Speaking at a press conference, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she hoped Boris Johnson would reflect on his decision to back Dominic Cummings and "come to a different conclusion".

The BBC understands that the Prime Minister’s chief adviser, under fire over the lockdown rules, is expected to make a public statement and take questions later this afternoon.

It comes as he faces calls to resign.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticised for taking no action over his special adviser Dominic Cummings driving 260 miles to his parents' estate in County Durham at the height of restrictions in March.

Durham police have now released a statement saying they intend to investigate other allegations. The Observer, external and Sunday Mirror, external said Cummings did not stay indoors while in Durham and made another trip there after returning to London in April.

Steve White, acting crime and victims’ commissioner for Durham police, said he was confident it had so far "responded proportionately and appropriately" but added: "It is clear, however, that there is a plethora of additional information circulating in the public domain which deserves appropriate examination.

"I have today written to the Chief Constable, asking her to establish the facts concerning any potential breach of the law or regulations... It is vital that the Force can show it has the interests of the people of County Durham and Darlington at its heart, so that the model of policing by consent, independent of government but answerable to the law, is maintained."

He said the issue had "become a major issue of public interest and trust".

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said his inbox was full of emails "from constituents furious about Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson's blase endorsement of his action".

"The hypocrisy stinks and people know it."

He then went on to share concerns raised by an intensive care doctor, before retweeting a letter which the prime minister sent to UK households, asking residents to stay at home.

Long queues and chaos greeted passengers at Indian airports as the country partially restarted domestic air travel after two months of coronavirus lockdown.

But dozens of flights were cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

India has stepped up preventive measures ahead of resuming domestic flights.

At airports, passengers have their body temperatures scanned and security officials are checking that travellers have downloaded a compulsory government-backed tracing app.

Other measures include the disinfecting of shoes and luggage.

Read the full story

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

From ‘covidiots’ to ‘quarantine and chill’, the pandemic has led to many terms that help people laugh and commiserate.

While Brexit may be the closest parallel, the speed of the linguistic change we’re seeing with Covid-19 is unprecedented

Many of the newly popular terms relate to the socially distanced nature of human contact these days, such as ‘virtual happy hour’ and ‘covideo party’.

‘Corona’ has become a prefix, whether it's Polish speakers converting ‘coronavirus’ into a verb or English speakers wondering how ‘coronababies’ (the children born or conceived during the pandemic) will fare.

And, of course, there are abbreviations, like the ubiquitous ‘WFH’ and the life-saving ‘PPE’.

• Click here for our full story on how the virus has changed language

Image source, AFP

Iran has reopened its major Shia Muslim shrines - including those of Imam Reza in Mashhad and Hazrat Masumeh in Qom - two months after they were closed to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Worshippers and pilgrims will be allowed to access courtyards, but not porticoes and other covered areas. They will also be required comply with guidelines on hygiene and social distancing. The shrines will open one hour after dawn and close one hour before sunset, rather than stay open around the clock.

At the Shah Abdol Azim shrine in Tehran on Monday morning, visitors had to wear a mask, walk through a disinfection tunnel, and have their temperature checked, according to AFP news agency.

Image source, AFP

Health experts expressed alarm when the authorities did not close the shrines immediately after Qom emerged as the epicentre of Iran’s Covid-19 outbreak in mid-February.

The government has reported more than 135,000 cases of the disease and 7,400 deaths, although the actual figures are believed to be far higher.

The Prince of Wales has raised concerns about how orchestras and theatres will survive the coronavirus crisis.

Many theatres and concert halls are struggling after closing their doors during lockdown, with no clear indication of when shows might resume.

In an interview with Classic FM, Prince Charles said it was important to "find a way of keeping these orchestras and other arts bodies going".

"It's absolutely crucial that they can come back twice as enthusiastic as before," he said.

Read the full story here

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Ministry of Information

Zambia's Information Minister Dora Siliya says she publicly shared her Covid-19 test results to fight stigma associated with the respiratory illness caused by coronavirus.

She told BBC's Newsday programme that she was afraid the stigma would impede the fight against the virus like it did for HIV in Zambia.

