大腸がん：高発症率、ＤＮＡ配列を解析…７カ国研究チーム
大腸がんの発症率を高める３カ所のＤＮＡ変異（ＳＮＰ）を、１万７５００人分のデータを解析した日欧など７カ国の研究チームが突き止めた。三つとも発症しやすい型だと、大腸がんの発症率は通常の２．６倍になった。大腸がんに関連するＤＮＡ解析では最も大規模な調査で、３０日付の米科学誌「ネイチャー・ジェネティクス」電子版に発表した。
遺伝子の本体であるＤＮＡは、４種類の塩基という化学物質がつながってできている。塩基配列のうち１カ所だけが通常と異なっている場所を１塩基多型（ＳＮＰ＝スニップ）と呼ぶ。塩基数百個に１個程度存在する。
研究チームは各国の大腸がん患者約１万７５００人のＤＮＡデータを解析し、発症に関連する三つのＳＮＰを確認した。このうち、中村祐輔・東京大医科学研究所教授らのグループが、日本人約４４００人分を解析した。
三つのＳＮＰがいずれも発症率を高める型である割合は、欧米系が約２８０人に１人、日本人では約３５００人に１人で日本人の方が低かった。日本人がそれぞれのＳＮＰを持つ割合は４～１２％で、発症率を高めるＳＮＰが一つだけの場合、発症率は通常の１．１～１．２倍になった。
解析に携わった同研究所の松田浩一助教は「ＳＮＰを調べて発症しやすい型を持つことが分かれば、食事に気を配ったり検診を定期的に受けることで、予防や早期発見につながる」と話している。
Monday, March 31, 2008
国立大：１２校の医学部で定員５７人増
国立大：１２校の医学部で定員５７人増
文部科学省は３１日、国立大１２校が０９年度から医学部の入学定員を計５７人増やす計画を申請したと発表した。６月に大学設置・学校法人審議会に諮問され、同月末に認可される見通し。
医師不足解消のため、０７年５月に国がまとめた「緊急医師確保対策」に基づく申請。０９年度から最大９年間（公立大は０８年度から１０年間）に限り、毎年各都府県５人、北海道１５人までの増員を容認している。
今回申請したのは、筑波大▽千葉大▽岐阜大▽島根大▽広島大▽徳島大▽香川大▽愛媛大▽大分大▽長崎大▽佐賀大▽鹿児島大の１２校。増員数は佐賀大（２人）を除き５人。
文部科学省は３１日、国立大１２校が０９年度から医学部の入学定員を計５７人増やす計画を申請したと発表した。６月に大学設置・学校法人審議会に諮問され、同月末に認可される見通し。
医師不足解消のため、０７年５月に国がまとめた「緊急医師確保対策」に基づく申請。０９年度から最大９年間（公立大は０８年度から１０年間）に限り、毎年各都府県５人、北海道１５人までの増員を容認している。
今回申請したのは、筑波大▽千葉大▽岐阜大▽島根大▽広島大▽徳島大▽香川大▽愛媛大▽大分大▽長崎大▽佐賀大▽鹿児島大の１２校。増員数は佐賀大（２人）を除き５人。
ごみ固形燃料化：和歌山の施設、４年で「無用の長物」 休止でも補助金返還義務ズシリ
ごみ固形燃料化：和歌山の施設、４年で「無用の長物」 休止でも補助金返還義務ズシリ
◇３６億円投入
ごみを燃料に変えるリサイクル技術と注目されながら、高額な処理費で全国自治体を悩ませていることが分かったＲＤＦ（ごみ固形燃料）化施設。和歌山県湯浅町には、３６億円の巨費を投じながら、０２年４月の操業開始からわずか４年で休止に追い込まれた施設がある。しかも、撤去すれば国に補助金を返還しなければならず、今も巨大な建物が田園を見下ろす。壊すことさえままならない無用の長物が、行政の無策ぶりを物語る。【奥山智己、三木陽介】
◇処理コスト、焼却の３倍
かつて熊野古道の宿場町として栄えた湯浅町。人口１万４２７０人の小さな町に不似合いな白壁の建物が、田んぼやみかん畑に囲まれ立っている。鉄筋コンクリート３階建て、延べ２８２７平方メートルのＲＤＦ化施設「リユースなぎ」だ。梛（なぎ）はマキ科の常緑高木。熊野地方の神木で町木でもある。ごみを燃料として再利用（リユース）し環境にも優しい、との願いを込めて名付けられた。
しかし０６年５月の操業休止以来静まり返っている。運営母体の同町と隣の広川町（ひろがわちょう）で作る有田衛生施設事務組合によると０２年度の処理費用は１億８６３０万円と１トン当たり約３万円だった。メーカーの保証期間（２年）が切れ修繕費を自己負担した０４年度は３億１９６万円と費用は膨らみ、故障が相次いだ０５年度は３億５３９１万円、１トン当たり約６万円に達した。
焼却処理時代は１トン約２万円。廃止を検討したが難題があった。建設費約３５億９０００万円の４分の１（約８億円）を賄った「廃棄物処理施設整備費国庫補助金」は、耐用年限（約１０～２０年）前に施設を廃止すると、使用年数に応じて一部を返還する規定になっている。実動４年のリユースなぎなら最大約８割（約６億４０００万円）に達する。
そこで環境省と協議し、廃止ではなく「一時休止」とした。ただ休止期間は使用年数に算入されないため、いずれ撤去する際、返金義務が生じることに変わりはない。「急場しのぎの苦肉の策」（事務組合担当者）だ。
現在、施設の電源ランプは消えパイプにほこりが積もる。両町によると、年間計約４０４７トン出るごみは総額約１億９６８万円を支払い町外の民間焼却処理施設に引き取ってもらっているという。
◇３６億円投入
ごみを燃料に変えるリサイクル技術と注目されながら、高額な処理費で全国自治体を悩ませていることが分かったＲＤＦ（ごみ固形燃料）化施設。和歌山県湯浅町には、３６億円の巨費を投じながら、０２年４月の操業開始からわずか４年で休止に追い込まれた施設がある。しかも、撤去すれば国に補助金を返還しなければならず、今も巨大な建物が田園を見下ろす。壊すことさえままならない無用の長物が、行政の無策ぶりを物語る。【奥山智己、三木陽介】
◇処理コスト、焼却の３倍
かつて熊野古道の宿場町として栄えた湯浅町。人口１万４２７０人の小さな町に不似合いな白壁の建物が、田んぼやみかん畑に囲まれ立っている。鉄筋コンクリート３階建て、延べ２８２７平方メートルのＲＤＦ化施設「リユースなぎ」だ。梛（なぎ）はマキ科の常緑高木。熊野地方の神木で町木でもある。ごみを燃料として再利用（リユース）し環境にも優しい、との願いを込めて名付けられた。
しかし０６年５月の操業休止以来静まり返っている。運営母体の同町と隣の広川町（ひろがわちょう）で作る有田衛生施設事務組合によると０２年度の処理費用は１億８６３０万円と１トン当たり約３万円だった。メーカーの保証期間（２年）が切れ修繕費を自己負担した０４年度は３億１９６万円と費用は膨らみ、故障が相次いだ０５年度は３億５３９１万円、１トン当たり約６万円に達した。
焼却処理時代は１トン約２万円。廃止を検討したが難題があった。建設費約３５億９０００万円の４分の１（約８億円）を賄った「廃棄物処理施設整備費国庫補助金」は、耐用年限（約１０～２０年）前に施設を廃止すると、使用年数に応じて一部を返還する規定になっている。実動４年のリユースなぎなら最大約８割（約６億４０００万円）に達する。
そこで環境省と協議し、廃止ではなく「一時休止」とした。ただ休止期間は使用年数に算入されないため、いずれ撤去する際、返金義務が生じることに変わりはない。「急場しのぎの苦肉の策」（事務組合担当者）だ。
現在、施設の電源ランプは消えパイプにほこりが積もる。両町によると、年間計約４０４７トン出るごみは総額約１億９６８万円を支払い町外の民間焼却処理施設に引き取ってもらっているという。
ＪＲ東日本：国内初「スーパーグリーン車」導入
ＪＲ東日本：国内初「スーパーグリーン車」導入
ＪＲ東日本は３１日、１０年度末の東北新幹線新青森延伸に伴い、国内初の豪華客車「スーパーグリーン車」を導入する方針を明らかにした。航空機に対抗するのが狙いで、導入当初は１日最大３往復する東京－新青森間に限って運行し、将来的に拡大する。
現行の「はやて」のグリーン車よりもさらに座席空間をゆったりと確保し、航空機のファーストクラス並みのハイグレード車両となる。また、新型車両は、１３年までに３２０キロ運転に移行し、東京－新青森間を現行より約１時間短縮する３時間５分で結ぶ。
また、ＪＲ東日本は、ホームの安全対策の一環として遅くとも１０年以内に山手線全２９駅に可動式ホーム柵を設置すると発表した。早ければ新年度から２駅でテストを開始する。
ＪＲ東日本は３１日、１０年度末の東北新幹線新青森延伸に伴い、国内初の豪華客車「スーパーグリーン車」を導入する方針を明らかにした。航空機に対抗するのが狙いで、導入当初は１日最大３往復する東京－新青森間に限って運行し、将来的に拡大する。
現行の「はやて」のグリーン車よりもさらに座席空間をゆったりと確保し、航空機のファーストクラス並みのハイグレード車両となる。また、新型車両は、１３年までに３２０キロ運転に移行し、東京－新青森間を現行より約１時間短縮する３時間５分で結ぶ。
また、ＪＲ東日本は、ホームの安全対策の一環として遅くとも１０年以内に山手線全２９駅に可動式ホーム柵を設置すると発表した。早ければ新年度から２駅でテストを開始する。
投資顧問業法違反：「カリスマトレーダー」略式起訴
投資顧問業法違反：「カリスマトレーダー」略式起訴
