To figure out what makes some people more vulnerable to severe cases of covid-19, we need to rethink what we know about infection

Auto production in Mexico and Brazil, Latin America's top producers, plunged by an unprecedented 99% in April as a result of the coronavirus crisis, with the two countries building a total of just 5,569 vehicles.

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.

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.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday he aims to present plans next week to reopen the economy, as key sectors like carmaking look to begin business again after over a month of quarantine measures to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

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.

U.S. luxury department store chain Neiman Marcus Group said on Friday it received court approval to access $675 million of its debtor-in-possession financing, which will allow continuity of the company's business during Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and enable it to pay employees and vendors.

Nearly 90 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded among employees of Polyus Krasnoyarsk, a unit of Russia's largest gold producer Polyus , the regional branch of Russia's consumer health watchdog said on Saturday.

South Africa's central bank has temporarily prohibited the use of debt issued by the Land Bank as collateral after the state agricultural lender was downgraded deeper into junk status and missed $2.7 billion in loan repayments.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday approved emergency use authorization (EUA) to Quidel Corp for the first COVID-19 antigen test.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday said it was 'dangerous' for the Trump administration to pressure states and businesses to 'reopen without a plan for a dramatic increase in testing'.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his White House coronavirus task force would remain in place but with a focus on medical treatments and easing restrictions on businesses and social life and perhaps with different advisers. This report produced by Chris Dignam.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said it's "one of those things" after he learned that a White House valet tested positive for the coronavirus, noting contact with that person was limited. Gavino Garay has more.

The White House shelved a step-by-step guide prepared by U.S. health officials to help states safely reopen mass transit and businesses closed by the coronavirus pandemic, an administration official said on Thursday. This report produced by Chris Dignam.

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany on Friday said it appears that the FBI 'manufactured' a crime in the case of President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, after the Department of Justice moved to drop the case on Thursday.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, the wife of one of President Donald Trump's senior advisors, has tested positive for the coronavirus, the second White House staffer to be diagnosed with the illness. This report produced by Chris Dignam.

UFC has withdrawn a bout from Saturday's card in Jacksonville after middleweight Jacare Souza and two of his cornermen tested positive for the new coronavirus, the mixed martial arts promotion said.

College sports will not resume until all students are back on campus, NCAA president Mark Emmert said Friday.

Whitney Houston is headed back to the big screen in a feature film about the singer's life that took her to the heights of fame but ended in drug addiction and tragedy.

A U.S. federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by former "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett who accused the city of Chicago of malicious prosecution in concluding that his claim to having been the victim of a racist and homophobic beating was a hoax.

Tom Hanks has sent a letter and a Corona brand typewriter to an Australian boy who wrote to him about being bullied over his name, Corona, Australian television networks reported on Thursday.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander urged all people in the Netherlands to stay at home on Monday, instead of flocking onto the streets clad in orange as they normally do for the annual celebration of Kingsday.

Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey Baldwin are opening up in an intimate series for Facebook Watch in which they discuss their marriage, their problems and their lives together.

Florian Schneider, co-founder of pioneering German electronic band Kraftwerk, which influenced generations of pop and dance musicians with mesmerising tracks such as "Autobahn", has died of cancer aged 73, longtime bandmate Ralf Huetter said.

The outbreak has ravaged the economy of the oil-producing country and overwhelmed sanitary authorities in the largest city of Guayaquil, where corpses remained in homes or for hours on the streets.

US Airways flight 1939 lands in Philadelphia, marking the last flight for the airline which merged with American Airlines. Katharine Jackson reports.

The chief executive of United Airlines sat down before a House panel on Tuesday to testify about the forced removal on April 9 of a passenger from a Chicago flight, an incident that drew international condemnation.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York leads Islamic art tours to improve understanding of its contributions to the world heritage. Fred Katayama reports.

A European coalition is forming around an approach to using smartphone technology to trace coronavirus infections which, it's hoped, will enable borders to reopen. Joe Davies reports.

A series of studies of the genomes of thousands of samples of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 show that it is mutating and evolving as it adapts to its human hosts. Soraya Ali reports.

The White House shelved a step-by-step guide prepared by U.S. health officials to help states safely reopen mass transit and businesses closed by the coronavirus pandemic, an administration official said on Thursday. This report produced by Chris Dignam.

Tara Reade, the woman who alleges Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993, said in a video interview on Thursday that he should withdraw from the White House race. Gloria Tso reports.

Australia will ease social distancing restrictions implemented to slow the spread of the coronavirus in a three-step process, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, with the aim of removing all curbs by July. Lauren Anthony reports.

Syria's government allowed mosques to open on Friday for worshipers willing to perform prayers. The mosque had remained closed as part of the measures taken to contain the spread of coronavirus.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, the wife of one of President Donald Trump's senior advisors, has tested positive for the coronavirus, the second White House staffer to be diagnosed with the illness. This report produced by Chris Dignam.

Climate models show that as the world warms, tropical cyclones will travel more slowly, dumping more rain in one place and making high-speed winds batter buildings for longer

Satellites have revealed the fracking heartland of the US is leaking methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, at a record-breaking rate.

We need to scale up testing efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, and looking for signs of virus RNA in our sewage could provide a shortcut

The coronavirus pandemic is making life feel slower than ever, but observing timescales across the universe can bring us some comfort, writes Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Are shark attacks and ice cream sales linked? Do drugs work? Being able to distinguish cause and effect is crucial. Now we have the maths to do it reliably

Many people are turning to virtual therapy and mental health apps to cope with the stress of the coronavirus pandemic, but they may not be as helpful as talking face to face

We need to be very cautious about preliminary studies estimating how many people have already been infected by the coronavirus

Bamboo is a renewable material that when microwaved becomes stronger by weight than steel or concrete – which could make it ideal for constructing buildings, cars and planes

Half a million people taking part in the UK Biobank, which gathers genetic information for researchers to study, won't be told if they turn out to be genetically vulnerable to the coronavirus

The membership of the UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies has so far been kept secret, but a list of names will soon be published, the UK's chief scientific adviser has said

Lessons learned from natural disasters and the military can help guide our responses to help people's mental health during the covid-19 pandemic

Coffee has been linked to changes on our DNA that affect how active certain genes are. The finding may help explain some of coffee's touted health benefits

Robots made of 3D-printed muscle and rat spines could help us understand conditions like motor neurone disease and the technique may eventually be used to build prosthetic devices

The ongoing spread of bluetongue virus among European farm animals may have started when a cow was inseminated with infected bull semen stored from an earlier outbreak

The question of how the brain gives rise to subjective experience is the hardest of all. Mathematicians think they can help, but their first attempts have thrown up some eye-popping conclusions