The main test used to diagnose coronavirus is so sensitive it could be picking up fragments of dead virus from old infections, scientists say.

Most people are infectious only for about a week, but could test positive weeks afterwards.

Researchers say this could be leading to an over-estimate of the current scale of the pandemic.

But some experts say it is uncertain how a reliable test can be produced that doesn't risk missing cases.

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Let's take a look at France now, where cases are rising far more quickly than in other European countries.

It recorded almost 9,000 new cases on Friday, the biggest daily increase since the start of the pandemic in March. That rise is almost twice as high as in Spain and four times higher than in Italy.

The surge is taking a toll on the country's hospitals, with some warning that intensive care beds are nearing capacity. Almost all 70 beds in the southern region of Bouches-du-Rhône are currently occupied, officials say.

But the number of patients in intensive care - 473 as of Friday - is still far fewer than at the peak of the outbreak.

Over the weekend, Health Minister Olivier Veran warned that more people would be admitted to intensive care over the next two weeks. "It will not be massive but there will nevertheless be an increase in the number of severe cases," he said.

But he ruled out a new nationwide lockdown. “I cannot envision a general lockdown. The lockdown was a lid on an overflowing cooking pot,” he told BFMTV.

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Northeastern University, in the US city of Boston, says it has dismissed 11 students for gathering in a hotel room, and will not refund their tuition fees.

University staff found the first-year students in a room at the city's Westin Hotel, which Northeastern is using as temporary accommodation for around 800 students. The group have been told to take a coronavirus test and leave campus within 24 hours, the university said.

The students were part of a study abroad programme and will be allowed back next spring. In the meantime, Northeastern said they'll be able to appeal their punishment.

It's among the most severe punishments dished out by a US college for breaking rules on coronavirus.

Several universities around the country are reporting spikes in cases as the academic year begins. Across 1,500 institutions, more than 26,000 coronavirus infections and 64 deaths have been reported since the pandemic began, according to a survey by the New York Times.

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Up to 300 people who attended a charity football match in North East England are being told to self-isolate after 28 people tested positive for Covid-19.

The event at Burnside Working Men's Club, on the border of Sunderland and Durham, took place on 30 August.

Anyone who attended must self-isolate for 14 days from then.

Durham County Council has been working with Sunderland City Council and Public Health England to manage the outbreak response.

• Read more here

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Only five of India's states are responsible for more than half the country's Covid-19 caseload - 4.2 million confirmed cases and counting.

After overtaking Brazil earlier today, India now has the world's second-highest tally.

The five states - Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh - also have the highest number of active cases.

Maharashtra - which has recorded more than 900,000 cases - has been at the top for months now. It has also reported the highest number of deaths so far - more than 26,600.

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, which seemed to have the outbreak under control initially, have raced to the top more recently.

But all of them have been reopening since June, and any further lockdowns seem unlikely.

Experts believe that economic woes have left the government with no choice, while a relatively low death rate has kept panic at bay.

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The UK government must "step in" and give a "clear steer" on how universities should operate during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President of the National Union of Students Larissa Kennedy has said.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme students were concerned whether their safety was being "prioritised" as they prepare to return to campuses.

"We need to recognise that just like the rest of the population the student community is made up of lots of different people, many of whom are afraid," she said.

"University management is doing nowhere near enough to make students feel safe because fundamentally lots of people still don't know what they are doing, it's up in the air."

• University return 'could spark Covid avalanche'

However, Prof Anton Muscatelli, vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow, said: "I think it's been remarkable what universites have been able to do, we've been adaptable."

Prof Anton added that he was "confident" Glasgow a "robust system" in place for the new academic year.

He said that the university was well prepared and flexible "because if public health regulations were to relax further on this academic year we could ramp up face to face [teaching], if we had more local restrictions we can revert to more online provision".

The conflict in Yemen between the Houthi group based in the north and an internationally recognised government in the south shows no signs of ceasing, despite the coronavirus crisis.

Nearly six months since coronavirus spread in Yemen, the BBC is the first international broadcaster to reach the country to see how people are dealing with the pandemic.

The BBC's Nawal Al-Maghafi reports from the capital Sanaa, in the north.

The next three days will be decisive for Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, says professor Alberto Zangrillo who's treating him for pneumonia as San Raffaele hospital in Milan.

The patient remains "tranquil", said Prof Zangrillo.

Mr Berluconi was admitted on Thursday evening. His children have also contracted Covid-19.

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As the public holiday of Labor Day gets under way in the US, authorities have been warning people to be vigilant.

The weekend before Labor Day is usually a time of huge social gatherings, with many Americans visiting beaches or meeting with friends and family.

But against the backdrop of a pandemic, officials have said states in the Midwest may see an increased spread of coronavirus as people visit from harder-hit areas of the country.

Dr Anthony Fauci, a top adviser in the White House's coronavirus task force, said North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana and Illinois are particularly “at risk for surging”.

“If we’re careless about it, then we could wind up with a surge following Labor Day,” he told Bloomberg. “It really depends on how we behave as a country.”

America continues to be the worst-affected country in the world, in terms of infections numbers and deaths. But the outbreak has shown signs of abating, with hospitalisation rates falling in hotspots like Florida and California.

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A leading epidemiologist has warned the country is at a "critical moment" in the coronavirus pandemic, as students prepare to return to universities.