国の登録を受けずに投資顧問業を営んだとして、東京区検は３１日、株式評論家の石田高聖（こうせい）容疑者（３９）を投資顧問業法違反で略式起訴した。知人女性をけって重傷を負わせたとする傷害罪でも略式起訴し、東京簡裁は同日、罰金１００万円の略式命令を出した。石田被告は「カリスマトレーダー」とも呼ばれ、株に関する著書も多数出版している。
起訴状などによると、石田被告は０６年１月～０７年６月、会員制ホームページ（ＨＰ）上に、選定した株式の銘柄や価値などを示し、多数の有料会員に投資の助言をした。ＨＰの入会金は１０万５０００円、会費は２カ月２１万円、６カ月５２万５０００円だった。投資顧問業を営むには国の登録が必要だが、石田被告は「法律がよく分からなかった」などと話しているという。
国の登録を受けずに投資顧問業を営んだとして、東京区検は３１日、株式評論家の石田高聖（こうせい）容疑者（３９）を投資顧問業法違反で略式起訴した。知人女性をけって重傷を負わせたとする傷害罪でも略式起訴し、東京簡裁は同日、罰金１００万円の略式命令を出した。石田被告は「カリスマトレーダー」とも呼ばれ、株に関する著書も多数出版している。
起訴状などによると、石田被告は０６年１月～０７年６月、会員制ホームページ（ＨＰ）上に、選定した株式の銘柄や価値などを示し、多数の有料会員に投資の助言をした。ＨＰの入会金は１０万５０００円、会費は２カ月２１万円、６カ月５２万５０００円だった。投資顧問業を営むには国の登録が必要だが、石田被告は「法律がよく分からなかった」などと話しているという。
砲丸“金メダリスト”五輪拒否を表明…怒り爆発
砲丸“金メダリスト”五輪拒否を表明…怒り爆発
「中国に開催資格ない、絶対に提供せぬ」
チベット暴動以降、中国の五輪開催に対する抗議活動が続く中、一足早く“ボイコット”を表明していた日本人がいる。４０年以上、陸上砲丸投げの「砲丸」を製造し、アトランタ、シドニー、アテネ各五輪の全メダリストが使用するなど選手から絶大な信頼を得る旋盤工、辻谷政久さん（７５）だ。「（砲丸は）職人魂にかけても、絶対に（北京に）提供しない」と断固拒否を続ける真意とは－。
【反日暴動に怒り】
辻谷さんが経営する自宅兼工場は、埼玉県富士見市の商店街の一画。家族３人で切り盛りする「町工場」から、全世界のアスリートが全幅の信頼を置く砲丸が提供されてきたが、２００４年サッカー・アジア杯での観衆のマナーの悪さと、試合後の反日暴動で「こんな国に五輪を開く資格はない。私の大事な商品は渡せない」と確信した。
「『選手には関係ないじゃないか』なんて意見もありましたが、申し訳ないけど私は職人ですから。１度決めた以上、誰が何と言おうと絶対に作りませんよ。理屈じゃない。チベット騒動をみて、やっぱり渡さないと決めてよかったと心底思っています」
【ソウルの悔しさ】
五輪に砲丸を提供したい思いはある。ソウル五輪で選手からも見向きもされなかった悔しさから、すべてのメーカーがコンピューター制御のＮＣ旋盤で精密に製造する中、汎用旋盤による手作業にこだわり続けた。ポイントは「重心」と「純度」。
「現在の国際規格では、重量は７．２６キログラムに対してプラス５－２５グラムの誤差しか認められません。こうなると、もはや１００分の１ミリ単位の仕事。重量は１回１回ラインから下ろして、はかりにかける必要があるわけです。原料は銑鉄４０％、スクラップ４５％、一般鋼材１５％ですが、それぞれ比重が異なり、熔炉から出て冷めていく間に重たい方（一般鋼材）からわずかに下に沈んでしまうんですね」
重心のわずかな移動は、１００個の砲丸を製造すると、４０個過ぎあたりから５－１０グラムずつ重くなり、回避は不可能。辻谷さんは、自身の手に染み付いた手の感覚や切削音、反射光といった「職人の勘」を頼りに削り出しを行い、金属注入をせずに、重心をピタリと中心に合わせることができる。ＮＣ製の砲丸の五輪規定クリア率が３割程度のところ、７割以上をクリアする驚異的な技術を得た。
寡占を恐れた米国の超有名スポーツメーカーから、週１万ドル（約１００万円）×３年＋契約金数百万ドル（数億円）で、技術指導を要請されたこともあるが、断った。すると辻谷砲丸の特徴で、選手の手にしっくりなじむと好評だった微妙な「筋入れ」が違反との見解がＩＯＣで採択され、表面をツルツルになるまで研磨する必要に迫られた。
「完全に嫌がらせですよね。大手メーカーの圧力はスゴいなと。それでも重心の正確さは、どこの砲丸にも勝っていた。アテネでも有力選手が私の砲丸を選んでくれて、最終的にはメダルを独占することができました。選手が一番よく分かってくれていました」
今でも約７キロの砲丸を１日２０個製造し、都合３００回も上げ下げし、投げれば７メートルは飛ばせる腕っぷし。競技自体は未経験ながらシニア競技会（ねんりんピック）への出場も打診されており、こちらは前向きに検討中。近くの荒川の河川敷で、ひそかにトレーニングを積む日々だ。
「中国に開催資格ない、絶対に提供せぬ」
チベット暴動以降、中国の五輪開催に対する抗議活動が続く中、一足早く“ボイコット”を表明していた日本人がいる。４０年以上、陸上砲丸投げの「砲丸」を製造し、アトランタ、シドニー、アテネ各五輪の全メダリストが使用するなど選手から絶大な信頼を得る旋盤工、辻谷政久さん（７５）だ。「（砲丸は）職人魂にかけても、絶対に（北京に）提供しない」と断固拒否を続ける真意とは－。
【反日暴動に怒り】
辻谷さんが経営する自宅兼工場は、埼玉県富士見市の商店街の一画。家族３人で切り盛りする「町工場」から、全世界のアスリートが全幅の信頼を置く砲丸が提供されてきたが、２００４年サッカー・アジア杯での観衆のマナーの悪さと、試合後の反日暴動で「こんな国に五輪を開く資格はない。私の大事な商品は渡せない」と確信した。
「『選手には関係ないじゃないか』なんて意見もありましたが、申し訳ないけど私は職人ですから。１度決めた以上、誰が何と言おうと絶対に作りませんよ。理屈じゃない。チベット騒動をみて、やっぱり渡さないと決めてよかったと心底思っています」
【ソウルの悔しさ】
五輪に砲丸を提供したい思いはある。ソウル五輪で選手からも見向きもされなかった悔しさから、すべてのメーカーがコンピューター制御のＮＣ旋盤で精密に製造する中、汎用旋盤による手作業にこだわり続けた。ポイントは「重心」と「純度」。
「現在の国際規格では、重量は７．２６キログラムに対してプラス５－２５グラムの誤差しか認められません。こうなると、もはや１００分の１ミリ単位の仕事。重量は１回１回ラインから下ろして、はかりにかける必要があるわけです。原料は銑鉄４０％、スクラップ４５％、一般鋼材１５％ですが、それぞれ比重が異なり、熔炉から出て冷めていく間に重たい方（一般鋼材）からわずかに下に沈んでしまうんですね」
重心のわずかな移動は、１００個の砲丸を製造すると、４０個過ぎあたりから５－１０グラムずつ重くなり、回避は不可能。辻谷さんは、自身の手に染み付いた手の感覚や切削音、反射光といった「職人の勘」を頼りに削り出しを行い、金属注入をせずに、重心をピタリと中心に合わせることができる。ＮＣ製の砲丸の五輪規定クリア率が３割程度のところ、７割以上をクリアする驚異的な技術を得た。
寡占を恐れた米国の超有名スポーツメーカーから、週１万ドル（約１００万円）×３年＋契約金数百万ドル（数億円）で、技術指導を要請されたこともあるが、断った。すると辻谷砲丸の特徴で、選手の手にしっくりなじむと好評だった微妙な「筋入れ」が違反との見解がＩＯＣで採択され、表面をツルツルになるまで研磨する必要に迫られた。
「完全に嫌がらせですよね。大手メーカーの圧力はスゴいなと。それでも重心の正確さは、どこの砲丸にも勝っていた。アテネでも有力選手が私の砲丸を選んでくれて、最終的にはメダルを独占することができました。選手が一番よく分かってくれていました」
今でも約７キロの砲丸を１日２０個製造し、都合３００回も上げ下げし、投げれば７メートルは飛ばせる腕っぷし。競技自体は未経験ながらシニア競技会（ねんりんピック）への出場も打診されており、こちらは前向きに検討中。近くの荒川の河川敷で、ひそかにトレーニングを積む日々だ。
米リーマン、丸紅に350億円損賠提訴・偽造保証書
米リーマン、丸紅に350億円損賠提訴・偽造保証書
偽造された大手商社丸紅の保証書で集められた巨額の投資金が回収不能になった問題で、米大手証券リーマン・ブラザーズは31日、約320億円が回収不能になったとして丸紅に対し、遅延利息なども含め約352億円の賠償を求め、東京地裁に提訴した。丸紅側は同社本体の関与はないとしているが、リーマンは、丸紅の元契約社員らが不正に深く関与したとして、丸紅の管理責任を問えると判断したもようだ。
またリーマンは同日までに、警視庁捜査二課に詐欺容疑で告訴状を提出した。同課は保証書偽造の経緯や、投資された資金の流れを調べる。問題は民事、刑事両面から責任が追及される可能性が出てきた。
丸紅はすでに保証書の偽造にかかわったとして契約社員2人を解雇、有印私文書偽造容疑で被害届を警視庁に提出。これまで「詳細な事実関係は調査中だが、当社はあくまで被害者」と説明している。リーマン側の提訴については「現時点ではコメントできない」としている。
