Nations reopen yet struggle to define ‘a new normal’

Published
0

As nations around the world loosen coronavirus restrictions, people are discovering that “the new normal” is anything but, AP reports.

What a return to normal looks like varies widely:

For hungry migrant workers in India, it was finally being able to catch trains back to their home villages to farm while city jobs dried up.

For hundreds of cruise ship workers stranded at sea for months, it was finally reaching shore in Croatia.

For wealthy shoppers, it was returning to the reopened boutiques of America’s iconic Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California.

Read more here.

A mother wearing a face mask travels with her son on a train in Lahore, May 20. The government resumed railway service after a two month suspension. — AP
A mother wearing a face mask travels with her son on a train in Lahore, May 20. The government resumed railway service after a two month suspension. — AP

Opinion

Editorial

After the talks
Updated 05 Oct, 2026

After the talks

Considering how close they came to a solution, govt and opposition teams should reconvene to give the talks another chance.
Child safety online
Updated 05 Oct, 2026

Child safety online

PAKISTANI children are spending more of their lives online, but the safeguards around them are not keeping pace. A...
Rising public debt
05 Oct, 2026

Rising public debt

PAKISTAN’S public debt has surged by 76pc to Rs86.7tr in four years, according to a new government report. Though...
Yemen offensive
Updated 04 Oct, 2026

Yemen offensive

The best option, therefore, is for Muslim and Arab states to help restore the Saudi-Houthi ceasefire.
Growth transition
04 Oct, 2026

Growth transition

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent call to move from stabilisation to growth, job creation and export ...
Protection at risk
04 Oct, 2026

Protection at risk

THE recent warning from UNHCR should alarm donor governments. Nearly 8.3m refugees and other forcibly displaced...