Spain has seen 864 deaths related to the coronavirus in a day, a new record in a 24-hour period for the country, the health ministry says.

The national death toll is at 9,053. There have been 102,136 confirmed cases.

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

Why does the government appear to be in such a mess over testing for the coronavirus?

It's a simple question. The consequences of the delays are clear.

If it's easy to see why expanding testing is so important, why isn't it easy for the government simply to make it happen?

Read more analysis from Laura on the testing issues facing the UK.

James Shaw
BBC Scotland reporter

Scotland’s justice secretary has said that he’s withdrawing a proposal to suspend jury trials in Scotland.

The measure was part of emergency coronavirus legislation, which is being debated by the Scottish Parliament today.

Humza Yousaf said the proposal was proportionate but had not secured cross-party support.

It was one of 2019's greatest sporting moments. In fact, it was better than that... it was one of the greatest sporting moments of all time.

England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler broke the stumps to run out New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill, giving his side victory as they won the men's World Cup for the first time.

Now, Buttler has put the shirt he was wearing on eBay to raise money for two specialist heart and lung centres dealing with the coronavirus response.

Since going up last night, the prized possession has already attracted a top bid of almost £66,000 ($80,000).

And if you're a sport fan who needs a smile, you might want to take yourself back to Lord's last summer by watching the video below...

Image source, Getty Images

A decision on the future of this year's Wimbledon is expected in the next 24 hours - with the cancellation of the June-July event seemingly inevitable.

It would be the first time the fortnight-long tournament, one of the sporting highlights of the British summer, has been cancelled since World War Two.

While the All England Club continues to discuss the issue in a series of meetings, another major sporting governing body - Uefa - will also gather today to discuss European football's future plans.

All 55 member associations will take part in a video conference to discuss the rescheduling of matches, after which they are likely to provide an update on this season's Champions and Europa League competitions.

The future of the women’s Euro 2021 tournament, which was scheduled to take place in England, is another key topic.

Our latest graphic (below) shows how cases have spread across Europe, where there have now been more than 30,000 deaths. Here are the latest developments:

• French and Spanish authorities reported record-high numbers of daily deaths on Tuesday – 499 in France and 849 in Spain. French officials plan to shuttle critically ill patients out of Paris to less affected regions, with similar plans under consideration in Spain
• In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold a meeting with leaders of the country’s 16 states about how long restrictions will last – with a focus on the upcoming Easter weekend. Germany has recorded 67,366 confirmed cases and 732 deaths
• Italy remains the worst-affected nation worldwide in terms of deaths, with 12,428 now reported. There is some hope that the number of infections is plateauing, but also fears that the poorer south of the country remains at serious risk. Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri told newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano on Wednesday that a 6% drop in GDP this year is “realistic”
• And in Slovenia, the director of a hospital has apologised after tweeting that he wouldn’t treat a journalist and an opposition politician who had criticised the government if they fell ill. Dr Janez Lavre has since said the comments were “completely inappropriate and seriously offensive”

Timelapse footage has captured the rapid transformation of London's ExCeL exhibition centre into a temporary hospital for coronavirus patients.

The Nightingale Hospital is expected to be operational by the end of the week.

Five hundred beds are already in place, and there is space for another 3,500.

It seems that potato-based humour is working unexpected wonders in getting us through the day (see our earlier post about a boss conducting a meeting as a potato here).

When comedian Matt Lucas updated a 20-year-old comedy song with lyrics to give advice about avoiding coronavirus, he expected about 500 people to watch it.

But the video for his revised Baked Potato Song (above) has now had three million views, and he is about to release it to raise funds for his FeedNHS campaign.

In its new incarnation, his baked potato character instructs people to wash their hands, stay indoors and not touch their faces.

You can read more about his fundraising campaign here.

Here are the latest headlines from the UK and around the world.

• Globally there are now more than 860,000 confirmed cases and more than 42,000 deaths

• President Trump has told Americans they are in the midst of a great national trial unlike any the US has faced before. More than 4,000 people have died due to the Covid-19 disease in the US, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, with officials predicting that as many as 200,000 people could die in the country
• China’s President Xi Jinping has urged his country to return to work carefully while maintaining social distancing

• Burundi and Sierra Leone have become the latest African countries to record their first positive results
• A 13-year-old boy is thought to be the youngest person to die with the disease in the UK. Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, from Brixton in south London, died in King's College Hospital on Monday.
• The UK is aiming to increase the number of tests for coronavirus to 25,000 a day by the middle of April, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has said

• A British national is among four passengers to have died on board a cruise ship that is struggling to contain an outbreak of Covid-19

• And in more positive news, acclaimed British painter David Hockney has shared some of his latest paintings from his lockdown in Normandy

Image source, David Hockney

In the absence of a known treatment for the virus, a handful of experimental drugs are being tested globally. Trials are already under way in China and the US, with the first results expected in the coming weeks.

In the UK, a drug that could help treat coronavirus is to be trialled on a small number of patients in England and Scotland.

The drug, known as remdesivir, is manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Gilead.

"I think this drug is promising in the laboratory, and we're hopeful it will be as promising in humans," Dr Andrew Ustianowsik, a consultant who is overseeing the trials, told the BBC.

You can read more about the UK trial here.

The famous Curb Your Enthusiasm star and Seinfeld creator has a public announcement to make: stay inside your homes.

