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World Business Quick Take

■ AGRICULTURE
Importers recall PRC gluten
South Korean importers have recalled Chinese wheat gluten and some US pet food after the deaths of animals in the US because of contaminated pet food, the agriculture ministry said yesterday. CJ Corp, South Korea's major food and feed maker, recalled 42 tonnes of wheat gluten imported from China, although the wheat gluten was not tainted with the chemical melamine, it said. A South Korean importer also recalled 899kg of pet food imported from Natural Balance Pet Foods of the US, which has used Chinese wheat gluten in making its products.

■ AVIATION
Airbus orders lagging
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said on Wednesday it had received 158 orders in the first four months of the year, a pace that lagged its US rival Boeing. Boeing by Tuesday last week had received 315 orders, the company's Web site said. Airbus lost its five-year-old number one ranking to Boeing last year, when the US group recorded 1,044 orders to 790 for Airbus. Airbus has so far this year delivered 153 planes and foresees deliveries of between 440 and 450 by December 31, after 434 last week and 378 in 2005. It remains the world leader in terms of aircraft deliveries.

■ AUTOMOBILES
Kia employees arrested
Five South Koreans have been arrested for selling automotive technology to China, causing potential losses of billions of dollars, prosecutors said yesterday. The prosecutors' office in Suwon city south of Seoul, said the five former and current employees of Kia Motors are accused of stealing crucial secrets regarding car assembly. On nine occasions since last November, the accused allegedly diverted a total of 57 secrets to an unidentified Chinese automobile company through a technology consulting company in South Korea. The consultants allegedly sold Kia's intellectual property for 230 million won (US$247,310).

■ RESTAURANTS
KFC sues English pub
Every Christmas, a remote pub in Northern England serves a traditional holiday meal consisting of pate, turkey, roast beef, trimmings and pudding, under its "Family Feast" menu. Reports yesterday said, however, that US fast food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken is suing the Tan Hill Inn for trademark infringement over the company's own "Family Feast" -- a cardboard box of fried chicken and side dishes. "The solicitor told me I shouldn't take it personally, but I don't feel anything -- it's just hilarious," the pub's manager, Tracy Daly, told the Times newspaper. "They are a multi-million-pound international organization and I am just a little lady up a mountain."

■ BANKING
Bank of England ups rates
The Bank of England raised interest rates to a six-year high of 5.5 percent yesterday, its fourth quarter-percentage point increase since last August. "Relative to the two percent target, the risks to the outlook for inflation in the medium term consequently remain tilted to the upside," the central bank said in a statement. "Against that background, the Committee judged that a further increase in Bank Rate of 0.25 percentage points to 5.5 percent was necessary." Inflation hit 3.1 percent in March, more than a percentage point above the bank's 2.0 percent target.


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