove they are fully vaccinated to access some non-essential services.
The pass is set to be introduced on September 1 as Québec faces an "inevitable" fourth wave. Rather than put the province under lockdown again and close non-essential businesses, Québec's health minister Christian Dubé said in a news conference on Tuesday that a vaccine passport would be implemented as a way of controlling the virus.
"The idea is for us to only allow people with the passport to access these services as of September 1, instead of closing them," Dubé said via the Montreal Gazette.
The pass will display a person's vaccination status and will be required at restaurants, bars, festivals, gyms and movie theaters. Cultural attractions and essential services like grocery stores are excluded from the program.
People will be able to access the vaccine passport through a free smartphone app, though Dubé said a paper version will also be accepted from people without access to phones. A pilot project will be launched today to test the system before the official launch in September.
"Taking into account the increase in cases, the fall coming up with the back-to-school and back-to-work and the expected prevalence of the Delta variant, the conditions are there to deploy the vaccination passport," Dubé said.
Like the rest of Canada, Québec has reported success in its vaccination campaign. According to the official tracker, 84% of the eligible population has received their first dose, while 70% is fully vaccinated. Despite the strong uptake though, the highly contagious Delta variant is driving up COVID-19 infections throughout the province —particularly among unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people.
Canada opened its borders to fully vaccinated US tourists on Monday, and is preparing to allow fully vaccinated visitors from the rest of the world in from September 7. It's expected that tourists in Québec will be required to participate in the province's health pass system. When visiting Canada, passengers are asked to input their vaccination status to the ArriveCan app before boarding their flight so it's possible that they will then be able to use this app to access spaces where the vaccine passport is required —but details have yet to be confirmed.
