Travel in Lebanon

If this morning’s reports from the BBC and other sources have it right, the ban on in-cabin laptops will not be extended to include additional flights from Europe to the U.S.

Just hours after the Department of Homeland Security published its ban on electronic devices on flights to the U.S. from 10 Middle East and African airports, the U.K. followed suit, with its own ban on carry-on devices on flights to the United Kingdom from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.

With COVID-19 cases surging across the globe, the European Union (EU) has just officially recommended that all member states reinstate travel restrictions for tourists from six countries, including the United States. Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, and the Republic of North Macedonia have also been removed from the E.U.’s safe list.

Understandably, most of us are closely following the effects of coronavirus at home: the daily news keeps our minds directed to what’s happening close to us. But cast your mind back two months, before the coronavirus hit Italy, and you’ll recall that back then, much of the media’s attention was focused on the Middle East – specifically, Iran, which was the first country outside China to suffer a huge number of cases of coronavirus.

Jutting northwards into the Persian Gulf, Qatar is one of the world’s smaller nations (about the size of Yorkshire, England), but it is also the world’s richest country per capita. Many will only see Doha’s skyline from afar during an airport transfer, and football fans will know Qatar as the controversial location of the 2022 World Cup, but its labyrinthine souks, intergalactic architecture and beautiful sand dunes are well worth a closer look.

With the world in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, you’re sure to have heard plenty of advice on how to protect yourself. Face masks, self isolation, social distancing… these are all important, but one of the most vital tips is also one of the most basic: wash your hands regularly. It may have taken something of a back seat in recent government communications, but cast your mind back to March, and you’ll no doubt remember hearing the advice that you should wash your hands for as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday – twice. Recent studies have suggested that regular hand washing could help to curb a pandemic by nearly seventy percent – but also that about thirty percent of people don’t wash their hands after using the toilet. In airports, it’s thought that only twenty percent of people have clean hands. Perhaps it’s no surprise that coronavirus spread so quickly.

You told us which country you think has the best cuisine and now we’ve whittled it down to a top fifteen. Starting the countdown is Malaysia; Sharni Lutalica told us on Facebook that Malaysian cuisine is her favourite for the variety in flavours and spices.

Pondering on the cleanliness of airplanes is not something most of us like to think about when flying.