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A small group of protesters have gathered in London to take part in a group hug in defiance of lockdown measures in the UK.

Around 20 people, some holding signs including one which read "My body, my choice" and others alluding to debunked 5G conspiracy theories, were involved in the protest , externaloutside the Metropolitan Police's headquarters this afternoon.

Since late March, people in the UK have been told not to gather with people living outside of their household to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Life in the UK has been transformed since that and other restrictions were brought in but there have been signs people might be tiring of the lockdown.

While other transport use has consistently stayed down, there has been a slight uptick in the number of vehicles on the road. Visits to parks have also almost returned to normal levels, after dropping by more than 50% in the first few weeks of lockdown.

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A drive-in cinema has been set up in the Iranian capital, Tehran, for the first time since the Islamic revolution more than 40 years ago.

It comes as normal cinemas remain closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

About 160 vehicles filled the car park at the Milad Tower on Friday evening to watch a film by the Iranian director Ebrahim Hatamikia. The cars were disinfected as they drove in.

One viewer, named only as Nazanin, said he and his partner had enjoyed the experience. "It was something new for me. My parents had experienced it and they had told me [about it]," the 28-year-old told Spain's EFE news agency.

Image source, EPA

Iran has reopened small shops but larger stores and venues such as cinemas and theatres remain closed.

More than 6,100 people are known to have died with Covid-19 in Iran, with nearly 100,000 confirmed cases.

Image source, PA Media

An Olympic rower is swapping her oars for a stethoscope as she joins NHS front-line staff as a junior doctor to help the UK deal with coronavirus.

British athlete Polly Swann, 31, won silver as part of the women's eight at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.

She took a break to finish her medical degree, rejoining team GB in 2019.

Now, she is joining front-line staff at a hospital in Scotland, where she will work for the next three months.

But that won't stop her training for the postponed games, which have been rescheduled for next year.

People in Spain have been enjoying regained freedoms today. Here's how the BBC's Anna Lindsay started her day:

At 06:00 it is still dark in Barcelona, the sun rising almost an hour later. I walk for 20m (65ft) and see no-one until I reach the main Las Ramblas thoroughfare, where about a dozen joggers are heading towards the waterfront, seemingly desperate to make it there on the one hour they are permitted outside a day.

The atmosphere is serene and quiet and those who are out are a little excitable and smiling at each other - many through masks. It is still the busiest I’ve seen any streets here since mid-March when lockdown began.

Image source, Anna Lindsay

While we all understand why we have been in "la cuarentena" or quarantine - the seven weeks inside our homes (except for essential journeys) has been a mental and physical endurance test for us all. For most city residents, buying food or visiting a pharmacy involves walking no further than a few dozen metres.

Today is different. People are in sports gear and running, walking and cycling freely. A man is playing Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe’s famous song Barcelona loudly down at the water’s edge as the sun comes up: "Barcelona, such a beautiful horizon!”

A nearby advertising board says “Bienvenidos a la libertad” - or, welcome to freedom.

The coronavirus spreads easily and the majority of the world's population is still vulnerable to it.

But how easy is it to create a vaccine? And when could we expect one to be ready?

BBC health correspondent Laura Foster assesses the situation.

How do you conduct something as private and intimate as confessions at church while observing social distancing? Father Paddy McCafferty of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Belfast has the solution - listening to members of his congregation through locked gates.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

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Some more news from Spain, where people have been enjoying getting out and exercising after weeks trapped indoors.

The country will make masks compulsory on public transport from Monday to prevent a spike in coronavirus infections as the strict lockdown is eased.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the government would distribute six million masks across the country from Monday, with another seven million being sent to local authorities.

Sanchez also said his government would approve a €16bn (£14.2bn) reconstruction fund to help regions deal with the social and economic impact of the pandemic.

Naomi Grimley, BBC News

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UK ministers continue to say their policies are “science-led" but the science on coronavirus is still evolving.

There's been some suggestion that the UK's two metres apart rule could be relaxed in order to get more people back to work in offices and factories. The World Health Organization recommends 1m (3.2ft) between people and is sticking to its view that the disease is mainly transmitted through droplets, from sneezing and coughing, rather than lingering airborne.

But the BBC understands that some of the scientists helping to advise the government remain wary about relaxing the two-metre rule - arguing that two seconds spent 1m apart is as dangerous as spending one minute 2m apart.

Another suggestion being mooted from within government is that commuters may be asked to take their own temperature before travelling. Many experts, however, argue this wouldn’t stop asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19 slipping through the net.

A further 370 people have died with coronavirus in England, bringing the total number of reported deaths in hospitals to 20,853.

The figures published by NHS England show 8 April continues to have the highest number for the most hospital deaths occurring on a single day, when 864 people died.

Both Scotland and Wales have seen a further 44 deaths. That brings the total number of deaths in Scotland to 1,559 and in Wales to 969.

The latest UK-wide figures - which use a different timeframe to those of individual nations - will be published later.

The UK-wide figures now include deaths occurring outside hospitals with confirmed links to Covid-19.

Some more now on France's decision to extend its state of health emergency until 24 July.

Although emergency powers are set to be extended, the government still plans to start lifting lockdown measures from 11 May.

Restrictions will be adjusted regionally and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said "if conditions are met", people will no longer require permission to be out on the street.

