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New Mexico town shuts everyone out...


New Mexico town shuts everyone out...


(Second column, 19th story, link)


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Outbreaks in Germany, SKorea show risks in easing up...


Outbreaks in Germany, SKorea show risks in easing up...


(Second column, 4th story, link)


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Empty Vegas Strip counts losses as locals venture out...


Empty Vegas Strip counts losses as locals venture out...


(Second column, 2nd story, link)





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San Antonio passes resolution declaring 'Chinese virus' hate speech...


San Antonio passes resolution declaring 'Chinese virus' hate speech...


(First column, 23rd story, link)





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Can't decipher Trump-speak? Meet Margaret, the computer bot...


Can't decipher Trump-speak? Meet Margaret, the computer bot...


(First column, 19th story, link)






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Secret Service has 11 current cases, as concerns about staff grow...







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USWNT may have lost the battle over equal pay but they will win the war

The US women’s team have lost their lawsuit over equal pay but they continue to make progress in the court of public opinion

This isn’t how the fight for equal pay is supposed to end for the US women’s national team.

On Friday a US district court judge rejected the USWNT’s allegations of gender discrimination and ruled in favor of the US Soccer Federation, declaring that the team have not been underpaid.

Related: Joe Biden wades into equal pay dispute between USWNT and US Soccer

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UFC 249: Ferguson faces Gaethje as Dana White touts only game in town

  • Ferguson meets Gaethje for UFC’s interim lightweight title
  • UFC head Dana White eager to reach sports-starved audience

The main event of Saturday’s UFC 249 card in Florida is billed as being for the interim lightweight title but Tony Ferguson says he should be considered the real champion if he beats opponent Justin Gaethje.

Former collegiate wrestler Ferguson, coming into the bout on a 12-fight win streak, was supposed to fight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in Brooklyn on 18 April but that was postponed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Related: UFC announces three events to be held without fans at Jacksonville arena

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Space Lettuce Is Out of This World Good

Lettuce has key nutrients that give both astronauts and Earth-dwellers alike a physical and psychological boost. And the lettuce grown in space is no less nutritious than the Earth-bound variety.




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Can You Live Without Oxygen? This Animal Can

You could be excused for thinking that, of course, all animals breathe oxygen to live. Because it wasn't until very recently that scientists discovered the only multicellular animal that doesn't. Meet Henneguya salminicola.




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'I wanted something 100% pornographic and 100% high art': the joy of writing about sex

As authors from Chaucer to Hollinghurst have shown, sex reveals our emotions, instincts and morals. The question is not why write about sex, claims author Garth Greenwell, it’s why write about anything else?

There is a widely held belief, among English-language writers, that sex is impossible to write about well – or at least much harder to write about well than anything else. I once heard a wonderful writer, addressing students at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, say that her ideal of a sex scene would be the sentence: “They sat down on the sofa …” followed by white space. This is a prejudice I can’t understand. One of the glories of being a writer in English is that two of our earliest geniuses, Chaucer and Shakespeare, wrote of the sexual body so exuberantly, claiming it for literature and bringing its vocabulary – including all those wonderful four-letter words – into the texture of our literary language. This is a gift not all languages have received; a translator once complained to me that in her language there was only the diction of the doctor’s office or of pornography, neither of which felt native to poetry.

More than this, surely it is absurd to claim that a central activity of human life, a territory of feeling and drama, is off-limits to art. Sex is a uniquely useful tool for a writer, a powerful means not just of revealing character or exploring relationships, but of asking the largest questions about human beings.

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NSW police watchdog says strip searches illegal but critics say findings ‘did not go far enough’

A 16-year-old Aboriginal boy was forced to remove his shorts and squat during a search, but disciplinary action has not been recommended

A New South Wales police watchdog investigation into seven strip searches including one in which a 16-year-old Aboriginal boy was physically forced to remove his shorts and squat has found that all of them were unlawful.

But the watchdog has been criticised for “not going far enough” in its findings, with Sarah Crellin, a principal solicitor at the Aboriginal Legal Service, saying she was “deeply disappointed that there have been no recommendations for disciplinary action” against individual officers.

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Bridget McKenzie was told to seek Scott Morrison's 'authority' for sports grants program

Australian National Audit Office evidence to Senate appears to contradict Morrison’s claim that he provided no authorisation

The prime minister’s office asked Bridget McKenzie to seek Scott Morrison’s “authority” for intended recipients of $100m of sports grants and coordinate the announcement with Coalition campaign headquarters, according to new evidence to the sports rorts inquiry.

The evidence from the Australian National Audit Office to the Senate inquiry contradicts Morrison’s claims that McKenzie, the former sports minister, was the ultimate decision-maker for the grant program, and that changes were not made after parliament was dissolved.

