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More people stayed home in Brazil, Japan and Singapore in April as those countries' novel coronavirus cases surged, while people in the United States and Australia returned to parks and jobs as infection rates flattened, data from Google show.

(This April 30 story corrects 4th paragraph to show that CORE is managing and staffing some of the testing sites, not that it is partly funding the tests.)

Russia on Friday reported a record daily rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, a day after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced he had been diagnosed with the new virus and was temporarily stepping down to recover.

Countries must lift lockdowns gradually, while still being "on the look-out" for COVID-19 and ready to restore restrictions if the virus jumps back, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

Britain has hit its target of carrying out 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day, health minister Matt Hancock said on Friday, stressing that the programme was crucial to helping ease a national lockdown.

Britain did not change its criteria for recording coronavirus tests to meet its goal to carry out 100,000 tests per day by the end of April, the adviser in charge of the operation said on Friday.

More than 3.29 million people have reportedly been infected by the novel coronavirus globally, and 232,806 have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Friday.

Facebook Inc is at risk of losing a key seal of approval that gives companies confidence they are getting what they pay for when it comes to advertising with the social-media giant, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Friday called on Amazon.com < AMZN.O> founder Jeff Bezos to testify to the panel about allegations that the online retailer uses data from its own third-party sellers to create competing products.

ASAPP Inc an artificial intelligence software that helps call center agents work better and faster, on Friday announced a $185 million series B funding round as the coronavirus pandemic pushes up call center volume at a time when companies are looking to cut labor costs.

((This April 30 story has been corrected to say Starship can carry more than 100 metric tonnes of cargo, not 100 pounds in paragraph 9. The error occurred in a previous version as well.))

Thailand will end a ban on the sale of alcohol on Sunday when it lifts other restrictions following progress in containing the coronavirus outbreak, two officials said late on Friday.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) said on Friday it would boost its cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) as it seeks to fight the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, in particular in vulnerable African countries.

The largest U.S. airlines are moving rapidly to mandate facial coverings for all passengers, with Southwest Airlines Co and Alaska Airlines on Friday joining other major airlines in imposing the measure to address the spread of the coronavirus and convince reluctant passengers to resume flying.

Gilead Sciences , which manufactures remdesivir, is focused on making the experimental coronavirus drug accessible and affordable to as many people as possible once it is approved, Chief Executive Officer Daniel O'Day said on Friday.

The COVID-19 death toll in English hospitals has risen by 352 from the day before to 20,483, including 18 people who did not have any known underlying health conditions, health officials said on Friday.

Chinese gaming and social media group Tencent Holdings has bought a 5% stake in Afterpay Ltd, the Australian buy-now-pay-later firm said on Friday.

A manufacturer of a possible COVID-19 vaccine being developed by British scientists said on Friday it may know by the end of May if it can make a million doses a month with a view to building stocks for commercial supply when the vaccine is approved.

Britain might have hit its daily target of carrying out 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day, or will come close, putting in place the beginnings of a network to test, track and trace people through the pandemic, housing minister Robert Jenrick said on Friday.

A testing target set by Britain's health minister has driven up the capacity to test people, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday, hours before an expected announcement on whether the 100,000 target a day will be met.