A Devon family pub was forced to shut early at the weekend after crowds became uncontrollable and staff were assaulted, managers have said.

The Morley Arms in Plymstock had up to 600 people turn up on Saturday night and struggled to maintain social distancing. Staff said they had to shut more than an hour earlier than the planned closing time.

The pub has apologised and managers said they are due to meet with Devon and Cornwall Police on Monday to review the situation.

Assistant manager Lesley Inch said she was scared for herself and her staff as people refused to leave, including "big groups that had been drinking all day and came to us already intoxicated".

She said staff were "pushed, shoved, we were hit, drinks were thrown, and people were just unkind and just nasty".

Image source, Reuters

Later today, we're expecting to see the early-stage trial data on one of the most advanced coronavirus vaccines in development, from AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

The UK has already invested in 100m doses in the hope that it might stop the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as signing deals for 90m doses of other promising vaccines.

But why is a vaccine so important and how close are we to getting one? You can find out in this guide to the vaccine race.

Image source, PA Media

UK high street stalwart Marks and Spencer has announced that it plans to cut 950 jobs.The store said "proposed changes would affect 950 roles across central support functions in field and central operations and property and store management".

It is reported the company has begun consultation with its "employee representative group" and will initially offer voluntary redundancy to those affected.

M&S food stores remained open throughout the lockdown, but trade in other parts of the business has been severely affected. In May, the company said clothing sales had been down by more than 80% year-on-year at the lowest point.

It comes amid reports on Monday that 500 jobs will go at fashion retailer Ted Baker. Both part-time and full-time roles will be affected, with about 200 jobs expected to go at its London headquarters and the rest from its shops and store concessions across the UK and Europe.

Many other high street retailers have announced job cuts this month due to the pandemic. They include:

• 4,000 jobs at Boots
• Up to 1,300 at John Lewis

• Up to 700 jobs at Harrods
• About 600 workers at shirtmaker TM Lewin

It's the start of the summer holidays in England and when Neelam Kumari heard that thousands of people were flocking to Bournemouth beach last month, she thought it could be good for business.

Now, standing behind a Perspex screen in a phone accessories and repairs shop in the town centre, she shakes her head.

"Half a million people turned up… but the town was dead," she says.

Shops in the Dorset town's centre have spent years competing with online retailers and alternative shopping hubs with free parking.

Now, with the additional challenges posed by coronavirus, there are fears it could be the "nail in the coffin" for some businesses.

Read more.

A contact tracing centre in Scotland has become the centre of a coronavirus outbreak after six workers tested positive.

Sitel, which operates the call centre for NHS England to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 south of the border, said it was aware of a "local outbreak" at its site in Motherwell.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that the site had been closed.

He said "extensive contact tracing" was now under way – attempting to find who the contact tracers have been in contact with.

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Image source, AFP

With more than one million reported infections, India has the world's third largest number of Covid-19 cases. As the virus spreads, so do fear and stigma, affecting the rich and the poor, and pervading cities and villages.

At the receiving end of the phenomenon are people who have been infected and have recovered from the disease, as well as health workers and doctors.

"The virus is like a death sentence for many. They believe if the disease doesn't kill you, the stigma will," says Abhijit Chowdhury, a physician who runs Covid Care Network, comprising a group of volunteers and a helpline to tackle stigma.

The United Nations says "fears, rumours and stigma" are key challenges accompanying Covid-19 globally.

Read more here.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairobi

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A top Kenyan politician has apologised for flouting a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja was over the weekend found drinking at a pub in the capital, Nairobi, hours past the 21:00 curfew.

He was briefly detained at a city police station before being released on free police bond. He is now due to appear in court on Tuesday but says he is ready to take responsibility for his actions.

He has also relinquished leadership of a key Senate committee that was overseeing the country’s response to Covid-19.

A video emerged Sunday on social media showing the young senator in a police cell arguing with police officers following his arrest.

Kenyans have complained that the strict restriction measures are being applied selectively, with politicians openly flouting them by holding large meetings which have been outlawed.

Police have also come in for criticism for beating, injuring and killing Kenyans during the enforcement of the regulations.

Some of the strict measures on religious gatherings and travel restrictions from main coronavirus hotspots have since been lifted despite cases surging across the country.

Kenya has so far registered about 13,000 Coronavirus cases with 234 deaths.

Rob England
BBC News

From today people can sign up to take part in approved studies working to develop a vaccine for coronavirus.

Those wishing to partake can register online, external and will be contacted by researchers.

