UK aid budget: Charities say £500m cuts to humanitarian aid a ‘tragic blow’

BBC News says cuts to humanitarian aid by the UK are a “tragic blow for many of the world’s most marginalised people”, 200 charities said in a joint statement.

Charuty organisations including Save the Children and Oxfam said humanitarian assistance was being reduced by more than £500m.

Dominic Raab said the changes reflected a “strategic shift” in UK aid spending.

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Boris Johnson is ‘constantly lobbied’ by text, sources admit

The Guardian says Boris Johnson is regularly texted by business leaders and politicians, sources have admitted, though a loophole means text messages do not need to be disclosed.

Sources described internal Downing Street concerns after Boris Johnson was revealed to have texted the pro-Brexit billionaire, Sir James Dyson, last year, promising that his staff would not have to pay extra tax if they came to the UK to make ventilators during the pandemic. “I will fix it tomo! We need you. It looks fantastic,” Johnson wrote.

Read the full story on the Guardian

Oxygen shortages compound death toll as India confronts Covid-19 surge

France24 says at least 24 COVID-19 patients in western have India died after the oxygen supply to their ventilators ran out, amid a nationwide shortage of the gas and a surge in infections.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope confirmed the deaths at a hospital and said the hospital’s oxygen supply ran out because a tanker refilling it suffered a leak. Oxygen was running scarce throughout the country.

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Israel strikes targets in Syria after missile attack near Dimona nuclear site

Arab News says a missile launched from Syria was fired into southern Israel early Thursday, setting off air raid sirens near the country’s top-secret nuclear reactor, the Israeli military said. In response, it said it attacked the missile launcher and air-defence systems in neighbouring Syria.

The incident, marking the most serious violence between Israel and Syria in years, pointed to likely Iranian involvement. Iran, which maintains troops and proxies in Syria, has accused Israel of a series of attacks on its nuclear facilities.

Read the full story on Arab News

Pakistan: Several killed in explosion at Quetta hotel

Aljazeera says at least four people have been killed and 12 wounded in a powerful explosion in the parking area of an upscale hotel in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, according to health authorities.

China’s ambassador to Pakistan, Nong Rong, was a guest at Serena Hotel, according to Zia Langove, home minister of Balochistan province. The ambassador was not at the hotel at the time of Wednesday’s explosion, Langove told Al Jazeera.

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It’s 2021 and athletes will be punished for taking a knee at the Olympics

TRT World says athletes who take a knee or lift a fist against racial inequality will be punished during the Olympics in Tokyo.

It means acts of protests would still risk punishment at the Tokyo Games this year.

The IOC’s Rule 50 forbids any kind of “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda” in venues and any other Olympic area and the Games body concluded the rule should be maintained following an athlete consultation.

Read the full story on TRT World

Black Man Fatally Shot by Sheriff’s Deputies Serving Search Warrant in North Carolina

VOA says officials in North Carolina have opened an investigation into the fatal shooting of a Black man in his car by local sheriff’s deputies serving him with a search warrant.

The shooting unfolded on Wednesday morning in Elizabeth City, and small groups of protesters took to the streets by evening.

The county sheriff’s office and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), which said it had taken over the case, each provided few details of the fatal encounter.

Read the full story on VOA