Australia’s second largest city orders 36 suburbs locked down to stop virus spike
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Authorities on Tuesday ordered the lockdown of 36 suburbs in Australia’s second biggest city Melbourne in an attempt to stop a spike in coronavius cases, a dramatic departure from the relaxation of restrictions elsewhere in the country. From midnight on Wednesday the first suburb-specific stay-home order will be imposed on some 320,000 people, […]
“Buildings are closed but churches are open”: UK churches see lift in interest during coronavirus lockdown
DAVID ADAMS speaks with Peter Lynas, director of the Evangelical Alliance UK, about a new report looking how how British churches have fared during the coronavirus pandemic…
India launches jobs plan for migrants in “testing times”
New DelhiThomson Reuters Foundation India on Wednesday unveiled a jobs plan for “testing times” in a bid to get migrants back at work after the world’s biggest coronavirus lockdown stripped millions of their livelihood. With a mammoth repatriation effort underway, tens of thousands of migrant workers are returning to India and the government scheme aims […]
Rome’s parks buzz as Italy eases COVID-19 restrictions, with Masses coming soon
Vatican CityRNS After nearly 50 days of a strict lockdown in their homes, Italians flocked to parks and strolled the streets on Monday, the first day of “Phase Two”, when the Italian Government loosened some of the restrictions put in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Over the weekend, the Italian Catholic bishops, […]
The Sea of Galilee is full, but the beaches are empty
JerusalemAP After an especially rainy winter, the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel is at its highest level in two decades, but the beaches and major Christian sites along its banks are empty. Tourism usually peaks in April, when Christians flock to the holy sites during the Easter season and Israelis descend on the beaches […]
Aggressive testing to underpin France’s coronavirus lockdown exit
Paris, FranceReuters France will adopt an aggressive doctrine on COVID-19 testing from 11th May so that it can slowly unwind its lockdown and avoid economic meltdown, its Prime Minister said on Tuesday, warning that citizens have to be disciplined to avoid a new outbreak. The government has set itself a goal of carrying out at […]
“Exposing inequalities”: Evictions, power cuts heighten South Africa housing crisis amid lockdown
KIM HARRISBERG, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on warnings concerning the impact the COVID-19 lockdown is having on the nation’s poor…
Wow!: Children’s drawings from lockdown show the world what they miss most
Reuters photographers capture children around the world holding up drawings of what they miss most during lockdowns…
Italy’s lockdown labour crunch sparks fears of mafia exploitation
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation Mafia exploitation of immigrants on farms in Italy is likely to rise as the coronavirus lockdown brings chronic labour shortages, the government and labour rights groups have warned. Italy normally depends on 370,000 foreign workers to bring in its harvest, but travel restrictions to stop the spread of the virus have […]
British people hail cleaner air and community spirit under lockdown
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Less than 10 per cent of British people want to go back to normal after lockdown, with most seeing upsides from breathing cleaner air to greater sense of community spirit, according to a survey released on Friday. More than half those questioned said air quality had improved as road traffic levels […]