There are currently two national coronavirus vaccine studies approved by the National Institute for Health Research in the UK, run by the University of Oxford and Imperial College London.

Advice for people leaving education on how to handle employment prospects in the wake of coronavirus.

Image source, EPA

The Tower of London's famous Beefeater guards are facing redundancy for the first time in their 500-year history because of the coronavirus crisis.

The pandemic has seen the temporary closure of six sites run by Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) - including the Tower of London, its most popular attraction.The 37 Yeoman Warders, formed by Henry VII in 1485, guard the Crown Jewels. Two are understood to have already taken voluntary redundancy, but further, compulsory, redundancies are likely to follow.

HRP chief executive John Barnes said the organisation had "simply had no choice".

"Historic Royal Palaces is a self-funded charity. We depend on visitors for 80% of our income," he said.

"The closure of our six sites for almost four months has dealt a devastating blow to our finances.

"We have taken every possible measure to secure our financial position, but we need to do more to survive in the long term."We are heartbroken that it has come to this."

The Tower of London,which reopened on 10 July, normally attracts around three million visitors per year.

Image source, Gett

Nurses in Israel are staging a general strike over staff shortages and poor conditions made worse by the coronavirus pandemic. These factors, they say, have made it impossible for them to work.

With more than 800 nurses in quarantine themselves, according to health ministry figures, and no-one to replace them, hospitals and health facilities are having to operate on reduced staffing and non-urgent operations have been cancelled.

"We have no choice but to take matters into our own hands and prevent a health system collapse this coming winter," the head of the nurses' union, Ilana Cohen, said, external.

Israel has experienced a resurgence of coronavirus cases in recent weeks after largely relaxing restrictions following a marked decline in infections.

This past weekend, the government reimposed limits on gatherings and said it would be closing some public spaces. It is considering a full lockdown if cases continue to rise.

We have some more detail for you now about the inquiry in Australia, and the suspicion that recent outbreaks in the state of Victoria are linked to security guards contracting the disease at the quarantine hotels where they work. The hotels in question house returning international travellers who are required to self-isolate as part of a government-run system.

"We've just seen this extraordinary escalation in cases, which happened when security guards became infected across two hotel sites," Prof Catherine Bennett, chair in epidemiology at Deakin University's faculty of health, told the BBC's Newsday programme.

"They seem to have taken it home to various parts of the community, and we developed simultaneously some very large clusters in well-connected parts of the community that have really led to a rapid rise in cases."

The state's capital Melbourne is in partial lockdown amid the surge in cases, with 275 new infections reported on Monday.

Prof Bennett said there were questions about how well the rules in place were understood and observed at the quarantine hotels, as well as training given to the security guards.

She said: "It's a frightening story about Covid, and how it works in clusters.

"Victoria was still quite limited in its mobility and the number of non-household contacts individuals had - and yet it could still take off in this manner, even with a very active contact-tracing process in place."

This year tens of thousands of student nurses, radiographers, paramedics and other healthcare workers in the UK were given a choice.

Postpone their training placements and concentrate on theory work instead or sign up as a paid volunteer, helping the NHS through the Covid-19 outbreak.

More than 40,000 answered that call, many working on the front line for the first time.

The BBC followed four students through their placements.

Image source, Reuters

The first results of the Oxford University vaccine trial are expected to be published today.

The vaccine, developed in conjunction with AstraZeneca, is already in large-scale human trials to assess whether it can protect against Covid-19.

However, its developers have yet to report the results of initial phase one testing, which would indicate if it is safe and whether it triggers an immune response. That data is expected to be published in The Lancet medical journal later.

Most experts think a vaccine is likely to become widely available by mid-2021. A vaccine would normally take years, if not decades, to develop - so that would be a huge scientific feat.

But there are no guarantees it will work. Four coronaviruses already circulate in human beings. They cause common cold symptoms and we don't have vaccines for any of them.

Is’haq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

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Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama has tested positive for Covid-19. He is a member of a presidential task force that is coordinating the country's response to the pandemic.

Onyeama announced in a tweet on Sunday that he would be isolating at a health facility.

‘’Did my fourth Covid-19 test yesterday at the first sign of a throat irritation and unfortunately this time it came back positive. That is life! Win some lose some. Heading for isolation in a health facility and praying for the best,’’ he said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has wished him quick recovery.

A number of senior politicians in Nigeria, including several state governors, have tested positive for the virus.

In April, President Buhari’s chief of staff, Abba Kyari, died from the disease.

