SHANGHAI -- China's top life insurers are expecting a windfall from customers seeking to purchase policies as substitutes for bank deposits as interest rates fall.

TOKYO -- Air China, the country's flagship carrier, has suffered its sixth consecutive annual net loss, blaming intensifying competition against a growing network of high-speed rail lines while geopolitical tensions loom over the aviation industry.

TOKYO -- Stock markets across Asia were broadly trading weaker on Friday as the conflict in the Middle East stretched on with no near-term resolution in sight.

HANOI -- Gasoline prices in Vietnam dropped 19% on Friday after the government removed environmental protection tax, value-added tax and special consumption tax on gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel in a bid to help tame soaring energy prices as the Middle East crisis shows little sign of ending.

KHERSON, Ukraine -- "Here, you don't wear a seatbelt," says a taxi driver in Kherson in Southern Ukraine. "If a drone comes, you have to get out of the car immediately."

TOKYO -- Japan's largest travel agency JTB is dispatching elite "Samurai" sales staff overseas to fight for business and help it meet ambitious goals for growth and international expansion.

COLOMBO -- With global oil prices climbing amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions and growing headaches for policymakers across Asia, Sri Lanka is beset with a sense of deja vu , drawing on lessons from its own economic crisis in 2022, and has reintroduced fuel rationing in an effort to prevent a repeat of the turmoil it experienced that year.

SYDNEY -- Rare-earth stocks in Australia have risen sharply over the past year amid growing demand from sources other than China for the metals, found in everything from mobile phones and cars to modern weapons.

HONG KONG -- Chinese sportswear companies are revving up global expansion by acquiring international brands, making up for plateauing sales of their home labels, as shown in their latest earnings.