Coronavirus latest as easyJet says summer flight bookings are now exceeding pre-COVID levels; people in Philadelphia will be subject to an indoor mask mandate from 18 April; lockdown eases in parts of Shanghai; the UK government warns over fake vaccine texts.
Friday 24 June 2022 02:06, UK
The COVID-19 vaccination saved 20 million lives in its first year, according to a new study.
But despite the huge number of lives preserved by the vaccine's rapid rollout, the study says 600,000 more people could have been saved if the WHO had met its 2021 goal.
The United States will drop its requirement for travellers to test negative for COVID-19 before entering the country, the White House has announced.
The change will come into force at midnight on Sunday for all passengers arriving by plane.
Most countries have already abandoned their travel testing regimes in a bid to restore international travel to pre-pandemic levels.
US health regulator the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said testing was no longer deemed necessary.
The Metropolitan Police has not released the names of at least 50 people who have been issued fines relating to rule breaking parties in Downing Street and Whitehall.
Issuing guidance on why they were opting not to name those handed fines, the Met said they were following advice that "identities of people dealt with by cautions, speeding fines and other fixed penalties - out-of-court disposals - should not be released or confirmed".
The advice also says that forces should "say that 'a man' or 'a woman' has been dealt with and only release general details of the offence".
However, one person has decided to reveal themselves.
Former deputy cabinet secretary and Whitehall ethics chief Helen MacNamara last week said she was "sorry for the error of judgment I have shown" after receiving a fixed penalty notice.
Ms MacNamara, who now works for the Premier League, was reported to have received the fine in connection with a leaving do held in the Cabinet Office on 18 June 2020.
Separately, The Guardian has reported that others were fined for a gathering held on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral last year.
There were also reports that some of the fines issued last month related to coronavirus law-breaking by those who attended a leaving party for a senior official who helped shape the government's response to the pandemic.
The Daily Telegraph reported that some of those at the farewell event for Kate Josephs, who was director-general of the Cabinet Office's COVID taskforce, have been handed fixed-penalty notices.
Number 10 earlier said Boris Johnson will confirm if he receives a fine, though it appears this has yet to happen.
We've now heard from Labour following the Met's decision to issue at least 50 fines related to lockdown-busting Downing Street parties.
Angela Rayner, the party's deputy leader, said the fixed penalty notices are evidence of "widespread criminality at the heart of Downing Street".
She added: "Crime is soaring, victims are being let down, and police officers are disappearing from our streets 鈥� now we see widespread criminality at the heart of Downing Street. This is just the latest example of a distracted out-of-touch government, guilty of breaking the law, never mind enforcing it.
"Labour has set out a plan to crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour by making offenders pay back to communities and tackling antisocial behaviour with police hubs in every area. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are defending their own law-breaking and are refusing to distance themselves from one of their MP's defence of a convicted sex offender.
"Britain deserves better than this government."
The number of warehouse and transport hubs across Britain has nearly doubled over the last decade as online shopping has boomed and Brexit transforms supply chains, new analysis shows.
Stay-at-home spending during the pandemic is partly responsible for the boom - over a period when high streets have had a much tougher time.
Part of the West Midlands known as the "golden triangle" has long been home to a thriving logistics industry - but other areas are now also seeing a concentration of such premises.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of business sites classed as transport and storage premises was 88% higher in 2021 than ten years earlier and 21% higher than in 2019.
The rise since 2019 far outstripped the increase in business units across all industries, which only went up by 1%.
You can read more on this story by clicking the link below.
Residents of New York City joined lengthy queues to be tested for coronavirus on Monday, as cities elsewhere reintroduced mask mandates.
Coronavirus cases are still relatively high in New York, with a case rate of 20.78 infections per 100,000 people and 4,060 new cases reported on Monday.
The latest comes as Philadelphia reintroduced an indoor mask mandate from 18 April due to significant numbers of infections in the city.
Reaction is starting to pour in following news the Metropolitan Police has issued 30 additional fines related to lockdown-busting Downing Street parties.
This makes a total of at least 50 so far, with the Met saying it is "making every effort to progress the investigation at speed".
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the fines "expose the shocking scale of the criminality in Boris Johnson's Number 10".
He added: "The police have now completely shredded Johnson鈥檚 claims that no laws were broken. He cannot be trusted and cannot continue as prime minister.
"No other leader in any other organisation would be allowed to continue after law-breaking on this scale. If Boris Johnson won鈥檛 resign, Conservative MPs must show him the door."
It is unclear whether Mr Johnson is among those to have been handed a fixed penalty notice, but Downing Street said it would confirm if this is the case.
The US State Department has ordered consular staff to leave Shanghai as the city continues its strict COVID lockdown.
Non-emergency staff and their families will be evacuated on commercial flights.
"Our change in posture reflects our assessment that it is best for our employees and their families to be reduced in number and our operations to be scaled down as we deal with the changing circumstances on the ground," a US embassy spokesperson said.
China said it had lodged "solemn representations" with the US in response, saying that it should stop slandering China's COVID policy, which was "scientific and effective."
Shanghai has been under a draconian lockdown for more than a week, with millions confined to their homes.
Some have struggled to get enough food supplies from the government, leading to small scale protests.
At least 50 fines will be issued as part of the Metropolitan Police inquiry into lockdown-busting Downing Street parties.
The Met confirmed this morning that 30 additional referrals for fixed penalty notices have been made to the ACRO Criminal Records Office, relating to breaches of rules in Whitehall and Downing Street.
It is understood these include the 20 fines issued in late March.
However, the Metropolitan Police has not confirmed who has been fined or which events these latest penalties relate to.
Fixed penalty notices must be paid within 28 days, or be contested.
It is unclear if the prime minister is among those to receive a fine, but Downing Street previously said it would confirm if this was the case.
As we've been reporting today, China is battling a new outbreak of coronavirus in Shanghai, where residents have been largely confined to their homes for weeks.
Restrictions were easing in some areas on Tuesday, but health officials have warned that the latest outbreak is still far from under control.
Below, footage captures an apparent coronavirus isolation facility, which has reportedly been set up for those who have tested positive for the virus, inside a school.
