Columbus Statue Toppled by Baltimore Protesters

Housing Towers in Australian City Look Like ‘Crime Scene’ as Hard COVID-19 Lockdown Enforced

Victorian Council of Social Service CEO Emma King has urged the government to “proportionately” handle its immediate hard lockdown of nine Melbourne public housing towers. There were “frightening” scenes last night as swarms of police descended upon Flemington and North Melbourne housing estates under orders from Victoria’s Labor Premier Daniel Andrews to enforce a mandatory lockdown of the housing towers, King said. The “drastic” move to stop the spread of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as coronavirus was activated in response to data showing that 30 virus cases have been linked to the nine Melbourne housing blocks. Related CoverageVictoria State Records 74 New Coronavirus Cases Speaking on the Today Show on July 5, King, who is also a local resident in the same suburb, said she would…

BALTIMORE—Baltimore protesters pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw it into the city’s Inner Harbor on Saturday night.

Demonstrators used ropes to topple the monument near the Little Italy neighborhood, news outlets reported.

Protesters mobilized by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police have called for the removal of statues of Columbus, Confederate figures, and others. They say the Italian explorer is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the statue was owned by the city and dedicated in 1984 by former Mayor William Donald Schaefer and President Ronald Reagan.

Columbus Statue Toppled by Baltimore Protesters

A spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young told The Sun the toppling of the statue is a part of a national and global reexamination over monuments “that may represent different things to different people.”

“We understand the dynamics that are playing out in Baltimore are part of a national narrative,” Lester Davis said.

Statues of Columbus have also been toppled or vandalized in cities such as Miami; Richmond, Virginia; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Boston, where one was decapitated.

Focus News: Columbus Statue Toppled by Baltimore Protesters

Tough Border Controls When Northern Territory Reopens

Tough entry and quarantine measures will be implemented across the Northern Territory upon the reopening of borders in an effort to keep coronavirus at bay. From July 17, entrants to the NT will need to complete a border arrival form and declare if they have travelled to or through a coronavirus hotspot in the last 28 days. If any entrant to the NT has been in a hotspot, self-isolation for 14 days in a regional centre at their own expense is mandatory. The territory’s Chief Minister Michael Gunner says border control measures need to be strict to ensure Territorians remain safe. “We will implement the toughest quarantine system in the territory we’ve had since this crisis began. If there are arrivals from hotspots, they will be put into mandatory supervised, not…