The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his special advisor Dominic Cummings over an alleged breach of lockdown. Opponents have called on Mr. Cummings to resign over 400 kilometer drive he took to his parents home town in late March. Mr. Johnson's office said Mr. Cummings had wanted to be near his extended family to ensure his son was properly cared for when his wife fell ill with the coronavirus. It added that Mr. Cummings felt he had behaved reasonably and legally.
But the Scottish National Party leader in London in Blackford called the trip the height of irresponsibility. Here we have the highest official in government, the closest confidant of the prime minister is prepared to break the rules that the rest of us are been asked to be. And you cannot have a situation whether appears to be one rule for the powerful and the millions of the rest of the public have been told that we must follow the government advice. Two other prominent figures in Britain have previously resigned in comparable circumstances.
The Kenyan president has announced an economic stimulus package worth half a billion dollars to help the country cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In a live television address, Uhuru Kenyatta said loans would be available for the country's tourism and hospitality industry. He said cash payments would be made to the most vulnerable families and millions of dollars would be spent assisting small scale farmers.
Mr. Kenyatta also promised money to help the horticulture industry. The government plans to hire 10000 additional teachers to support digital learning. The World Bank has warned that the pandemic will hurt the most vulnerable households in Kenya, the hardest.
The US-led coalition says it has killed two of the Islamic State group's regional leaders in a raid in Syria. Our Middle East analyst Alan Johnston reports.
The US-led coalition said it carried out this operation along with local Kurdish-led allies in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor. One of the men killed was Ahmad al-Zawi. His role was to pass orders from Islamic State group leaders on to militants in the North Baghdad area.
According to the coalition, the other figure targeted was a senior official responsible for directing the flow of weapons and militants across Iraq and Syria. The raid was carried out five days ago, but has only now been made public. Alan Johnson with that report.
/1 
鄂公网安备42010202000179号 )