The United States Justice Department is opening a sweeping police probe over the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death by police during a raid at her home.

The probe into policing in Louisville, Kentucky, announced by Attorney-General Merrick Garland on Monday (Tuesday AEST), is the second such sweeping investigation into a law enforcement agency announced by the Biden administration in a week.

The 26-year-old woman, an emergency medical technician who had been studying to become a nurse, was roused from sleep by police who came through the door using a battering ram in March 2020.

Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired once. A no-knock warrant was approved as part of a narcotics investigation but no drugs were found at her home.

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The investigation is into the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government and the Louisville Metro Police Department.

It is known as a "pattern or practice" — examining whether there is a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing — and will be a more sweeping review of the entire police department.

Mr Garland said it would specifically focus on whether the Louisville Metro Police Department engages in a pattern of unreasonable force, including against people engaging in peaceful activities.

It would also examine whether the police department conducted unconstitutional stops, searches and seizures and whether the department illegally executed search warrants.

The probe would also look at the training officers received, the system in place to hold officers accountable and "assess whether LMPD engages in discriminatory conduct on the basis of race," among other things, he said.

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Mr Garland last week announced a probe into the tactics of the police in Minneapolis, following the death of George Floyd.

The Attorney-General previously said there was not yet equal justice under the law and promised to bring a critical eye to racism and legal issues when he took the job.

Few such investigations were opened during the Trump administration.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted last week of murder in Floyd's death, but no one was charged in Ms Taylor's, though her case also fueled protests against police brutality and systemic racism.

Her death prompted a national debate about the use of so-called "no-knock" search warrants, which allow officers to enter a home without waiting and announcing their presence.

The warrants are generally used in drug cases and other sensitive investigations where police believe a suspect might be likely to destroy evidence.

READ MORE: Breonna Taylor anger spills into US streets, with two police officers shot

But there's been growing criticism in recent years that the warrants are overused and abused.

Prosecutors would speak with community leaders, residents and police officials as part of the Louisville probe and release a public report, if a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct was discovered, Mr Garland said.

He noted the department had implemented some changes after a settlement with Ms Taylor's family and said the Justice Department's investigation would take those into account.

"It is clear that the public officials in Minneapolis and Louisville, including those in law enforcement, recognise the importance and urgency of our efforts," he said.

Kentucky's lawmakers passed a partial ban on no-knock warrants last month.

The measure would only allow no-knock warrants to be issued if there was "clear and convincing evidence" the "crime alleged is a crime that would qualify a person, if convicted, as a violent offender."

Warrants would have to be executed between 6am and 10pm.

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The US will begin sharing its entire stock of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines with the world once it clears federal safety reviews, the White House says.

As many as 60 million doses are expected to be available for export in the coming months.

The move, announced on Monday (Tuesday AEST), greatly expands on the Biden administration's action last month to share about 4 million doses of the vaccine with Mexico and Canada.

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The AstraZeneca vaccine is widely in use around the world but has not yet been authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration.

The White House is increasingly assured about the supply of the three vaccines its healthcare workers are administering, particularly following the restart of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot over the weekend.

The US has been under mounting pressure in recent weeks to share more of its vaccine supply with the world, as countries like India experience devastating surges of the virus and others struggle to access doses needed to protect their most vulnerable populations.

“Given the strong portfolio of vaccines that the US already has and that have been authorised by the FDA, and given that the AstraZeneca vaccine is not authorized for use in the US, we do not need to use the AstraZeneca vaccine here during the next several months," White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said.

"Therefore the US is looking at options to share the AstraZeneca doses with other countries as they become available.”

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More than 3 million people worldwide have died of COVID-19, including more than 572,000 in the US.

The US has vaccinated more than 53 per cent of its adult population with at least one dose of its three authorized vaccines and it expects to have enough supply for its entire population by early summer.

About 10 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine had been produced but were yet to pass review by the FDA to “meet its expectations for product quality,” Mr Zients said, noting the regulator was recognized as the “gold standard” for safety around the world.

That process could be completed in the next several weeks. About 50 million more doses are in various stages of production and could be available to ship in May and June pending FDA sign-off.

The US was yet to finalise where the AstraZeneca doses would go, the coordinator said.

Neighbours Mexico and Canada have asked the Biden administration to share more doses, while dozens of other countries are looking to access supplies of the vaccine.

The US government, which has contracted with AstraZeneca for a total of 300 million doses, will donate the doses — though the company has faced production issues.

WA's snap lockdown has ended as planned after no further community cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed.

Residents of Perth and Peel, the region south of the city, can leave behind the strictest of the measures imposed to control a cluster that originated in hotel quarantine but will continue to live under significant restrictions throughout the week.

