Reuters Business News

JOHANNESBURG - World-leading renewables companies are lining up to invest in South Africa's energy sector and help remedy a chronic generation shortfall that pushed the continent's most advanced economy into recession even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

The energy industry's bet that a petrochemicals boom would support decades of oil and gas sales growth is on shaky ground as an already saturated plastic market is hit by a coronavirus demand shock.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits likely dropped below 2 million last week for the first time since mid-March, but remains astonishingly high as companies adjust to an environment that has been significantly changed by COVID-19.

A massive Pennsylvania plastics project that President Donald Trump touted during a visit last year faces risks of oversupply and a low price outlook for the materials, a report by an institute that examines energy issues said on Thursday.

From its Silicon Valley-like campus near Mumbai, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio telecom carrier is emerging as a winner from changes in the way Indian consumers plug into a digital economy made more urgent by the coronavirus pandemic.

South Korean prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant against Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee and two former company executives, they said on Thursday, in an investigation of a controversial 2015 merger and alleged accounting fraud.

The U.S. Transportation Department said late Wednesday it granted final approval to 15 airlines to temporarily halt service to 75 U.S. airports because of a lack of demand stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

Asian shares rose to a two-month high on Thursday as government stimulus expectations supported investor confidence in an economic recovery from the global coronavirus pandemic.

As the coronavirus jolts Japan, the government's huge stimulus package has come under fire from hard-hit restaurant owners for channelling funds for items like wagyu beef, melons and tourism rather than accelerating help for firms with burning cash needs.

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault is exploring ways to reopen negotiations on the French luxury goods giant's $16.2 billion acquisition of U.S. jewelry chain Tiffany & Co , as U.S. social unrest and the coronavirus pandemic weigh on the retail sector, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Oil prices fell on Thursday, reversing gains in the previous session, on concerns that supply will rise if major producers are unable to agree to extend the depth of output cuts that have supported recent gains.

Snap Inc said it would no longer promote U.S. President Donald Trump's account in Snapchat's Discover section, saying his incendiary comments last week made the account ineligible for the curated section where users explore new content.

Amazon.com Inc has been sued for allegedly fostering the spread of the coronavirus by mandating unsafe working conditions, causing at least one employee to contract COVID-19, bring it home, and see her cousin die.

The chief executive of Pilgrim's Pride Corp, a major U.S. poultry company, was indicted along with three other current and former industry executives on charges of seeking to fix the price of chickens, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.

More than three out of four U.S. human resource executives think more employees will continue to work from home even after the threat of the novel coronavirus subsides, according to a survey by a large business association released on Wednesday.

The United Auto Workers still needs to reform and a federal takeover remains an option, the U.S. prosecutor leading the investigation of corruption within the union told Reuters on Wednesday after the UAW's former president pleaded guilty to embezzlement.

Nearly three dozen former employees from Facebook's early days on Wednesday blasted Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's decision not to act against incendiary posts by U.S. President Donald Trump as "cowardly" and a "betrayal" of company ideals.

The Trump administration expanded on Wednesday its list of Cuban entities that Americans are banned from doing business with to include the financial corporation that handles U.S. remittances to the Communist-run country.

A fading of the U.S. dollar's allure will continue as global funding strains ease, but a majority of analysts polled by Reuters said there was a high risk that the U.S.-China trade standoff will renew safe-haven bets in the next six months.

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved legislation on Wednesday giving small businesses up to 24 weeks to use Paycheck Protection Program loans created during the coronavirus pandemic, up from the current eight-week deadline.