Israel re-opens economy with vaccine passports
People are now able to enter shopping malls and tourist attractions such as zoos
A number of facilities are now able to reopen including gyms, hotels and synagogues but they require a "green passport", a certificate that can only be obtained once you have been vaccinated. But it's not all been smooth sailing as the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Middle East editor, Sebastian Usher explains. One country to the north of Israel is Lebanon whose struggling economy has taken a twin hits from Covid and last year's fertilizer explosion at the port in Beirut; the Lebanese government wants banks to increase their capital reserves to prevent a banking crisis and we ask James Swanston, Middle East Economist at Capital Economics, if it's working. The fallout continues following snow storms in Texas - we hear details from Texan resident, Diana Vela who's Associate Executive Director of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth. And despite lockdowns reducing traffic, air pollution was behind approximately 160,000 deaths in the world’s five most populous cities last year, according to a Greenpeace Southeast Asia report; we hear from Aidan Farrow, pollution scientist at Greenpeace. (Picure of the Israeli flag and a vaccine via Getty Images).
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- Mon 22 Feb 2021 01:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service