Some police officers in the UK have come under the scanner for heavy-handedness while enforcing social distancing guidelines in the fight against COVID-19.
Reports have emerged of officers using drones to spy on the public when they are outdoors, and some were even found ordering shops not to sell Easter eggs as they aren't "essential items".
A minister on Tuesday accused the officers of "going too far" and warned them against turning the country into a police state.
"The tradition of policing in this country is that policemen are citizens in uniform, they are not members of a disciplined hierarchy operating just at the government's command," Jonathan Sumption, a former UK Supreme Court judge, told the BBC.
"This is what a police state is like. It's a state in which the government can issue orders or express preferences with no legal authority and the police will enforce ministers' wishes."
According to the new rules, police can issue an on-the-spot fine of £30 (around AED 135) for people gathering in groups of more than two or leave their homes for non-essential reasons.
Meanwhile, Martin Hewitt, chairman of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), said they were looking to adopt a "consistent" level of service.
At least seven migrants have died, including one boy, one girl and two women, after their boat sank off the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece's coastguard said on Thursday.
The death toll from Myanmar's devastating earthquake has surpassed 3,000, with hundreds more missing, as forecasts of unseasonal rain presented a new challenge for rescue and aid workers trying to reach people in a country riven by civil war.
Russian forces unleashed an hour-long barrage of drones on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, late on Wednesday, triggering a number of fires but causing no casualties in the second such attack in the course of the day, the regional governor said.
Hamas decided not to respond or engage with Israel's counter-proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, an official told Reuters on Wednesday, affirming it is committed to the mediators' plan instead.
Israel launched airstrikes on military airbases and infrastructure sites in the Syrian cities of Damascus, Hama and Homs on Wednesday, the Israeli military said.
Apple Inc. shares fell Monday after a closely followed analyst warned that demand for the firm’s new iPhone 16 Pro model has been lower than expected. Is this a sign that the AI software just isn’t ready?
Dubai’s current population is more than double compared to almost twenty years ago, which now stands at 3.7 million. Lots of families are also moving to the UAE now. So what does it mean for the property market?