Summary for Saturday, 9th May
Welcome to our live coverage of the global coronavirus pandemic, brought to you by writers working from home in London and Manchester. If you're joining us in the UK, good morning.
As it's a weekend, our colleagues in Singapore, Sydney and Delhi are having a well-deserved rest but we'll continue to bring you the latest news from around the world as it comes in.
Here are the key headlines this morning to get you up to speed:
Horn and his German compatriot, Siegfried Fischbacher, were known for their stunning costumes and including white tigers and other animals in their act.
They began performing in Las Vegas in 1967, and hosted sell-out shows for decades.
Horn was forced to stop performing in 2003 after a white tiger attacked him during one of their shows, dragging him offstage in front of a large audience and leaving him in a critical condition.
"Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend," Mr Fischbacher said in a statement. "From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world."
Chief Constable Iain Livingstone told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that policing will become more challenging if England and Scotland take a different approach.
"I think it would make the consistency of public messaging harder," he said.
"Thus far, they (the public) have done it really, really well but we do have to keep our eye on the reality of people’s behaviour, as well as the regulations that are in place."
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned it could be "catastrophic" to drop the stay at home message as she announced on Thursday that the lockdown is to be extended in Scotland.
Meanwhile, Wales announced "modest" changes to its lockdown from Monday, which will allow people to exercise outside more often.
Tokyo 2020 is now scheduled to run from 23 July to 8 August in 2021 after being delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
John Coates, head of the IOC’s inspectorate, said the Games could end up as the "greatest ever" - citing examples that followed the two world wars of the 20th Century - but followed Tokyo Games' chief Yoshiro Mori in saying that they could not be rescheduled again.
"We're proceeding on the basis that there is no Plan B of deferring the Games again or anything like that,” Coates said.
Airlines say that people arriving in the UK will have to go into quarantine from the end of May under government plans - and they are worried about the effects on the already devastated travel industry.
Sources say people will have to provide an address when they arrive in the UK and self-isolate there for two weeks, unless they’re coming from the Republic of Ireland.
Lorry drivers and other key workers would be exempt. But it is not clear how long the restrictions will be in place. Airlines and airports say the measure should come with a clear exit strategy and want it reviewed weekly.
They fear it will compound damage the pandemic has done to their industry because it may put people off travelling. The aviation minister is due to brief airlines and airports on the matter this morning after the Home Office said it would not comment on leaks.
If a quarantine is necessary now, some will question why it wasn’t weeks ago. Hundreds of thousands of people have flown into the UK during the pandemic but the government has said the vast majority were returning home.
A top aide to the US Vice-President Mike Pence - his press secretary Katie Miller - tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.
Pence had not been in recent contact with Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, a senior aide to US President Donald Trump, reports say.
Katie Miller’s diagnosis came two days after the White House said a member of the US military, a valet to Trump, had tested positive for the virus.
But spokespeople said Trump and Pence had tested negative and remained in "great health" after coming into contact with that aide.
Separately, a personal assistant to Trump’s daughter Ivanka has also tested positive, CNN reports. The assistant had been working from home, so had not been in recent contact with Ivanka, who tested negative for the virus on Friday, the US broadcaster said.
The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the UK was on 31 January.
Since then more than 30,000 people have died with the virus across the UK and thousands more have needed hospital treatment.
On a global level, the country is now second in total confirmed deaths of people who had the virus, behind only the US.
How has the crisis evolved and how has the government's strategy changed?
A US state department official said social media accounts linked to China and Russia were pushing similar anti-American messages.
"Even before the Covid-19 crisis, we assessed a certain level of co-ordination between Russia and the PRC (People's Republic of China) in the realm of propaganda," Lea Gabrielle said.
China and Russia were trying "to shape public understanding of the Covid-19 pandemic for their own purposes", she said.
The US is locked in an information war with China over the origin and handling of the Covid-19 outbreak, with both pushing contradictory narratives.
Zhao Lijian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, has repeatedly promoted the idea - without evidence - that Covid-19 might have originated in the US.
In turn, the US has repeatedly suggested that the coronavirus was leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the first cases of the disease were detected.
Half of the men aged 19-24 had met friends or family members they did not live with during lockdown, compared to 25% of women.
The researchers from the University of Sheffield and Ulster University called on the government to better target messages for young people.
President Xi told Kim China would provide support “based on North Korea's needs”, a leading Communist Party newspaper reported.
The Global Times said Xi had thanked Kim “for his congratulations on China's hard-won victory over the Covid-19 epidemic”.
Not much is known about the coronavirus situation in North Korea.