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Brian May taken to hospital after tearing buttock muscles while gardening

Queen guitarist says ‘I won’t be able to walk for a while’ after injury during lockdown and lambasts Boris Johnson over coronavirus

Brian May has complained of “relentless pain” after he was taken to hospital following a gardening injury that tore muscles in his buttocks – and, while in recovery, made a sustained attack on Boris Johnson’s preparedness for coronavirus.

Writing on Instagram, the Queen guitarist said: “I managed to rip my gluteus maximus to shreds in a moment of overenthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. Turns out I did a thorough job – this is a couple of days ago – and I won’t be able to walk for a while … or sleep, without a lot of assistance, because the pain is relentless.”

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Ugly makeup: the trend highlighting what's beyond conventional beauty

Ugly makeup is imperfect, sloppy, chaotic – and only worn to please the wearer, against social expectations

In 2018, Rosanna Meikle felt like a failure. She was toiling through beauty school, and she hadn’t been able to find much work nor garner much attention for her creations online. She was exhausted from the sameness she saw around her, “a sea of beautiful girls, smoky eyes and plumped lips”, she remembers. “My school was in an expensive area of Auckland, which made me feel so out of place. I couldn’t afford the products or the clothes, my kit wasn’t ‘professional’ enough and neither was my look.”

Related: ‘It makes me feel human’: 11 women share their lockdown beauty regimens

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Pubs pivot to digital: 'We hope that people feel that the world outside is still there'

Weekly meat tray giveaways, craft beer deliveries and trivia held over Zoom. As pubs stand empty, those that run them look to the internet

Across Australia, pubs stand empty because of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Some venues have shut entirely, others have pivoted to takeaway businesses, and the majority have had to make changes to their staffing.

While the future of physical pubs remains very uncertain for the coming months, the entertainers, brewers and chefs that rely on pubs for their livelihood are finding ways to recreate pub experiences in patrons’ homes.

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Helen Garner: 'I may be an old woman, but I'm not done for yet'

In this extract from her Griffith Review essay the author wrestles with ageing and the deep need to keep writing

Why did they ask me for an essay about stopping writing? And why did I say yes? Did I tell someone I’d stopped? Have I stopped? I could, if I wanted to, couldn’t I? I’m 77 and I’m pretty tired. And lately I think I’ve copped what the French call “un coup de vieux”: a blow of old. I’ve got arthritis in my left wrist, my right knee gives twinges, and my left foot sometimes aches and stabs all day. Other days, nothing hurts at all. I don’t know what this means.

I am an old woman.

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‘We shouldn't just be used for charity’: musicians are still getting work – but they’re not being paid

With more Australian artists being asked to play for free in the lockdown, many are asking if it might do more harm than good

If live music died in mid March, it’s sure been noisy at the funeral. On platforms old and new, live gigs performed at home have streamed from trickle to tidal wave, breaking over the mobile devices of captive audiences. Global gig guide aggregator Bands In Town has added a livestream dropdown, and a new Australian state has been ceded by Eventfinda and tucked alphabetically between Victoria and Western Australia: the state of “Virtual”.

For fans it’s been fun. We’re loving seeing musicians’ pets and plants and enormous fingers fumbling for the flip screen button and, unless we’ve bought a URL ticket, there’s scandalously little to lose by dropping into, and out of, a show.

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Angie McMahon, Cut Copy, Alex the Astronaut and others: Australian music for isolated times

Each Saturday we add 15 (or so) new songs to a Spotify playlist to soundtrack your physical distancing amid coronavirus – and help artists you love get paid


We’ve published a bunch of articles about how the coronavirus crisis has impacted the Australian arts industry. But there are small things you can do. It’s an imperfect solution, but streaming Australian music can help.

Each week, in partnership with Sounds Australia, Guardian Australia will add some 15 new songs to a playlist for you to put on repeat.

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Coronavirus and culture: 'We're waiting it out in paradise'

When the coronavirus crisis hit, Yolngu elders moved back to east Arnhem Land homelands where they found freedom, peace, and power

Adapting to change is something Yolngu are good at, senior Rirratjingu songman Witiyana Marika says.

When the coronavirus first started making news, community leadership met to plan how they would manage if Covid-19 arrived in eastern Arnhem land. Senior men and women met with the emergency taskforce, the local Miwatj health service and the Laynhapuy homelands organisation to take the most vulnerable people further away from risk.

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Queensland deputy premier Jackie Trad stands down over corruption investigation

Trad says she will cooperate with investigation into allegation she interfered in appointment of school principal

Queensland’s deputy premier and treasurer, Jackie Trad, has stood down from ministerial duties over an investigation into the appointment of a Brisbane principal.

The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) is investigating the recruitment and selection process for the principal of the Inner City South Secondary College.

