Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announces that some physical distancing measures will be wound back, but has urged Queenslanders to be responsible and sensible in their activities.

Sex work, food vans at farmers' markets and race meetings are some of the latest activities banned by Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein, as part of the ongoing effort to slow the spread of coronavirus in the state.

The Tasmanian Government bans visits to all of the state's hospitals, with some exceptions for parents and on compassionate grounds, under new social distancing measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The Climate Clever app helps you measure, monitor, compare and reduce your consumption of energy and your production on waste.

The Prime Minister wants to get the nation "back to work" and is expected to announce an easing of COVID-19 restrictions on Friday. But will Australians put their health at risk by taking public transport?

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian will announce the plan to start relaxing lock down restrictions from Friday, but local and regional travel is not yet back on the menu.

While new laws block predominantly Aboriginal people from buying takeaway alcohol in Alice Springs, the local casino has been overwhelmed with patrons, and has been fined by a court for not ejecting drunk patrons.

Australian scientists have weighed Greenland's ice cap melt using satellite technology and their findings are not good.

A Victorian dairy lobby group calls for the New South Wales Government to stop subsidising the cost of transporting fodder.

How strong is our economy if it can’t absorb shocks? If growth comes at a great expense to future generations? And where is the scorecard that tells us how we are actually doing?

Sponsors are abandoning efforts to create a paid family and medical leave program in Colorado through legislation, announcing Friday they will instead support a ballot initiative already in the works. The proposed family leave bill faced rough waters from the beginning, but the coronavirus pandemic proved to be an insurmountable obstacle, the Democratic would-be sponsors […]

How strong is our economy if it can’t absorb shocks? If growth comes at a great expense to future generations? And where is the scorecard that tells us how we are actually doing?

President Donald Trump signed a $484 billion bill Friday to aid employers and hospitals under stress from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 50,000 Americans and devastated broad swaths of the economy.

Schools say it’s the best they can do in a pandemic.

Schools say it’s the best they can do in a pandemic.

In this paper (winner of the eCrime 2019 Best Paper award), we consider the types of things that can go wrong when you intend to make things better and more secure. Consider this scenario. You are browsing through Internet and see a news headline on one of the presidential candidates. You are unsure if the … Continue reading Identifying Unintended Harms of Cybersecurity Countermeasures →

Apple today announced that it will begin reopening its retail stores in Germany on May 11, nearly two months after they were closed due to the global health crisis.


In a statement shared with German website Macerkopf, Apple said the stores will initially be focusing on Genius Bar service and support. Enhanced health and safety measures will be implemented, such as body temperature checks prior to entry, limits on how many customers can be in the store at once, social distancing, and reduced hours of operation.

Apple operates 15 retail stores in Germany and will be posting specific hours of operation for each location on its website.

Apple closed all of its retail stores outside of the Greater China region in mid-March. The company has since started to reopen some locations, including in South Korea, Austria, and Australia. All locations in the United States remain closed.

Highlights  IBM scientists have measured how long information can stay in an individual atom  IBM breakthrough enables ability to actually record, study and visualize the magnetism of individual atoms at staggering speeds – one million times faster than previously possible  Could be valuable tool to study solar cells, quantum computing and storage-class memory at the nanoscale Today IBM researchers published a breakthrough technique in the peer-reviewed journal Science that measures how long a single atom can hold information, and giving scientists the ability to record, study and "visualize" extremely fast phenomena inside these atoms.

1. Coronavirus restrictions to lift in NSW from Friday, but will not be following all National Cabinet measures  ABC News
2. Berejiklian's roadmap to freedom in NSW  Sydney Morning Herald
3. Mother's Day state by state: What can and can't you do?  The Canberra Times
4. Permission to mingle: NSW will ease lockdown laws on Friday  Daily Telegraph
5. NSW to ease lockdown restrictions from Friday  The Age
6. View Full coverage on Google News

The German cabinet on Monday agreed to an unprecedented aid package to prop up the country's economy as the coronavirus pandemic takes hold. Parliament is set to approve the package later this week.

People are growing increasingly impatient over the coronavirus lockdown, and politicians are now debating whether to loosen measures. From a scientific point of view this is a disaster. Measures should actually be tightened until we know more about the virus.

In a letter, the group noted that past pandemics show large-scale social restrictions that keep people physically separated can make the most difference if done before the illness becomes widespread.

The best baking tip is measuring ingredients by weight, as professional bakers do, to ensure the most accurate and consistent results.

Our healthcare system has not been overwhelmed. It's time to return to normal for most people while taking measures to protect the vulnerable.

'We want to help Britain return to what we knew as normal before the pandemic,' says head of train drivers' union

Daily Express Chief Sports Writer Neil Squires urges the EFL and its clubs to protect their long-term future once the coronavirus crisis ends.

Future authorizations must be limited in scope and duration so that wars can no longer be waged endlessly without public deliberation, a letter says.

Failing to abide by governor's order is a misdemeanor, but officials hope they don't need to enforce it.

Indiana businesses operating during the coronavirus should follow certain sanitation measures. Guidelines vary based on a worker's risk of exposure.

Ivory Coast on Friday lifted many of its coronavirus containment measures, except in economic capital Abidjan which has the vast majority of the country's cases, as jubilant locals feted the return of the country's vibrant nightlife.

And now, we’re woefully unprepared.

