At a deserted Federation Square in Melbourne, the big screen broadcasts this message: ‘If you can see this, what are you doing? Go home.’
Cassie Zervos/Twitter
Current restrictions remind us of the value of access to public space and one another. Yet even before COVID-19 some people were excluded and targeted, so a return to the status quo isn’t good enough.
Nangala, an Alyawarr woman from Tennant Creek, with her granddaughter, beside her temporary housing.
Photo by Trisha Narurla Frank, provided with permission
Reducing crowding and repairing social housing can decrease the risk of COVID-19 in remote Indigenous communities. It will bring other long-term benefits, too.
Many want to do the right thing – tenants and landlords alike. But they lack guidance on how to go about it while still keeping their own heads above water.
Government action to control rents isn’t unprecedented. Menzies did it in the second world and subsequent state measures kept rents in check for decades. Now extreme circumstances justify it again.
Inscriptions on the Stanley Cup shows no winner was declared in 1919 when the final series between Montréal and Seattle was cancelled because of the flu pandemic.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The Stanley Cup hockey finals were cancelled mid-series in 1919 because of the flu pandemic. Unlike a century ago, the NHL has put player health ahead of profit when dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
If the government seeks to reduce its massive deficit by cutting public spending after the pandemic subsides, this will burden the poor and public sector workers, increasing inequality.
Members of an arm of Hezbollah spray disinfectant in a Beirut neighborhood to fight the spread of the coronavirus.
AP Photo/Bilal Hussein
Criminal gangs, insurgents and terrorist groups seek to protect the people in the areas they govern, when a central government’s power is weak or nonexistent.
No continent is more vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most vulnerable people pay the highest price, and this time Africa will struggle to get help as other nations fight their own battles.
With current social distancing measures, Australia’s sporting bodies can’t rely on physical attendance for revenue. Not turning to esports at such a time would be a missed opportunity.
Followers of the QAnon movement, shown here at a 2018 rally in Pennsylvania for President Donald Trump, use social platforms to spread conspiracy theories. False information from the QAnon community about the coronavirus pandemic is a public health hazard.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
QAnon refers to the online community that believes in conspiracy theories about Donald Trump and the so-called deep state, and is spreading harmful misinformation about COVID-19.
The Bank of Canada has agreed to buy some of the new debt that provinces are taking on to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. It’s time for the central bank to do even more.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
We live in the time of the ‘quantified self’. This means we’re constantly under pressure to use technology to ‘optimise’ ourselves, and may be why many people view gaming as a ‘waste of time’.
Representatives of tenants and agents agree that leaving individuals to try to sort out rent reductions has created a mess. It calls for government to step in to look after both renters and landlords.
The Warrick Lane redevelopment is a major construction project overseen by local government.
Blacktown City Council/Facebook
Local councils work hand in hand with industries like construction. If the downturn is allowed to cripple councils, that will also hit essential businesses hard.
As if attacks on health workers weren’t upsetting enough, reports indicate broadband engineers are now also being abused - as conspiracy theorists link 5G technology with to COVID-19’s spread.
Even before COVID-19, 22% of international students often went without food or necessities and almost half depended on paid work to cover the rent. With many of their jobs gone, they’re now desperate.
A four-year-old female Malayan tiger has tested positive for COVID-19, with six other tigers and lions showing symptoms. It’s the first known case of a ‘wild’ animal catching the disease.
Waitress Casey Stewart works at two restaurants, at least one which may have to close for at least a week or more.
AP Photo/Kathy Willens
Service workers are some of the most at risk of both the coronavirus and financial woes.
An inscription on the Peace Arch at the crossing between Washington state and British Columbia alludes to the special border relationship between the U.S. and Canada.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
The U.S. wanted to use the coronavirus pandemic as a reason to send the military to its northern border. The idea is part of America’s desire to “Mexicanize” the world’s longest undefended border.