The UK government is expected to confirm later that the country's lockdown will be extended by three weeks. Emergency legislation aimed at tackling the coronavirus outbreak required ministers to review the original decision to introduce strict social distancing measures after three weeks. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson while he recovers from Covid-19, will lead meetings of the cabinet and senior officials where the need to continue restricting movement will be discussed. Find out more about how the lockdown has changed the UK.

Meanwhile, a leaked letter seen by the BBC has set out the widespread problems the care sector is having coping with the coronavirus pandemic. According to the document - which was sent to the Department of Health and Social Care by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services - care homes are concerned about funding, testing, and the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE). The distribution of PPE is described as "paltry" and "shambolic", with the letter also accusing ministers of sending contradictory messages on the shielding scheme for people particularly at risk from the illness. A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the government has a "comprehensive action plan to support the adult social care sector" in England.

The BBC's Reality Check has been looking into the situation with care homes - where according to Office for National Statistics figures just over 5% of the coronavirus deaths in England and Wales up to the week ending 3 April had occurred.

The baby of a a pregnant nurse, who died after contracting coronavirus, has been delivered successfully. Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, 28, had worked for five years at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, where she died on Sunday. The hospital's chief executive described Ms Agyapong as a "fantastic nurse". The baby is said to be doing "very well". A fundraising page set up in Ms Agyapong's name has raised more than £4,500 since it was set up on Wednesday.

Yesterday we reported on 99-year-old war veteran Tom Moore, who is attempting to raise money for NHS charities by walking 100 laps of his garden. He's now received donations of more than £10m. And if you've been missing your usual takeaway during the UK lockdown, you might be glad to hear that three food chains - Burger King, KFC and Pret a Manger - are reopening a limited number of outlets to provide deliveries.

US President Donald Trump has predicted that some states will come out of lockdown this month after declaring that the pandemic had "passed its peak" in the country. Speaking on Wednesday at the daily White House briefing, Mr Trump said he expected reopening guidelines to be announced on Thursday. The US has had more than 638,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases and over 30,800 deaths. Asked about the risks of reopening too soon, Mr Trump told reporters that there was "also death involved in keeping it closed" - citing mental health and suicide concerns.

Germany is also taking steps to ease lockdown measures. While social distancing measures will stay in force until 3 May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Wednesday that from next week shops under a certain size could open their doors and schools would gradually start to reopen from 4 May. Large public gatherings are to remain banned until 31 August. Much has been made of Germany's response to the pandemic - leading to comparisons between its efforts to tackle the disease and those of other European countries. You can read more about that here.

Elsewhere, conservationists have noticed an increase in the poaching of endangered species since the outbreak began. The BBC's Helen Briggs writes that i n India, there have been reports of an upsurge in tiger poaching, while there are fears in Africa that the rhinoceros and other endangered species could be at risk. Conservation groups say that the loss of income from tourism means there is less money to pay for security and wildlife patrols.

Across the world the effects of coronavirus are widespread. According to the BBC's Matthew Davies, the economies of sub-Saharan Africa were expecting to see economic growth this year, but the virus now means the region is set to have its first recession in 25 years. The World Bank forecasts the overall economy will shrink by somewhere between 2.1% and 5.1% because of the impact of Covid-19.

In a move which could bring some respite for poorer countries, the G20 group of the world's leading economies has agreed to suspend debt repayments until the end of the year. It's hoped that this will help developing countries deal with the health and economic impacts of coronavirus. But campaigners say private lenders should follow suit and that repayments should be cancelled rather than suspended.

The BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney reports that Australia is also feeling the effects of the pandemic. Having gone through the bushfire catastrophe in recent months, he says the "miracle economy" which avoided recession during the 2008 financial crisis is in "deep trouble". In one week, one million Australians became unemployed. Read Phil's full report here.

Follow our live page for all the latest from around the world.

Several of Thursday's papers feature a picture of nurse Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong on their front pages. Ms Agyapong, who was pregnant, died from Covid-19 on Sunday, but medics were able to safely deliver her baby. The Metro says Ms Agyapoing was described by the Luton and Dunstable Hospital where she worked as a "fantastic colleague" . Elsewhere, the Times says the number of new cases of coronavirus in the UK is "flattening out". The Daily Telegraph adds that while the outbreak is slowing down, lockdown measures are to stay in place. The Daily Mail claims victory for its campaign to get recognition for care home workers. But the Daily Mirror says the plan to give them a green badge so they can publically identify themselves is "unbelievable". You can read more from the front and inside pages in our paper review.

From elsewhere

Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas is the latest big name guest on the daily Coronavirus Newscast, talking to the gang about his bid to raise money for the NHS by cycling in his garage for 36 hours. And, for anyone who is missing football - or even just talking about football - a brand new series of That Peter Crouch Podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live launched this week.

Declan McKenna found himself pigeon-holed as a protest singer after his first album debuted in 2017, says our music reporter Mark Savage, with its lyrics about transgender suicide, xenophobic media reporting, and corruption in Fifa. But after he racked up an impressive 230 million streams and 200,000 sales in the UK alone, his second album Zeros puts politics aside to tell a story of human fallibility in the face of an existential crisis - which could be environmental catastrophe, technological dystopia, or any number of looming disasters.