"The short three-day lockdown has done the job it was designed to do," Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said, on Monday.

READ MORE: NSW Premier calls on states to 'pull their weight' with hotel quarantine

Since the lockdown began on Friday, there have only been two cases of community transmission detected in the state.

Despite fears the man who caught COVID-19 in Perth hotel quarantine had brought the virus back to Melbourne, forcing 10,000 Victorians to isolate, no other states recorded community transmission at the weekend either.

But Mr McGowan said WA needed to be "cautious as we come out of lockdown as the virus might still be out there".

He said some rules would remain in place until Saturday morning.

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Western Australians are advised to keep working from home if they can and universities are restricted to online learning but schools TAFE and childcare will go back.

Masks will remain mandatory in public, including at work, except for some exceptions such as those doing vigorous exercise and primary school children.

Venues can re-open except for gyms, nightclubs and casinos. Those that can open will have to ensure four square metres of space per person.

Only 20 people will be allowed in homes, hospitality and entertainment venues, recreation centres and pools.

"I know this makes it tough for many businesses … but it's important we remain cautious," Mr McGowan, said.

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Visitors to hospitals and aged care facilities are restricted to compassionate grounds only. 

The two cases confirmed on Friday caught the virus from a man who had been in hotel quarantine but didn't test positive until he had completed his 14 days, spent several days in and around Perth and flown to Melbourne.

Since Friday, almost 30,000 WA residents have come forward to be tested. 

Mr McGowan apologised for the state's lockdown, saying he was "very sorry it had to happen". 

"I want to thank everybody who has done the right thing. This lockdown has been disruptive," he said.

"I want to stress one more thing. If you are unwell, if you have any symptoms, please get tested.

"If you have been to any of the exposure sites, go and get tested. Even if you have received a negative result, get tested again if symptoms develop,."

WA Health Minister Roger Cook said non-urgent elective surgery at public hospitals would be rescheduled for the next four days as the lockdown ends.

"We hope it is only a temporary measure and we seek your understanding and patience," he said.

He said there had been 3.4 million 'check-ins' on the Safe WA coronavirus tracking app over the past few days.

"There is no room for complacency," he said.

"As we move into the next phase of restrictions, please continue to use the Safe WA application."

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday denied a press report which quoted him as allegedly saying he would rather see "bodies pile high in their thousands" than impose a third national lockdown on the country.

UK newspaper The Daily Mail claimed that Johnson made the comment in the Northern Hemisphere's autumn of 2020, when his government imposed a second lockdown to combat a surge in coronavirus cases. A third lockdown was ordered in January as infections shot up again, driven by a new, more contagious variant of the virus.

The Daily Mail did not cite a source for the claim, but there has been a spate of leaks from Johnson's 10 Downing Street office, which are being investigated by government officials.

Johnson said Monday that the allegation was "total, total rubbish".

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Britain has spent much of the last year under restrictions on business and daily life as it tried to contain a COVID-19 outbreak that has left more than 127,000 people dead, the highest toll in Europe. Restrictions are gradually being eased alongside a mass-vaccination campaign that has given at least one dose of vaccine to half the UK population.

The latest claim follows allegations of cronyism and ethical breaches against Johnson and his Conservative government that have been piling up ahead of local and regional elections next week.

The prime minister's former top aide, Dominic Cummings, claimed last week that Johnson planned to get Conservative Party donors to fund the refurbishment of the prime minister's Downing Street apartment. Cummings, who left his job late last year, said he had told Johnson the plan was "unethical, foolish, possibly illegal".

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Johnson's office said the prime minister paid to renovate the apartment, where he lives with fiancée Carrie Symonds and their baby son Wilfred, though it did not say whether he had been lent the money for the work.

The Electoral Commission, which regulates political finances in the UK, has said it is seeking answers from the Conservative Party over whether any sums should have been declared under the law on political donations.

Johnson has also denied doing anything wrong when he exchanged text messages with a wealthy industrialist and promised he would "fix" the tax rules for him.

The exchange occurred in March 2020 when Johnson was trying to encourage vacuum cleaner tycoon James Dyson to make ventilators for the hard-pressed National Health Service. Singapore-based Dyson sought assurances that his staff members would not have to pay extra taxes if they came to Britain to work on the project.

Johnson said he would not apologise "for shifting heaven and earth" to secure vital medical equipment in an emergency.

One of Johnson's Conservative predecessors, former Prime Minister David Cameron, is also facing cronyism allegations over his lobbying for a now-bankrupt financial services firm, Greensill Capital, whose founder he had employed as an adviser. Cameron denies wrongdoing.

Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the "drip, drip, drip of allegations" was damaging people's trust in politics.

"We need to get to the bottom of it, we need strong recommendations for change," he said. "Because I think, for a lot of people, this is beginning to feel like very strongly like one rule for them and another rule for everybody else."

