More than 4.46 million people have been reported to be infected with the novel coronavirus globally and 301,445 have died, according to a Reuters tally, as of 1110 GMT on Friday.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
EUROPE
* Britain approved Abbott's COVID-19 antibody test, shortly after it gave the same approval to Swiss drugmaker Roche , health officials said.
* Austria's junior minister for culture quit under pressure from theatre directors and performers over a lack of urgency in reopening cultural venues even as a lockdown has been eased.
* Two asylum seekers recently arrived on Greece's Lesbos island, the site of the country's biggest migrant camp, have tested positive for the coronavirus, migration ministry sources said on Friday.
* Russia reported 10,598 new confirmed cases, pushing its nationwide case tally to 262,843.
* Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia opened their borders to each other, creating the first "travel bubble" within the European Union.
AMERICAS
* The U.S. House of Representatives is set to debate and vote on a $3 trillion Democratic bill aimed at easing the heavy human and economic toll of the pandemic.
* Brazil and Mexico on Thursday each reported a record one-day rise in new cases, just as leaders of both countries intensified attempts to reopen their economies.
* Mexico's president pushed back on Thursday against a government report that forecast the coronavirus pandemic could drag millions of Mexicans into extreme poverty.
* Canadians should accept the world will change even if a vaccine is found and the pandemic ends, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* The Chinese city of Wuhan has tested over 3 million residents since April, and will now focus its testing efforts on the rest of its 11 million population.
* China will optimise coronavirus control measures put in place to curb imported infections as other countries relax their virus-related lockdowns, a top-level meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang said, state radio reported.
* Tokyo needs to get used to a "new normal" that includes telecommuting, its governor said, adding that restrictions would stay in place at least through the end of May.
* Thailand will begin allowing department stores, shopping malls and other businesses to reopen from Sunday as new coronavirus cases dwindle, the government said.
* The number of cases in the Philippines' has passed the 12,000 mark, and more than 800 people have now died, the health ministry said.
* Restaurants, cafes and bars in Australia's most populous state were reopening on Friday after a two-month shutdown.
* India has lost two weeks in its bid to get a picture of the spread because of poor Chinese testing kits, a member of a national task force said.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* World stocks edged higher on Friday and oil prices rallied more than 2%, as sentiment revived after a week pressured by deteriorating U.S.-China relations.
* The euro zone economy saw its deepest contraction on record in the first quarter, as expected by markets, as a result of lockdowns introduced in March.
* Investors piled on more cash, loaded $15.8 billion in bonds and dumped equities this week, BofA said, amid worries about a second wave of coronavirus infections.
* Central and east European economies fell as much as 5% on a quarterly basis to start 2020 though some managed a last gasp of growth as the coronavirus forced lockdowns in March.
* Greece recorded a primary budget deficit of $1.62 billion in the first four months of the year, missing its surplus target.
