Image source, Reuters

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, says it is a "great blessing" that English churches will soon be able to open their doors to worshippers again.

The government is set to announce next week that all places of worship in England can allow private individual prayer from 15 June.

Nichols said:, external "Not every Catholic church will be open on 15 June. Local decisions and provision have to lead this process. But it is a great blessing for individuals and for the benefit of all in society, that church doors will again be open to all who long to pray there for the peace and grace we need today."

According to The Sunday Times, , externalthe government might soon also allow outdoor weddings, currently limited to Jews and Quakers. The report also claims restrictions on weddings and funerals will be eased to enable up to 10 people to attend such occasions indoors from early July.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide is now above 6.9 million, according to latest figures collated by Johns Hopkins University., external

The US has by far the largest number of cases, accounting for almost 30% of the global total. It also has the world's highest death toll, followed by the UK and Brazil.

In Europe, Italy, France and Spain have also been badly hit while in China - where the virus was first detected - the official death toll is some 4,600 from about 84,000 confirmed cases, although critics have questioned whether the country's official numbers can be trusted.

Meanwhile, Brazil has removed, external from public view months of historical data on its epidemic and stopped giving a total count of cases.

Globally, the true number of cases is thought to be much higher than reported figures, as many of those with milder symptoms have not been tested and counted.

Have a look at the charts and graphics tracking the global outbreak here.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said attending large gatherings currently "risks lives" because of coronavirus, after he was asked by the BBC's Andrew Marr about the recent Black Lives Matter protests.

"There is a reason why we have laws in place, temporarily, to say that gatherings over six people should not happen and that's because the virus spreads," he said.

"I hope people make the argument [against racism], and I will support them in making that argument. I hope they make that case strongly, but please don't gather in groups of more than six. In groups of more than six that risks spreading the virus and that risks lives."

Image source, Getty Images

World Bank President David Malpass has pulled no punches by declaring that the coronavirus pandemic is a "devastating blow" for the world economy and that the economic fallout could last for a decade.

In May, Malpass warned that 60 million people could be pushed into "extreme poverty" - living on less than $1.90 (£1.55) per person per day - by the effects of Covid-19.

However, in an interview on Friday, Malpass said that they could now find themselves with less than £1 per day to live on.

He has told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend: "Both the direct consequences, meaning lost income, but also then the health consequences, the social consequences, are really harsh."

He added: "We can see that with the stock market in the US being relatively high, and yet people in the poor countries being not only unemployed, but unable to get any work even in the informal sector. And that's going to have consequences for a decade."

Read more here.

The shadow foreign secretary earlier told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that she believed relaxing Sunday trading laws was "wrong" and she was unconvinced letting shops open for longer would help get the economy back on track.

The government reportedly plans to suspend the laws for a year in a bid to stimulate the economy after the coronavirus crisis.

Image source, EPA

German Health Minister Jens Spahn has urged peaceful anti-racism protesters taking to the streets across the country this weekend to "keep your distance, wear a mask, and take care of each other".

"The fight against racism needs our common commitment," he wrote in a post on Twitter.

"But crowds of people in the middle of the pandemic worry me."

While the demonstrations in support of Black Lives Matter in Germany were largely peaceful throughout the day on Saturday, riots later broke out in Berlin and Hamburg.

There are more than 185,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country, with 8,685 recorded deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

A little more detail now on those comments earlier from Prof John Edmunds, who attends meetings of the UK government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

He said lives would have been saved had ministers acted sooner to put the country into lockdown.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced strict curbs on daily life on 23 March, when there were an estimated 100,000 new infections every day in England.

But Prof Edmunds told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show: "We should have gone into lockdown earlier."

He said it would have been "hard to do it" as the data ministers had in the early part of March and "our kind of situational awareness" was "really quite poor".

"I think it would have been very hard to pull the trigger at that point but I wish we had - I wish we had gone into lockdown earlier. I think that has cost a lot of lives unfortunately."

Some 40,465 people have died with the virus in the UK, according to the latest government figures., external

Prof Edmunds said the epidemic "is definitely not all over" - warning there is an "awful long way to go".

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock has insisted No 10 made the "right decisions at the right time" and had been guided by a "balance" of scientific opinions on the issue.

Asked if he was sure that the timing of the lockdown had not cost lives, he said: "I am sure, as I keep looking back on that period, I'm sure that taking into account everything we knew at that moment - my view is that we made the right decisions at the right time."

