News Headlines - 30 January 2021

▽IMF says fiscal support needed until recovery takes hold | Reuters

Global debt likely reached 98% of economic output at the end of 2020 as governments poured in nearly $14 trillion in fiscal support to battle the coronavirus pandemic, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, while urging that fiscal support stay in place until recovery is firmly underway... The Fiscal Monitor projected global government gross debt as a share of GDP would reach 99.5% in 2021, compared to 83.5% for 2019. For G20 countries, gross debt is set to reach 109% in 2021, while debt in advanced economies is set to reach 124.9%.

▽UK car production slumps to lowest level since 1984 - BBC News

The number of new cars built in the UK last year fell by a third to just under 921,000, the lowest total since 1984, latest industry figures reveal.
Output was 920,928 vehicles, a 29.3% fall on 2019, rounding off a "dreadful year", Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders chief Mike Hawes said... Production for UK and export markets fell 30.4% and 29.1% respectively last year.

▽New Hong Kong airline spreads its wings, seeking over 100 routes - Nikkei Asia

Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines has applied for 104 routes, taking the upstart carrier another step closer to officially competing with rivals in a city that serves as one of Asia's top international hubs.

▽Kobayashi Kako Notified of Record Biz Suspension of 110-Plus Days over Drug Mix-Up | PHARMA JAPAN

Fukui prefectural authorities on January 25 notified Kobayashi Kako of its plan to order a business suspension of a little over 110 days, the longest in history, over a sleep-inducer contamination found in its antifungal drug itraconazole, informed sources told…

▽Teacher fired for sexually abusing student 25 years ago　 : The Asahi Shimbun

Education officials here decided to fire a male teacher accused of sexually abusing a female student more than 25 years ago when he taught at a junior high school in Hokkaido... a photographer and Tokyo resident, has accused the male teacher of sexual abuse.
She said the abuse started in 1993 when she attended a public junior high school in the capital of Hokkaido.