偽造された大手商社丸紅の保証書で集められた巨額の投資金が回収不能になった問題で、米大手証券リーマン・ブラザーズは31日、約320億円が回収不能になったとして丸紅に対し、遅延利息なども含め約352億円の賠償を求め、東京地裁に提訴した。丸紅側は同社本体の関与はないとしているが、リーマンは、丸紅の元契約社員らが不正に深く関与したとして、丸紅の管理責任を問えると判断したもようだ。
またリーマンは同日までに、警視庁捜査二課に詐欺容疑で告訴状を提出した。同課は保証書偽造の経緯や、投資された資金の流れを調べる。問題は民事、刑事両面から責任が追及される可能性が出てきた。
丸紅はすでに保証書の偽造にかかわったとして契約社員2人を解雇、有印私文書偽造容疑で被害届を警視庁に提出。これまで「詳細な事実関係は調査中だが、当社はあくまで被害者」と説明している。リーマン側の提訴については「現時点ではコメントできない」としている。
元検事の田中森一元弁護士を収監・東京高検
元検事の田中森一元弁護士を収監・東京高検
東京高検は31日、石油卸商社「石橋産業」（東京）から約179億円の約束手形をだまし取ったとして詐欺罪などに問われ、最高裁で懲役3年の実刑判決が確定した元検事の田中森一元弁護士（64）を収監した。
田中元弁護士は無罪を主張したが、1、2審で実刑判決を受け、最高裁も今年2月、「弁護士の立場を利用して石橋産業を誤信させた」などとして上告棄却を決定。異議申し立ても退けた。
判決によると、田中元弁護士は1996年、元会社役員、許永中受刑者（61）の関連会社が京都市のノンバンクに担保として差し入れた建設会社株を買い取ることを計画。石橋産業に株購入資金名目で関連会社の約束手形（計約179億円）を振り出させ、だまし取った。
東京高検は31日、石油卸商社「石橋産業」（東京）から約179億円の約束手形をだまし取ったとして詐欺罪などに問われ、最高裁で懲役3年の実刑判決が確定した元検事の田中森一元弁護士（64）を収監した。
田中元弁護士は無罪を主張したが、1、2審で実刑判決を受け、最高裁も今年2月、「弁護士の立場を利用して石橋産業を誤信させた」などとして上告棄却を決定。異議申し立ても退けた。
判決によると、田中元弁護士は1996年、元会社役員、許永中受刑者（61）の関連会社が京都市のノンバンクに担保として差し入れた建設会社株を買い取ることを計画。石橋産業に株購入資金名目で関連会社の約束手形（計約179億円）を振り出させ、だまし取った。
在日大使館職員に現金、インドネシアビザ申請２社
在日大使館職員に現金、インドネシアビザ申請２社
在日本インドネシア大使館でビザ（査証）発給を担当していた日本人男性職員が、ビザを代理申請する国内の業者2社から多額の現金を受け取っていたことが 31日、わかった。この職員の銀行口座には、少なくとも現金千数百万円が振り込まれているという。現金受領の見返りにビザ発給の際に便宜を図ったかどうか、警視庁が情報収集しているもようだ。
現金を提供したのは旅行業者「ナショナルビジネスサポート（ＮＢＳ）」（東京・中央）とインドネシアの大手石油会社の関連会社「ファーイースト興産」（港）。
在日本インドネシア大使館でビザ（査証）発給を担当していた日本人男性職員が、ビザを代理申請する国内の業者2社から多額の現金を受け取っていたことが 31日、わかった。この職員の銀行口座には、少なくとも現金千数百万円が振り込まれているという。現金受領の見返りにビザ発給の際に便宜を図ったかどうか、警視庁が情報収集しているもようだ。
現金を提供したのは旅行業者「ナショナルビジネスサポート（ＮＢＳ）」（東京・中央）とインドネシアの大手石油会社の関連会社「ファーイースト興産」（港）。
原発耐震評価、揺れ想定引き上げ・電力５社など報告
原発耐震評価、揺れ想定引き上げ・電力５社など報告
東京電力など電力5社と日本原子力研究開発機構は31日、国の新耐震指針に基づき原子力発電所の耐震性を再評価し経済産業省原子力安全・保安院に報告した。東電の福島第一、第二原発で従来想定の1.6倍にあたる最大加速度600ガルの揺れがありうると明記するなど、各原発で揺れの想定値を大幅に引き上げた。
ほかに報告したのは関西電力、北海道電力、九州電力、日本原子力発電。対象は福島第一、第二（福島県）、東海第二（茨城県）、美浜、大飯、高浜、敦賀、もんじゅ（福井県）、泊（北海道）、玄海（佐賀県）、川内（鹿児島県）の各原発。
最新の地震研究に基づき原発周辺の断層を調査し直し、全原発で新たな活断層が見つかった。2004年に蒸気漏れで死亡事故を起こした美浜原発、1995 年にナトリウム漏れ事故を起こした高速増殖炉もんじゅでは原発直下に活断層がのびていることもわかった。設計には余裕があり、補強工事も進めているため「重要設備の安全性は問題ない」としている。
東京電力など電力5社と日本原子力研究開発機構は31日、国の新耐震指針に基づき原子力発電所の耐震性を再評価し経済産業省原子力安全・保安院に報告した。東電の福島第一、第二原発で従来想定の1.6倍にあたる最大加速度600ガルの揺れがありうると明記するなど、各原発で揺れの想定値を大幅に引き上げた。
ほかに報告したのは関西電力、北海道電力、九州電力、日本原子力発電。対象は福島第一、第二（福島県）、東海第二（茨城県）、美浜、大飯、高浜、敦賀、もんじゅ（福井県）、泊（北海道）、玄海（佐賀県）、川内（鹿児島県）の各原発。
最新の地震研究に基づき原発周辺の断層を調査し直し、全原発で新たな活断層が見つかった。2004年に蒸気漏れで死亡事故を起こした美浜原発、1995 年にナトリウム漏れ事故を起こした高速増殖炉もんじゅでは原発直下に活断層がのびていることもわかった。設計には余裕があり、補強工事も進めているため「重要設備の安全性は問題ない」としている。
汚染黄砂、東京で観測・東大と名古屋大「工業地帯で付着の恐れ」
汚染黄砂、東京で観測・東大と名古屋大「工業地帯で付着の恐れ」
東京大と名古屋大のチームは31日、大気汚染物質の付いた黄砂を都内で観測することに成功したと発表した。中国大陸から飛んでくる黄砂は汚染物質の運び手とされるが、実際に1粒ずつが汚染されていることを詳細な化学分析で突き止めた。健康や気象への影響を探る手掛かりとなる。
東大の戸野倉賢一准教授は「中国北西部で舞い上がった黄砂粒子が、中国の工業地帯で汚染され飛んできた可能性が大きい」と説明。汚染黄砂を吸い込むと、健康へ影響が出る恐れもあるとしている。
黄砂の粒子が含む化学物質の種類を1粒ごとに連続測定できる装置を試作し、3月16日夜―19日朝に東大構内（東京・文京）で約5万個の粒子を観測。ほとんどから自動車や工場が排出する窒素酸化物（ＮＯx）や硫黄酸化物が原因とみられる物質が見つかった。
東京大と名古屋大のチームは31日、大気汚染物質の付いた黄砂を都内で観測することに成功したと発表した。中国大陸から飛んでくる黄砂は汚染物質の運び手とされるが、実際に1粒ずつが汚染されていることを詳細な化学分析で突き止めた。健康や気象への影響を探る手掛かりとなる。
東大の戸野倉賢一准教授は「中国北西部で舞い上がった黄砂粒子が、中国の工業地帯で汚染され飛んできた可能性が大きい」と説明。汚染黄砂を吸い込むと、健康へ影響が出る恐れもあるとしている。
黄砂の粒子が含む化学物質の種類を1粒ごとに連続測定できる装置を試作し、3月16日夜―19日朝に東大構内（東京・文京）で約5万個の粒子を観測。ほとんどから自動車や工場が排出する窒素酸化物（ＮＯx）や硫黄酸化物が原因とみられる物質が見つかった。
千葉ギョーザ中毒、メタミドホス６万4000倍・未調理分で検出
千葉ギョーザ中毒、メタミドホス６万4000倍・未調理分で検出
中国製ギョーザ中毒事件で千葉県警は31日、被害に遭った千葉市の主婦（37）宅に残っていた未調理のギョーザの皮と具から検出された有機リン系殺虫剤「メタミドホス」の濃度が最大で約2万PPMの高濃度だったと発表した。ニラの残留農薬基準の約6万4000倍に当たるという。
メタミドホスの残留農薬基準はギョーザなどの加工品では設定されていないが、ニラで0.3PPM、キャベツで1.0PPM。
調べによると、未調理のギョーザ3個のうち1個から、具1グラム中約19.29ミリグラム（19290PPM）、皮1グラム中約17.68ミリグラム（17680PPM）のメタミドホスを検出。1個当たりの含有量は約264ミリグラムと推定した。
推定含有量から県警は、最も高い濃度のメタミドホスが検出されたギョーザを6個食べた場合、成人（体重60キロ）の致死量を上回るとの見解を示した。
中国製ギョーザ中毒事件で千葉県警は31日、被害に遭った千葉市の主婦（37）宅に残っていた未調理のギョーザの皮と具から検出された有機リン系殺虫剤「メタミドホス」の濃度が最大で約2万PPMの高濃度だったと発表した。ニラの残留農薬基準の約6万4000倍に当たるという。
メタミドホスの残留農薬基準はギョーザなどの加工品では設定されていないが、ニラで0.3PPM、キャベツで1.0PPM。
