Reuters

Asian shares fell sharply on Friday after Wall Street and oil tumbled over growing concerns that a resurgence of coronavirus infections could stunt the pace of recovery in economies reopening from lockdowns.

Oil prices slid early on Friday, extending heavy overnight losses on a surge in U.S. coronavirus cases this week that has raised the prospect of a second wave of the outbreak slamming demand in the world's biggest consumer of crude and fuel.

Alphabet Inc's Google said on Thursday it was tackling unlawful discrimination by barring housing, employment and credit ads from being targeted to its users based on their postal code, gender, age, parental status or marital status.

(This June 10 story corrects second paragraph to say facility makes antibody drugs, not viral vaccines)

Zoom Video Communications Inc said on Thursday the Chinese government demanded the termination of four public meetings held on its video conferencing platform on June 4 to commemorate the 31st anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Taco Bell parent Yum Brands Inc sued Grubhub Inc on Thursday for allegedly violating a delivery contract, a day after Europe's Just Eat Takeaway.com agreed to buy the U.S. food delivery company for $7.3 billion.

Data mining firm Palantir Technologies Inc is aiming to file confidentially with U.S. regulators to go public in the coming weeks, emboldened by the strong performance of other initial public offerings (IPOs), people familiar with the matter said.

A month into efforts to broadly reopen the U.S. economy there is little clarity either on the pace and durability of the recovery, or on the ability to convincingly suppress the virus that has killed more than 112,000 Americans.

Asian equities are set to fall sharply on Friday after Wall Street stocks and oil tumbled over growing concerns that a resurgence of coronavirus infections could stunt the pace of reopening economies.

The corporate response to a wave of protests over the treatment of African Americans has included pledges to increase diversity, donations to civil rights groups and, in some cases, changes in policies or practices long sought by critics. Here is a sampling:

Apple Inc said on Thursday it will increase spending with black-owned suppliers as part of a $100 million racial equity and justice initiative, while Google-owned YouTube said it will spend $100 million to fund black artists.

A stock market that shook off the coronavirus pandemic, economic devastation and sky-high equity valuations was reminded of all three on Thursday, as Wall Street took its biggest dive in three months.

The Cboe Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's "fear gauge," jumped to its highest level in more than a month on Thursday as concerns over a resurgence of the novel coronavirus pandemic felled U.S. stocks.

A group of bondholders of LATAM Airlines Group SA is in talks to supply up to $1.5 billion in a debtor-in-possession loan within the Chapter 11 proceeding in the United States, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

Palantir Technologies Inc is aiming to file confidentially with U.S. regulators for a public listing in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.

Zoom Video Communications Inc said on Thursday it did not provide any user information or meeting content to the Chinese government.

Google filed a lawsuit accusing home speaker maker Sonos Inc of infringing five of its patents, escalating tensions between the partners that have already led to a U.S. International Trade Commission probe.

Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it would await federal regulation before selling facial recognition technology to police, making it the latest big firm to back away from the business following protests against law enforcement brutality and bias.

Latin American countries should quicken steps for airlines to renew domestic flights no later than July before more companies are forced to declare bankruptcy or close, a high-ranking official of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday.

Wall Street plummeted on Thursday as investors reacted to renewed fears of a pandemic resurgence and digested dour economic forecasts from the U.S. Federal Reserve.