President Donald Trump has said he will halt applications of foreign nationals seeking permanent residence in the US because of the coronavirus crisis. A day after he announced the move in an ambiguous tweet, Mr Trump said the measure would protect American jobs.

It is not clear how effective it will be as most visa services have already been suspended because of the outbreak. Critics say he is trying to distract attention away from his response to the virus. The US has nearly 45,000 deaths.

Democrats also accuse the administration of using the pandemic to crack down on immigration. The issue has traditionally been a strong campaigning theme for Mr Trump, a Republican, but has taken a back seat during the crisis and in the lead-up to the November election.(BBC)…[+]

They’re still baking at the Factory of Happiness. Staff in face masks sprinkle nuts and berries on to buns and pipe chocolate into pastries, but only a handful are left working the production line and their creations are for takeaway only now.

The coronavirus lockdown has forced the firm to close its chain of family-friendly cafes, leaving the business struggling to stay afloat. But its owner says the state isn’t holding out any lifelines. So when Anastasia Tatulova came face-to-face with Russia’s president, she didn’t hold back. “I’ll try to beg for your help without crying, but this really is a tragedy,” she told Vladimir Putin last month, informing him that “half-measures” of support would not work.(BBC)…[+]

Islamist militants have killed around 52 people in northern Mozambique, police say. The police say that the villagers in Cabo Delgado province were “massacred”, with some beheaded, after some people refused to be recruited into the militant group. Hundreds have been killed and thousands displaced during the three-year insurgency in Cabo Delgado. No group has said it was behind the attack.

A militant group calling itself al-Shabab operates in the area and last month briefly seized control of the town of Mocimboa de Praia. It is unclear whether it is linked to the significantly larger Somali movement of the same name.

The Islamic State Central Africa Province (Iscap), affiliated with the Islamic State group, has said it was behind some previous attacks in Mozambique. (BBC)…[+]

Doctors in the Netherlands can no longer be prosecuted for carrying out euthanasia on dementia patients who have previously given written consent. Previously, patients would need to confirm their request. But on Tuesday the Dutch Supreme Court ruled this was no longer the case.

The decision comes after a doctor was taken to court for carrying out assisted suicide on a patient with Alzheimer’s, who had previously asked for the procedure in a statement. Prosecutors said the doctor did not properly consult the unnamed 74-year-old. But the family supported the doctor’s decision, and she was acquitted of any wrongdoing last year.(BBC)…[+]

In 2017, Elena Manighetti and Ryan Osborne decided to take the plunge many dream of – they quit their jobs, bought a boat and decided to travel around the world. They asked their families to keep in touch, but with one rule: no bad news.

The couple, who lived in Manchester, were travelling across the Atlantic ocean from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean last month when, unbeknownst to them, a new and deadly coronavirus was spreading across the world.

After 25 days at sea, and with little communication with the outside world, the couple planned to dock on a small island in mid-March. But upon getting phone signal while still off-shore, they discovered the island’s borders were closed and found out the world had been suffering from a global pandemic they’d heard nothing about.

“In February we’d heard there was a virus in China, but with the limited information we had we figured by the time we got to the Caribbean in 25 days it would all be over,” Elena says.(BBC)…[+]

Indian officials have rescued six tourists who were living in a cave in India following a lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The four men and two women had moved to a cave in Rishikesh in northern India after they were stranded in the country with very little money.

Air, rail and road transport have been suspended since 24 March. The six have tested negative for Covid-19 and have been moved to a private quarantine centre, officials said. The foreign nationals are from Ukraine, the US, Turkey, France and Nepal, and had arrived in India separately last year – they had been living in small hotels and private lodges in Rishikesh, which is a popular tourist destination in the foothills of the Himalayas.(BBC)…[+]

Protesters have taken to the streets in states across the US, demanding that governors reopen economies shut by the coronavirus pandemic. Rallies in Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Washington state took place on Sunday, following earlier protests in half a dozen states.

Agitation for easing restrictions has grown, despite the risk of a Covid-19 resurgence posed by reopening too soon.

US President Donald Trump has signalled support for the protests. The US has become the centre of the Covid-19 crisis, with over 735,000 cases and some 40,000 deaths – but signs have emerged that it is reaching the apex of the outbreak and that infection rates are slowing in some states.  In Washington state, an early US virus hotspot, hundreds of people gathered in the state capital, Olympia, to demand the governor relax rules restricting the economy.

Police estimated the crowd at 2,500, making it one of the largest protests in US states against lockdowns over the past week, Reuters news agency reports. Many of the protesters ignored social distancing guidelines, as well as pleas from rally organisers to wear masks. Montana saw a few hundred protesters at a rally held in Helena, the Associated Press news agency reports.(BBC)…[+]

Sir Richard Branson has warned that airline Virgin Atlantic needs government support to survive. The boss of the Virgin Group said he was not asking for a handout, but a commercial loan, believed to be £500m.

In an open letter to staff, Sir Richard said: “Many airlines around the world need government support and many have already received it. The plea comes as Virgin Australia, the country’s second largest airline, faces going into administration without aid. Sir Richard wrote in his letter that without UK government support for Virgin Atlantic “there won’t be any competition left and hundreds of thousands more jobs will be lost”.

Virgin Atlantic – which is owned jointly by Sir Richard and US carrier Delta – has reportedly asked for £500m in aid. However, according to an FT report last week, the request has been rejected by the Treasury. It said the airline had not done enough to show it had explored other options to bolster cash before asking for state aid.(BBC)…[+]

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have told the UK’s tabloid press they are ending all co-operation with them.

In a letter to editors of all the Sun, Mirror, Mail and Express titles and websites, a representative said the pair had taken the step due to “distorted, false or invasive” stories. Harry and Meghan said they refused to “offer themselves up as currency for an economy of click bait and distortion”. The couple have relocated to California after stepping back as senior royals.

In the letter, the couple’s public relations representative wrote it was “gravely concerning that an influential slice of the media” has printed “distorted, false or invasive” articles. “There is a real human cost to this way of doing business and it affects every corner of society,” the letter said. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have watched people they know – as well as complete strangers – have their lives completely pulled apart for no good reason, other than the fact that salacious gossip boosts advertising revenue.”

The BBC was told that the letter had been sent to the editors of the Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express newspapers. The new policy will apply to the four newspapers, their Sunday editions and associated websites, the Guardian’s media editor Jim Waterson reported.(BBC)…[+]

Africa could become the next epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. UN officials also say it is likely the pandemic will kill at least 300,000 people in Africa and push nearly 30 million into poverty.

The past week in Africa has seen a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. There have been almost 1,000 deaths and almost 19,000 infections across Africa, so far much lower rates than in parts of Europe and the US. The UN Economic Commission for Africa – which warned 300,000 could die – called for a $100bn (£80bn) safety net for the continent, including halting external debt payments.

The WHO says the virus appears to be spreading away from African capitals. It has also highlighted that the continent lacks ventilators to deal with a pandemic. More than a third of Africa’s population lacks access to adequate water supplies and nearly 60% of urban dwellers live in overcrowded slums – conditions where the virus could thrive.(BBC)…[+]