調べによると、未調理のギョーザ3個のうち1個から、具1グラム中約19.29ミリグラム（19290PPM）、皮1グラム中約17.68ミリグラム（17680PPM）のメタミドホスを検出。1個当たりの含有量は約264ミリグラムと推定した。
推定含有量から県警は、最も高い濃度のメタミドホスが検出されたギョーザを6個食べた場合、成人（体重60キロ）の致死量を上回るとの見解を示した。
引っ越し料金上昇、昨春より3―10％・資材高などで
引っ越し料金上昇、昨春より3―10％・資材高などで
引っ越し料金が上昇している。トラック燃料の軽油や、段ボール、シートなど梱包資材価格の上昇が一部反映されたためだ。東京―大阪間で4人家族の一般的な荷物を4トン車1台で運ぶ基本サービスの料金は25万―40万円。中心値で比較すると2月に比べ2割上昇し、昨年春より3―10％程度高い。
本格的な値上がりは1990―91年以来。転勤や就職、進学などによる春の新生活シーズンを迎え、消費者や一般企業の負担が増している。
引っ越し料金が上昇している。トラック燃料の軽油や、段ボール、シートなど梱包資材価格の上昇が一部反映されたためだ。東京―大阪間で4人家族の一般的な荷物を4トン車1台で運ぶ基本サービスの料金は25万―40万円。中心値で比較すると2月に比べ2割上昇し、昨年春より3―10％程度高い。
本格的な値上がりは1990―91年以来。転勤や就職、進学などによる春の新生活シーズンを迎え、消費者や一般企業の負担が増している。
ペンタックスの社名消える・ＨＯＹＡが吸収合併
ペンタックスの社名消える・ＨＯＹＡが吸収合併
ＨＯＹＡは31日付でペンタックスを吸収合併した。国産初の35ミリ一眼レフカメラを発売するなどカメラメーカーとして数多くの名機を生んだペンタックスは会社組織として89年の歴史に幕を下ろす。社名は消えるが、一事業部門「ペンタックス」としてブランドは残る。今後はＨＯＹＡ傘下でデジタルカメラや内視鏡分野でさらなる成長を目指す。
ＨＯＹＡは当初、ペンタックスを完全子会社化する計画だったが、合併により事業部間の連携を強化するほか、経営の意思決定を速くする。
ペンタックスの事業は「カメラ・双眼鏡」「ライフケア製品」など大きく四つの製品分野に分かれる。ペンタックス最後の社長となった谷島信彰氏はＨＯＹＡの「ペンタックス・ライフケア事業部長」に就く。
------------------
三菱商事、千代田化工を傘下に・資源事業を強化
三菱商事は31日、プラント建設大手の千代田化工建設との資本・業務提携を強化すると発表した。千代田化工が実施する第三者割当増資を三菱商事が約 600億円で引き受け、出資比率を10.27％から33.4％に引き上げる。資源高を背景に世界的にプラント需要が高まっており、三菱商事は液化天然ガス（ＬＮＧ）プラントに強い千代田化工を傘下に収めることで資源関連事業の競争力を高める。
千代田化工が4月30日付で第三者割当増資を実施。三菱商事は千代田化工にすでに役員を2人送り込んでいるが、2人の取締役を追加派遣、うち1人は代表権を持つ予定。海外営業網と千代田化工のプラント設計技術力を組み合わせ、資材調達や建設まで一貫体制で大規模プロジェクトの受注獲得を目指す。
-------------------
大日本印刷、市谷工場を再開発・高層化で事務所集約
大日本印刷は31日、本社のある市谷工場（東京・新宿）を2009年から2017年にかけて再開発すると発表した。地上25階建て程度の高層棟を建てるなどして、東京都内に分散していた企画開発や営業部門を集約、異なる事業部門同士の連携強化につなげる。完成後は、現在より4割強多い約8000人が同地域で働くようになるとしている。
09年に着工し、17年の完成を目指す。投資額は明かにしていない。事務棟や工場などを含めた総延べ床面積は23万8000平方メートルを予定している。工場は最新設備を導入し、環境への負荷を少なくする。体育館やプールなど体育施設と、文化施設を併設し、一般に開放するほか緑地も整備する予定だ。
--------------------
新日鉄、ブラジルの高炉建設を正式発表・鉄鉱石調達を重視
新日本製鉄は31日、持ち分法適用会社であるブラジルの鉄鋼大手ウジミナスが同国に新製鉄所を建設すると発表した。ウジミナスが26日（現地時間）に開いた経営審議会（取締役会に相当）で建設方針を決めた。新日鉄が持つ高級鋼生産技術を導入する一方、ウジミナスが買収した現地資源会社から鉄鉱石を直接調達することで原料コストを抑制する。
新製鉄所はウジミナスがブラジル中部クバトン市に持つ既存製鉄所の隣接地に建設する方向。港湾などインフラ設備を一部共有して建設コストを抑える狙い。当初は粗鋼ベースで年産300万トンを計画、投資額は3000億円前後。将来は高炉1基を追加し生産能力を倍増することも検討する。新日鉄が出資し合弁形式にする案が有力。5月をメドに詳細を詰める。
ウジミナスは2月に資源会社Ｊ・メンデスを買収した。Ｊ社はブラジル南東部に持つ鉱山を年産600万トンから同2900万トンに拡張することを検討。新製鉄所には鉄道で鉄鉱石を直送できる。世界的に資源争奪戦が加熱する中、原料の調達ルートまで確保しコスト競争力を高める。
ＨＯＹＡは31日付でペンタックスを吸収合併した。国産初の35ミリ一眼レフカメラを発売するなどカメラメーカーとして数多くの名機を生んだペンタックスは会社組織として89年の歴史に幕を下ろす。社名は消えるが、一事業部門「ペンタックス」としてブランドは残る。今後はＨＯＹＡ傘下でデジタルカメラや内視鏡分野でさらなる成長を目指す。
ＨＯＹＡは当初、ペンタックスを完全子会社化する計画だったが、合併により事業部間の連携を強化するほか、経営の意思決定を速くする。
ペンタックスの事業は「カメラ・双眼鏡」「ライフケア製品」など大きく四つの製品分野に分かれる。ペンタックス最後の社長となった谷島信彰氏はＨＯＹＡの「ペンタックス・ライフケア事業部長」に就く。
------------------
三菱商事、千代田化工を傘下に・資源事業を強化
三菱商事は31日、プラント建設大手の千代田化工建設との資本・業務提携を強化すると発表した。千代田化工が実施する第三者割当増資を三菱商事が約 600億円で引き受け、出資比率を10.27％から33.4％に引き上げる。資源高を背景に世界的にプラント需要が高まっており、三菱商事は液化天然ガス（ＬＮＧ）プラントに強い千代田化工を傘下に収めることで資源関連事業の競争力を高める。
千代田化工が4月30日付で第三者割当増資を実施。三菱商事は千代田化工にすでに役員を2人送り込んでいるが、2人の取締役を追加派遣、うち1人は代表権を持つ予定。海外営業網と千代田化工のプラント設計技術力を組み合わせ、資材調達や建設まで一貫体制で大規模プロジェクトの受注獲得を目指す。
-------------------
大日本印刷、市谷工場を再開発・高層化で事務所集約
大日本印刷は31日、本社のある市谷工場（東京・新宿）を2009年から2017年にかけて再開発すると発表した。地上25階建て程度の高層棟を建てるなどして、東京都内に分散していた企画開発や営業部門を集約、異なる事業部門同士の連携強化につなげる。完成後は、現在より4割強多い約8000人が同地域で働くようになるとしている。
09年に着工し、17年の完成を目指す。投資額は明かにしていない。事務棟や工場などを含めた総延べ床面積は23万8000平方メートルを予定している。工場は最新設備を導入し、環境への負荷を少なくする。体育館やプールなど体育施設と、文化施設を併設し、一般に開放するほか緑地も整備する予定だ。
--------------------
新日鉄、ブラジルの高炉建設を正式発表・鉄鉱石調達を重視
新日本製鉄は31日、持ち分法適用会社であるブラジルの鉄鋼大手ウジミナスが同国に新製鉄所を建設すると発表した。ウジミナスが26日（現地時間）に開いた経営審議会（取締役会に相当）で建設方針を決めた。新日鉄が持つ高級鋼生産技術を導入する一方、ウジミナスが買収した現地資源会社から鉄鉱石を直接調達することで原料コストを抑制する。
新製鉄所はウジミナスがブラジル中部クバトン市に持つ既存製鉄所の隣接地に建設する方向。港湾などインフラ設備を一部共有して建設コストを抑える狙い。当初は粗鋼ベースで年産300万トンを計画、投資額は3000億円前後。将来は高炉1基を追加し生産能力を倍増することも検討する。新日鉄が出資し合弁形式にする案が有力。5月をメドに詳細を詰める。
ウジミナスは2月に資源会社Ｊ・メンデスを買収した。Ｊ社はブラジル南東部に持つ鉱山を年産600万トンから同2900万トンに拡張することを検討。新製鉄所には鉄道で鉄鉱石を直送できる。世界的に資源争奪戦が加熱する中、原料の調達ルートまで確保しコスト競争力を高める。
10,000 finance job cuts forecast
10,000 finance job cuts forecast
City of London
At least 10,000 jobs could be lost in the UK's financial services industry during the next three months, according to a forecast by the CBI.