In a video posted on Twitter by the Office of Governor of California, the comedian urged everyone to stay indoors and addressed those who've been breaking the rules.

“You’re hurting old people like me,” he said. “Well, not me, I have nothing to do with you. I’ll never see you. But, you know, other — let’s say, other old people who might be your relatives. Who the hell knows.”

Image source, Getty Images

In more serious news about videoconferencing, the popular app Zoom has come under fresh high-level scrutiny.

New York's attorney general has written to the firm raising concerns over its ability to cope with the rise in users.

Zoom is now being used by millions of people for work and leisure, as lockdowns are imposed in many countries.

But its data security and privacy measures have been questioned.

Read more here

Many of us are having to familiarise ourselves with new - and sometimes daunting - technology as we start to work from home more.

Video calls in particular pose plenty of challenges. Sound, camera, lighting, and the odd unwelcome guest appearance.

But for all the horror stories you might have heard, sometimes light relief is what's needed right now.

Even if that means turning into a potato.

A boss in the US did just that by trying out a filter that she then couldn't turn off. She carried out the full meeting in the guise of a potato, much to the enjoyment of her colleagues and social media.

"She was just stuck like this the entire meeting," her colleague said with an accompanying picture.

The boss in question, Lizet Ocampo, saw the funny side.

"I yam glad this is making folks laugh at this time," she tweeted., external "Please stay planted at home and safe!"

Very punny.

Image source, AFP

Governments around the globe are trying to prop up their economies with massive stimulus packages. But a quick glance at the stockmarket suggests they are not calming concerns that businesses will suffer greatly.

There's another pointer from Japan today. The country has just seen its most important economic indicator released, a survey called Tankan.

What it does is measure confidence among major manufacturing companies, such as Japan's car makers or electronics giants.

So what's the verdict?

The numbers were the worst in seven years.

To help the economy, the government in Tokyo has promised its "boldest ever" stimulus package, even including cash handouts to households and small companies.

If you're in self isolation or avoiding gyms, you may be wondering how you can continue to stay active. We got a fitness trainer (who’s also a farmer) to show us some simple exercises to do while cooped up at home.

The prime minister of Pakistan, the world's fifth most populous country, has once again opposed a nationwide lockdown. Imran Khan urged citizens to fight the virus with "wisdom", even as cases rose to beyond 1,900. But varying degrees of shutdowns have been observed across districts.

Here are some other updates from countries in the region:

• Several Indian students stranded in Bangladesh due to travel restrictions have appealed to the Indian government to evacuate them from the country, local media report
• A second person has reportedly died from Covid-19 in Sri Lanka as cases surpass 120
• Nepal, which has only five confirmed cases so far, is tracking the exodus of its migrant workers, external from India amid criticism of its decision to close the border for its citizens stranded in India

Some 20,000 coaches from Indian Railways will be converted into coronavirus isolation wards that can accommodate up to 320,000 patients, the government has said.

Work on converting the coaches - each of which will have 16 beds - has already begun.

India has been ramping up its medical efforts in recent days, including by converting sports stadiums into quarantine facilities across states.

There are fears that the country's fragmented healthcare system doesn't have the resources needed to handle the crisis. The country has eight doctors per 10,000 people, compared to 41 in Italy and 71 in South Korea.

There is also a scarcity of isolation beds, trained nursing staff and medics, and ventilators and intensive care beds.

Image source, @UNinHindi/Twitter

Amid all the doom and gloom coronavirus updates, it's always nice to read of those who have beaten the odds - especially when they fall into a vulnerable category.

In India's Kerala state, a 93-year-old man and his 88-year-old wife have both recovered from Covid-19 and will be discharged from hospital in a few days, officials say.

The elderly couple's recovery has made headlines across the country, where it's been hailed by medical professionals since both also suffered from age-related problems.

The man also has hypertension and diabetes - underlying conditions which have caused fatal complications in many cases across the world.

Doctors told BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi that the 98-year-old man's condition deteriorated briefly, prompting them to put him on a ventilator for 24 hours, before he staged a remarkable recovery.

Read more here

Image source, Getty Images

Howard Johnson
Philippines Correspondent, BBC News

Image source, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr

Here in the Philippines, along with the rest of the world, the political elite are not being spared.

Former Philippine Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, according to his spokesperson.

Marcos Jr, whose family are accused by previous Philippine governments of embezzling up to $10bn (£8bn) of public money, is in isolation at his home with his condition reported to be improving.

The first Covid-19 death outside of China occurred here in the Philippines.

At the time there were only two confirmed cases here, but on Tuesday that number rose by 538 in just one day, bringing the national total to 2,084 with 88 deaths. At least 17 of those are frontline healthcare workers.

Strict quarantine measures have yet to flatten the curve.

Private hospitals in Metro Manila have been overwhelmed to the point that they have closed their doors to new Covid-19 patients. Underfunded provincial hospitals have been appealing on social media for more Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

The government is now bolstering supplies at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila.

With only 3,938 individuals tested so far, from a population of more than 100 million, the true extent of the outbreak here is still unknown.

Image source, Get

The UK is aiming to increase the number of tests for coronavirus to 25,000 a day by the middle of April, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has told Sky News.

This comes after Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told the Downing Street daily press conference there was a global shortage of the chemicals needed to test patients.

Mr Jenrick's comments follow criticism over delays in ramping up the UK's testing capacity, and the inability for some health workers to get tested.