Business Briefing

AVIATION

Tokyo gives more aid to Japan Air

The Japanese government will provide additional funding for Japan Airlines Corp. until a turnaround plan is announced in mid-January aimed at preventing a collapse of Asia’s biggest carrier by sales.

The government won’t disclose details of the plan, Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said. This is the fourth time the government has bailed out the carrier since 2001. The company’s stock plunged 24% to a record low in Tokyo on speculation the company may seek bankruptcy protection.

AUTOMOBILES

GM still listening to offers for Saab

General Motors Co. is pressing ahead with plans to close Saab, though it will continue to hear bids for the Swedish car brand, representatives said.

GM had previously said it was giving interested buyers until today to make offers for Saab. Then the company decided this month that it would wind down the brand. GM declined to comment on reports it had extended the deadline for offers to Jan. 7.

Saab spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs said Dec. 31 is “no longer a magical date” for a determination of Saab’s fate and GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said the company would evaluate new proposals for Saab, even as the shut-down began.

INSURANCE

AIG says exec has quit over pay cap

American International Group Inc. said it has lost a top executive because of the government’s limits on executive pay. AIG said Anastasia Kelly, vice chairwoman and general counsel, has resigned.

Kelly left because of the reduction in her base salary that was mandated by the government’s pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg, AIG said.

Companies such as AIG that hold government bailout funds are subject to restrictions including limits on executive pay.

PHARMACEUTICALS

J&J antibiotic rejected by FDA

The Food and Drug Administration has rejected an experimental antibiotic developed by Johnson & Johnson and Swiss firm Basilea Pharmaceutica, saying clinical trial data were “unreliable or unverifiable.”

The FDA requested two new studies on ceftobiprole, which was developed to treat skin infections including the super bug MRSA, Basilea said.

Spokesman Ernie Knewitz said Johnson & Johnson plans to discuss the matter with the FDA “as soon as we can.”.

CELLPHONES

Guide to breaking security posted

A German security expert has raised the ire of the cellphone industry after he posted online a how-to guide for cracking the encryption that keeps the calls of GSM-standard cellphone users secret.

Karsten Nohl, 28, said he worked with others around the world to create a codebook on how to get past the GSM encryption used to keep conversations on more than 3 billion mobile phones from being intercepted by others.

CRIME

Madoff returns to cell from hospital

Bernard Madoff, who operated the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, was transferred back to his cell after 10 days in the medical unit of the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said.

Madoff, 71, was moved from the prison’s medium-security unit to the medical unit Dec. 18, according to the bureau’s website, and went back to the main prison Monday. No other details were provided.

-- times wire reports