The employers' organisation's quarterly survey of the sector found that most companies thought the credit squeeze would get worse in the next six months.
CBI chief economist Ian McCafferty said: "This is a very serious crisis."
The report predicts that the UK will avoid outright recession, but says that finance jobs are already being cut.
Key characteristics
"Some have suggested it's the worst financial crisis since the Second World War"
Ian McCafferty. chief economist, CBI
City fears jobs losses
Conditions in the financial sector - which includes banks, building societies and insurance companies - have not improved since the credit crunch began six months ago, Mr McCafferty said.
"Some have suggested it's the worst financial crisis since the Second World War," he added.
"I think one of the key characteristics is that it will go on for quite some time to come."
The financial crisis, which began after banks made huge losses on investments backed by US mortgages, has caused chaos on US and global markets.
City of London
At least 10,000 jobs could be lost in the UK's financial services industry during the next three months, according to a forecast by the CBI.
The employers' organisation's quarterly survey of the sector found that most companies thought the credit squeeze would get worse in the next six months.
CBI chief economist Ian McCafferty said: "This is a very serious crisis."
The report predicts that the UK will avoid outright recession, but says that finance jobs are already being cut.
Key characteristics
"Some have suggested it's the worst financial crisis since the Second World War"
Ian McCafferty. chief economist, CBI
City fears jobs losses
Conditions in the financial sector - which includes banks, building societies and insurance companies - have not improved since the credit crunch began six months ago, Mr McCafferty said.
"Some have suggested it's the worst financial crisis since the Second World War," he added.
"I think one of the key characteristics is that it will go on for quite some time to come."
The financial crisis, which began after banks made huge losses on investments backed by US mortgages, has caused chaos on US and global markets.
German bank eyes struggling rival: IKB
German bank eyes struggling rival
People against an IKB sign
German bank Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) has said it is contemplating buying part of its struggling rival, IKB Deutsche Industriebank.
IKB has been badly hit by the sub-prime crisis - needing three bailouts.
Its backers - including the government and the state-owned KFW bank have said that it should be sold.
BayernLB said it only was keen on the "good" part of IKB's loan book, and not those which have been hit by the sub-prime turmoil.
It has itself written off about 1.9bn euros ($3bn; £1.5bn) as a result of the global crisis that first stuck last summer.
And there is speculation that it will have to increase the size of its writedowns when it issues its results later this week.
Worthless assets
A spokesman said that BayernLB would be looking at IKB's books to determine whether to make an offer.
"We certainly consider ourselves to be in a position to participate in the bidding process [for IKB] otherwise we wouldn't be doing it," he said.
IKB has been given more than 8bn euros in bailouts after it lost billions on investments in assets backed by risky US home loans.
Like many other banks, IKB bought financial products backed by mortgages given to US homeowners with poor credit histories.
Many of those homeowners are now struggling to pay the interest on those loans.
That has left banks holding assets that are either worthless, or very difficult to value.
People against an IKB sign
German bank Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) has said it is contemplating buying part of its struggling rival, IKB Deutsche Industriebank.