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Already in this crisis we are slipping into over-optimism about the economy and over-pessimism about debt | Wayne Swan

Deep recessions have long shadows and already there is a gaping hole opening up in our pandemic response

The great recession was followed by Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the rise of authoritarianism particularly in Europe.

Big economic events have big political consequences.

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Covid-19 competence has given Australian governments some political capital. But there's a flipside | Katharine Murphy

Politicians have set a high bar for themselves – success on coronavirus has created community expectations that will be challenging to shift

“Let’s not give everything back, let’s not throw away all the progress we’ve made by letting our frustration get the better of us.” This was Daniel Andrews on Friday afternoon, shortly after national cabinet resolved to gradually restart economic and social activity by July.

The Victorian premier wanted people to understand he’d be hastening slowly – the message being here in the Massachusetts of Australia, we decide how quickly we’ll remove coronavirus restrictions. We don’t apply an arbitrary national average.

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Take care with physical distancing on Mother's Day, Australia's deputy chief medical officer says

Paul Kelly warns people over 70 and with existing diseases are at high risk from coronavirus as pandemic restrictions ease

The deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, is warning people to take care if visiting mums on Mother’s Day, as frictions emerge over the lockdown in Victoria.

In some states, authorities are allowing people to pay family visits on Sunday as coronavirus pandemic restrictions are eased, but Kelly has restated warnings that people over 70 and with existing chronic diseases are at high risk from coronavirus.

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Thai elephants, out of work due to coronavirus, trudge home

The millions of unemployed in Thailand due to the coronavirus include elephants dependent on tourists to feed their voracious appetites. With scant numbers of foreign visitors, commercial elephant camps and sanctuaries lack funds for their upkeep and have sent more than 100 of the animals trudging back to their natural habitats.




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U.S. researchers are training dogs to sniff out COVID-19

As businesses in the United States slowly begin reopening, researchers in Pennsylvania are turning to dogs to help them fend off a second wave of COVID-19.




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Has the new coronavirus mutated to be more contagious? Experts weigh in

Scientists are cautioning that it’s still too early to know how the novel coronavirus mutates after a preliminary study in the U.S. claimed that a new strain of the virus has emerged that is more dominant and contagious than the original.




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Bug experts dismiss worry about U.S. 'murder hornets' as hype

Insect experts say people should calm down about the big bug with the nickname "murder hornet" -- unless you are a beekeeper or a honeybee.




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Washington state now has another bug to worry about after 'murder hornets'

Washington state has another bug to worry about in addition to Asian giant hornets -- gypsy moths, which the state's governor says could become an "infestation."




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Tim Brooke-Taylor dead: Goodies co-stars lead tributes as actor dies aged 79 after contracting coronavirus

Bill Oddie hails Brooke-Taylor as 'true visual comic' Stephen Fry, Rob Brydon and Jack Dee also pay tribute Brooke-Taylor joins public figures to have died after contracting Covid-19 Read our live coronavirus updates HERE




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Ricky Gervais criticises celebrities complaining about lockdown while NHS staff 'risk their health'

The comedian praised "selfless" NHS workers on the front line




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Bill Oddie remembers his friend and comedy partner Tim Brooke-Taylor in touching tribute

The comedian's death was announced over the weekend




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Ovie Soko's new lockdown haircut leaves fans divided

Like many, Ovie Soko has staved off lockdown boredom by getting rid of his hair




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Joe Wicks wins Guinness World Record for YouTube views as 'nation's PE teacher'




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Amanda Holden's gardening outfit is a cut above

The TV star is adding some sparkle to her household tasks




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The Bourne Isolation: Matt Damon hangs out with locals as he spends lockdown in Irish town

The Hollywood star was filming The Last Duel in Dublin when lockdown measures kicked in




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McFly rerecord their classic hit All About You in support of the NHS

The group originally released the chart-topping track in 2005




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Madonna updates debut album cover artwork to include surgical mask

The Queen of Pop shared the picture on Instagram




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Fans pay tribute to Avicii on the two-year anniversary of his death

They've shared messages of remembrance in honour of the DJ




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Amanda Holden recruits daughter Lexi for hilarious make-up tutorial with a twist

Hoping to recreate Holden's signature glow? You've come to the wrong place...




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Boyzone singer Shane Lynch moves out of his family home after arguing with wife during lockdown

The singer and his wife Sheena White have two children together




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Mark Strong: Growing up without a father has made me take parenthood 'really seriously'

The actor's father left the family home shortly after he was born




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Amanda Holden is our lockdown style inspiration in cut-out floral mini-dress

The Heart Radio star is still bringing a touch of glamour to her working day




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Dawn O'Porter pays tribute to the late Caroline Flack: 'That laugh, That humour, That loyalty'

O'Porter and Flack were good friends




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'This job puts things into perspective': Love Island's Malin Andersson explains why she's returned to work as a carer

Andersson said it has been "humbling" to return to her old profession during the coronavirus crisis