- UK police say Dominic Cummings committed a "minor" breach and closed the politically explosive case.
- A Bali zoo has named a baby giraffe Corona in honour of her birth during the global pandemic.
- WHO has warned European governments against cutting healthcare spending during the current economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus and lockdowns.
UK police close case against Cummings over 'minor' lockdown breach
UK police on Thursday said Prime Minister Boris Johnson's top aide Dominic Cummings committed a "minor" breach by driving to a beauty spot at the height of the coronavirus lockdown and closed the politically explosive case.
Durham police, in northeast England, said there "might have been a minor breach of the regulations that would have warranted police intervention", but added that it had "no intention to take retrospective action" against the Brexit campaign mastermind.
AFP
Do not cut health
spending during downturn, WHO warns
European governments should not cut healthcare spending during the current economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns, the World Health Organisation warned on Thursday.
"We are concerned that countries will respond to this crisis in the same way they did to the recession 10 years ago... by cutting public spending on health," WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, told a press conference.
"Those cuts prevented many people from accessing the healthcare that they needed."
AFP
Bali zoo's newborn baby giraffe named Corona
A Bali zoo has named a baby giraffe Corona in honour of her birth during the global pandemic.
The calf was born on April 9 to mother Sophie and father Matadi, joining two other siblings at Bali Safari Park on the Indonesian holiday island.
A video released by the zoo showed the calf being born in a small enclosure.
"She was born during the Covid-19 pandemic so the environment minister... named her Corona," said zoo spokesperson Anak Agung Ngurah Alit Sujana.
"Corona is healthy and is still breastfeeding. We'll keep her under observation for three months."
AFP
Sri Lanka to reimpose selective lockdown after virus cases spike
Sri Lanka will reimpose selective lockdown restrictions from Sunday to restrict large gatherings after recording its biggest daily surge in coronavirus infections - most found in citizens repatriated last week from Kuwait.
The island nation on Tuesday lifted a shutdown on the capital and a neighbouring district, two weeks after easing it in other parts of the nation.
But after more than 250 returnees from Kuwait were found to be infected with coronavirus, authorities decided to impose lockdowns on days when crowds were likely to form - including the planned funeral of a popular minister.
The health ministry said that out of 460 Sri Lankans who returned from Kuwait this week, some 252 had tested positive for coronavirus. All the returnees were being held in quarantine.
AFP