IKB has been badly hit by the sub-prime crisis - needing three bailouts.
Its backers - including the government and the state-owned KFW bank have said that it should be sold.
BayernLB said it only was keen on the "good" part of IKB's loan book, and not those which have been hit by the sub-prime turmoil.
It has itself written off about 1.9bn euros ($3bn; £1.5bn) as a result of the global crisis that first stuck last summer.
And there is speculation that it will have to increase the size of its writedowns when it issues its results later this week.
Worthless assets
A spokesman said that BayernLB would be looking at IKB's books to determine whether to make an offer.
"We certainly consider ourselves to be in a position to participate in the bidding process [for IKB] otherwise we wouldn't be doing it," he said.
IKB has been given more than 8bn euros in bailouts after it lost billions on investments in assets backed by risky US home loans.
Like many other banks, IKB bought financial products backed by mortgages given to US homeowners with poor credit histories.
Many of those homeowners are now struggling to pay the interest on those loans.
That has left banks holding assets that are either worthless, or very difficult to value.
U.S. car companies go back to black
U.S. car companies go back to black
By David Bailey Reuters - Sunday, March 30 04:21 am
DETROIT (Reuters) - Henry Ford, who created the automotive industry's first mass-market hit with the Model T a century ago, was a proponent of radical simplicity.
In fact, Ford became famous for saying his customers could have the $825 (414 pound) Model T in any colour -- so long as it was black.
In the century since the first Model T in 1908, Ford's vision of top-down efficiency has been swamped by thousands of feature and colour combinations on new cars, trucks and SUVs.
The result, executives say, has been higher production and inventory costs and headaches for customers and dealers in sorting through a complex matrix of choices.
Now, Ford Motor Co and other embattled U.S. automakers are going back to black, embracing the spirit of Ford's notion in response to mounting losses and the risk of a deeper downturn in the United States, the world's largest market for new cars, in 2008.
Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said he was amazed by the number of variations Ford offered when he arrived at the No. 2 U.S. automaker from Boeing Co in 2006.
"I was looking at the (Lincoln) Navigator console," Mulally said. "We have 128 different options you could choose on the console. That's just the console."
With so many variations, a customer inevitably will want a vehicle that is not in stock, leading to a frustrated customer and pressure on the dealer to offer a discount, Mulally said.
"They're unhappy and we're losing money," he said of Ford, which posted losses of $2.7 billion in 2007 and $12.6 billion in 2006.
Ford's chief of marketing, Jim Farley, who was hired away from Toyota Motor Co last year, said he was stunned to find that Ford was offering 100,000 combinations of options on its entry-level Focus sedan. Some 80 percent of Ford's sales came from just 4,000 of those combinations, he said.
In response, Ford has cut complexity by reducing the number of "buildable combinations" of the 2008 Focus by 99 percent. On the 2008 Expedition, it has cut combinations by 95 percent.
"Coming from Toyota, I can tell you that the opportunity is there to reduce the complexity of our line-up," Farley told analysts recently.
It's a similar story at Chrysler LLC, where sales chief Jim Press -- another high-level defection from Toyota -- has also pushed the struggling automaker to simplify.
"Previously, we offered too many options," Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli told reporters. "That resulted in too much complexity in the plants that build them, too much confusion for the dealers who order them and no added value to the customers who buy them."
Nardelli said Chrysler had cut ordering complexity by 93 percent over the past two years by dropping some options and repackaging others.
Chrysler, which lost $1.6 billion last year, plans to go further, cutting models and trimming dealers. That represents a stepped-up restructuring under Cerberus Capital Management LP, which bought an 80 percent stake in the automaker in 2007.
LESS IS MORE
General Motors Corp is also paring variations to cut costs and expects to have the vast majority of vehicles on shared global platforms within two years, said Jon Lauckner, GM's vice president of global program management.
"It has tremendous advantages," he said. "Obviously we're going to leverage one of our strengths, which is our scale."
GM, the largest U.S. carmaker, increasingly markets vehicles made on common platforms under different names in markets around the world with only minor changes, a process that saves money that can be rolled into product development.
The first GM vehicle with the global architecture -- the Opel Vectra -- will debut at the London auto show and will be on the road in the fall. The next GM vehicles to be built with the global structure will be small cars from the automaker's Korean affiliate Daewoo, Lauckner said.
Japanese automakers are widely seen as leading the way in cutting costs by sharing unseen parts across vehicle lines and reducing complexity.
But Al Castignetti, Nissan Motor Co's division manager for North America, said Nissan also sees more room to simplify in the U.S. markets.
Nissan dealers, he said, have said they feel weighed down by having to deal with 250,000 ordering combinations in some cases.
"We've gotten rid of a decent amount of complexity, but we still have a way to go," Castignetti said in an interview.
Nissan's Altima and Maxima models were two of the biggest offenders and have gone through major reductions of options such as trim and colour and even the platforms, he said.
About 70 percent of Nissan sales in a given car model are sold in the same way because buyers tend to choose the most common options, Castignetti said.
John Tulloch, vice president of client services for marketing agency George P. Johnson, said automakers could sell the "less is more" concept to car buyers if the savings are used to improve remaining models and reduce sticker prices.
"Customers could get a better price beyond incentives or could get better packages, such as a satellite radio or higher end safety features," Tulloch said.
By David Bailey Reuters - Sunday, March 30 04:21 am
DETROIT (Reuters) - Henry Ford, who created the automotive industry's first mass-market hit with the Model T a century ago, was a proponent of radical simplicity.
In fact, Ford became famous for saying his customers could have the $825 (414 pound) Model T in any colour -- so long as it was black.
In the century since the first Model T in 1908, Ford's vision of top-down efficiency has been swamped by thousands of feature and colour combinations on new cars, trucks and SUVs.
The result, executives say, has been higher production and inventory costs and headaches for customers and dealers in sorting through a complex matrix of choices.
Now, Ford Motor Co and other embattled U.S. automakers are going back to black, embracing the spirit of Ford's notion in response to mounting losses and the risk of a deeper downturn in the United States, the world's largest market for new cars, in 2008.
Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said he was amazed by the number of variations Ford offered when he arrived at the No. 2 U.S. automaker from Boeing Co in 2006.
"I was looking at the (Lincoln) Navigator console," Mulally said. "We have 128 different options you could choose on the console. That's just the console."
With so many variations, a customer inevitably will want a vehicle that is not in stock, leading to a frustrated customer and pressure on the dealer to offer a discount, Mulally said.
"They're unhappy and we're losing money," he said of Ford, which posted losses of $2.7 billion in 2007 and $12.6 billion in 2006.
Ford's chief of marketing, Jim Farley, who was hired away from Toyota Motor Co last year, said he was stunned to find that Ford was offering 100,000 combinations of options on its entry-level Focus sedan. Some 80 percent of Ford's sales came from just 4,000 of those combinations, he said.
In response, Ford has cut complexity by reducing the number of "buildable combinations" of the 2008 Focus by 99 percent. On the 2008 Expedition, it has cut combinations by 95 percent.
"Coming from Toyota, I can tell you that the opportunity is there to reduce the complexity of our line-up," Farley told analysts recently.
It's a similar story at Chrysler LLC, where sales chief Jim Press -- another high-level defection from Toyota -- has also pushed the struggling automaker to simplify.
"Previously, we offered too many options," Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli told reporters. "That resulted in too much complexity in the plants that build them, too much confusion for the dealers who order them and no added value to the customers who buy them."
Nardelli said Chrysler had cut ordering complexity by 93 percent over the past two years by dropping some options and repackaging others.
Chrysler, which lost $1.6 billion last year, plans to go further, cutting models and trimming dealers. That represents a stepped-up restructuring under Cerberus Capital Management LP, which bought an 80 percent stake in the automaker in 2007.
LESS IS MORE
General Motors Corp is also paring variations to cut costs and expects to have the vast majority of vehicles on shared global platforms within two years, said Jon Lauckner, GM's vice president of global program management.
"It has tremendous advantages," he said. "Obviously we're going to leverage one of our strengths, which is our scale."
GM, the largest U.S. carmaker, increasingly markets vehicles made on common platforms under different names in markets around the world with only minor changes, a process that saves money that can be rolled into product development.
The first GM vehicle with the global architecture -- the Opel Vectra -- will debut at the London auto show and will be on the road in the fall. The next GM vehicles to be built with the global structure will be small cars from the automaker's Korean affiliate Daewoo, Lauckner said.
