Coronavirus: latest global developments

The total number of cases in Latin America surpasses 1.5 million, according to an AFP count.

Latin America has become the epicentre of the pandemic with more than 73,600 deaths, over half of which have been in Brazil.

- More than 421,000 deaths -

The pandemic has killed at least 421,691 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally at 1100 GMT on Friday, based on official sources.

There have been 7,529,910 cases registered in 196 countries and territories.

The United States has the most deaths, with 113,820, followed by Britain with 41,279, Brazil with 40,919, Italy with 34,167 and France with 29,346 fatalities.

- Stock exchanges reverse losses - 

After sharp losses overnight on Wall Street, on fears over the coronavirus economic fallout and the likelihood of a second wave of the pandemic, Asian exchanges fall sharply but then steady before Europe reverses early losses to post gains.

- Airlines sue British government -

British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair say they have launched legal action against the UK government over its "flawed" 14-day quarantine introduced earlier this week in response to the coronavirus.

They say it will "have a devastating effect on British tourism and the wider economy and destroy thousands of jobs".

- Britain's economy nosedives -

Britain's economy shrank by a fifth, or 20.4 percent. during April due to the coronavirus lockdown, stoking concerns over a recession.

Taken together, the slump over March and April was three times worse than during the global financial crisis of more than a decade ago, the Office for National Statistics says. 

- $8 billion of Saudi investment -

Saudi Arabia, facing the twin shocks of the pandemic and a plunge in oil prices, has invested around $8 billion worth in global giants through its sovereign wealth fund.

The spending spree comes against the backdrop of deeply unpopular austerity measures as it seeks to tame a ballooning budget deficit.

- Beijing on alert -

Beijing says it will delay primary school students returning to class after three fresh coronavirus cases emerge in the capital -- the first after two months of no infections in the city.

- Easing restrictions - 

Italy will Monday enter a new deconfinement phase, including the reopening of cinemas.

Thailand will open its borders to regional countries with similar levels of the virus -- including China, Vietnam, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, as it tries to claw back money for its battered tourism sector.

- London fashion week opens, digitally -

London Fashion Week opens, but without catwalk shows, with a 100 percent digital format.