Identity politics is an "evil thing" threatening to steal the hope and courage of Australia's young people and social media can be "used by the evil one", the Prime Minister has warned in a speech revealing more about his pentecostal faith.

Scott Morrison, in a recent speech at a Christian conference, called on his fellow attendees to "raise up the spiritual weapons" against the growing tendency and told them the country needed them.

Mr Morrison said through "identity politics", young people particularly were increasingly "defined by your group, not … who God has created you to be".

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"There is a tendency for people not to see themselves and value themselves in their own right, as individuals, And to see themselves only defined by some group," he said, in an address to the Australian Christian Churches Conference on the Gold Coast last week, released online by secularism advocates Rationalist Society of Australia on Monday.

"And to get lost in that group, and you know, when you do that you lose your humanity and you lose your connection I think, one to each other."

Mr Morrison told an appreciative crowd that it was a "corrosive force", which undermined community and self-worth and was "why people start writing stupid things on Facebook and being disrespectful to one another."

"That is corroding and desensitising our country and our society, not just here but all around the world," he said.

"I think it's an evil thing. I think it's a very evil thing. 

"And we've gotta pray about it and we've gotta call it out. And we've got to raise up the spiritual weapons against this because it is going to take our young people.

"It's going to take their courage. It's going to take their hope. It's going to steal them."

Australia's first Pentecostal PM has been open about his faith and how important a part of his life it is, even inviting cameras inside to watch him worship at his Horizon Church in Sydney's Sutherland Shire during the 2019 election campaign.

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But less is known about how his beliefs influence him when it comes to individual decisions.

The fast-growing church values people, living generously and "seeks to connect people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ", according to its website.

On Tuesday night, Mr Morrison compared his daily political life to Psalm 23:5 — in which God prepares a fabulous banquet for David in front of his enemies — and revealed he practised the Christian tradition of laying-on of hands.

"I've been in evacuation centres, where people thought I was just giving someone a hug and I was praying," Mr Morrison said, later specifically referencing Cyclone Seroja in Western Australia.

"And putting my hands on people in various places, laying hands on them and praying in various situations."

Mr Morrison spoke of an early conversation about politics with wife Jenny's father, during which the older man was becoming frustrated about him not answering questions.

"I said, I can't fix the world. I can't save the world, we both believe in someone who can," he told the crowd.

"And that's why I've come to you for your help tonight, because what you do and what you bring to the life and faith of our country, is what it needs."

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Mr Morrison also described a key moment he sought guidance during the 2019 election campaign.

"I must admit, I was saying to myself, 'where are you? Where are you? I'd like a reminder, if that's ok'.

"I walked into his gallery and there right in front of me was the biggest picture of a soaring eagle that I could imagine.

"Of course the verse hit me, that story … 'run and do not grow weary, walk and do not grow faint'.

"But the message I got that day was 'Scott, you've gotta run to not grow weary. You gotta walk to not grow faint. You gotta spread your wings like an eagle, to soar like an eagle'."

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said in a statement to Nine newspapers that Mr Morrison attended the event as he had many other religious events.

"The Prime Minister was invited to address Tuesday night's event the same as he attends many other stakeholder events, including for other religious groups such as the Copts, Maronites, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim," the statement said. 

"The usual transport and security protocols were followed as they are for any event the Prime Minister attends."

A man who staged a lone march through an empty Perth CBD on Anzac Day has been revealed to be an anti-vaccine and COVID lockdown protester.

Michael Darby was stopped by police during his solo feat. He was not wearing a mask as per Perth's lockdown rules, but escaped a fine.

Western Australia's Anzac Day commemorations were cancelled due to the city's snap three-day lockdown, with people encouraged to mark the event in their driveways instead.

READ MORE: WA lockdown to end at midnight tonight, but masks and other restrictions to remain

However, Mr Darby was dubbed a mystery "hero" by local media after being seen walking though the city on crutches, with medals on his chest and a banner saying "honour the fallen" around his neck.

The West Australian newspaper reported he was given an "impromptu guard of honour" after police allowed him to finish his walk.

Mr Darby is in fact a long time political protester and campaigns against COVID-19 restrictions.

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"Someone looked at CCTV footage and saw this old fella standing wearing a couple of medals and wrongly assumed that those medals referred to combat," he told 9News.

He did National Service and said he was a signals officer in 1974, but doesn't normally march on Anzac Day.

"I'm not a veteran, I'm an admirer of veterans," he said.

He backs the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus, and says people should take Vitamin A for it.

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said officers escorted him off the road on Sunday, but they didn't know his background.

Premier Mark McGowan was asked about Mr Darby.

He said: "If those are the things he is saying, obviously I don't agree with them."