■ Management
Bank ordered to improve
Japan's financial regulator has ordered major lender UFJ Holdings Inc to improve its management after pointing out the bank made an inadequate assessment of the amount of its bad loans, reports said yesterday. Following the order, UFJ, Japan's fourth-ranked banking group, would have to submit a management improvement plan to the Financial Services Agency, which would then conduct inspections to check the bank's management, Jiji Press said. Both the FSA and UFJ declined to comment. "We do not comment on an individual case," said an FSA spokeswoman. According to Kyodo News, UFJ's assessment of bad loans at the end of March last year was about 40 percent lower than the amount estimated by the government.
■ Airlines
Qantas to fly to Shanghai
Australian flag carrier Qantas said yesterday it would relaunch direct flights to China's financial hub of Shanghai and India's largest city, Bombay, as it taps growth opportunities in the burgeoning markets. The airline said it also planned to increase flights or capacity to Hong Kong, Japan, the US and New Zealand in a three-year growth drive. "We believe it is the future for us -- India and China," Qantas Airways Ltd executive general manager John Borghetti told reporters. Two new Airbus A330-300 jets would fly between Sydney and Shanghai from Dec. 2 and Borghetti said Qantas expected to add even more services to China, which has one of the world's fastest growing economies. Qantas began flights to Shanghai and Bombay in 1996, but axed them as an economy measure in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
■ Region
Asia to grow briskly
Economic growth in the Asia-Pacific will continue to outpace the rest of the world in the next five years but a Chinese slowdown looms as a genuine threat to the region, the Economist Intelligence Unit said. In a report received yesterday, the London-based EIU said the Asia-Pacific's economies, outside Japan, would grow at an average annual rate of 5.8 percent between this year and 2008, faster than any other region in the world. The EIU said the region's growth this year was likely to be 6.5 percent, but the environment will be less friendly next year and beyond with Beijing's efforts to rein in its red-hot economy the main reason. The EIU said China's economy should slow to below 8 percent between this year and 2008, down from the more than 9 percent rates experienced recently, and a potential investment bubble is not expected to balloon out of control.
■ Biotechnology
Brewer produces cow
Kirin Brewery Co, Japan's No. 2 beer maker, said yesterday it had produced jointly with a US company a cow that is immune to mad cow disease. The animal, produced through genetic manipulation, carries none of the prion proteins that cause the brain-wasting disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a Kirin spokeswoman said. The cow, still in its mother's womb, is expected to be born early next year, she said. Kirin produced the cow after conducting joint research with US biotechnology firm Hemateck LLC in Connect-icut. The two firms plan to use the cow to develop medicines for diseases such as hepatitis C, pneumonia and rheumatism, she said.
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A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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