Spain has passed another grim coronavirus milestone after the number of deaths exceeded 10,000. The country, the second-worst hit in terms fatalities, has also lost nearly 900,000 jobs. The US, too, has registered 6.6m new jobless benefit claims – a record.

The unemployment figures are another sign of the dire impact the pandemic is having on businesses in many countries. Worldwide, confirmed coronavirus infections are nearing one million. That’s according to Johns Hopkins University, which tracks virus figures globally. Its tracker also recorded more than 47,000 deaths; some 195,000 people have recovered. Covid-19 – the disease caused by coronavirus – has now claimed 10,003 lives in Spain as 950 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said.

The number of confirmed cases rose from 102,136 on Wednesday to 110,238, an 8% rise that is similar to the rate recorded in previous days. Authorities believe the virus is now peaking and say they expect to see a drop in figures in the days ahead. “We continue with an increase of around 8%. This points, as we have already seen, to a stabilisation in the data that we’re registering,” María José Sierra, from the Spanish health ministry’s emergency co-ordination unit, said at a news conference. This, she said, is resulting in an “important lowering” in the increase in the number of people being taken to intensive care units, already under pressure across the country.(BBC)…[+]

Pakistan has overturned the death sentence of the man convicted of killing US journalist Daniel Pearl, defence lawyers have told reporters. British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, imprisoned since 2002, has had his sentence reduced to seven years for kidnapping, said lawyer Khawaja Naveed.

Three other men given life sentences over the killing have been acquitted by the Sindh High Court and released. The Sindh chief prosecutor says he will lodge an appeal in the Sheikh case. The province’s prosecutor general Fiaz Shah told the BBC he expected Sheikh to remain in jail pending the appeal, which would be heard by the Supreme Court.

A group of US journalists, including former colleagues of Pearl, said in 2011 that they believed Sheikh had not carried out the beheading. The Pearl Project alleged the killer was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is being held in Guantanamo Bay, accused of being behind the 9/11 attacks.(NU)…[+]

Wimbledon has been cancelled for the first time since World War Two because of the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament was due to be played between 29 June and 12 July.

The entire grass-court season has been abandoned, and there will be no professional tennis anywhere in the world until at least 13 July. Wimbledon is the latest major summer sporting event to be called off, with Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics postponed for 12 months.

It follows the postponement of the French Open, which was due to begin in May but has been rescheduled to 20 September-4 October. “This is a decision that we have not taken lightly, and we have done so with the highest regard for public health and the wellbeing of all those who come together to make Wimbledon happen,” said Ian Hewitt, All England Lawn Tennis Club chairman.(BBC)…[+]

US officials have arranged for sailors from a virus-stricken aircraft carrier to be quarantined in Guam, where the ship has been docked since Friday. Guam’s governor said those without the virus would be moved to hotels or quarantined at a naval base.

At least 100 people aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for the disease, reports say. Earlier this week the ship’s captain pleaded for most of his crew to be quarantined so deaths could be avoided.

Until now, sailors from the aircraft carrier had been restricted to the naval base’s pier. Captain Brett Crozier wrote to the Pentagon warning that the outbreak aboard his ship was “accelerating” because crew members were living in confined spaces. “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,” he wrote in the letter, dated 30 March, which was published by the San Francisco Chronicle.(BBC)…[+]

Myanmar’s de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has opened a Facebook account. In her first message posted on Wednesday, the leader said she had joined in order to “communicate faster and more efficiently” about the coronavirus pandemic. Facebook has admitted that its platform was used to incite deadly violence that killed thousands of Rohingya Muslims in 2017. Hundreds of thousands more were forced to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Ms Suu Kyi noted in her message that she had previously been reluctant to join the social media site. Within hours the post had received around 310,000 likes. Her account has since gained more than 700,000 followers and been verified by Facebook. Ms Suu Kyi’s first post came as rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned that an estimated 350,000 people across Myanmar were “sitting in the path of a public health catastrophe” amid the coronavirus outbreak. Waves of communal violence in Myanmar have displaced tens of thousands of people, including many from the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.

