County Pacific Financial News

Flights were suspended at the main airport in Japan's southern region of Okinawa on Wednesday due to a tsunami alert triggered by an earthquake in Taiwan, a government official said. Operations at Naha Airport were suspended from 9:25 am local time (0025 GMT) as a precautionary measure, a transport ministry official stationed at the airport told AFP.

China whenever Japan, engages in military and security-related activities. On March 26, as Japan removed restrictions on transfer of defence technology in order to allow the worldwide export of advanced fighter jets that it is jointly developing with Italy and the UK, China expressed its concern on the development. “China noted relevant reports and expresses grave concern over the decision. Given Japan’s not-too-distant history of militarist aggression, Japan’s military and security moves are closely watched by its Asian neighbours and the international community,” China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said. The Japanese government-led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida approved revised export rules on transfer of defence equipment and technology after the ruling outfit, the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Komeito Party agreed on these rules, according to a report in The Japan Times.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested that digital money could significantly improve financial inclusion and enhance the quality of financial services in the remote and dispersed nations of the Pacific Ocean. 

The old adage says you can't — and shouldn't — try to time the market. Still, savvy investors would wisely argue that there's no greater advantage than knowing what to buy and what to sell at the right time.

warmest winter on record, with the unusual warmth concentrated around the Atlantic Basin, which has produced an enormous surplus of gas and slump in prices since October. Surface temperatures on land were +2.65°C above the 20th century average between December and February, according to data compiled by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Record warmth in the winter of 2023/24 beat previous highs of +2.44°C in 2019/2020 and +2.61°C in 2015/16 — also winters characterised by surplus inventories and slump in gas prices.

global warming and other human threats like underwater noise, pollution and disrupted food sources, according to a new stocktake of their population. Researchers found the greatest genetic differences among the blue whale populations in the eastern Pacific, Antarctic subspecies and the pygmy subspecies of the eastern Indian and western Pacific. Blue whales average about 27 metres in length. Natural selection could be one of the reasons behind these differences, they said. «Each of these groups need to be conserved to maintain biodiversity in the species, and there are indications that natural selection in different environments contributed to driving genetic differences between the high-level groups,» said Catherine Attard, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Australia. He is the first author of the study published in the journal Animal Conservation.

Brown-Forman Corporation, maker of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey, has named Gaurav Sabharwal as its new managing director for India and South Asia. Based out of Gurgaon, Sabharwal will report to Eveline Albarracin, vice-president and managing director of Brown-Forman ANZPI (Australia, New Zealand, Pacific islands), IMENA (India, Middle East, North Africa) and Turkiye, the US spirits and wine maker said. Sabharwal said he “will strive to help consumers in India discover the world of American whiskeys”.

South Carolina officials are preparing to remove over 1.2 million gallons of toxic waste from a World War II aircraft carrier in Charleston Harbor

big celestial event, several parts of the world are set to witness a Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said. The total solar eclipse--where the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocks the face of the Sun, and casts a shadow on Earth— will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the US, and Canada in the second week of April. Though such celestial events are common, but the solar eclipse falling this April is very rare given its recurrence at a particular location.

A U.S. restaurant chain that only serves breakfast, brunch and lunch is keeping its original recipe for success as it evolves in response to changing work patterns

By Makiko Yamazaki, Scott Murdoch and Kane Wu

problems are geopolitical, those in Panama are climatic. The lakes that feed the canal are drying up, thanks to annual droughts that may be worsening as the climate warms. The series of locks connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific via Gatun Lake are close to the point of being too shallow to let the largest container ships through.

KIKUYO, Japan—It was a signature feat for the country that made industrial policy famous. In less than two years, an $8.6 billion semiconductor factory on a plot the size of 40 football fields sprang up amid the cabbage fields here. The Japanese government, eager to boost the country’s standing as a chip-making hub, provided more than $3 billion in subsidies for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and helped round up thousands of workers to construct the buildings.

funding winter intensified, according to a report by Bain & Company in collaboration with the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA). A convergence of domestic and global factors including stubborn inflation, heightened investors' performance expectations, and persistent higher interest rates prolonged the funding winter, the report said, adding that softening global consumption and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties hindered startups from showcasing the necessary performance.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The FAA on Wednesday granted SpaceX a license to test-launch the company's Starship rocket system from Texas, according to the agency's website, paving the way for another early demonstration of a spacecraft crucial to Elon Musk's satellite launch business and NASA's moon program.

The Asia Pacific (APAC) region, with over 50 diverse countries, is currently experiencing phenomenal economic growth. Home to more than half the world’s population (52% in 2023) and economic giants like Japan and India, the region’s GDP (35.4% of the world’s in 2023) has surpassed that of North America and Europe. This trajectory is projected to continue, with APAC projected to grow at 4.2% in 2024 by the International Monetary Fund, significantly faster than the global pace of 2.9%, with the economies of countries like India and Bangladesh expected to expand at double the world’s rate.

MILAN (Reuters) — Automaker Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) Corp became the most shorted large-cap stock by hedge funds in the Asia Pacific region in February, overtaking Takeda Pharmaceutical, a report from data firm Hazeltree showed on Tuesday.

If anyone has a bad word to say about Filippo Gori, the new co-head of banking at JPMorgan, they're not saying it. Instead, all indications are that 49 year-old Gori, who was promoted last week to become co-head of banking alongside Doug Petno when Vis Raghavan left, is very popular indeed.

Bucchigiri?!, which stars the likes of Genki Okawa, Masafumi Kobatake, Makoto Furukawa, Nozomu Sasaki and others, releases its 8th episode, and can be viewed by fans globally on Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime Video.

Under the leadership of Dr Harbansh Lal, President of AIOS, Dr Lalit Verma, Chairman International Committee of AIOS and Professor Nitin Verma, Chair of RANZCO Committee, this partnership is set to reverse the rising rate of preventable blindness in the Pacific region.Dr Samar Basak, Incoming President of AIOS said that The Indo-Pacific currently has the highest incidence of diabetic eye disease in the world, resulting in permanent sight loss in areas where people do not have timely access to diagnostic, preventive and treatment services. Dr Santosh Honavar, Honorary Secretary of AIOS said that without urgent action, the burden of vision loss will place an increasing health, social and economic burden on countries in this region.Dr.

China's unfair economic practice, standing up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and revitalising its partnership with nations like India, US President Joe Biden has said. In his last State of the Union address before the November election, Biden said the US wants competition with China, but not conflict. Biden on Thursday told Americans that the country is in a stronger position to win the competition for the 21st Century against Beijing.