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Explainer

How conspiracy theories about COVID-19 went viral

Why do epidemics breed conspiracy theories? And what do scientists say?

  • by Sherryn Groch, Chris Zappone and Felicity Lewis
Exclusive

MPs refuse to download official COVID-19 app and demand privacy guarantees

The government wants to convince Australians to voluntarily download the app, seeking to assuage data privacy concerns.

  • by Fergus Hunter and Michael Koziol

'Poacher and gamekeeper': Australia wants global inquiry independent of WHO

Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Minister for Health Greg Hunt

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will push for an independent body to launch a global inquiry into the coronavirus.

  • by Eryk Bagshaw

'Selfish, irresponsible': Premier blasts Rio Tinto contractor who tested positive after Bali holiday

The man who tested positive came back from Bali.

Premier Mark McGowan has called a Rio Tinto contractor who recently travelled to Bali and has now tested positive to COVID-19 "selfish and irresponsible".

  • by Daile Cross and Hamish Hastie

Artania cruise ship finally sets sail from WA after COVID-19 outbreak

The German cruise ship Artania departs Fremantle Port.

The ship departed just after 1pm on Saturday, en route for a planned stop in Indonesia before reaching its final destination: Germany. 

  • by Daile Cross

World slowly waking from pandemic lockdown

Lisa Brancatisano and with her son Matteo.

The scaling back of lockdowns in hot-bed nations, many still fighting wholesale death, may offer Australians glimmers of hope.

  • by Zach Hope

More top stories

Artist's impression of the East Perth Power Station redevelopment.

WA billionaires to transform East Perth power station into 'gateway to the CBD'

The state government has struck a deal with two of Australia's wealthiest billionaires to transform the neglected East Perth Power Station into the 'eastern gateway of the CBD'. 

  • by Marta Pascual Juanola
Pollution Global Warming Factory Power Station Air Pollution Coal Carbon Dioxide Smoke Smog Industry Toxic Substance Fumes Sky Global Communications Dramatic Sky Chimney Global Business Ozone Layer Energy Fog Fuel and Power Generation Warming Up Cloud Technology Cloudscape Heavy Blue Grey Sulphur Fossil Fuel Awe Steam Cooling Tower Multi-Layered Effect generic

Lockdown causes strong reduction in air pollution

Researchers believe the reduction in air pollution from a one-year lockdown could prevent 780,000 premature deaths globally.

  • by Miki Perkins
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt and Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy address the media on January 31. The following day would prove pivotal.

How Australia bypassed WHO's China problem

On February 1, Australia decided to move ahead of WHO and never look back. Now it must help find a way to keep the world body out of Beijing's grip.

  • by Anthony Galloway
I hate it because it contributes to the cult of busy, busy, busy. Feeling overwhelmed? Turn the damn thing off!
Opinion
Watches

Why that smart watch is not such a clever idea

I’ve become particularly snooty about smart watches and the people who wear them. They irked me pre-coronavirus. Now, they make me very cranky.

  • by Jo Stanley
The average food spend per Australian is $4,740 per year, or $91 per week.

This is how much you should budget for food each week

If you are putting together a weekly food budget, a rough rule of thumb is to allocate about $100 a week per person in your household.

  • by Jessica Irvine
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In Other News

Western Australia

Forensics and an ambulance at the crime scene.
Breaking
Police

Man charged with double murder of brother and sister in Victoria Park

Maree Collins, 66, and her 62-year-old brother Wayne Johnson were found dead in a unit on Leonard Street after police were called there at about 4pm on Easter Sunday.

Teacher concerns need 'urgent' consideration before schools return, union says

WA teachers and students are set to head back to school from term 2.

Temperature checks and COVID-19 tests should be considered before schools return for term 2, according to the State School Teachers’ Union of WA.

  • by Lauren Pilat

WA schools stay open in term 2, but parents can keep kids home to learn from afar

WA schools will be open for term 2.

All West Australian students will be able to return to their school for face-to-face lessons from term 2 or continue learning remotely if their parents and carers prefer.

  • by Lauren Pilat

From pay cuts to care packages: What local councils across Perth are doing 

COVID-19 has brought a new set of challenges for local governments across Perth.

The message from the state government to councils across WA has been clear: it is time to step up and lessen the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on household budgets. 

  • by Marta Pascual Juanola
Updated
Corruption

Harvey calls for Labor MP's head over CCC stoush and 'inept' Facebook post

WA Opposition Leader Liza Harvey.

