Today's issue includes trust in government and greater neighborliness amid the coronavirus crisis, deliberative democracy in the U.K., threats to Nigerian Christians, and the connection between Quidditch and more opportunity for women in Uganda. 

Reassuring gestures offer balm for anxious times. There are the dramatic ones, as when Italian air force planes took to the skies in a roaring call for national unity, streaming the green, white, and red national colors behind them. There are the charming ones, as when Italians offered the globe a moment of joy, serenading each other from their balconies. There are the more modest ones, as when a landlord in South Portland, Maine, canceled his two tenants’ April payments. “We have a system that is interdependent,” Nathan Nichols told WMTW. “Even the smallest acts help in times of trouble.”

And then there are the words that help make sense of a moment. Last week, countless college students had little time to digest events as their campuses abruptly shut down. At Yale University, the news reached a rowing team amid afternoon practice – and coach Andrew Card stepped into action.

There was the offer of one last row the next morning, which was met with deafening cheers; there were videos and photos. And then, important words offering reassurance and perspective. “I reminded them that as they go forward ... they should always take the fork in the road that allows them to take more forks,” Mr. Card wrote to parents. “So now we scatter as circumstances require, but I remain confident that one of those forks will take them all the way back [here]. And just as any good stroke is a rhythmical cycle, so too I hope that everyone ... will share once again their heartfelt comradeship.”