Image source, Reuters

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has vetoed emergency coronavirus legislation that would have seen the easing of restrictions and a gradual reopening of the country's economy.

The law had already been backed by the Central American country's Congress.

President Bukele said the law breached a number of constitutional guarantees, including the rights and health of workers who might be exposed to infection.

It is the second time that the president has clashed with lawmakers over such legislation.

The president, who imposed strict measures in efforts to control the outbreak, earlier tweeted: "There are smart companies that know how to adapt, that in the midst of crises find opportunities.

"There are also foolish and slow companies. Those are almost always doomed to failure."

The UK could see further localised actions if there is a spike in the rate of infection, Health Secretary for England Matt Hancock has said.

He stressed the government did not want to see the R rate - the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to, on average - go above 1.

The government is committed to taking "local action" in the first instance to address local outbreaks, he said, citing the example of Weston-super-Mare, where the hospital was shut to new admissions after a spike in infections, and testing of asymptomatic people was introduced.

He said this case could be a "model" for similar actions "if necessary", but insisted No 10 did not want to do this, which is why they were taking a "cautious" approach in further moves to ease the lockdown.

Asked if he would, for example, cut off a whole city from the rest of the UK should it see a spike in infections, he insisted that, while No 10 did have the legal powers to do this, "it's not our starting point".

He stressed it would more likely be on a much smaller scale, in a "much more localised" location - such as one hospital within a part of a city.

Katy Watson
BBC South America correspondent

Days after Brazil registered its first coronavirus death in March, the country began to close down. Businesses and restaurants were shuttered and people were told to stay home.

That's when Rosangela Jesus dos Santos's life changed unimaginably. The 47-year-old diarista, or daily housekeeper, was fired by most of her employers.

"They said it was because of the virus," she says. "I went to a different house every day of the week and some clients are elderly, I understand."

Rosangela is scared. She hopes she can return when the outbreak is over but, for now, she's been left working just one day a week. Her remaining employer gives her a mask but at no point have they told her to stay home for her safety. She's wary of the virus but she knows if she doesn't work, she won't get paid. Brazil has now seen more than 670,000 cases and almost 36,000 deaths.

"I need to work - my family is big, that's the truth," she says, adding: "I would like to be working and I'm used to it, going out early and coming home late."

Read more from Katy Watson here.

Image source, EPA

Lisa Nandy, Labour's shadow foreign secretary, says her party is against the relaxation of Sunday trading laws in the UK.

According to a report in The Times,, external the government is producing legislation to enable larger supermarkets to open for more than six hours on Sundays.

"No, this is the wrong thing to do," Ms Nandy told the BBC's Andrew Marr show

"I'm not convinced this will help get the economy back on track. We've been applauding our frontline workers, and supermarket workers are among those.

"They are worried what this will mean in terms of time with their families. It could hit our high streets hard because of Covid-19."

Image source, Reuters

US Republican Senator Rick Scott has accused China of trying to "sabotage" the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr programme, he said that China had "decided to be an adversary".

"We've got to get this vaccine done. Unfortunately we have evidence that communist China is trying to sabotage us or slow it down," Scott said.

"If we, or England does it first, or anybody in Europe, we're all going to share. China won't share."

Responding to a question about what evidence he had to justify his comments, he said: "There's evidence... it came through our intelligence agency... there's evidence that they've been trying to sabotage or slow it down.

"It's frustrating what China did to all of us... they lied about this, and we could have prepared better."

China says it briefed the US about the coronavirus as early as 4 January, when the disease was still largely unknown.

President Xi Jinping has also said that a vaccine - if or when it is created by China - will be distributed globally, "which will be China's contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries".

Asked about comments earlier by Prof John Edmunds - a epidemiologist and government Sage adviser - that he wished the UK had gone into lockdown “earlier” so that more lives could have been saved, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he disagreed with him, insisting “we took the right decisions at the right time”.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr there was a “broad range” of scientific opinions on the Sage scientific advisory committee and the government had been “guided by the science” and the balance of those opinions.

Challenged on whether the timing of the lockdown had cost lives, Mr Hancock insisted he was "sure" that taking into account everything that was known at that moment, the government "made the right decisions at the right time".

He added any further easing of the lockdown would have to be done very cautiously with a "safety first" approach.

