Image source, Getty Images

The UK must avoid lurching from the coronavirus crisis into a deeper climate crisis, the government’s advisers have warned.

The Committee on Climate Change recommends that ministers ensure funds earmarked for a post-Covid-19 economic recovery go to firms that will reduce carbon emissions.

In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the committee says the public should work from home if possible, and to walk or cycle, while investment should prioritise broadband over road-building and people should be encouraged to save emissions by continuing to consult GPs online.

It also says jobless people should be re-trained for work in geographically-spread labour-intensive “green” industries such as home insulation, tree-planting and peatland restoration.

The government will reply later, although Energy Secretary Alok Sharma has already spoken in favour of a green recovery to the recession.

Restaurants, cafés and hotels in London, like in many other cities around the world, have closed because of the pandemic, so their wholesale suppliers are throwing away food.

The UK Federation of Wholesale Distributors has asked the government to offer a tax relief on products which wholesalers are having to dispose of.

Image source, Getty Images

In the same interview, Italy's prime minister said he hoped Italians would be able to enjoy a summer holiday this year if the country's coronavirus epidemic stays under control.

Giuseppe Conte's comments to Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper came as the numbers of confirmed cases and deaths in the country continued to fall.

Other European governments are also considering whether to ease restrictions over the upcoming holiday period.

Germany's tourism commissioner, Thomas Bareiss, told Der Tagesspiegel newspaper earlier this week that if the outbreak stayed under control, people might be able to take foreign breaks "in the next four to eight weeks".

He said destinations would mainly be neighbouring countries but added: "I would not yet write off other regions in Europe, such as the Balearic Islands or the Greek islands."

Image source, Getty Images

Greek Tourism Minister Haris Theocharis has told the BBC his country plans to open up gradually to visitors. He said that travelling by road "will be safer initially than flying and we'll see that kind of tourism earlier".

French President Emmanuel Macron, however, has sounded a note of caution. He told reporters it was "too soon to say whether we can take holidays" but it would become clear by the start of June.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has criticised Germany's constitutional court after it ruled that the European Central Bank's mass bond-buying to stabilise the eurozone partly violated the German constitution.

Mr Conte told the Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper that the ECB's independence was a key element of the European Union and no constitutional court should decide what it could or could not do.

The German court ruled on Tuesday that there was not enough German political oversight in the purchases and it gave the ECB three months to justify them or risk the Bundesbank pulling out.

Italy is among the countries most reliant now on ECB bond purchases because of the severe economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sushila Singh
BBC Hindi

Rama Sahu is what the Indian government calls a "corona warrior" - a community health worker who is helping fight the pandemic. But she is doing so while battling cancer.

Every morning, 46-year-old Sahu leaves her home in the eastern state of Orissa to conduct door-to-door surveys and distribute rations.

She questions families to find out if any one of them is showing symptoms of Covid-19, advises them on isolation and social distancing norms, and distributes food.

And even though she encounters the same faces every day, none of them know that she has been diagnosed with uterine cancer. Her condition is so bad that she wears a diaper throughout her rounds.

"When I work, I forget all my problems,” she says. “The mind is always at work.”

Read more about her story.

Image source, Getty Images

The draft agreement in Germany that we've just reported on could also see professional football resume this month.

The Bundesliga has been suspended since mid-March but players have been back in training.

Politicians are expected to decide when games can begin in a telephone conference later on Wednesday, with 15 and 21 May possible dates for restarting the competition.

They say restarting play in the first and second divisions to "limit the economic damage" for the 36 clubs is "acceptable".

A draft document seen by Reuters and AFP news agencies says the start of matches must be preceded by two weeks of quarantine, possibly as a training camp.

Germany has banned large events with crowds until 24 October, so games will be behind closed doors.

Image source, Getty Images

Germany has already lifted restrictions on religious services and allowed many shops to reopen. Now Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet state premiers from Germany's 16 states with a draft agreement on going a lot further.

Under the plan, decisions on how fast to reopen will be handed to the states themselves rather than the federal government, but there will be a relapse clause. States have been trying to move at different speeds, so Bavaria in the south plans to reopen restaurants on 18 May while Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the north plans to do that this Saturday. According to the German press agency DPA, the government wants all pupils to return to school gradually by the summer holidays.