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis.

It is at times like these that we as a country rely on the relevant stakeholders to take care of our people and put into action the promises made in the preamble of our Constitution, particularly where it is stated that through our freely elected representatives, the quality of life of all citizens is to be improved.

Viviane Baladi and Mark F. Demers
J. Amer. Math. Soc. 33 (2020), 381-449.
Abstract, references and article information

V. M. Radchenko and N. O. Stefans’ka
Theor. Probability and Math. Statist. 99 (2020), 229-238.
Abstract, references and article information

A. G. Kukush and O. O. Chernova
Theor. Probability and Math. Statist. 99 (2020), 125-135.
Abstract, references and article information

The Lands Department will provide additional rental or fee concessions for tenants of short-term tenancies (STT) and waiver holders in accordance with the new round of support measures announced earlier this month.

The measures aim to strengthen support for enterprises in light of the challenges arising from the COVID-19 epidemic.

In accordance with the support measures launched in 2019 and those announced in the 2020-21 Budget, STTs and waivers for varying the terms of land grants for business and community uses under the department have been granted 50% rental or fee concession from October 2019 to September this year.

Under the new round of support measures, the 5,000 eligible STT tenants and waiver holders already enjoying the previous concession, such as catering facilities, shops, workshops, public fee-paying car parks, and welfare facilities, will see their rental or fee concession rate increase to 75% from April to September.

The 75% concession arrangement will be extended to businesses not covered previously, such as depots for public transport operators, public utilities, petrol filling stations, driving schools and advertising facilities, effective for the same period.

If these tenants and waiver holders are ordered to close or have chosen to close due to the Government’s orders or other restrictions for safeguarding public health under the relevant regulation, they may further apply to the department for full rental or fee concession for the duration of the closure.

The department will issue written notifications to eligible STT tenants and waiver holders on the above concession measures and their implementation details.           

Additionally, to help development projects with construction progress affected by the epidemic, the department will offer extensions of the Building Covenant period at nil premium for up to six months for leases with the covenant not yet discharged as at April 8.

The department will issue a practice note and upload it onto its website by the end of the month to announce the application arrangements for lessees.

The Government will launch a series of measures to retain and create jobs to prevent massive layoffs amid record levels of unemployment and underemployment for the first three months of the year.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment and underemployment rates have soared recently due to the severe blow dealt by the COVID-19 epidemic to Hong Kong’s economy.

With reference to the practice of some overseas governments in providing wage subsidies to employers and following the funding approval by the Legislative Council Finance Committee, the Government will launch the $81 billion Employment Support Scheme (ESS) as soon as possible.

The scheme will provide time-limited financial support to employers to retain workers who will inevitably be made redundant due to the downturn in business.

The provision of subsidies for employers, together with other relief measures and loan arrangements under the Anti-epidemic Fund and the 2020-21 Budget will help businesses stay afloat and retain jobs to prepare for a quick recovery once the epidemic is over.

Except for the Government, statutory bodies and government-funded organisations whose employees' salaries are not affected by the epidemic, employers who have been making Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) contributions or have set up Occupational Retirement Schemes will be eligible for the ESS.

Employers joining the scheme have to provide an undertaking not to implement redundancies during the subsidy period and spend all wage subsidies from the Government in paying wages to their employees.

Wage subsidies provided under the ESS are calculated based on 50% of wages in a specified month subject to a wage cap of $18,000 per month for six months.

Payment will be made in two tranches, with the first payout no later than the end of June to subsidise employers to pay employees' wages from June to August.

After approval of the application, the number of employees on payroll shall not be less than the number of employees in March and the wage subsidies applied by employers must be used fully for employees' wages.

Under the ESS, self-employed people who have contributed to the MPF from January 1, 2019 to March 31 will be granted a one-off subsidy of $7,500.

The scheme is expected to benefit over 260,000 employers who have been making MPF contributions or have set up Occupational Retirement Schemes for 1.7 million employees, and about 215,000 self-employed people.

Employers and employees in the catering, construction and transport sectors that are not covered by the MPF will be taken care of by sector-specific schemes.

Regarding job creation, the Government has earmarked $6 billion to create about 30,000 time-limited jobs in public and private sectors in the coming two years for people of different skills and academic qualifications.

This is in addition to more than 10,000 civil service job openings for replacing retirees and filling new posts to be created in the 2020-21 Estimates, and about 5,000 short-term interns for young people.

In the second half of the year, the Labour Department will raise the ceiling of the on-the-job training allowance payable to employers under the Employment Programme for the Elderly & Middle-aged, the Youth Employment & Training Programme and the Work Orientation & Placement Scheme to further encourage employers to hire seniors, youngsters and the disabled.

The department plans to launch a pilot scheme in the second half of the year to encourage these people to undergo and complete on-the-job training under the above-mentioned employment programmes through the provision of a retention allowance.

A time-limited unemployment support scheme will be launched through the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme at the same time to provide timely and basic financial support to the unemployed who may not be covered by the ESS.

To maintain Hong Kong's economic vibrancy and relieve the financial burden of the public under the epidemic, the Government has introduced the largest package of relief measures to date, including the one-off relief measures in the Budget costing $120 billion and two rounds of measures under the Anti-epidemic Fund totalling $287.5 billion.

This accounts for about 10% of Hong Kong's gross domestic product, the Government added.