Western Morning News

Shutterstock Researchers have found a new strain of flu virus with “pandemic potential” in China that can jump from pigs to humans, triggering a suite of worrying headlines. It’s excellent this virus has been found early, and raising the alarm quickly allows virologists to swing into action developing new specificContinue Reading

By securing victory in a national vote on constitutional changes, Vladimir Putin could now remain president of Russia until 2036 if he chooses to stand again. After 20 years in power, the narrative of Russia’s chaotic 1990s remains core to Putin’s legitimacy as the leader who restored stability. Although theContinue Reading

DANIEL POCKETT/AAP As of this morning, ten “hot spot” postcodes in Melbourne’s suburbs have gone back into Stage 3 coronavirus lockdown. In these suburbs, stay-at-home restrictions will be enforced by police patrols, “booze bus”-style barriers and random checks in transport corridors. In what Premier Daniel Andrews described as “extraordinary steps”,Continue Reading

With three months before JobSeeker is due to end and calls for billions of dollars in extra spending, there is a growing debate about how Australia’s post-coronavirus economy will actually look. While Scott Morrison has said Australia will need to lift economic growth by “more than one percentage point aboveContinue Reading

Tensions over border closures are in the news again, now states are gradually lifting travel restrictions to all except Victorians. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says singling out Victorians is an overreaction to Melbourne’s coronavirus spike, urging the states “to get some perspective”. Federal-state tensions over border closures and other pandemicContinue Reading

Bianca De Marchi/ AAP Sydney newspaper the Daily Telegraph has lost its appeal against a defamation decision that awarded actor Geoffrey Rush almost A$3 million. Last year, Rush was awarded a record $2.9 million after he sued Nationwide News, the publisher of the Daily Telegraph. This was over allegations theContinue Reading

Getting the right information during the pandemic has been a matter of life and death. FivosVas via Shutterstock News media have been especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, as good quality information has literally become “a matter of life and death”. New Ofcom data confirms that we are increasingly reliantContinue Reading

Joy Hester at Fitzroy Gardens, 1942. Albert Tucker/State Library of Victoria I have been thinking a lot lately of how many worlds there are contained in very small spaces and how every person is really one world to himself unconnected by anyone or any thing. – Joy Hester, 1947 SoContinue Reading

Dutch supervisors oversaw the local coolies in the tobacco warehouse in Deli Medan North Sumatra, 1897. www.nationaalarchief.nl The anti-racism protest that started in the US has spread to Europe and the world. Protesters are not only denouncing racism but also condemning slavery in the colonial era by bringing down colonialistContinue Reading

A nationwide vote has ratified constitutional reforms proposed by Russian president, Vladimir Putin. With a 68% turnout, preliminary results suggest 78% of those taking part voted in favour of the changes, according to Russia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC). The vote – which ran from June 25 to July 1 –Continue Reading