If the plan is agreed, states will have to reimpose tougher restrictions if new infections go above 50 per 100,000 inhabitants within a week. This morning, Germany's RKI public health institute has reported another 947 new infections nationally and another 165 deaths.

There have been some 167,007 infections and almost 7,000 deaths in Germany, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, external.

If you're just waking up and joining us, then good morning and welcome. We'll be keeping you up to date with all the latest coronavirus updates from across the globe.

• There is a grim milestone for the UK, which now has the highest number of coronavirus deaths in Europe, overtaking Italy, and the second highest in the world after the US - according to Johns Hopkins University, the figure has reached 29,502
• Yesterday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called it "a massive tragedy" but would not be drawn on international comparisons. Johns Hopkins says the global death toll is at 256,928
• Meanwhile, Prof Neil Ferguson - whose advice to the prime minister led to the UK lockdown - has quit as a government adviser following a Daily Telegraph story that a woman, said to be his "married lover", visited his home in lockdown
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to face opposition leader Keir Starmer in his first Prime Ministers Questions since recovering from the virus
• And the Queen has called Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, congratulating him on Australia’s success in fighting the virus. It comes as Australia prepares to ease virus restrictions, aiming to re-start the economy and get millions back to work.

Image source, Activision Blizzard

Two of the biggest names in video gaming have reported jumps in demand as coronavirus lockdowns force people to stay at home.

The makers of the hugely popular games Call of Duty and FIFA say player numbers have soared during the pandemic.

That came as the gaming industry as whole has seen sales hit records in recent weeks as more people turn to their services for entertainment.

Read more here

It is not just people feeling the effects of India's lockdown: the country's animals are also adjusting to the strange circumstances.

But some are coping better than others, so Jai Prakash, a veterinary worker, has stepped up his duties to make sure the city's animals get the care they need.

James Gallagher
BBC News, Health and science correspondent

Is coronavirus mutating to become weaker, or more contagious, or is it too soon to tell? All three interpretations are news stories doing the rounds.

The coronavirus is certainly mutating - viruses do it all the time. The issue is most of those changes will not alter the behaviour of the virus at all.

So far scientists have analysed the genetic code of the virus, but have not then tested whether they are meaningful in the laboratory.

“I love genomes, but there is only so much they can say,” said Dr Lucy Van Dorp, whose research at UCL has identified nearly 200 mutations that seem to be regularly occurring in the coronavirus.

A mutation to the critical “spike protein” that the virus uses as a key to get inside our body’s cells is attracting significant attention. The mutation is widespread – that could be because it is making the virus more contagious or it could be random chance.

“At the moment we have no biology whatsoever, it’s a very interesting observation that is worthwhile following up, but at the moment it is no more than that,” Prof Jonathan Ball from the University of Nottingham told me.

Understanding mutation is vital. It will tell us if the coronavirus is becoming more or less of a threat, if immunity will last, and inform vaccine and drug research.

Joshua Nevett
BBC News

Sita Tyasutami had all the tell-tale symptoms of coronavirus. Yet, as she lay in a hospital bed in Indonesia's capital Jakarta, her condition had not been diagnosed. Nor had that of her mother, Maria Darmaningsih, who had been admitted to the same hospital.

Confined to separate hospital rooms, Tyasutami and her mother were anxiously awaiting the results of their coronavirus tests, when Indonesia's president made a startling announcement.

In a news conference broadcast to the nation, President Joko Widodo said two Indonesian nationals had tested positive for Covid-19, the first two confirmed cases in the country. The pair - a 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter - were being treated at an infectious diseases hospital in Jakarta, the president said.

Aired on TV screens at the hospital, the president's announcement left Tyasutami and her mother in disbelief. President Widodo was talking about two patients at their hospital, with their profiles, their ages, their symptoms, their contact history.

You can read the full story here.

Image source, ARDITO KODIJAT

Several UN organisations are raising the alarm about "thousands of refugees and migrants in distress" at sea in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.

The agencies said they recognised that the pandemic had led to states bringing in new border controls, but said these measures "should not result in the closure of avenues to asylum, or in forcing people to either return to situations of danger or seek to land clandestinely, without health screening or quarantine".

