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Rising radiation levels and continual aftershocks rumbling through Tokyo are raising tensions between pilots and managers at U.S. carriers flying to central Japan.
Union leaders at United and Continental Airlines say flight crews are anxious about deteriorating conditions in Tokyo, where the carriers’ pilots and flight attendants recuperate from long trans-Pacific flights. Get the full story »
Friday’s earthquake in Japan caused insured losses of between $12 billion and $25 billion, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in history for global insurers, catastrophe risk modeling firm Eqecat said. Get the full story »
Chicago-based Boeing Co. says the company will make a $2 million contribution to aid those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Get the full story »
Creme Eggs move down the line at the Bournville production plant. (Christopher Furlong/Getty)
Executives from Kraft Foods Inc. appeared at a parliamentary hearing Tuesday over the company’s 11.9 billion-pound acquisition of confectioner Cadbury a year ago, but the absence of Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld drew criticism from lawmakers.
U.K. lawmakers on the Business, Innovation & Skills committee are discussing with Kraft — maker of Oreo cookies, Philadelphia cream cheese and Maxwell House coffee — the commitments it made a year ago following the takeover, as well as seeking reassurances on jobs and investment into research.
Last April, lawmakers said in a report that Northfield-based Kraft acted “irresponsibly” and “unwisely” during its acquisition of Cadbury and damaged its reputation in the U.K. Get the full story »
Japan’s Nikkei share average plunged 10.6 percent on Tuesday, posting the worst two-day rout since 1987, as hedge funds bailed out after reports of rising radiation near Tokyo. Many mutual funds were left on the sidelines, leaving them poised to dump shares into any rebound. Get the full story »
U.S. real estate companies said on Monday they were trying to assess the damage that last week’s earthquake and tsunami may have inflicted on the hotels, warehouses and outlet centers they own in Japan.
The companies, including four real estate investment trusts (REITs), are expected to incur some property damage from the disaster. With a highly dense population in one of the world’s wealthiest countries, Japan is a favorite among U.S. real estate investors. Get the full story »
Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami may accelerate the point at which investors potentially lose confidence in the country’s finances, Moody’s Investors Service said on Monday. Get the full story »
Japan said on Monday it will allow oil companies to release 8.9 million barrels of crude oil from mandatory stockpiles to relieve pressure on supplies disrupted by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami. Get the full story »
Japanese stocks suffered their biggest slide since the 2008 financial crisis Monday, with investors eyeing a further drop as the uncertainty over the country’s nuclear crisis compounds worries that the quake and tsunami will cause deeper economic pain than initially thought.
The TOPIX tumbled 7.5 percent on record trading volume. With Monday’s selloff, the market capitalization of shares on the Tokyo stock exchange’s first section fell by roughly $286 billion — greater than the size of Finland’s economy. Get the full story »
The three largest U.S. carriers scrambled Friday to ensure that employees in Japan were safe as they re-routed passengers and aircraft bound for the earthquake-stricken country.
United, Delta and American airlines canceled many, but not all, flights to Japan Friday and offered to waive booking fees for those who opted to cancel or reschedule travel there as the country recovers from one of the largest earthquakes on record. Get the full story »
Tomy Co. plans to buy major U.S. toymaker RC2 Corp. for an estimated 50 billion yen ($604 million) to offset dwindling domestic demand, Japanese newspaper The Nikkei reported early Friday.
Tomy, which will make an announcement as soon as Friday, is likely to mount a tender offer for RC2. If successful, it will be one of the largest overseas acquisitions by a Japanese toymaker. Get the full story »
Brent and U.S. crude oil futures pared losses on Thursday, beset by deeper geopolitical concerns on witness reports that police fired upon protesters in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province. Get the full story »
Carlos Slim. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
Rising global commodities prices and Asia’s economic boom led to a big increase in the number of billionaires in Russia, China and Brazil in 2011.
China nearly doubled its number of billionaires to 115, while Russia and Brazil posted two-third jumps to 101 and 30, respectively, Forbes said in its annual list of the world’s richest people.
It was the first time any country outside the United States, which has 413 billionaires, had more than 100. Moscow is now home to the most people on the list with 79 billionaires, easily outstripping New York, which has just 58. The world’s richest man, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, retained his crown for the second year in a row and made more money than any of the other 1,209 billionaires in the past year: $20.5 billion, taking his fortune to $74 billion. Get the full story »
A John Deere combine being worked on in Hampshire, Ill. Moline-based Deere hopes to expand its product line in Russia. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Moline, Ill.-based Deere & Co. will double the manufacturing space at a factory near Moscow and start its own leasing company in Russia, the world’s largest maker of agricultural equipment said Thursday.
The announcement was made as Deere Chairman and CEO Samuel Allen joined other CEOs and Vice President Joe Biden at an investment conference in Russia.
The investment at the Domodedovo factory will help the company expand its product line in Russia, adding new equipment such as log forwarders, which load and haul logs and are widely used in the Russian forestry industry, Deere said in a statement. Get the full story »
From Bloomberg | Sara Lee Corp.’s sale of its insecticide unit to S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. is among the company’s divestments that has required “extra care” from regulators, the European Union’s antitrust chief said Thursday. The bug-killer deal is the latest Sara Lee sell-off to be examined in-depth by the European Commission after the regulator imposed conditions on Unilever’s plan to buy Sara Lee’s shower-gel and European detergents.