Ms Siliya said she felt that if her test results had leaked it would undermine the fight against stigma.

The minister said some Zambians still don't believe Covid-19 is real.

She said behaviorial change has only been seen among the elite in the city, but those in rural areas still think coronavirus affects those who travel abroad.

Injured, jobless and unable to get home, Mohan Paswan feared he might starve after India announced its nationwide lockdown in March.

The auto-rickshaw driver had been recovering from an accident in Gurugram, a suburb of New Delhi but, with no income, he soon ran out of money to buy food and medicines.

But his 15-year-old daughter Jyoti Kumari had a plan - and the determination to pull it off.

With her disabled father on the back of her bike, Jyoti cycled 1,200km (745 miles) in just over a week to their village in eastern India.

Before the journey, which has earned Jyoti international praise, Mohan was sceptical the eighth-grade student would be able to manage the trip.

“But she convinced me. I’m so proud of her. She saved me. We would have died of hunger in Gurugram,” Mohan said.

Jyoti and Mohan are just two of thousands of Indians who have been trying to get home since lockdown restrictions were imposed, leaving many migrant workers stranded, unemployed and penniless.

Read more: The Indian migrants dying to get home

Image source, EPA

A number of European countries are further lifting their restrictions on Monday:

• Gyms and swimming pools reopen in Italy, except in the hardest-hit region of Lombardy. The country has the third-highest recorded death toll from the virus worldwide.
• Spain’s two biggest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, both move into phase one of the country’s 3-phase lockdown lifting plan. People can now gather in small groups, while bars and restaurants can serve customers outside. Other parts of the country move to phase two – meaning beaches, businesses and public areas can open more extensively.
• Ferry services in Greece resume to all islands and ports, as the government hopes to boost domestic tourism. Cafes and restaurants are also reopening in the country from Monday.
• Bars reopen in the Czech Republic – the country with the highest per capita beer consumption in the world – as the country enters its final lockdown easing stage. As well as restaurants, cafes and pubs, the doors are also reopening at primary schools, zoos and castles.

• And Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has resumed regular service on its metro. According to Johns Hopkins University, the country has confirmed more than 21,000 cases and recorded 623 deaths.

Two women in India went into labour while returning to their homes on two separate trains organised for migrant workers on Sunday.

Both trains were headed to Odisha state. In one case, the woman reported labour pains, prompting officials to halt the train at the closest station, where she gave birth with the help of the railway's medical officer.

Both mother and baby are in a stable condition, external, officials told Indian media.

In the second case, officials stopped the train and a police vehicle rushed to the spot. The woman gave birth in the vehicle itself, Odisha's director general of police tweeted.

Image source, Japan Prime Minister's Office

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has lifted the country’s nationwide state of emergency, ending restrictions in the remaining areas where the order was still in effect.

"We had very stringent criteria for lifting the state of emergency. We have judged that we have met this criteria," Abe said in a TV address to the nation on Monday.

The prime minister said the country had managed to control the spread of Covid-19 since issuing the order in some areas on 7 April, then later extending it nationwide.

Japan has been easing restrictions since mid-May, but kept several areas, Tokyo included, under watch to ensure the outbreak had been contained.

Japan has recorded a relatively low number of cases and deaths in comparison to other major economies. As of Monday, Japan had recorded 820 coronavirus-related deaths and 16,550 infections.

Justin Rowlatt
Chief environment correspondent

British drivers are ready to change their behaviour to maintain the cleaner air of the lockdown and protect the environment, a survey suggests.

Of the 20,000 motorists polled for the AA, half said they would walk more and 40% intended to drive less.

Four in five would take some action to reduce their impact on air quality.

It comes after researchers warned the dramatic improvements in air quality in recent weeks could be quickly reversed as the coronavirus restrictions ease.

As well as walking more and driving less, a quarter of motorists said they planned to work from home more, another quarter said they would be flying less, while one in five plan to cycle more.

"We have all enjoyed the benefits of cleaner air during lockdown and it is gratifying that the vast majority of drivers want to do their bit to maintain the cleaner air," said AA president Edmund King.

