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Major tennis tournament the Miami Open, due to start on 25 March, has been suspended, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A Gimenez has said.

Top players Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had both raised concerns about attending the event.

The Indian Wells 2020 was cancelled on Monday. Organisers say it's currently too early to make decisions about the French Open or Wimbledon tennis tournaments in the summer.

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Cruise ship firms have suspended upcoming trips in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Princess Cruises - which owns two coronavirus-stricken ships - will suspend all operations for two months, affecting all of its 18 vessels, it said.

The firm said passengers who are on board a Princess trip that is meant to end within the next five days will be able to continue as planned. Those who are meant to be on board for longer will have to get off at a port that suits them, it added.

Another firm, Viking, has also suspended its river and ocean cruises until 1 May.

The Dow Jones fell almost 6% on opening in Wall Street on Thursday.

The S&P 500 opened about 4% lower, while the Nasdaq dropped almost 7% at the opening bell.

The falls triggered an automatic 15-minute suspension.

Slovakia is closing its borders to non-residents and shutting down international airports to prevent travel to and from the country, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini has announced.

Border checks will be introduced and schools, sports and leisure centres will close. Shopping centres will also only open on weekdays, the prime minister said.

The country has reported 16 cases of coronavirus so far.

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Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she will advise that mass gatherings of 500 people or more should be cancelled from the start of next week.

Speaking at First Minister's Questions in Holyrood on Thursday, she said she anticipated a "sharp rise" in coronavirus cases in Scotland.

"Mass gatherings require to be policed, to have mass ambulance cover, and at a time when we need to be reducing the pressures on these frontline workers in order to free them up for the challenge ahead, I do think it is inappropriate that we continue as normal," Ms Sturgeon said.

"The health secretary and I have decided this morning that we are minded that we will advise the cancellation, from the start of next week, of mass gatherings of 500 people or more."

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Disney says it has cancelled the red carpet entrance for the European premiere of the live-action version of Mulan.

The US company said it made the decision "in an abundance of caution" over the outbreak of coronavirus.

The screening of the film, in London's Leicester Square, will still go ahead, it added.

Coronavirus-related deaths and infections have jumped in Spain.

New daily figures, released by the country’s health ministry, external, show 84 people have now died - an increase from 47 on Wednesday.

It added that there was 2,968 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country.

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Next Tuesday, 17 March, should have been the day that brings the Irish diaspora together in celebration.

But many St Patrick's Day celebrations have this year been postponed on both sides of the Atlantic due to fears over coronavirus.

In the US, events in New York - which is widely considered the biggest parade of all - and Chicago are among them.

So too is Dublin, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announcing that all festivals in the Republic of Ireland would not go ahead. Belfast, in Northern Ireland, has also voted to suspend its parade.

But not all events have been cancelled at this stage, including two of the biggest: Montreal in Canada and London, UK.

Tom Burridge
Transport correspondent

E. Penny is due to go on a cruise to Spain and contacted the BBC to ask if cruising was safe.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised people with underlying health conditions to avoid cruise ships.

However, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a body which represents cruise ship companies, has hit back at calls for people to boycott cruise holidays, saying it was "unwarranted".

But the CLIA has recommended increased screening measures for passengers boarding. It says anyone who has been in countries like Italy and China within the last 14 days should be denied boarding. And it recommends that people travelling from other countries could have their temperatures taken before they step on board.

Cruise ships are by their very nature confined environments. Whether you go on one is currently a personal decision for you and your family. There is currently no advice from the UK government to say you shouldn’t.

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Amazon workers will be able to take unlimited sick days this month - but will not be paid unless they test positive for the new coronavirus.

Workers who are diagnosed with Covid-19 will be entitled to two weeks' sick pay.

In a blog post, Amazon said the health and safety of its employees and contractors was its "top priority".

Many Amazon warehouse workers in the US are entitled to just 10 days off a year in total - which includes leave for sickness, holidays, and emergencies.

Some workers asked Amazon to change this, in light of the outbreak.

They also said that, rather than being given time off, they were told to increase their hours because of increased demand and staff shortages.

BBC News had access to an online forum used by about 25,000 Amazon warehouse workers, in which people said the company's previous policy would cause the virus to "spread like wildfire".

• Read more on this story here

Globally, authorities have confirmed more than 124,000 cases of the coronavirus and more than 4,600 deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has labelled the outbreak a pandemic. According to its latest figures, the countries worst affected are:

• China - 80,980 confirmed cases and 3,136 deaths
• Italy - 12,462 cases, with 827 deaths
• Iran - 9,000 cases, with 354 deaths
• South Korea - 7,869 with 66 deaths
• France - 2,269 cases, with 48 deaths
• Spain - 2,140 cases, with 49 deaths

How quickly is the outbreak spreading?

Meanwhile, the first Covid-19-related deaths have been recorded in Greece, Ivory Coast, Austria and Algeria. It comes after Ireland, Albania, Belgium, Sweden and Bulgaria registered their first deaths on Wednesday.

But officials in China say the peak of the country's outbreak is over, after just 15 new cases were logged across the country on Thursday. Hubei province - the epicentre of the virus - logged just eight new infections.

Many African countries are yet to confirm any infections, but have begun to plan for the outbreak reaching them. South Africa has reported the country's first case of local transmission of the coronavirus.

What new measures have been taken?

Governments have been stepping up their response to the outbreak.

