Exams for Scottish school pupils will not take place this year, the country's education secretary has announced.

John Swinney said the "unprecedented" move was a measure of the "gravity" of the situation caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

It is the first time the exams have been cancelled since the system was put in place in 1888.

The UK government has already announced that GCSEs and A-levels in England and Wales will be cancelled.

The chief doctor of Moscow's main centre for treating Covid-19, Hospital No 40, has told BBC Russian that some of his patients have been running away.

Denis Protsenko, whose hospital is also known as Kommunarka, says none of Moscow's 86 patients were in a serious condition and some of them "turn around and leave".

"Some walk out through the door, some climb over the fence. When they return to the hospital, they say they were feeling fine so they left. We tell them that even if they feel fine, they are like a biological weapon for the older generation.”

Russia reported its first death from coronavirus on Thursday but federal authorities said later that the 79-year-old woman had died in hospital of other causes.

Another 52 infections have been announced, bringing the official number to 199, although there is some doubt over the effectiveness of the tests carried out.

Image source, Getty Images

The US embassy in Ethiopia has warned that foreigners are being attacked after being accused of being infected with Covid-19.

In a security alert posted on its website, external, the embassy said it "continues to receive reports regarding a rise in anti-foreigner sentiment" since the first case of the virus was detected in Africa's second-most populous state last week.

Typical derogatory comments such as “China” and “ferengi” (a reference to foreigners) have been "reportedly coupled with the label 'corona', indicating a disparaging view on the link between the outbreak of Covid-19 and foreigners in Ethiopia", it added.

"Reports indicate that foreigners have been attacked with stones, denied transportation services... are being spat on, chased on foot," the embassy added.

Ethiopia has detected six cases of coronavirus - the first was that of a Japanese national who had travelled from Burkina Faso.

More on coronavirus in Africa:

• The spread of coronavirus prejudice in Kenya

Millions of us are facing a new reality in which we must fundamentally change how we live our lives. The situation is changing every day - but we've made this graphic breaking down the UK government's advice about social distancing and how it applies to you. Experts say social distancing is a crucial part of stopping the virus rapidly spreading through the population now and infecting the most vulnerable.

Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown came in for a lot of praise on Twitter this morning after calling on the government to do more to react to the “global economic emergency”.

Mr Brown, who was in office during the 2008 financial crisis, urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to do "considerably more" to protect jobs, saying the scale of the crisis now facing the country was “unprecedented”.

Mr Brown also told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the response to the coronavirus crisis had been dominated by too much “populist nationalism”.

"This is a global problem, not just a national problem," he said.

India has said no international flights will be allowed to land in the country for one week starting 22 March because of coronavirus.

The central government has also said all employees from private companies - except those in essential and emergency services - should work from home, and that people above the age of 65 and children below the age of 10 were advised to stay home.

Although Covid-19 case numbers in India remain low, public health experts fear this could be a result of limited testing and under-reporting.

Many fear that given India's large population (1.2 billion) and heavily burdened healthcare system, a pandemic could have disastrous effects.

We've reported in recent days about how badly hit the hospitality industry is by the pandemic. As more and more people practise social distancing, cafes, bars, resturants and other public venues are naturally losing their customers in huge numbers. We've made this graphic showing the incredible fall in bookings at restaurants in five countries. On Wednesday, the head of the UN International Labour Organisation said that 25m jobs globally could be lost - more than in the 2008 financial crash.

Read out visual guide to the pandemic.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is due to meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other senior officials, amid continued speculation that more stringent measures could be introduced in the city.

According to the Times’ deputy political editor, Steven Swinford, Mr Khan says public transport will be reduced “very significantly” in the coming days and weeks, adding that it was “critical” for fewer Londoners to use buses and the Tube.

Boris Johnson said the virus was spreading faster in London than other parts of the UK.

Refraining from touching your face is one of the golden rules of preventing the spread of coronavirus.

But why do we touch our faces in the first place? Let psychologist Natasha Tiwari explain.

The Queen has left Buckingham Palace for Windsor Castle in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, according to BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond.

Her Easter visit to Windsor has been brought forward by a week and she is likely to stay there beyond the Easter period, Buckingham Palace has said.

It comes after the palace announced that the state visit of the emperor and empress of Japan to the UK had been postponed. It was planned for the spring but will be rescheduled to a later date.

Image source, Aaron Chown/PA Wire

House of Commons
Parliament

British nationals in Peru have no way of leaving the country as a result of the restrictions imposed over coronavirus, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said.

But, speaking to the Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Raab said he was being updated on the situation daily.

He said he had also spoken to Spain's foreign minister and had been assured that British nationals in hotels there would not be "kicked out on to the streets" when they closed next Tuesday.

Mr Raab also said he was confident that the 600 UK nationals on the Braemar cruise ship trapped in the Caribbean would fly back from Cuba to the UK later today.

The minister for medical care, Bruno Bruins, fainted in parliament on Wednesday as far-right politician Geert Wilders was speaking during a debate on the coronavirus.

