Bloomberg Hiroshi Iwama and Mitsunori Watanabe used to joke about merging their banks in central Japan. When the Bank of Japan introduced negative interest rates last year, things got serious. The two golfing buddies run Mie Bank Ltd. and Daisan Bank Ltd., two of Japan’s roughly 100 regional lenders. For years, these banks dotted around the nation have faced headwinds …

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Airways is adding year-round flights between its Abu Dhabi hub and both Cairo and Lagos later this year to cater to growing demand to and from the United Arab Emirates. A fifth daily scheduled service will be introduced on the Cairo route, effective October 1, taking frequency to the Egyptian capital up from 28 …

Bloomberg Austria plans to transition away from its fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon jets amid a long-running spat over pricing after concluding that sourcing a new squadron of supersonic interceptors would be a cheaper and more effective option. The Austrian Air Force recommends moving to a single type of warplane with 15 single-seat and three double-seat versions from 2020, replacing its …