The US has banned all travel into the country for anyone who has been to Europe's Schengen zone in the last 14 days. The EU condemned the measures, which it said were taken "unilaterally and without consultation".

India, where there have been 73 confirmed cases, has stopped issuing travel visas.

Italy has ordered the closure of all shops except pharmacies and supermarkets, in a bid to slow the outbreak.

Spain's entire government is being tested for the virus after one minister tested positive.

The country has also suspended all top flight football matches for "at least the next two rounds" after the Real Madrid squad went into quarantine because of coronavirus.

More countries - including the Republic of Ireland, Denmark and Kazakhstan - have joined others in temporarily closing all schools.

The UN's educational, scientific and cultural body, Unesco, says 22 countries now have nationwide school closures in place.

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Austria has reported its first death of coronavirus - a 69-year-old man who died in hospital in Vienna.

According to local media, he had recently returned from Italy.

The country has also seen a rise in cases from 245 to more than 300 in the last 24 hours.

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz warned on Thursday that this number would rise to 1,000 within days, and then 10,000 a week after that.

"Anything that isn't necessary shouldn't go ahead," he said, public broadcaster ORF reported. "If you're asking yourself whether I should do something, it already means it's alright to do without it."

Fergus Walsh
Medical correspondent

The UK is expected to move to the delay phase of its coronavirus response. But what does that mean? And why - Jean Wright and John Barcroft want to know - has it not already been implemented?

It means further measures to try to reduce the spread and to lower the peak of any epidemic in the UK and it’s an acknowledgement that this virus cannot be contained.

We're not going to see the sort of drastic measures we've seen in Italy and in China in terms of lockdowns and shutdowns and mass school closures.

That’s because the government says they are being led by the science. They say they have to balance how much that would help reduce the spread against the impact on society and the economy.

The sort of things we will see will be advice to the elderly and vulnerable to protect themselves by avoiding crowded and enclosed spaces. There's a lot of emphasis on hand washing. People with cold and flu-like symptoms within the next few days may be asked to self-isolate for a week.

But restrictions on gatherings and that sort of thing - I don’t think we’re going to see just yet.

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Real Madrid has sent all of its football and basketball players home to self-isolate after a member of the Spanish club's basketball team tested positive for the virus.

The teams share training facilities.

As a result, the La Liga football competition has also suspended all matches for two weeks.

La Liga officials met with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFA) on Wednesday and Thursday, before making the decision.

The Real Madrid football team was due to play Eibar in La Liga on Friday, without any spectators.

Spain has more than 2,000 cases of coronavirus.

• Read more on this story here

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As well as closing schools, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that indoor public gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people will be cancelled.

He also said that schools, colleges and childcare facilities are going to stay shut until 29 March.

Mr Varadkar said social interaction in the country should be reduced "as much as possible" and employees should work from home if possible.

Schools, colleges and other public facilities in the Republic of Ireland will be closed from Friday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

• Read the latest as this story develops here

A doctor in Madrid who contracted the new coronavirus while treating patients has been live-tweeting his symptoms.

Dr Yale Tung Chen, 35, was diagnosed on Sunday and has been in quarantine since.

Yesterday, he told BBC Outside Source Radio: "At the moment I'm self-isolated in my home. I'm not alone in my house, I'm with my wife and my two kids - they tested negative, so we're trying to manage not to cross our paths.

"Besides that i'm doing just fine. I'm mildly symptomatic. Actually, last year I had the flu, and that was much worse than the symptoms I have with the coronavirus."

A number of US chat shows will be filmed without a live studio audience, in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Shows hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Seth Myers, Trevor Noah and John Oliver won't have live crowds.

In all of those cases, producers said that although no staff members had been taken ill, it wouldn't be safe to host a large public gathering.

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Ellen's production company, Telepictures, said the decision was taken because of "the rapidly changing nature of the Covid-19 outbreak".

"This temporary measure will be reviewed on an ongoing basis and will not impact the production schedule of Ellen," it added.

Whoopi Goldberg, one of the hosts for US talk show The View, greeted viewers with an empty studio on 11 March.

There are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus in the US, and 38 people have died.

Read more about this story here.

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The entire Spanish government are having tests for Covid-19 after Spain's equality minister Irene Montero tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials have announced.

She and her partner, deputy prime minister and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, have been placed in quarantine, the statement added.

"This morning, all members of the government will undergo testing," it said. The results of the tests are expected to be released later on Thursday.

Navin Singh Khadka
Environment reporter, BBC World Service

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Expeditions on the Chinese side of Mount Everest have been cancelled this spring season due to tight coronavirus-related restrictions, operators have told me.

They said in order to climb that side, all climbers need to be quarantined first, and that flights to Tibet - where half of the mountain is located - are still suspended.

Almost half a dozen operators, in charge of about 50 climbers from five teams, are switching their expeditions to the Nepalese side.

Adrian Ballinger, founder and head guide of US-based Alpenglow Expeditions, said: "They said they were closing due to coronavirus and I imagine they are concerned about the safety on the mountain.

"They are also concerned about the potential of foreigners introducing new cases in Tibet, when China seems to be getting things under control in their country."

Although most climbers approach the peak from the southern side of the mountain in Nepal, expeditions from China have become more popular in recent years.

Nepalese authorities said they expected fewer expedition teams this year, given that there have already been cancellations from China, South Korea, Japan, Italy and the US.