NEWS IN BRIEF

Germany’s Allianz... is to donate 1m euro to relief efforts in Asia and said that over the next few days it would reveal further details for its plans for helping victims. Allianz employs 12,000 people in the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile Mondial Assistance, a subsidiary of Allianz, has sent a 13-strong medical team to Phuket in Thailand. Allianz said that one of the main tasks of this team would be to prepare patients for medical transfer. It said that Mondial was currently working on 90 cases, of which 76 were in Thailand.