The people at sea are mostly fleeing unrest and persecution in Myanmar - which is facing trial accused of genocide against the Rohingya minority. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled violence in Myanmar in several waves in recent years - the worst crisis came in 2015 when thousands took to boats and became stranded at sea after Thailand closed people smuggling routes through its territories.

The statement from the UNHCR, IOM and UNODC, external said they were concerned about "reports that boats full of vulnerable women, men and children are again adrift in the same waters, unable to come ashore, and without access to urgently needed food, water and medical assistance".

Image source, Getty Images

Disney is set to reopen its Shanghai Disneyland park on 11 May, as most of China begins getting back on track.

The number of guests allowed into the park, however, will be limited and social distancing measures will be enforced on rides and in restaurants.

Guests and employees will be required to wear masks, their temperatures will be screened and lines will be set up.

These plans provide a glimpse into how the rest of Disney's parks could reopen once worldwide restrictions ease. Disney estimates that it has lost over $1 billion in profits, external due to the outbreak, with most of this due to closed theme parks.

Image source, Getty Images

Ana Carmona is an 18-year-old student in the Bronx, New York. She'd been photographing her life at home with her family in lockdown, when she received news of a life-changing opportunity. She tells us her story.

As part of our Life Under Lockdown series we've asked three young Americans to chronicle the very different ways they are experiencing the pandemic. You can also watch our previous interview with Maddie in Ohio here.

The Chinese city of Wuhan -where the virus originated- had for months fallen silent as it went into lockdown.

But today, the chatter of voices and the dragging of chairs have once again returned to some of the city's classrooms.

Only senior students who are prepping for upcoming exams are back at school though, that's about 57,000 pupils in Wuhan, according to state media.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Geeta Pandey
BBC News, Delhi

Image source, Getty Images

At the weekend, India extended the nationwide coronavirus lockdown by another fortnight, but said that domestic helpers can now return to work. The decision has had millions of middle-class homes debating a key question - to let the workers in or not?

A friend once said that if she had to choose between her husband and her maid, she would pick the latter.

The comment was made as a joke, but it's an example of how much Indians depend on their domestic helpers.

According to official estimates, more than four million people are employed as domestic helpers, while unofficial ones put that number at a whopping 50 million.

But with the lockdown extended twice already, and the idea sinking in that this is going to be a long haul, middle-class India has begun to miss the maids.

You can read the full story here.

With the virus now relatively contained in Australia, the government is forging ahead with plans to restart the economy safely.

They've set a target of July for getting people back into the office. But how do you get a "coronavirus-safe" workplace?

Chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy said workplaces would need to stagger employee shifts and increase cleaning. Hand sanitiser should be in every office, meetings held via video, and handshakes are still banned.

Offices could learn from the other workplaces kept open throughout the lockdown: construction sites, childcare centres, retail shops and even hair salons.

Those running industries helped cushion the economy, which has still lost about A$4bn (£2bn; $2.5bn) every week, the treasury said yesterday.

More than 1 million people have lost their jobs, while a further five million sought out the government's subsidy for employers. That means 40% of the workforce has needed welfare to survive.

Image source, EPA

An investigation by BBC News Arabic has analysed flight tracking data and open source footage which shows how Iran's largest airline - Mahan Air - continued to fly while government flight bans were in place, and contributed to the spread of Covid-19 in the Middle East.

Mahan Air is sanctioned by the US for its links to the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Watch our investigation here:

The coronavirus outbreak is the biggest threat to conservation, the head of a charity which protects African wildlife has said.

The number of virus cases in Africa remains relatively low but the outbreak has devastated Africa's tourism industry, which is worth an estimated $30 billion a year.

Charlie Mayhew of Tusk told the BBC that his organisation expects to lose two million dollars from cancelled fundraising events alone.

Mayhew said organisations across the continent were having to lay off thousands of staff members - leading to a decline in the number of rangers protecting wildlife, but also increasing the number of now unemployed people who are having to turn to poaching to survive.

"This is definitely the biggest threat we have seen to the conservative world in the thirty years I've been working in it," he said, adding that the years of progress made across Africa could be "undone very quickly" by the virus.

Image source, Getty Images