The 56-year-old minister later cited exhaustion from weeks of intense work.

"I am feeling better now. I am going home to rest," he said on social media, adding that he would be back at work on Thursday.

On Wednesday thousands of people gathered in southern Bangladesh to pray for the country to be rid of coronavirus, in a move that has not gone down well with the rest of the country.

The prayer meeting, held in Raipur, saw 10,000 Muslims offering "healing verses" for the country. A local police chief told news agency AFP the organisers had not sought permission from the authorities to hold the event,

Photos and videos of the event, such as the footage below, show people standing and praying shoulder to shoulder in a field. Many Bangladeshis have expressed shock and anger online over the event.

Officially the country has 14 positive cases of the virus but many experts fear that not enough testing has been done and that there are many more undetected cases.

Three more patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to six.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that, as of 09:00 on Thursday, there were 266 cases of coronavirus in Scotland, an increase of 39 from Wednesday.

Those on the frontline of the NHS, she said, were the priority in terms of testing and it would be used to allow critical workers to get to work.

Image source, EPA

The region is home to one of the outbreak's hot spots, Iran, and has seen some of the tightest curbs to tackle it, notably in Israel:

• After 1,284 deaths and 18,407 infections Iran's authorities hope people will heed their advice and stay at home when the two-week holiday for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, starts on Friday. The sight of busy markets and traffic jams has been causing health experts anxiety
• The health ministry in Israel, where 529 people have tested positive, has begun texting people who have come into contact with confirmed patients, telling them to self-isolate, while civil rights groups are up in arms at news the Shin Bet security agency has been given permission to monitor mobile phones in order to prevent the spread of the virus
• Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, has meanwhile been importing essential medical equipment to battle Covid-19. Local media said it had already purchased 100,000 testing kits from abroad, but that it had been told by the health ministry they were “not exactly what we needed”
• The United Arab Emirates, which has reported 98 cases, says it will bar the re-entry of all foreign residents who are currently abroad for two weeks. About 90% of the population - 9 million people - are foreign nationals
• Saudi Arabia, which has reported 171 cases, has suspended most private sector activities, ordering business to implement home-working. The kingdom has also cut its state budget by almost 5%, as the outbreak and low oil prices threaten growth

House of Commons
Parliament

There are no moves yet to close the UK’s border, the foreign secretary has told MPs, but the situation is under “constant review”.

Asked whether the UK would follow the EU in implementing restrictions, Dominic Raab said the UK home secretary was keeping the situation “under constant review”.

“When we ask the question, the scientific advice comes back that this, is at least at this stage, this is not the advice they would give us to do it [to close the border],” he said.

“What we are very clear on at this point is taking these measures is not in the UK’s interest. It won’t affect spread of disease.”

Firstly - the BBC has a live page of correspondents who can answer your questions across radio, television and online all day.

• Coronavirus: Your questions answered

Questions are obviously being asked about health issues but also finances and businesses too.

To get in contact:

• Email YourQuestions@bbc.co.uk
• Tweet using the hashtag #BBCYourQuestions, external
• Use the form on the bottom of this story

But don't forget the BBC has a number of live pages in other languages that are covering the major issues, including:

• Turkish
• Persian
• Russian
• Urdu
• Hausa

Then of course there is BBC Online's Africa live page for all the latest news from the continent

Speculation about the fate of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo has been rife and some athletes have called for them to be postponed but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said they could still take place as planned.

World Athletics chief Lord Sebastian Coe has told BBC Sport he believes that is the right decision, for now.

"Let's not make a precipitous decision when we don't have to four months out," he said. Events were "changing by the hour" but it was "not a decision that has to be made at the moment". However, he added that "anything" was possible.

Read the full story: Lord Coe says too early to decide on cancellation

Image source, Getty Images

There is "zero prospect of any restrictions being placed on travelling in and out of London”, the UK government has said.

A spokesperson said there were also “no plans to use military personnel for public order during the coronavirus pandemic”.

Asked to comment on the suggestion only one person would be allowed to leave a house at a time, Downing Street said this was "not true”, according to BBC political correspondent Chris Mason.

It comes after speculation London could face a lockdown by the weekend.

Adam Fleming
Brussels reporter

Michel Barnier, the head of the EU task force handling the post-Brexit relationship with the UK, has tested positive for coronavirus and says he is doing well.

Face-to-face negotiations between the UK and the EU have already effectively stopped because of the health advice on either side of the Channel. Some of Mr Barnier’s close-knit team are also now in isolation.

But there’s still plenty of work to be done. Both sides have shared with each other hundreds of pages of draft legal text which need to be analysed and mined for areas of agreement or potential compromise.

Plus, the deadlock will probably only be broken with some big political decisions and we’ve learnt they can happen very quickly if the conditions are right.

As for Mr Barnier… he’s a devotee of exercise, mountain air and healthy eating (he recently told me off for eating quiche rather than salad) and he’s feeling fine.

Image source, Twitter/@MichelBarnier