The country has repeatedly insisted it has no confirmed Covid-19 infections, crediting this supposed success to strict containment measures and the closure of its borders.
South Korean intelligence officials have said it is implausible that North Korea does not have any cases, given its links with neighbouring China.
North Korea is seen as highly vulnerable to infectious diseases, and its healthcare system ill equipped to deal with them.
The Russian coronavirus taskforce said 104 people died overnight, taking the national death toll to 1,827.
The number of infections in the country has been rising by more than 10,000 a day since Sunday. Russia now has the fifth-highest number of cases in the world.
It overtook France (176,202) and Germany (170,588) on Thursday and is closing on the UK total of 212,629 cases, according to figures collated by Johns Hopkins University.
The US has by far the largest number of cases, with over 1.2 million, while Spain (222,857) and Italy (217,185) have the highest number of cases in the EU.
Garden centres in England will be allowed to reopen next week as one of the early steps to ease lockdown measures, the BBC has learned.
A senior government source said that if the centres comply with social distancing, they will be allowed to open from Wednesday.
The number of people inside shops will need to be controlled so customers can keep 2m (6ft) apart. In-store cafes will remain closed.
Garden centres in Wales are allowed to reopen from Monday.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will confirm the announcement regarding garden centres when he addresses the nation on Sunday.
Welcome to our live coverage of the global coronavirus pandemic, brought to you by writers working from home in London and Manchester. If you're joining us in the UK, good morning.
As it's a weekend, our colleagues in Singapore, Sydney and Delhi are having a well-deserved rest but we'll continue to bring you the latest news from around the world as it comes in.
Here are the key headlines this morning to get you up to speed:
- UK airlines say they have been told the government will bring in a 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving in the UK from any country apart from the Republic of Ireland
- People are expected to be urged to continue to work from home if possible and walk and cycle to workplaces to take pressure off public transport, even as some restrictions are lifted
- Unions have warned that key measures, including a national test, track and trace scheme, must be in place before schools are allowed to reopen
- In the US a top aide to Vice-President Mike Pence has tested positive for the virus, not long after President Donald Trump's valet
- Italy has become the first country in the European Union to register more than 30,000 coronavirus-related deaths
- Paraguay’s President Mario Abdo Benítez says the spread of coronavirus in Brazil is threatening his country's success in containing it
Magician Roy Horn dies with virus
Roy Horn, the illusionist who mesmerised audiences as one half of Siegfried and Roy, has died aged 75 after contracting coronavirus.Horn and his German compatriot, Siegfried Fischbacher, were known for their stunning costumes and including white tigers and other animals in their act.
They began performing in Las Vegas in 1967, and hosted sell-out shows for decades.
Horn was forced to stop performing in 2003 after a white tiger attacked him during one of their shows, dragging him offstage in front of a large audience and leaving him in a critical condition.
"Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend," Mr Fischbacher said in a statement. "From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world."
Scottish police chief on challenges of easing lockdown
Boris Johnson’s speech to the nation on Sunday is due to set out a road map for how the UK will come out of lockdown, but as devolved nations implement their own measures, the head of Scotland Police has urged a degree of "realism" when drawing up plans.Chief Constable Iain Livingstone told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that policing will become more challenging if England and Scotland take a different approach.
"I think it would make the consistency of public messaging harder," he said.
"Thus far, they (the public) have done it really, really well but we do have to keep our eye on the reality of people’s behaviour, as well as the regulations that are in place."
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned it could be "catastrophic" to drop the stay at home message as she announced on Thursday that the lockdown is to be extended in Scotland.
Meanwhile, Wales announced "modest" changes to its lockdown from Monday, which will allow people to exercise outside more often.
'No Plan B' for Tokyo Olympics
A senior figure at the International Olympic Committee has reaffirmed that there are no plans to defer the Tokyo Olympics again.Tokyo 2020 is now scheduled to run from 23 July to 8 August in 2021 after being delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
John Coates, head of the IOC’s inspectorate, said the Games could end up as the "greatest ever" - citing examples that followed the two world wars of the 20th Century - but followed Tokyo Games' chief Yoshiro Mori in saying that they could not be rescheduled again.
"We're proceeding on the basis that there is no Plan B of deferring the Games again or anything like that,” Coates said.
Airlines and airports worry over quarantine plan
Tom Burridge - Transport correspondentAirlines say that people arriving in the UK will have to go into quarantine from the end of May under government plans - and they are worried about the effects on the already devastated travel industry.
Sources say people will have to provide an address when they arrive in the UK and self-isolate there for two weeks, unless they’re coming from the Republic of Ireland.