Japanese automakers are widely seen as leading the way in cutting costs by sharing unseen parts across vehicle lines and reducing complexity.
But Al Castignetti, Nissan Motor Co's division manager for North America, said Nissan also sees more room to simplify in the U.S. markets.
Nissan dealers, he said, have said they feel weighed down by having to deal with 250,000 ordering combinations in some cases.
"We've gotten rid of a decent amount of complexity, but we still have a way to go," Castignetti said in an interview.
Nissan's Altima and Maxima models were two of the biggest offenders and have gone through major reductions of options such as trim and colour and even the platforms, he said.
About 70 percent of Nissan sales in a given car model are sold in the same way because buyers tend to choose the most common options, Castignetti said.
John Tulloch, vice president of client services for marketing agency George P. Johnson, said automakers could sell the "less is more" concept to car buyers if the savings are used to improve remaining models and reduce sticker prices.
"Customers could get a better price beyond incentives or could get better packages, such as a satellite radio or higher end safety features," Tulloch said.
HSBC launches private banking in China
HSBC launches private banking in China
Reuters - Monday, March 31 06:22 am
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings , Europe's largest lender, launched private banking services in China on Monday as foreign banks including Citigroup target the country's fast-growing market for services to wealthy clients.
Chinese regulators had given HSBC approval to offer private banking services in Shanghai, Beijing and the southern city of Guangzhou, the bank said.
It will target individuals with a minimum net worth of $10 million (5 million pounds), it said, while the minimum initial deposit for an account will be $1 million.
HSBC and other foreign lenders are targeting China's rapidly growing wealthy class, as full deregulation of the country's banking industry has allowed them to conduct local-currency business with Chinese individuals.
"The creation of wealth in China is a unique phenomenon in that greater wealth is being generated by a relatively younger age group as compared to the rest of the world," Monica Wong, HSBC private bank chief executive for Asia, said in a statement.
Annual economic growth of more than 10 percent has created more than 345,000 U.S.-dollar millionaires in mainland China, according to a Merrill Lynch report.
HSBC, which has set up a wholly owned China unit, posted more than $1 billion in pretax profit in China last year.
HSBC rivals CitiBank and Standard Chartered have already started private banking businesses in China, while Bank of East Asia has said it planned to launch such services in the second quarter.
Local banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Bank of Communications , in which HSBC holds a stake, have also joined the competition to offer services for wealthy Chinese clients.
Reuters - Monday, March 31 06:22 am
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings , Europe's largest lender, launched private banking services in China on Monday as foreign banks including Citigroup target the country's fast-growing market for services to wealthy clients.
Chinese regulators had given HSBC approval to offer private banking services in Shanghai, Beijing and the southern city of Guangzhou, the bank said.
It will target individuals with a minimum net worth of $10 million (5 million pounds), it said, while the minimum initial deposit for an account will be $1 million.
HSBC and other foreign lenders are targeting China's rapidly growing wealthy class, as full deregulation of the country's banking industry has allowed them to conduct local-currency business with Chinese individuals.
"The creation of wealth in China is a unique phenomenon in that greater wealth is being generated by a relatively younger age group as compared to the rest of the world," Monica Wong, HSBC private bank chief executive for Asia, said in a statement.
Annual economic growth of more than 10 percent has created more than 345,000 U.S.-dollar millionaires in mainland China, according to a Merrill Lynch report.
HSBC, which has set up a wholly owned China unit, posted more than $1 billion in pretax profit in China last year.
HSBC rivals CitiBank and Standard Chartered have already started private banking businesses in China, while Bank of East Asia has said it planned to launch such services in the second quarter.
Local banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Bank of Communications , in which HSBC holds a stake, have also joined the competition to offer services for wealthy Chinese clients.
Sweden sells Absolut to Pernod for 5.6 billion euros
Sweden sells Absolut to Pernod for 5.6 billion euros
By Sophie Mongalvy AFP - Monday, March 31 12:34 pm
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - The Swedish government said on Monday that it had sold the Vin & Sprit group that owns Absolut vodka to the giant drinks company Pernod Ricard of France for 5.626 billion euros (8.88 billion dollars).
With the purchase, Pernod Ricard will become the world's leading provider of premium spirits, and will be propelled to a shared first place when it comes to overall wine and spirits sales, with 91 million cases of alcoholic drinks sold each year.
British Diageo currently dominates the sector. But the price of Pernod Ricrad shares was showing a fall of 4.32 percent to 65.15 euros in mid-day trading. Analysts said the price seemed high.
Swedish Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell said Pernod Ricard had made the best offer of four on the table for the state-owned drinks group.
"It's a very good price," Odell told reporters in Stockholm.
Absolut vodka would be Pernod Ricard's number one brand.
"Pernod Ricard will be an excellent home for Vin & Sprit," Odell said.
The Swedish government plans to use the profits from the sale to pay down the public debt and invest in the welfare state.
The centre-right government announced shortly after it came to power in 2006 that it would sell the state's holdings in six companies as part of a privatisation programme.
"The Swedish state's 90-year ownership of Vin & Sprit is now coming to an end. This is a reasonable passing of the torch," Odell said.
He noted that the Swedish state had long been in the curious position of on the one hand owning the hugely successful Absolut brand, well known for its high-profile international advertising campaign, while on the other hand promoting a restrictive alcohol policy at home for public health reasons.
The Swedish state has a distribution monopoly on alcohol, meaning consumers can only buy alcohol at state-run liquor stores called Systembolaget.
The monopoly is unaffected by the sale of Vin & Sprit.
Pernod Ricard, a global player after its acquisition last year of British group Allied Domecq, intends to keep V&S as a Swedish entity, based in Sweden, with continued responsibility for production and marketing in accordance with its established practice of decentralised management of key brands.
"A Swedish product must be produced in Sweden, the value of the brand is its roots," Pernod Ricard's chairman Patrick Ricard told reporters in Stockholm.
The total value of the transaction for V&S was equivalent to 55 billion kronor in accordance with the agreement signed on Sunday.
The minister said: "Through a carefully executed sale process we have achieved a very good transaction for V&S and for the Swedish people."
The three other candidates in the running were the diverisfied US group Fortune Brands, the US family-owned group Bacardi and the giant Swedish holding company Investor in conjunction with an investment fund EQT and a Swedish pension fund.
"All four bids were very interesting. But it became clear very early on that Pernod Ricard's bid was best," Odell said, noting that the bid was 21 times higher than Vin & Sprit's pre-tax profit of 2.2 billion kronor in 2007.
"Pernod Ricard submitted an offer that on an overall assessment is the most attractive, including offering the highest purchase price of the four final bids," he said.
Pernod Ricard will acquire the whole company, excluding V&S's 10 percent stake in Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., the American spirits company.
Absolut is one of only four spirits brands that sell more than 10 million cases annually around the world, and is the leading upscale brand in the United States, selling more than five million nine-litre cases.
"Absolut fits perfectly with Pernod Ricard's strategy and further enhances the strength of our premium brands portfolio," Pernod Ricard said.
The company's chief executive, Pierre Pringuet, said the two companies were entirely complementary.
"There is absolutely no overlapping between Vin & Sprit and Pernod Ricard," he said.
The acquisition will permit the French company to jump from a fourth to a second place for overall spirits sales in the United States.
It will however have to put an end to a distribution agreement for Russian vodka Stolichnaya.
Pringuet said the purchase was "a major transforming acquisition for Pernod Ricard", adding: "I would describe it as a big bang."
The company said it expected the return on investment to "exceed Pernod Ricard's cost of capital by year four at the latest," and that the transaction would be completed during the coming summer, after receiving the necessary clearances.
By Sophie Mongalvy AFP - Monday, March 31 12:34 pm
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - The Swedish government said on Monday that it had sold the Vin & Sprit group that owns Absolut vodka to the giant drinks company Pernod Ricard of France for 5.626 billion euros (8.88 billion dollars).
With the purchase, Pernod Ricard will become the world's leading provider of premium spirits, and will be propelled to a shared first place when it comes to overall wine and spirits sales, with 91 million cases of alcoholic drinks sold each year.
British Diageo currently dominates the sector. But the price of Pernod Ricrad shares was showing a fall of 4.32 percent to 65.15 euros in mid-day trading. Analysts said the price seemed high.