Dame Anne Johnson, of University College London, told the BBC on Saturday that data showed the highest number of detected infections was in young people.

It comes after government scientific advisers said "significant outbreaks" linked to universities were likely.

Universities have said steps are being taken to minimise risks on campuses.

The latest figures from Public Health England, external (PHE) showed the highest coronavirus case rates were among 15 to 44-year-olds.

In the regions with the highest overall rates, and with most local authorities on its local lockdown watchlist, young working adults aged between 20 and 29-years-old were most affected.

Meanwhile, the government's scientific advisory group, Sage, said in a document published on Friday , externalthat there was a "significant risk" that higher education "could amplify local and national transmission".

• Read more here

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Coronavirus testing should be expanded "across the at risk sections of society", Labour's shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ashworth said the UK "went into this crisis with a lack of health resilience".

He is calling for UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock to appear in the House of Commons "quickly" after a record rise in case numbers.

Ashworth added that the health secretary must "tell us what he is going to do to fix what has been a fiasco in testing".

"Nobody wants to see a national lockdown again," he said.

France’s health body, Sante Publique France, has confirmed 15,621 new cases of Covid-19 over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday).

France hit a high of nearly 9,000 new cases on Friday.

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More train services in England, Wales and Scotland will run from Monday as schools reopen and people are encouraged to return to work.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, says around 90% services will be running.

Rail passenger numbers are now back to about one-third of pre-pandemic levels.

Operators "want people to feel confident taking the train", said Rail Delivery Group boss Jacqueline Starr.

Train operators across the country have designed the new timetable, taking into consideration potentially busy stations and parts of routes that will experience higher demand for travel by schoolchildren.

Where possible, more frequent services will be put on or extra carriages added to create more room.

Staff will also be on hand to explain the rules on wearing face coverings and maintaining social distancing to older children.

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Labour has called on the government to explain how cases of coronavirus will be reduced, after nearly 3,000 new infections were reported in the country on Sunday.

The opposition has demanded UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock appear in the House of Commons today over the record rise.

Labour's shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the increase "combined with the ongoing testing fiasco where ill people are told to drive for miles for tests, and the poor performance of the contact tracing system, needs an explanation from ministers".

He added that Hancock should set out "what is being done to get testing back on track and bring case numbers down".

The health secretary said on Sunday it was important that people do not allow the virus "to infect their grandparents and to lead to the sorts of problems that we saw earlier in the year".

Last week, the government said it was working hard to rectify testing shortages.

• Testing boss 'very sorry' for shortages

As we indicated earlier, India recorded more than 90,000 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking its total above that of Brazil.

The country now has the second-largest number of confirmed cases in the world, 4,204,613. It has reported 71,642 deaths, the third highest after the US and Brazil.The surge in reported infections has mostly come from five states.

The rise comes as the government continues to lift restrictions to try to boost an economy that lost millions of jobs when the virus hit in March.

For the last seven days India's caseload has galloped, adding more than 75,000 daily infections per day.

Read more here.

A further 2,988 cases of coronavirus were reported in the UK in the 24 hours to Sunday, government data showed - the highest number reported on a single day since 22 May.

It represents more than 50% increase from a day earlier, according to the UK government's coronavirus dashboard, external.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was "concerned" about a rise in cases "predominantly among young people".

The BBC's health editor Hugh Pym said the spike in cases was "significant".

England recorded 2,576 cases on Sunday and Scotland recorded 208 new cases- its highest daily increase for more than 17 weeks.

Wales recorded a further 98 cases, its highest daily rise since 30 June, and Northern Ireland recorded 106 new cases, its highest rise since 25 April.

Overall, since the start of the pandemic, 347,152 cases have been confirmed in the UK.

Two further deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded on Sunday, taking the total number of UK deaths to 41,551.

Australia says it will secure almost 85 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine if two promising trials prove successful.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country had struck two deals that would allow free doses to be rolled out in 2021 if they were approved for use.

Mr Morrison estimated the cost to be A$1.7bn (£0.9bn; $1.24bn).Australia's 25 million people could begin receiving doses from January but there were "no guarantees", he said.

"However the agreement puts Australia at the top of the queue, if our medical experts give the vaccines the green light," the prime minister said.

One vaccine is from Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, while the other is a local one from the University of Queensland and CSL.

Australia has recorded more than 26,000 coronavirus cases and 769 deaths, most in the past two months after an outbreak in Victoria.

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Good morning and thank you for joining our rolling coverage of the global coronavirus pandemic. Here are some of today’s main developments:

• India now has the second-highest number of infections in the world, overtaking Brazil. It’s confirmed a surge of 90,000 new cases in the last 24 hours – bringing the national total to 4,204,613. It’s death toll is also the third-highest globally
• The UK is also seeing a spike - on Sunday it recorded positive 2,988 cases - the highest daily increase since 22 May
• Australia says it will secure almost 85 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine if two promising trials prove successful. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country had struck two deals that would allow free doses to be rolled out in 2021 if they were approved for use.
• The postponed Tokyo Olympic Games will go ahead next year "with or without Covid", the vice-president of the International Olympic Committee says
• More than 27 million cases of coronavirus have been reported worldwide, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The number people who’ve died after contracting the disease has also risen to 883,000