Once seen as a human rights icon, Ms Suu Kyi’s reputation has been damaged by her defence of the military over allegations of genocide against the Rohingya. In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the country to take measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingya Muslims, although the verdict was rejected by Myanmar and cannot be enforced.(BBC)…[+]

A Pakistani journalist who fled the country to escape death threats has gone missing in Sweden where he was granted political asylum. Sajid Hussain was last seen boarding a train in Stockholm on his way to Uppsala on 2 March, according to the group Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The group said it was possible he had been abducted “at the behest of a Pakistani intelligence agency”. Hussain, 39, fled to Sweden in 2012 after writing about crime. Pakistan country profile. Why a media mogul was arrested in Pakistan. He had reported on forced disappearances and organised crime in Pakistan, relatives said.

Online newspaper the Balochistan Times, for which Hussain was chief editor, said it had reported his disappearance to Swedish police on 3 March. “As of today [28 March], there is no clue about his whereabouts and wellbeing,” it said in an editorial. “The police have not shared any progress in the investigations with his family and friends.”

Relatives told the Pakistani newspaper Dawn they had waited two weeks before expressing their fears in case he had gone into isolation because of the coronavirus outbreak. Hussain’s wife, Shehnaz, told Dawn that before going into self-imposed exile, her husband had sensed he was being followed. As well as writing about forced disappearances he had exposed a drug kingpin in Pakistan.(BBC)…[+]

About three out of four Americans are now, or about to be, under some form of lockdown, as more states tighten measures to fight the coronavirus. Maryland, Virginia, Arizona and Tennessee became the latest states to order citizens to stay at home, meaning 32 of 50 states have taken such steps.

Meanwhile governors are quarrelling with President Donald Trump about the availability of testing kits. The US has more than 175,000 confirmed virus cases and over 3,400 deaths. The US now has more Covid-19 fatalities than China, where the illness was first reported.New York City is the worst-hit place in America, with 914 confirmed fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.(BBC)…[+]

Los Angeles County is reopening gun shops to the public after a federal memo listed them as “essential” businesses.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva closed shops last week, but reversed course on Monday, following the guidance. The LA county closures had prompted a lawsuit from gun rights groups. The change comes amid a national dispute over whether gun access is critical amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The federal guidance issued on 28 March classified munitions makers and sellers as “essential critical infrastructure workers”. Mr Villanueva said that though the memo was non-binding, it has national scope and he would therefore open shops closed last week.(BBC)…[+]

President Donald Trump says the US will not foot the bill for Prince Harry and Meghan’s security amid reports that the pair have moved to the US from Canada.  Mr Trump tweeted he was “a great friend and admirer of the Queen and the United Kingdom”, but added: “They must pay!”

The couple said they had no plans to ask for publicly funded security in the US. They have reportedly relocated to Meghan’s home state of California amid the intensifying coronavirus outbreak. They will formally step down as senior royals on 31 March and will no longer carry out duties on behalf of the Queen, but these arrangements will be reviewed after one year. In a statement released through a spokesperson on Sunday, the couple said: “The duke and duchess have no plans to ask the US government for security resources. Privately funded security arrangements have been made.”(BBC)…[+]

The Hungarian Parliament has voted by 137 to 53 to accept the government’s request for the power to rule by decree during the coronavirus emergency. The law contains no time limit. Prime Minister Viktor Orban promised to use the extraordinary powers he has been granted “proportionately and rationally”.

The leader of the opposition Jobbik party, Peter Jakab, said that the law placed the whole of Hungarian democracy in quarantine. Monday’s vote was controversial – more than 100,000 people had signed a petition against the move.

But Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s conservative Fidesz party has a strong majority. The special powers have no time limit and critics say independent journalists could face jail. According to a survey by the pro-government polling agency Nezopont, 90% of the public want the current emergency measures extended and 72% agree that the criminal code should be strengthened.(BBC)…[+]