British police will investigate alleged lockdown breaches at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Downing Street residence after receiving evidence from an internal government probe into a series of gatherings.
Johnson is fighting for his political survival after new allegations that he broke the COVID-19 lockdown rules he imposed by attending a surprise birthday party in Downing Street when social gatherings indoors were banned.
That added to a long list of alleged lockdown breaches in Downing Street, including a party, which Johnson has said he attended thinking it was a work event.
Police will now investigate, London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said on Tuesday.
"I can confirm that the Met (Metropolitan Police) is now investigating a number of events that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential breaches of COVID-19 regulations," she said.
The police investigation could force a delay to the internal inquiry commissioned by Johnson and carried out by senior official Sue Gray, who is expected to report her findings later this week in what was seen as a key moment for Johnson's future as prime minister.
The United Nations on Tuesday dismissed as "ridiculous" an assertion by Israel that there was enough food in the Gaza Strip to last for a long period of time, despite the closure of all 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP).
United Nations officials who surveyed earthquake damage in Myanmar urged the global community to ramp up aid before the looming monsoon season worsens already catastrophic conditions, with the death toll at 2,719 and expected to surpass 3,000.
Syria suffered a nationwide power outage on Tuesday night due to malfunctions at several points in the national grid, a spokesperson from the energy ministry told Reuters.
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting and killing the CEO of UnitedHealth Group's insurance division Brian Thompson in New York last year.
Aid groups in Myanmar on Tuesday described scenes of devastation and desperation after an earthquake that killed more than 2,700 people, stressing an urgent need for food, water and shelter and warning the window to find survivors was fast closing.