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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday said it may shut down the U.S. operations of three state-controlled Chinese telecommunications companies, citing national security risks.

Britain is to start trials to see whether plasma collected from donors who have recovered from COVID-19 could be an effective treatment for patients who are severely unwell with the disease.

World leaders pledged on Friday to accelerate work on tests, drugs and vaccines against COVID-19 and to share them around the globe, but the United States did not take part in the launch of the World Health Organization (WHO) initiative.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday cautioned against the use of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients even as President Donald Trump, who has touted it as a "game changer," advocated for an additional review.

On January 21, the day the first U.S. case of coronavirus was reported, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services appeared on Fox News to report the latest on the disease as it ravaged China. Alex Azar, a 52-year-old lawyer and former drug industry executive, assured Americans the U.S. government was prepared.

The world is looking for signs that the arrival of warmer weather in the northern hemisphere could slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 190,000 people and sent the global economy into a tailspin as countries impose lockdowns and restrict travel.

With the U.S. coronavirus death toll topping 50,000, Georgia, Oklahoma and a handful of other states took the first tentative steps at reopening for business on Friday, despite the disapproval of President Donald Trump and health experts.

With much of the world living in lockdown, the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that was first detected in China late last year is beginning to slow in some places. As of April 23, 2.7 million had been infected and 192,000 killed by COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

The United States will send ventilators to three countries in Latin America - Ecuador, El Salvador and Honduras - as well as to Indonesia, President Donald Trump said on Friday, as the coronavirus pandemic has devastated countries around the world.

Some 12 workers at a Brazilian chicken plant operated by JBS SA have contracted COVID-19, a source close to the company told Reuters on Friday on condition of anonymity.

Reported cases of the coronavirus have crossed 2.73 million globally and 191,470 people have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Friday.

Twitter Inc said on Friday that video clips of U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting that scientists investigate inserting light or disinfectant into coronavirus patients did not violate its COVID-19 misinformation policy.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reported 865,585 cases of the novel coronavirus, an increase of 37,144 from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 2,437 to 48,816.

Facebook Inc introduced a videoconferencing tool and expanded livestreaming features on Friday, capitalizing on a surge in demand for video chats during the coronavirus pandemic while taking its first steps toward a planned integration of messaging products across its apps.

Ecuador's confirmed coronavirus cases more than doubled to a total of 22,719 after the government released a batch of delayed test results, the Andean country's interior minister said on Friday.

In the shade of a rust-colored hill, a dozen women gathered on a dusty road to fill buckets from a water tanker truck that pulled up to service their modest community built on a former Mexico City dump.

Tests in the wider Moscow region to see if people are carrying coronavirus antibodies suggest that as many as one in 10 residents may have been infected, a government project said on Friday.

Global leaders joined the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday to launch an initiative to accelerate work on drugs, tests and vaccines against COVID-19 and to share them around the world.

Paraguay will ease its coronavirus lockdown in May, replacing its currently tough sanctions with a "smart quarantine" after the South American country became one of the most successful in the region to stem the spread of the pandemic.

Verizon Communications Inc withdrew its full-year revenue outlook on Friday as it lost 68,000 phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill in the first quarter amid lockdowns due to coronavirus outbreak that closed 70% of its stores.