• Click here to read the full story

Image source, PA Media

Germany's economy has been pushed into a recession in the first quarter.

The 2.2% contraction is the steepest since the financial crisis of 2008 and the second-steepest since the country's reunification in 1990.

The official statistics released on Monday confirm preliminary data from earlier this month and show a slump in exports, private consumption and capital investments.

Experts actually expect a much bigger drop in the second quarter (April to June) as most of the lockdown measures were only introduced in mid-March.

Image source, PA Media

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson says the prime minister made "absolutely clear" that his senior aide only took one trip to Durham, despite reports that he made another trip there after returning to London in April.

Speaking on BBC's Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Williamson said Dominic Cummings has at "every stage operated within the rules" whilst abiding by the law.

He added that he didn't have "any more details than that", before changing the direction of the conversation to focus on schools.

Mr Williamson said the government had been monitoring a number of nations across the world where they have seen a "very gradual return".

Coronavirus though, he said, was "something that we are going to be dealing with not just over the next few months, but potentially for a very long period of time and we can’t be in a situation where the people who have suffered so much, in terms of young children, are going to be missing out on education".

On Sunday, Boris Johnson confirmed that schools will reopen on 1 June for early years pupils, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.

Conservative MP Tim Loughton said he had expected the prime minister to announce on Sunday that his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, would be stepping down, after reports he breached lockdown measures.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Loughton said he thought Boris Johnson would offer a "proper justification" about why Mr Cummings' actions did not violate government advice.

"I didn’t get that and what's more worrying is that my constituents didn't get that," he said.

"This sends out a very bad message. It looks like one rule for them and one rule for us and I think that is deeply worrying."

Anything that distracted from the central message on coronavirus had to be dealt with, he said.

Image source, Instagram: Ever Banega

A behind closed doors game between Real Betis and Sevilla could restart the Spanish football season on 11 June.

La Liga chief Javier Tebas told Spanish TV he hoped the Seville derby can be "a tribute to all the people who have died".

Tebas has also warned footballers to "be careful with their actions" after four Sevilla players apologised, external for breaking rules on social gathering.

Ever Banega, Lucas Ocampos, Franco Vazquez and Luuk de Jong were pictured among 12 people at a party at the weekend. Spain has eased its strict lockdown rules, but gatherings of more than 10 people are still not allowed.

"Players are an example to society," Tebas said. "I call on all footballers to not act like this. We have to be very careful because a lot of people's jobs are at stake."

Zoe Kleinman
BBC News, Technology reporter

I first realised just how quickly attitudes towards technology were changing when my mum told me, two days after lockdown began, that she had downloaded Skype.

She's not exactly an early adopter - in fact, she has resolutely refused to video call anybody, ever, until now.

Lockdown has removed the luxury of choice for many of us. If you want to see your relatives, it has to be on screen.

As we get over the social awkwardness of the "Zoom boom" - when to mute that mic, when to stop talking - we're realising that, for the most part, video chat works.

Whether it's family reunions, pub quizzes, office meetings or even pet appointments with the vet, we can get together quickly without being in the same room - and there's a good chance that is going to stick.

• Read the full story here

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The Japanese government is expected to lift its nationwide state of emergency on Monday, ending restrictions on the economy as coronavirus cases taper off.

The government’s advisory panel has approved the plan, paving the way for measures to be eased in the capital, Tokyo, and other areas still under the order.

“There is no longer a need for a state of emergency in any part of the country,” Japan’s economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to announce the decision at a news conference on Monday at 18:00 local time (09:00 GMT).

Unlike other major economies, Japan has endured a relatively limited outbreak of Covid-19, recording 820 coronavirus-related deaths and 16,550 infections as of Monday.

Initially, Japan was criticised for its handling of the pandemic, prompting the prime minister to declare a state of emergency in metropolitan areas on 7 April, later expanding it nationwide.

But, given Japan's leaders have no legal power to enforce a lockdown, the country’s success in controlling the spread of the virus since then has puzzled disease experts.

It is not yet clear why the nation with the world's oldest population has managed to keep virus cases low in comparison to other countries.

• Why is there so little coronavirus testing in Japan?