Lorry drivers and other key workers would be exempt. But it is not clear how long the restrictions will be in place. Airlines and airports say the measure should come with a clear exit strategy and want it reviewed weekly.
They fear it will compound damage the pandemic has done to their industry because it may put people off travelling. The aviation minister is due to brief airlines and airports on the matter this morning after the Home Office said it would not comment on leaks.
If a quarantine is necessary now, some will question why it wasn’t weeks ago. Hundreds of thousands of people have flown into the UK during the pandemic but the government has said the vast majority were returning home.
Aide to US vice-president tests positive for virus
Another day, another case in the White House.A top aide to the US Vice-President Mike Pence - his press secretary Katie Miller - tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.
Pence had not been in recent contact with Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, a senior aide to US President Donald Trump, reports say.
Katie Miller’s diagnosis came two days after the White House said a member of the US military, a valet to Trump, had tested positive for the virus.
But spokespeople said Trump and Pence had tested negative and remained in "great health" after coming into contact with that aide.
Separately, a personal assistant to Trump’s daughter Ivanka has also tested positive, CNN reports. The assistant had been working from home, so had not been in recent contact with Ivanka, who tested negative for the virus on Friday, the US broadcaster said.
Watch: The first 100 days of coronavirus in the UK
The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the UK was on 31 January.
Since then more than 30,000 people have died with the virus across the UK and thousands more have needed hospital treatment.
On a global level, the country is now second in total confirmed deaths of people who had the virus, behind only the US.
How has the crisis evolved and how has the government's strategy changed?
China and Russia 'spreading anti-US propaganda'
The US has accused China and Russia of conducting propaganda campaigns designed to spread false information about the coronavirus.A US state department official said social media accounts linked to China and Russia were pushing similar anti-American messages.
"Even before the Covid-19 crisis, we assessed a certain level of co-ordination between Russia and the PRC (People's Republic of China) in the realm of propaganda," Lea Gabrielle said.
China and Russia were trying "to shape public understanding of the Covid-19 pandemic for their own purposes", she said.
The US is locked in an information war with China over the origin and handling of the Covid-19 outbreak, with both pushing contradictory narratives.
Zhao Lijian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, has repeatedly promoted the idea - without evidence - that Covid-19 might have originated in the US.
In turn, the US has repeatedly suggested that the coronavirus was leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the first cases of the disease were detected.
Young men 'more likely to ignore lockdown'
Young men are more likely than young women to break lockdown rules, psychologists have suggested, after questioning just under 2,000 young people aged between 13 and 24.Half of the men aged 19-24 had met friends or family members they did not live with during lockdown, compared to 25% of women.
The researchers from the University of Sheffield and Ulster University called on the government to better target messages for young people.
China offers to help North Korea with Covid-19
Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered to help North Korea in tackling coronavirus, in a message to its leader Kim Jong-un.President Xi told Kim China would provide support “based on North Korea's needs”, a leading Communist Party newspaper reported.
The Global Times said Xi had thanked Kim “for his congratulations on China's hard-won victory over the Covid-19 epidemic”.
Not much is known about the coronavirus situation in North Korea.
The country has repeatedly insisted it has no confirmed Covid-19 infections, crediting this supposed success to strict containment measures and the closure of its borders.
South Korean intelligence officials have said it is implausible that North Korea does not have any cases, given its links with neighbouring China.
North Korea is seen as highly vulnerable to infectious diseases, and its healthcare system ill equipped to deal with them.
Russia's cases continue to soar
Russia has recorded 10,817 new cases in the past 24 hours, increasing the country’s total to 198,676.The Russian coronavirus taskforce said 104 people died overnight, taking the national death toll to 1,827.
The number of infections in the country has been rising by more than 10,000 a day since Sunday. Russia now has the fifth-highest number of cases in the world.
It overtook France (176,202) and Germany (170,588) on Thursday and is closing on the UK total of 212,629 cases, according to figures collated by Johns Hopkins University.
The US has by far the largest number of cases, with over 1.2 million, while Spain (222,857) and Italy (217,185) have the highest number of cases in the EU.
Garden centres in England to reopen
Garden centres in England will be allowed to reopen next week as one of the early steps to ease lockdown measures, the BBC has learned.
A senior government source said that if the centres comply with social distancing, they will be allowed to open from Wednesday.
The number of people inside shops will need to be controlled so customers can keep 2m (6ft) apart. In-store cafes will remain closed.
Garden centres in Wales are allowed to reopen from Monday.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will confirm the announcement regarding garden centres when he addresses the nation on Sunday.