Image source, Zoom

Video conferencing apps remain crucial to many of us due to the increase in remote working because of the pandemic. And Zoom has seen its revenues skyrocket as second quarter profits more than doubled due to the coronavirus crisis.

Revenues leaped 355% to $663.5m (£496.3m) for the three months ending 31 July, beating analysts' expectations of $500.5m.

Profits soared to $186m, while customer growth rose 458%, compared with the same period in 2019.

Key to Zoom's success was its ability to add paying customers - high-budget corporate clients - as opposed to those who use its services for free.

The company said that its large customers - firms that generated more than $100,000 in revenue in the past year - doubled to 988 during the quarter.

Image source, ANI

One of India's most competitive college exams - the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) - is starting today, despite pleas to delay the test.

Students had protested against holding the exams - some voiced fears that they could contract Covid-19 on the way to the exam centre or at the exam centre itself. They are also afraid they could carry it home to the vulnerable, like parents and grandparents.

But the National Testing Agency has refused to reschedule it, with the Supreme Court saying "ultimately, life has to go on and the career of the students cannot be put on peril."

The JEE determines admission into engineering colleges and it will go on until 6 September. More than 850,000 students will take the exam at 660 centres across India.

Another hugely competitive exam, the NEET (The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), will be conducted on 13 September. The exam is needed for acceptance into medical schools.Some 2.5 million students are expected to sit both tests this year.

India has recorded 3.6 million virus cases so far.

Manchester United and England striker Marcus Rashford has spoken to BBC Breakfast's Sally Nugent about forming a taskforce with some of the UK's biggest food brands in a bid to help reduce child food poverty.

Judith Burns
Education reporter

Image source, Reuters

A survey of teachers and head teachers suggests that children in England are three months behind in their learning as a result of the lockdown.

Researchers at the National Foundation of Educational Research said that a quick catch-up was unlikely, as schools face having to balance education with social distancing over the coming months.

The 3,000 heads and teachers surveyed in about 2,200 schools said that the gap between rich and poor pupils had grown by almost half, and that boys were likely to be further behind.

Teachers urged better planning for possible future lockdowns and called for more and better IT equipment for pupils and staff.

More than a quarter of pupils (28%) were reported to have no access to a laptop or computer at home, with the researchers saying the government needed to be "much swifter" in providing technology.

Image source, Getty Images

Less than two weeks after Portugal was given an exemption from UK quarantine rules, the country could face losing it as cases rise.

Infection levels have reached 21.1 virus cases per 100,000 people over the last week, above the UK's threshold for reimposing quarantine of 20 cases per 100,000.

But with more than two million Britons visiting Portugal in a normal year, the prospect has raised alarm in the travel industry. The boss of British Airways' parent company said the "ever-changing" quarantine requirements meant "the UK has officially hung up the 'closed' sign".

"Another U-turn by the government, adding Portugal to the quarantine list, will cause further chaos and hardship for travellers," wrote Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG, in the Times, external.

In other cases where the UK government has imposed quarantine rules - including France, Spain and Croatia - travellers have faced a frantic and often expensive dash home to beat the deadline.

Lucy Williamson
BBC News, Paris

Image source, Reuters

New rules on the wearing of face masks in workplace come into force in France. The government has been criticised on more than one occasion during this crisis, for confused messages on masks.

According to one paper, the rules for wearing masks in offices are now more complicated than French grammar.

Earlier this month, the employment ministry said face masks would be made systematic - that is "systematic", not "mandatory" - for all employees in shared workspaces, including corridors, meeting rooms and changing rooms.

Now it has published detailed criteria for when employees can remove their masks, with different measures required in different parts of the country, depending on how widely coronavirus is circulating there.

In less affected areas, masks can be temporarily removed if the building has enough ventilation, desks are divided by screens or staff wear visors.

In "red zones" like Paris, each employee needs four sq m (43 sq ft) of space around them if they want to take their mask off.

The country is facing its biggest test in tackling the virus since the end of lockdown, as schools reopen and people return to work after the summer break.

The number of new cases of coronavirus in France has risen to around 30,000 a week - up fourfold from the start of the summer.

And here’s a round-up of the main stories from around the UK:

• Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, who forced the government to extend free meals for children from poor families into the summer due to the pandemic, has now formed a task force with major food companies to tackle child food poverty in the long term
• A survey of teachers suggests that children in England are three months behind in their studies as a result of school closures, with boys and pupils from poor families the worst affected
• With Portugal beyond the level of infection where countries lose their safe travel corridor with the UK, the head of British Airways' parent company has warned imposing quarantine rules would create "chaos" for travellers
• Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to announce a "national mission to create jobs" later when she unveils her programme for government for the next year
• More than 300,000 pupils are returning to classes in Northern Ireland, with almost all schools open for the first time since mid-March

Image source, Reut

Mass coronavirus testing in Hong Kong has started, under a new scheme backed by the Chinese government.

But a number of pro-democracy leaders, fearing the mass collection of DNA by China, have called for a boycott.

The voluntary mass testing is being conducted with the help of medical staff from mainland China.

Since registration began on Saturday, more than 500,000 people have signed up to take the free tests, out of a population of 7.5 million.

But a health workers union has criticised the effort saying focused tests would be a much better way forward.

Authorities have dismissed the criticism as a smear campaign. They hope the universal testing effort will give an accurate picture of the spread and help to contain the pandemic.

Hong Kong has so far managed to keep the virus at a comparatively low level with just under 5,000 confirmed infections.

And we are back to bring you all the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic which is affecting billions of people around the world.

Here is what’s happening:

• Hong Kong has started mass coronavirus testing, under a new scheme backed by the Chinese government. The voluntary mass testing is being conducted with the help of medical staff from mainland China. A health workers union has criticised the effort as an inefficient waste of resources while activists have said it could be used to collect DNA samples
• In France, new rules on the wearing of face masks in workplaces come into force on Tuesday. Masks are being made "systematic" in all shared, enclosed spaces, but in the past 24 hours, the government has said that companies may be able to avoid the new regulation if rigorous social distancing measures are put in place instead

• Schools and colleges in Russia start their new term, just as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country is expected to pass one million
• Nearly 1.4 million children in the Chinese city of Wuhan are back in school as the authorities have reopened every school and nursery in the city where the coronavirus pandemic started in December

• More than 500 cases have been reported on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia. Trade unions are threatening a general strike: they want to see urgent measures to curb the spread of the disease. The US territory of Guam has also reported 1,300 cases