But Prime Minister Édouard Philippe will be able "to take measures by decree to regulate the movement of people as well as the use of means of transport", Mr Castaner said.

Image source, Getty Images

Here's a round-up of the latest coronavirus developments from across the globe:

• Adults in Spain are now allowed to exercise outside for the first time in seven weeks. Spain's lockdown - one of Europe's strictest - was eased for children a week ago. Exercise time remains limited with specific slots for different age groups
• Austria has allowed thousands of shops, hairdressers and beauty salons to reopen
• The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised emergency use of an Ebola drug, remdesivir, for treating coronavirus after a recent clinical trial showed the drug helped shorten the recovery time of seriously ill people
• A nursing home in New York has reported 98 deaths linked to Covid-19. The death toll at the Isabella Geriatric Center is one of the worst such outbreaks in the country
• The Indian government has made it compulsory for all public and private sector workers to use a smartphone app designed to trace people who may have been infected with coronavirus

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Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds have named their son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson.

Ms Symonds said in an Instagram post that the name is a tribute to their grandfathers and the doctors who helped care for the prime minister when he had coronavirus.

The "Nicholas" middle name refers to Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart, who both treated Mr Johnson.

The birth of their child on Wednesday came just weeks after the prime minister was discharged from intensive care on 9 April.

A new mural has appeared under London's famous Waterloo Bridge during the pandemic.

Created by British artist Lionel Stanhope, the artwork pays tribute to NHS workers. You can watch a timelapse video of how Lionel created the mural below:

The French government has announced plans to extend national emergency measures until 24 July.

Health minister Olivier Véran said the proposal would to be put to parliament on Monday. He said lifting the state of emergency, which started on 24 March, would be "premature" and risked an increase in cases.

France has recorded more than 167,000 infections and 24,628 deaths during the coronavirus outbreak.

Since the first coronavirus death was recorded in Scotland on 13 March, the number of victims has steadily increased.

Behind the statistics are real people loved by many: grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives.

These are some of the stories of those who have lost their lives to Covid-19.

Danny Cairns

Danny, 68 developed a cough and sore throat at the end of March and within days he was so ill he had to be taken to hospital by ambulance.

In a video call from his hospital bed, his last words to his brother were: "I'm on my way out mate".

Janice Graham

Janice was the first NHS worker to die with coronavirus in Scotland.

The health care support worker and district nurse died at Inverclyde Royal Hospital on 6 April. One colleague said she had a "bright and engaging personality and razor-sharp wit".

Read more about those who have sadly lost their lives in Scotland

Shopping centres, hairdressers and shops with more than 400 sq m (4300 sq f) of sales area were allowed to reopen in Austria on Saturday.

Major electrical retailers, fashion chains, furniture stores and sports retailers were among those to open their doors.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Nick Bryant
BBC New York Correspondent

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The headlines seemed to be crowding in on us. The coronavirus had reached American shores.

It had come to the outer suburbs of New York. There were cases in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.

By now, the news was coming word of mouth. Someone had tested positive in our downtown office complex. A tenant in a neighbouring apartment building had been laid low. Our school was shutting. All the schools were shutting. The whole of New York was soon in lockdown.

Back then I remember thinking how different this was to stories of the past. Whether it was war or disaster, there was always a plane to take you away to safety; always a refuge at the end of a harrowing ordeal. With Covid-19, however, there was no plane; there was no refuge. In this planetary pandemic, the entire world was a trouble-spot.

Read here for more from Nick on his family's struggle with coronavirus in New York.

Image source, Press Associaion

NHS staff are "breaking down" on the front line and support for their mental health must be a priority, the Labour Party has warned.

Shadow mental health minister and A&E doctor Rosena Allin-Khan has written to Matt Hancock, asking for assurances that staff are getting the support they need.

In her letter to the health secretary, she said fears of spreading the virus, a lack of personal protective equipment, an increased workload and seeing more patients die have been taking "taking its toll on their mental health".

She said there was "real-time data to understand where particular pinch points may be and where resources need to be directed".

Reality Check

After a month in lockdown, the UK appears to be upping its alcohol intake.

Sales of stout are up by 83% and cider are up 63%, with overall sales of alcohol rising by more than a third on this time last year.

We also appear to have turned in to a nation of homebakers.

Half of the 10 products seeing the biggest growth in the week to April 25 were related to baking.

Fresh dough and pastry sales were up by 110%, while sales of baking mixes were up 85%.

Herbs and spices sales were also up by more than 80%.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, sales of frozen and long lasting foods have also risen significantly, according to the figures from consultancy Neilsen.

Read more here about how the UK has changed under lockdown.

A Florida lawyer has been stalking local beaches dressed as the grim reaper.

Daniel Uhlfelder is protesting against what he considers to be a premature reopening of Florida beaches after a shutdown was imposed on 19 March.

His menacing black cloak, mask and scythe were in stark contrast to the swimwear of beach-goers, who seemed unfazed by the protest.

Uhlfelder believes there is a danger of spreading the virus and prolonging the recovery.

"I think we should take better measures," he told a local television news crew. "It's too soon, it's not appropriate."

He began a "tour" of local beaches on Friday, with the campaign aiming to raise money for Democrats running for office.