Alphabet Inc's Google said on Friday it has asked employees to take a day off on May 22, to address work-from-home-related burnout during the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to launch an app this month to enable people in under-resourced countries to assess whether they may have the novel coronavirus, and is considering a Bluetooth-based contact tracing feature too, an official told Reuters on Friday.

Bitcoin is about to undergo a scheduled technical adjustment as the number of new coins awarded to the computer wizards who "mine" the cryptocurrency will be cut in half, but forecasting which way its price will move afterward is more complicated now.

Hackers linked to Iran have targeted staff at U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc in recent weeks, according to publicly-available web archives reviewed by Reuters and three cybersecurity researchers, as the company races to deploy a treatment for the COVID-19 virus.

North Korea’s portly dictator has dropped out of sight. Concern is rampant: Is he sick with coronavirus? In a coma? Dead? Whatever his condition, Pete Sweeney discusses the country’s succession problem and its implications for the region.

Could President Trump refuse to pay back the $1.1 trln the U.S. owes to China? While markets would hate the idea, it’s theoretically possible thanks to broad powers designed for times of emergency. John Foley explains how this dangerous weapon could be used if push came to shove.

A court asked the Indian government on Friday to respond to a challenge against its order for compulsory use of a contact tracing app by public and private sector employees returning to work amid the world's biggest coronavirus lockdown.

Indian police have filed a culpable homicide complaint against an LG Chem subsidiary over a toxic gas leak at its chemical plant in the south of the country that killed 11 people and forced 800 into hospital for treatment from poisoning.

Inflows into India's equity mutual funds nearly halved in April, industry data showed, as many investors rattled by stock market volatility due to the new coronavirus and the impact of a lockdown on the economy chose to stay away.

The Indian government plans to borrow 12 trillion rupees ($160 billion) in the fiscal year to March 2021, up from the previously budgeted 7.8 trillion rupees to cushion the blow from the new coronavirus pandemic, it said on Friday.

Doctors in hazmat suits ran temperature checks on passengers at Delhi airport and bags were disinfected as the first group of Indians returned home on special flights from Singapore and the Gulf on Friday since a sweeping lockdown was imposed in March.

Some residents frustrated over a strict coronavirus lockdown in Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat, hurled stones and were met with teargas in clashes with paramilitary forces on Friday.

Amid mounds of rubble and the ruins of buildings destroyed during nearly a decade of war, a Ramadan iftar meal has reunited a community in northwestern Syria.

Before she was laid off from her bartending job in Charleston, South Carolina, Shana Swain used to spend her nights serving food and mixing Manhattans and Cosmopolitans.

The magical atmosphere will be missing if the cricket season currently stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic resumes in empty stadiums, India captain Virat Kohli has said.

Kuwait will enact a "total curfew" from 4pm (1300 GMT) on Sunday through to May 30 to help to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, its cabinet said in a statement on Friday.

A 5-year old boy has died in New York from a rare inflammatory syndrome believed to be linked to the novel coronavirus, highlighting a potential new risk for children in the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday.

The U.S. government reported more catastrophic economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis on Friday as the pandemic pierced the very walls of the White House and California gave the green light for its factories to restart after a seven-week lockdown.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, the wife of one of President Donald Trump's senior advisers, has tested positive for the coronavirus, raising alarm about the virus' potential spread within the White House's inner most circle.

Villagers placed the bodies of three victims of a deadly gas leak from an LG Polymers plant in Andhra Pradesh at the gates of the site on Saturday, and demanded the factory be shut down immediately and its top management arrested.

Hundreds of migrant workers in Gujarat have clashed for a second day with authorities, hurling stones at police trying to enforce a lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus.

More than 1,000 people queued up on Saturday to get free food parcels in Geneva, underscoring the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the working poor and undocumented immigrants even in wealthy Switzerland.

Pfizer Inc said on Friday it is in talks to shift more of its medicine production to outside contractors as it prepares for large-scale production of an experimental vaccine to prevent COVID-19, should it prove safe and effective.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,251 to 168,551, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday.

China reported one new coronavirus case for Friday, unchanged from the day before, data from the national health authority showed on Saturday.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn is in self-quarantine for a couple of weeks after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, an FDA spokesman told Reuters late on Friday.

China will reform its disease prevention and control system to address weaknesses exposed by the coronavirus outbreak, a senior health official said on Saturday.

Chinese regulators have approved Novartis' Mayzent to treat relapsing multiple sclerosis in adults, the Swiss drug maker said in a statement on Saturday.

Russian authorities said on Saturday they had recorded 10,817 new cases of the coronavirus in the last day, pushing the nationwide tally to 198,676.

Malaysia health authorities on Saturday reported 54 new coronavirus cases for a total of 6,589.

Slovakia on Friday recorded no new cases of coronavirus for the first time since March 10, government figures showed.

A 5-year old boy has died in New York from a rare inflammatory syndrome believed to be linked to the novel coronavirus, highlighting a potential new risk for children in the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday.

Spain's daily death toll from the coronavirus fell to its second lowest since mid-March on Saturday, as half the country prepared to move to the next phase of an exit from one of Europe's strictest lockdowns.

One in four Portuguese with a monthly household income of 650 euros ($705) or less have lost all their income because of the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, a study by the National School of Public Health showed on Saturday.

The 2020 K-League season started on Friday with a match between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings played without spectators after a delay of more than two months caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Real Madrid forward Luka Jovic has not conducted full training or played any matches for over two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, but he somehow still managed to break his foot and is expected to be out of action for around seven weeks.

The reigning NBA champions Toronto Raptors said on Friday they will allow players access to the team's training facilities from next week under strict guidelines amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Children will need more access to sport in the post-pandemic world and there is a pressing need to press authorities to stop school sports "withering on the vine", World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said on Friday.

The magical atmosphere will be missing if the cricket season currently stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic resumes in empty stadiums, India captain Virat Kohli has said.

Major sports events around the world that are in the process of re-starting or have been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

Barcelona's women's team were officially declared champions of Spain's Liga Iberdrola on Friday after the national soccer federation's executive committee agreed to end all non-professional competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. women's soccer team have filed to appeal a district court decision handed down last week that dismissed their claims for equal pay, a spokesperson for the team said on Friday.

FIFA's decision to temporarily allow up to five substitutions per match to help cope with potential fixture congestion was met coolly in South America on Friday.

RB Leipzig’s Julian Nagelsmann, whose side will be chasing a first Bundesliga title when the German league resumes next weekend, is to practise coaching while wearing a face mask in order to be ready for a return to action.

Taiwan reopened baseball games to a limited number of fans on Friday for the first time since controls were imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus, part of government efforts to slowly allow normal life to resume.

There is no one more unbeatable in men's tennis than Novak Djokovic when the Serb is at his best, former world number four American Todd Martin has said.

Playing against India behind closed doors in the much-anticipated test series at the end of the year might end up being an advantage for the home side, according to Australia batsman Usman Khawaja.

Eight-time Grand Slam winner Ivan Lendl said whoever ends up winning the most majors among the 'Big Three' of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic should be considered the greatest male tennis player of the Open era.

Senior international Olympics official John Coates said on Saturday the delayed Tokyo Olympics could end up being the greatest Games ever, coming next year as the world emerges from COVID-19 crisis.

A "star in the making" were the prophetic words of an announcer who had just witnessed 16-year-old Missy Franklin slice up the competition at swimming's 2011 world championships.