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A closely-watched Gilead Sciences Inc experimental antiviral drug failed to help patients with severe COVID-19 in a clinical trial conducted in China, but the drugmaker said the findings were inconclusive because the study was terminated early.

Zoom video conferencing app's user base grew by another 50% to 300 million in the last three weeks, as the company fought to quell a backlash around security and safety that has seen a number of governments and firms ban its applications.

Apple Inc plans to sell Mac computers with its own main processors by next year based on the chip designs currently used in its iPhones and iPads, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

Business payments processing firm AvidXchange Inc, whose investors include Mastercard Inc and PayPal Holdings Inc co-founder Peter Thiel, said on Thursday it had added an additional $128 million to a $260 million fundraising round it closed in January.

Dish Network Corp, which vowed to build a 5G network by 2023 to take on the big three U.S. telecommunications giants, said on Thursday it is working with software company Mavenir to build its next-generation wireless network.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday a screening of 3,000 residents found that 13.9 percent tested positive for antibodies for the novel coronavirus, suggesting that some 2.7 million people across the state may have been infected.

"What I did not recognize was the severity of illness that would be seen in patients who are older and the rapidity with which this illness would spread through elderly populations."

The northern Italian region of Lombardy, at the epicentre of Europe's worst coronavirus outbreak, began an antibody testing programme on Thursday as it prepared to start opening up its economy following weeks of lockdown.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 464 on Thursday, against 437 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, but the daily tally of new infections declined to 2,646 from 3,370 on Wednesday.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 464 on Thursday, against 437 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, but the daily tally of new infections declined to 2,646 from 3,370 on Wednesday.

Britain's nuclear industry is giving specialised equipment for the country's health service to help fight the coronavirus outbreak, with Sellafield Limited, which reprocesses nuclear fuel, donating 20,000 gowns and other kit.

Scientists in Britain began clinical trials of a potential COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday as other vaccine developers across Europe also stepped up work on experimental shots against the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

U.S. House of Representatives Democrats accused the Trump administration of trying to "scapegoat" the World Health Organization to distract from its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, and urged an immediate restoration of funding to the U.N. health body, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday.

On April 5, 61-year-old Mang Phother felt his breathing getting worse and worse. Two days later he was rushed to a hospital in Paris' northern suburbs and found himself battling COVID-19 from an intensive care bed.

Czechs flocked to screening centres on Thursday in a project to test 27,000 people for coronavirus antibodies to gauge how far the infection has spread and help decide how rapidly to ease the country's lockdown.

The combined wealth of America's billionaires, including Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla Inc chief Elon Musk, increased nearly 10% during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).

Married gay couple Dawid Mycek and Jakub Kwiecinski say they face frequent abuse in Poland for being part of a so-called "homosexual plague."

By Silvia Aloisi, Deena Beasley, Gabriella Borter, Thomas Escritt and Kate Kelland

France has expanded its list of drugs that face export restrictions through the coronavirus crisis despite repeated calls from the European Union to lift curbs that could cause shortages in other countries, documents show.

The number of deaths caused by malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa could double to 769,000 this year, as efforts to curb the disease are disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation warned on Thursday.