Just-in-time manufacturing has become a favourite punching bag during the pandemic supply chain crunch, with critics arguing manufacturers had become too obsessed with efficiency and left themselves too little slack to weather availability constraints or geopolitical disruptions. The terminology is handy because it’s easy for the casual observer to grasp in theory and conjures up images of parts magically appearing ...

For those looking to buy a second home as an investment, take a pass on Hong Kong. Maintenance costs are rising. Your tenant is probably working from home, cooking, washing and cleaning a lot more than before Covid. Appliances break. And good luck finding a plumber or electrician. Repair men are hard to schedule these days, as many catch the ...

  The rise in sea levels is on track to increase highly destructive flooding fivefold in the US by 2050, but a new study of home prices in coastal Florida suggests buyers are oblivious or indifferent to the risk. Governments need to take action to ensure that everyone has the right information about this critical threat. Freddie Mac researchers led ...

  There are many ways a Chinese company might sidestep US sanctions and provide technology products to Russia. It could hide American imports behind third-party suppliers, implement layers of shell companies to obfuscate source and destination, or create elaborate schemes to hide data from forensic accountants. They’d be foolish for trying, and Beijing itself would likely step in to stop ...

Bloomberg The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been helping Chinese officials download two black-box recorders that were damaged in the mysterious crash of a Boeing Co 737 jetliner on March 21. The work to decipher the final sounds caught by cockpit microphones on the doomed jetliner is being carried out in the NTSB’s lab in Washington, spokesman Peter ...

  Bloomberg Alaska Air Group Inc cancelled more than 100 flights as the carrier’s pilots picketed at five West Coast airports amid negotiations over a new labour contract. The airline scrubbed about 14% of its schedule in New York, according to data from Flightaware.com. Further flight cancellations could occur over the weekend due to the staffing disruptions, the Seattle-based company ...

  Bloomberg Skyports Ltd, the UK-based company that operates infrastructure for flying taxis and other urban aviation devices, is expanding into Japan and Australia as it looks to build terminals for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Skyports is working with partners Kanematsu Corp in Japan and Goodman Group in Australia, with an eye to starting commercial flights as early ...

  Bloomberg The Points Guy LLC filed a motion to dismiss an American Airlines Inc lawsuit that the travel site violated company rules by letting frequent flyers manage their miles on platforms other than the carrier’s site. The travel agency alleges that the suit should either be “dismissed or transferred to a proper venue,” according to a legal document. American ...

Bloomberg Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa barred gatherings and ordered internet service providers to restrict social media access, tightening curbs amid demonstrations calling for his ouster over soaring living costs and a foreign exchange crisis. Several dozen opposition lawmakers had set off on a march toward Independence Square in Colombo, defying a weekend curfew although they were stopped by armed ...

Bloomberg South Korean President-elect Yoon Seok Yeol named a centrist former prime minister to lead his government, as the ex-prosecutor seeks help in navigating the country’s polarised politics. Han Duck-soo, 72, is recognised by all political parties for his experience and expertise, and has held key posts in government, Yoon said in an announcement. Han was prime minister from 2007 ...