Labor MP Matthew Hughes wades into corruption fight as Nick Goiran says Premier's "ham-fisted" intervention has made CCC commissioner John McKechnie's position untenable.

  • by Nathan Hondros

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Coronavirus outbreak

Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton

Forget going to MCG, concerts or overseas travel until 2021: health chief

Victorians should forget about going to football, cricket or travelling overseas for 'some time', says state's health chief.

  • by Noel Towell
CCTV of the alleged attackers.

'Go back to your country': Chinese international students bashed in CBD

The two female students were walking along Elizabeth Street when a stranger taunted them about coronavirus, according to Nine News.

  • by Paul Sakkal

Politics

Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Minister for Health Greg Hunt

'Poacher and gamekeeper': Australia wants global inquiry independent of WHO

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will push for an independent body to launch a global inquiry into the coronavirus.

  • by Eryk Bagshaw

Business

Larissa and Nick Lewis and Lyndon Galvin are the founders of the Cookaborough platform which started out sharing meals amongst neighbours.

'We are all interconnected': Coronavirus is reshaping our relationship with technology

But the government's proposal for a contact tracing app is likely to test how far this focus on community goes.

  • by Cara Waters

World

Dear Diary: Ardern's new COVID-19 stopper

Dear Diary: Ardern's new COVID-19 stopper

While Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has proposed a voluntary contact tracing app, the New Zealand PM has a more homespun method.

  • by Ben McKay
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Property bydomain

Amazing renovations: How $200k transformed this home

Amazing renovations: How $200k transformed this home

A flair for fashion, a top builder and just $200,000 have transformed a shabby 1920s cottage into the kind of chic paradise that quarantine dreams are made of.

  • by Sarah Webb
Why investors could be regretting negative gearing right now

Why investors could be regretting negative gearing right now

Most landlords are already losing money on their investment which may explain the hesitance to cut rents for struggling tenants, experts say.

  • by Jim Malo
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Life & Culture

It's the cinemas Jake Wilson mourns most as Melbourne's cultural venues grapple with coronavirus.

Temple of doom? A film critic mourns the lost cult of cinema

Streaming services are no match for the communal experience of movie-going.

  • by Jake Wilson

Food bygoodfood

Travel bytraveller

Cars bydrive

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Sport

Lucy Fyfield, the owner of the Melbourne Gymnastics Centre, is trying to keep kids moving during the pandemic.

Sports fear exodus of COVID kids

Closing more than 1000 public pools, 2400 soccer clubs and 608 gymnastics centres has helped flatten the curve, but may fatten a generation of COVID kids.

  • by Chip Le Grand
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan.

AFL planning a long-term overhaul of the game

The AFL is planning a long-term overhaul of the game, and not just for the next two seasons, to deal with “the new economy”.

  • by Michael Gleeson
Peter V'landys is at the head of two major Australian sports.

Peter V'landys, one of the most influential figures in Australian sport

Some of the fiercest battles of our sporting landscape take place far from the football field – they’re in the boardroom.

  • by Adrian Proszenko
Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham.

Play on: Swans chairman reverses opposition to playing during crisis

Andrew Pridham, who questioned the AFL's decision to play round one, has backed the concept of quarantine hubs to restart the season.

  • by Caroline Wilson
Sabrina Ionescu is set to be the top pick in the WNBA's virtual draft this weekend.

WNBA 'virtual' draft takes centre stage, NBA, AFL could follow it

The WNBA draft will go virtual on Saturday (AEST), the NFL will follow next week and if public gathering restrictions continue this year, it could be how the NBA draft and even the AFL draft are conducted.

  • by Roy Ward
Champion Australian pace bowler Pat Cummins made an eight-year-old boy's day.
The Fitz Files
Sport

Postman Pat delivers for cricket-mad lad chasing baggy green dream

Thanks to Pat Cummins, an eight-year-old Sydney boy is even more enthusiastic about batting and bowling against imaginary opponents until well after the sun goes down.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
AFL great Sam Newman marches to the stairs of Parliament House to have a word with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews
0:45

Newman's Victorian golf protest

AFL great Sam Newman marches to the stairs of Parliament House to have a word with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews

Have Your Say

Why it's time to lay off Patrick Dangerfield

Geelong midfielder Patrick Dangerfield.

The players, with Dangerfield as their figurehead, were labelled greedy, but the Geelong champion could hardly have rolled over when it came to negotiating a pay cut with the AFL.

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