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Life in New Zealand takes another step back towards normal today as the country eases lockout restrictions even further today.
It's been seven weeks since the Kiwis pared back activity to deal off the COVID-19 threat and today's the day much of the economy can re-open - to some extent, anyway.
Restaurants, malls, cinemas, shops, health services, and hairdressers can open again and people will be able to socialise with others. Of course, there's a welter of restrictions still in place.
On Monday, schools, tertiary institutions and early childhood centres will open and on May 21, bars will be allowed to reopen.
An area where there won't be any change is at the border, with the NZ Government says "tight controls" will remain in place.
Just hours before the start of level 2, the New Zealand parliament hastily passed a controversial new coronavirus law, which was heavily criticised for allowing police to search homes without a warrant.
However, legal experts said the new enforcement law was better for the public than the extreme emergency powers used under lockdown.
While there's joy to the east of Australia, to the north the situation remains difficult. Economically, Indonesia has been hit so hard, with more than an estimated seven million people unemployed, authorities have rolled out rice ATMs.
Operated by magnetic cards, the tall automated machines look much like a typical ATM, only that they pump out rice instead of cash.
The machines, which can distribute up to 1.5 tonnes of rice per day to 1000 people, will operate for at least the next two months.
There are 10 machines in greater Jakarta alone - to help its population of more than 30 million people.
Residents eligible for the rice ration include daily wage earners, the unemployed, those who do not own a house and people who live below the poverty line - that figure alone is believed to be greater than the population of Australia.
It's likely the idea came from neighbouring Vietnam where a businessman, Hoang Tuan Anh, is credited as the man behind the scheme.
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