National Business

CALGARY — Stronger and more stable natural gas prices in the wake of North American oil production cuts are offering hope for better times to some gas producers but haven't changed Keyera Corp.

VANCOUVER — A survey of more than 1,000 British Columbia businesses has found that nearly half of those which have remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic believed they could survive for no longer than three more months.

BALTIMORE — U.S. sales of existing homes cratered 8.5% in March with real estate activity stalled by the coronavirus outbreak. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that 5.27 million homes sold last month, down from 5.

BANGKOK — Singapore will extend its partial lockdown by four more weeks after reporting thousands of new coronavirus cases in recent days, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Tuesday.

NEW YORK — Mary Parker is a nurse from St. Louis so caught up in the beach novels of Elin Hilderbrand that she makes an annual trip to Nantucket, the Massachusetts island community where Hilderbrand sets her stories.

LONDON — The CCTV footage from a Dutch business park shows a man in a black cap pouring the contents of a white container at the base of a cellular radio tower. Flames burst out as the man jogs back to his Toyota to flee into the evening.

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says retail sales rose in February for a fourth consecutive month as they climbed 0.3 per cent to $52.2 billion, boosted by sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and at general merchandise stores.

MONTREAL — Clothing maker Samuelsohn has reopened its Montreal factory with nearly 150 employees to begin production of personal protective equipment for doctors, nurses and first responders in Quebec.

SEATTLE — Boeing and at least one other U.S.

WASHINGTON — Late-stage negotiations in Washington on a new $450 billion coronavirus aid package dragged past Monday's hoped-for deadline, but the Trump administration and key lawmakers insisted a final pact is within reach.