The New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has announced a further loosening of the country's restrictions, with retail stores, malls, cafes, restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces allowed to reopen on Thursday - with social distancing.

Schools can reopen from 18 May, but bars must wait until 21 May.

• Read more on New Zealand's successful virus response here

A flight carrying 200 Pakistani citizens stranded by the pandemic took off from Washington DC on Sunday.

The flight, headed to Islamabad, is the first of six such charter flights arranged by the Pakistani government.

Around 1,500 Pakistanis stranded in the US will be brought home via these flights, the Pakistani embassy said.

Another flight, this one chartered by the US, will take home 150 Pakistani students on Monday. These students were in the US on various exchange programmes.

Meanwhile, Pakistan continues to relax its lockdown, allowing some markets to reopen even as cases surged past 30,000 and deaths crossed 600.

Rio de Janeiro's authorities have been doing themed projections on the Christ the Redeemer statue throughout the pandemic - and yesterday's focused on hunger in Brazil amid the economic fallout.

Images of fruits and vegetables were projected along with slogans in Portuguese such as "hunger" and "a table without hunger".

Local lockdowns have hit Brazil's poor hard, with many of the country's 38 million informal workers now unemployed.

Nearly 700 Indians have arrived home from the Maldives on a naval ship, local media reported.

Two passengers who arrived in the southern state of Kerala were taken to hospital after displaying symptoms, external, police said.

This was the Indian navy's first evacuation under the country's mammoth repatriation, which will see more than 60 flights bring back thousands of Indians stranded abroad this week.

The country's evacuation exercise, billed as one of the world's largest, plans to bring home around 200,000 people.

Image source, Getty Images

The chart below shows the sharp rise in confirmed cases around the world since mid-March - partly because of the spread of the virus, and partly because of a global increase in testing.

The number of people dying with Covid-19 has increased much less sharply.

Image source, AFP

The number of confirmed cases in Germany has increased by 357 to 169,575, official data showed on Monday. The reported death toll rose by 22 to 7,417.

The latest numbers reverse the recent trend of bigger increases, which had people worried there would be a resurgence of infections after Germany eased its lockdown measures.

So what to make of the sudden decline in new cases reported on Monday? It could just be down to reporting delays.

Germany's official data has in the past often seen a slight lag in reporting over the weekend. So we'll have to wait a few more days before we can tell whether infections have really been pushed down again.

These charts show the daily number of cases and deaths in the US, and the rolling average.

In both cases, the rolling averages remain stubbornly high, although with a downward trend.

Newly-released figures - not included in these charts - show the US had 776 deaths in the past 24 hours, the lowest figure since March.

The US has the highest number of virus deaths and cases in the world - but it also has one of the biggest populations, and widespread testing.

On Tuesday, for the first time in nearly 50 days, passengers will be able to board inter-state trains in India.

The government organised special trains earlier this month for stranded migrant workers who wanted to return home. But the latest announcement applies to everyone.

The trains will depart from the capital, Delhi, and will go to 15 cities, including Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad. Tickets can be purchased online later on Monday.

India is at the half-way mark of its third lockdown, which began with states easing restrictions. The resumption of partial railway services is the biggest relaxation yet, even as infections continue to rise.

The country has confirmed nearly 63,000 cases, including almost 20,000 who have recovered, and over 2,000 deaths.

Robin Brant
BBC News, Shanghai

It’s big day for the House of Mouse.

Disney executives estimate that the shutdown of its six theme parks across the world will likely cost the company more than $1bn in profits.

The Shanghai resort - which it co-owns with a Chinese state run company - is a cash cow. Opened just four years ago, it is a half day's drive from about 300 million people.

But for three months the newly-opened Toy Story rides, and the other attractions, have been dormant. There were no reported cases among staff or visitors at the park but it shut down anyway.

Speaking to senior staff here, it’s clear there is huge anxiety about maintaining that zero figure. The restrictions in place for today’s reopening give a glimpse of what could happen in Florida, California and the other places where the Disney hopes to resume its theme park business.

Guests numbers will be kept at around 30% of capacity, apparently a limit required by the government.

Temperature checks are being carried out. Visitors are standing in yellow taped-off squares for their photographs, to ensure they are more than two metres apart.

Other parts of Disney's global business have benefited from changing habits during the virus outbreak. Disney’s new streaming service Disney+, where it makes new content available exclusively, has seen subscriber numbers rocket.

But at the same time, the company knows it could take years to make up the lost revenue from removing most of its content from other platforms - such as Netflix.

With the elderly particularly vulnerable to coronavirus, many care and nursing homes across the world have put in place strict social distancing measures - or have even banned all visitors.

One care home in the Netherlands has figured out one way for their elderly residents to see their family safely and comfortably. The BBC's Anna Holligan reports:

The Chinese city of Shulan has been placed under lockdown after a rise in the number of new cases.