The number of coronavirus-related deaths recorded around the world has now reached 400,013, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, external.

The US university - which started compiling its data soon after the outbreak began in China late last year - says there have been more than 6.9 million confirmed cases.

In the UK, Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy has been asked whether she thinks people are right to attend Black Lives Matter protests given the potential risk of coronavirus spreading.

She told the BBC's Andrew Marr that she wanted people to protest safely, stressing the need for social distancing and taking other precautions, but insisted she was "very proud" of the young people coming out and "speaking up".

She described her personal experience with racism in the UK and argued people needed to take an "active stance" against it.

She said: "You cannot be silent in the face of racism and police brutality and those young people are right to raise their voices and demand change."

She criticised the "silence" from Prime Minister Boris Johnson and "the refusal of Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to comment" on the issue, saying it had "really upset people".

Asked about the small number of violent incidents during protests in London, she said it was "completely wrong" to attack police officers and urged people to stop.

She warned such incidents could "dampen" the voices of those calling for change, particularly by distracting the media attention.

Image source, Getty Images

The German Bundesliga continues behind closed doors with three further matches on Sunday. They come a day after UK viewers were treated to some atmosphere thanks to the TV wizardry of broadcasters BT Sport, who added artificial crowd noise to matches featuring Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

The Danish, Austrian, Greek and Portuguese football leagues also continue in Europe. In other sports news:

• Newmarket hosts the second British horse racing Classic of the season - the 1,000 Guineas. There will be no crowds present
• Men's tennis world number one Novak Djokovic has called the coronavirus safety protocols planned for the US Open "extreme"
• There were no positive results for coronavirus from 1,195 tests in the latest round of Premier League testing. The league is set to resume on 17 June

Image source, Reuters

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's has been criticised repeatedly for his response to the coronavirus pandemic - from opposing lockdown measures to attending rallies without a face covering.

Brazil has the world's second-highest number of cases, but has now removed months of data on Covid-19 from a government website.

The health ministry said it would now only be reporting cases and deaths in the past 24 hours, no longer giving a total figure as most countries do.

Brazil has more than 670,000 confirmed infections, but the number is believed to be much higher because of insufficient testing. Almost 36,000 people have died - the third-highest toll in the world, after the US and UK.

Read more on this story here.

Russia has reported 8,984 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 467,673.

The number of recorded deaths rose by 134 to 5,859 over the same period, according to the official figures from Moscow.

Russia, like many countries, is also suffering acute economic hardship after weeks of coronavirus lockdown. As a result, President Putin’s approval rating has fallen to an all-time low.

In the UK, there are concerns that the R number of the coronavirus - the number of people each infected person, on average, passes the virus onto - could be creeping up, particularly in the north-west and the south-west of England.

Prof John Edmunds, who sits on the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) group and specialises in infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has told the BBC the epidemic has been concentrated around specific settings, including hospitals, care homes and other enclosed locations like prisons.

He explains that the R number is less than 1 and as the epidemic has "shrunk" there have been outbreaks in these settings, meaning the slope of the number of cases "has flattened off".

The R number is now "creeping up", he believes, because it's "reflecting this flattening off of the slope". But he wonders: "Does that mean we are seeing an increase in community cases or is this just a reflection of ongoing outbreaks in hospitals and care homes?"

He says scientific estimates of the R number are "fairly crude", partly because the number of cases are low, so they have to look at other data, such as the weekly Office of National Statistics (ONS) survey.

He says that suggests 5,000 people in the community in England are being infected every day, which he says is "still a lot of infection", adding there's "no room for complacency".

Lucy Williamson
BBC's Paris Correspondent

Image source, EPA

Fear isn't something 88-year-old Mathilde gives into easily. Sitting on the terrace of her local bistro in Paris, hours after it reopened, she sipped a fizzy drink, as the morning sunshine drew perspiration from her glass.

"I've been waiting for this," she said. "To be surrounded by people, not to be alone anymore!"

Mathilde had dressed for the occasion: a printed dress, perfectly styled hair.

Public life here has always demanded a little extra effort. For its cafes and restaurants that means new rules on seating, new cleaning procedures, hand sanitiser everywhere you look.

Many people have expressed relief that Paris's bars and cafes are open again, but the gradual return to normality is also creating familiar frictions.

Read more from Lucy here.