Nigeria has so far recorded about 36,000 cases of coronavirus, with around 15,000 recoveries and nearly 800 deaths.

Image source, Reuters

Indoor gyms are open in Northern Ireland and they reopen in England from Saturday 25 July, along with indoor swimming pools, sports halls and leisure centres.

Gyms will have to follow strict social distancing guidelines, including:

• Capacity limits, controlled by a timed booking system
• Reduced class sizes
• Equipment spaced out and improved ventilation
• Temporary floor markings in dance studios where possible
• Customers encouraged to shower and change at home

No reopening date for gyms has yet been set in Scotland or Wales.

Meanwhile, Swim England has published guidance, external for operators on how to reopen indoor pools, including:

• Increasing the supply of outside air to pools
• Implementing a one-way entry and exit system
• Minimising the use of changing rooms

Read more here about changes to lockdown restrictions that will also mean more beauty services opening and live performances starting again.

Image source, AFP

Here are some of the latest updates as countries around the world try to cope with Covid-19:

• An inquiry in Australia is trying to determine how security breaches may have undermined the Covid-19 hotel quarantine programme in the state of Victoria, where there's been a fresh wave of infections

• Hong Kong is stepping up its measures against the virus after a record new number of cases were recorded on Sunday. Authorities have announced a series of new measures including the mandatory wearing of face masks in indoor public spaces
• In France, masks are also now compulsory in indoor spaces such as shops, restaurants and banks. They were already required on public transport. People can be fined €135 (£122; $154) for failing to comply
• An extended EU summit discussing a €750bn coronavirus recovery fund is due to resume later on Monday. The negotiations are now into their fourth day, with EU leaders so far unable to reach a deal over whether to attribute the money via payable loans or grants
• The latest figures collated by Johns Hopkins University show that more than 14.5 million cases have been confirmed around the world, and there have sadly been more than 606,000 deaths

With at least eight large-scale coronavirus vaccine trials expected to take place in the UK, the public is being asked to sign up to trials - with the aim of getting half a million participants by October.

"We need to call again on the generosity of the public to help find out which potential vaccines are the most effective," said England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty.

It is possible a vaccine will be proven effective by the end of 2020, but wide-scale vaccination is still not expected until next year.

The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, told BBC Breakfast that vaccine development was "an incredibly long process and we are doing it at breakneck speed" but that we should only expect a Covid-19 vaccine "after winter".

"We obviously want vaccines available at the earliest possible stage," he said.

"The work that's being done at Oxford and Imperial, and many other centres, is absolutely world-leading, but we do need to ensure these vaccines are properly trialled."

Gavin Lee
BBC Europe reporter

Image source, Reuters

This is now the longest European summit in 20 years.

The self-proclaimed 'frugal four' - Sweden, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands - along with Finland, have been unwavering in their refusal to allow €500 billion (£456 billion) to be offered in the form of grants to countries hardest hit by the effects of Covid-19.

Led by the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, they now say that €375 billion is as far as they’ll go, plus conditions including the right to block requests. The others, including Spain and Italy, are refusing to go below €400 billion.

Tempers have flared here, and there has been some name calling too - mostly directed at the Dutch leader. Bulgaria’s leader Boyko Borissov accused Mr Rutte of “acting like the policeman of Europe”. The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said “it’s the Dutch guy who’s to blame... I don’t know why he dislikes us”.

French officials tell me that President Macron “banged his fists” on the table in the early hours of this morning, as he told the 'frugal four’ that he thought they were putting the European project in danger.

There was a notable show of social distancing etiquette when the leaders first arrived, faces covered by masks. But photos from yesterday evening show that the masks have slipped, along, it seems, with their approach to diplomacy.

You can read more about the summit here

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP

Latin America remains badly hit by the pandemic, with countries struggling to control the spread of the virus. Here's a quick look at the region:

• Peru has now passed 13,000 virus deaths - nevertheless it is going ahead with easing some restrictions. Restaurants can reopen from today but only to 40% of their capacity. Over the past 24 hours, 189 deaths and 4,090 new infections were recorded. Peru, with 33 million residents, has the second-highest number of cases in Latin America

• Mexico, which has the fourth highest virus death toll in the world at 38,888, has now seen its president pledge to improve health standards in the region

• But it's Brazil that remains the worst affected country in Latin America. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, a staggering 2 million people have been infected and more than 79,000 have died. And yet President Jair Bolsonaro - who himself was infected - has continued to criticise social distancing measures, saying they have "killed" the economy