The city saw 11 new virus cases in the past day - all linked to an infected laundry woman, said state media.

The 45-year-old patient, who has infected her husband, sisters and some other family members, is said to have had no recent travel history.

All public places across the city have been shut and all residents told to stay at home. Public transport has been suspended and the city classified as high risk - the highest of a three-tier zoning system.

The new infection has set Chinese social media abuzz, with many speculating how the woman got infected. Others, claiming to be from Shulan, said they felt the virus "draws closer and closer each day".

Shulan is in Jilin province, which sits on the border with North Korea, which claims to have no virus cases.

Many observers have accused the North of covering up an outbreak.

Image source, Getty Images

The United States has recorded 776 deaths linked to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 79,526, according Johns Hopkins University, external.

The daily increase was the lowest since March, with daily numbers in recent weeks ranging from 1,000 to 2,500.

The US remains the country with by far the highest number of confirmed infections - partly because of its large population and widespread testing.

There are now 1,329,260 cases, more than five times the tally of Spain, the second-worst affected country.

As UK PM Boris Johnson announces a slight easing of lockdown in England, the first chart shows how the number of people dying with Covid-19 is declining in the UK.

The second chart shows the number of cases staying fairly flat - but the number of tests in the UK has increased sharply in recent weeks.

Over the weekend South Korea warned of a possible second wave of infections after a cluster emerged from a number of Seoul nightspots.

So far South Korea has managed to avoid the fatalities seen elsewhere due to the government's aggressive test, trace and contain policy.

The BBC's Laura Bicker reports on how technology proved vital in tracing the infected:

Image source, EPA

Schoolchildren have gone back into the classroom this morning in two of Australia's biggest states - New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland.

"I know this is a huge relief for families,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. "We know how important it is for students to receive that face-to-face teaching."

The issue of in-classroom teaching has been a huge point of contention between federal and state authorities.

All state schools across Australia had technically remained open during the pandemic, but state leaders had told parents to keep their children at home if they could.

This contradicted the prime minister's views that classrooms should continue operating as normal, allowing parents to go to work.

Now that the virus seems contained in Australia, both sides are making progress. In NSW, the biggest state, students will start off with one or two days in the classroom before resuming full-time.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has presented a plan to ease the lockdown, allowing people in England to spend more time outdoors from Wednesday.

Those who can not work from home should return to the workplace and some primary pupils will return to school, "at the earliest by 1 June".

The next step could then see some hospitality businesses and other public places reopen - "if the numbers support it" - but not earlier than 1 July.

A new Covid Alert System with five levels will govern how quickly lockdown restrictions can be eased.

The plans presented by Johnson only apply to England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can decide their own schedule for easing - and have indicated they will not follow yet.

• Read more details here

In 1957 a new strain of avian flu emerged in East Asia and quickly spread around the world, killing at least one million people.

Sumi Krishna was nine years old when she caught the virus in India. This is her story:

Image source, EPA

People will be able to visit friends and family across all of Australia by the end of the week.

Each state and territory has now signalled when its residents can experience the new freedoms outlined by Prime Minister Scott Morrison last Friday.

In Victoria (which includes Melbourne) social visits can resume from Tuesday midnight but restaurants will stay shut. Meanwhile, neighbouring New South Wales (which includes Sydney) has already allowed social visits and now restaurants can reopen with a 10-person limit from Friday. Queensland opens from today.

Australia is following a three-step plan to get society roughly back to normal by July.

Under "Step One", students are urged to go back to school, working from home is being relaxed, people can have five guests at home or join 10-person gatherings outside, and public spaces like libraries and pools will reopen.

There are only around 750 active cases of the virus, but authorities say people must maintain social distancing to prevent a second wave.

"The virus is still out there - it hasn't gone anywhere - it is still out there," Mr Morrison told reporters this morning.

"The reason we're reopening is because we put protections in place."

Saudi Arabia is set to raise its consumption tax from 5 to 15% starting from July, its state news agency has reported.

VAT was only introduced in Saudi Arabia at the start of 2018.

The government will also, from June onwards, suspend the cost of living allowances that state employees receive.

The country has been badly hit by the virus outbreak and the collapse of oil prices. There are currently 39,048 confirmed virus cases in the country.

Image source, Smitha Girish

Smitha Girish lives in Kerala in south-west India with her young son Ishaan.

Her husband is in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. And due to Covid-19 he is stuck in his accommodation, unemployed.

"For the last month he is simply sitting in the flat," says Smitha.

"He couldn't join his new job, he couldn't withdraw his money from [the] bank. It's very difficult, because he has to pay a large amount for our flat."

Remittances are a lifeline for tens of millions of families around the world.

But as the pandemic limits the ability of migrants to work and send their wages back home, that lifeline is drying up.

• Click here to read our full story on migrants struggling to send money home