Swedish Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell said Pernod Ricard had made the best offer of four on the table for the state-owned drinks group.
"It's a very good price," Odell told reporters in Stockholm.
Absolut vodka would be Pernod Ricard's number one brand.
"Pernod Ricard will be an excellent home for Vin & Sprit," Odell said.
The Swedish government plans to use the profits from the sale to pay down the public debt and invest in the welfare state.
The centre-right government announced shortly after it came to power in 2006 that it would sell the state's holdings in six companies as part of a privatisation programme.
"The Swedish state's 90-year ownership of Vin & Sprit is now coming to an end. This is a reasonable passing of the torch," Odell said.
He noted that the Swedish state had long been in the curious position of on the one hand owning the hugely successful Absolut brand, well known for its high-profile international advertising campaign, while on the other hand promoting a restrictive alcohol policy at home for public health reasons.
The Swedish state has a distribution monopoly on alcohol, meaning consumers can only buy alcohol at state-run liquor stores called Systembolaget.
The monopoly is unaffected by the sale of Vin & Sprit.
Pernod Ricard, a global player after its acquisition last year of British group Allied Domecq, intends to keep V&S as a Swedish entity, based in Sweden, with continued responsibility for production and marketing in accordance with its established practice of decentralised management of key brands.
"A Swedish product must be produced in Sweden, the value of the brand is its roots," Pernod Ricard's chairman Patrick Ricard told reporters in Stockholm.
The total value of the transaction for V&S was equivalent to 55 billion kronor in accordance with the agreement signed on Sunday.
The minister said: "Through a carefully executed sale process we have achieved a very good transaction for V&S and for the Swedish people."
The three other candidates in the running were the diverisfied US group Fortune Brands, the US family-owned group Bacardi and the giant Swedish holding company Investor in conjunction with an investment fund EQT and a Swedish pension fund.
"All four bids were very interesting. But it became clear very early on that Pernod Ricard's bid was best," Odell said, noting that the bid was 21 times higher than Vin & Sprit's pre-tax profit of 2.2 billion kronor in 2007.
"Pernod Ricard submitted an offer that on an overall assessment is the most attractive, including offering the highest purchase price of the four final bids," he said.
Pernod Ricard will acquire the whole company, excluding V&S's 10 percent stake in Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., the American spirits company.
Absolut is one of only four spirits brands that sell more than 10 million cases annually around the world, and is the leading upscale brand in the United States, selling more than five million nine-litre cases.
"Absolut fits perfectly with Pernod Ricard's strategy and further enhances the strength of our premium brands portfolio," Pernod Ricard said.
The company's chief executive, Pierre Pringuet, said the two companies were entirely complementary.
"There is absolutely no overlapping between Vin & Sprit and Pernod Ricard," he said.
The acquisition will permit the French company to jump from a fourth to a second place for overall spirits sales in the United States.
It will however have to put an end to a distribution agreement for Russian vodka Stolichnaya.
Pringuet said the purchase was "a major transforming acquisition for Pernod Ricard", adding: "I would describe it as a big bang."
The company said it expected the return on investment to "exceed Pernod Ricard's cost of capital by year four at the latest," and that the transaction would be completed during the coming summer, after receiving the necessary clearances.
Iraq signs $5.5 bln Boeing deal for 55 aircraft
Iraq signs $5.5 bln Boeing deal for 55 aircraft
AFP - 7 minutes ago
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq said on Monday it has signed a contract worth 5.5 billion dollars with Boeing to buy 40 new aircraft, with an option to buy 15 more.
Baghdad had also signed a 400-million-dollar contract with Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier to purchase 10 passenger planes, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
He said delivery of the aircraft would start this year, with final delivery expected by the end of 2019.
AFP - 7 minutes ago
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq said on Monday it has signed a contract worth 5.5 billion dollars with Boeing to buy 40 new aircraft, with an option to buy 15 more.
Baghdad had also signed a 400-million-dollar contract with Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier to purchase 10 passenger planes, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
He said delivery of the aircraft would start this year, with final delivery expected by the end of 2019.
Russian weapons sales to China fall
Russian weapons sales to China fall
By Stephen Fidler in London
Published: March 30 2008 22:00 | Last updated: March 30 2008 22:00
Russian arms exports to China dropped a dramatic 62 per cent last year, according to figures released on Monday, in a development described by one expert as potentially marking the beginning of the end of high volume arms transfers between the two countries.
China has been the world’s biggest arms importer for at least a decade – and more than 90 per cent of these imports have come from Russia. But last year its overall arms imports dropped by more than 60 per cent, suggesting China’s industrial capabilities are beginning to approach those of its neighbour.
The figures were released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which compiles a comprehensive public database of worldwide arms transfers.
Paul Holtom, a Sipri researcher, said Russia had finished deliveries on all its large arms contracts with China, with some important contracts being terminated early. No meetings of the Military Technical Commission, the body that negotiates arms agreements between the two countries, which normally occur twice yearly, took place last year, although one appears to be scheduled for later this year.
“With no new contracts for big ticket aircraft or ships in 2007, this may be the beginning of the end for high-volume arms transfers from Russia to China,” Mr Holtom said.
An important reason for this appeared to be the growing sophistication of China’s defence industry. He said China’s J-11B fighter, based on Russia’s Sukhoi Su 27, was now claimed to contain at least 90 per cent of Chinese components.
China’s ability to replicate and develop Russian technology had led to a debate in Russia about whether it should supply Beijing with more advanced fighter aircraft, Mr Holtom said.
Russia, the second largest arms exporter in the world after the US, had also had quality control problems with other orders, including Algeria which has sought to return 15 Mig 29 fighters.
Russian officials say the defence industry has picked itself up after near collapse in the 1990s, with exports running at $5bn-$6bn (€3bn-€3.8bn, £2.5bn-£3bn) a year, up from $2bn-$3bn a decade ago.
By Stephen Fidler in London
Published: March 30 2008 22:00 | Last updated: March 30 2008 22:00
Russian arms exports to China dropped a dramatic 62 per cent last year, according to figures released on Monday, in a development described by one expert as potentially marking the beginning of the end of high volume arms transfers between the two countries.
China has been the world’s biggest arms importer for at least a decade – and more than 90 per cent of these imports have come from Russia. But last year its overall arms imports dropped by more than 60 per cent, suggesting China’s industrial capabilities are beginning to approach those of its neighbour.
The figures were released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which compiles a comprehensive public database of worldwide arms transfers.
Paul Holtom, a Sipri researcher, said Russia had finished deliveries on all its large arms contracts with China, with some important contracts being terminated early. No meetings of the Military Technical Commission, the body that negotiates arms agreements between the two countries, which normally occur twice yearly, took place last year, although one appears to be scheduled for later this year.
“With no new contracts for big ticket aircraft or ships in 2007, this may be the beginning of the end for high-volume arms transfers from Russia to China,” Mr Holtom said.
An important reason for this appeared to be the growing sophistication of China’s defence industry. He said China’s J-11B fighter, based on Russia’s Sukhoi Su 27, was now claimed to contain at least 90 per cent of Chinese components.
China’s ability to replicate and develop Russian technology had led to a debate in Russia about whether it should supply Beijing with more advanced fighter aircraft, Mr Holtom said.
Russia, the second largest arms exporter in the world after the US, had also had quality control problems with other orders, including Algeria which has sought to return 15 Mig 29 fighters.
Russian officials say the defence industry has picked itself up after near collapse in the 1990s, with exports running at $5bn-$6bn (€3bn-€3.8bn, £2.5bn-£3bn) a year, up from $2bn-$3bn a decade ago.
Eurozone inflation surges to 16-year high
Eurozone inflation surges to 16-year high
By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt
Published: March 31 2008 11:20 | Last updated: March 31 2008 11:20
Eurozone inflation has soared to the highest level for almost 16 years, data published on Monday showed, creating a fresh dilemma for the European Central Bank as it again pumps in extra overnight funds in money markets.
The pick-up in inflation, from 3.3 per cent in February to 3.5 per cent in March, all but rules out any cut in ECB interest rates in the near future, even as economic growth slows. The Frankfurt-based institution aims to keep inflation “below but close” to 2 per cent.
At the same time, the ECB announced it had injected €15bn into eurozone overnight money markets to ease tensions at the end of the quarter.
The ECB has so far drawn a clear distinction between operations aimed at easing financial market tensions and its main interest rate policy, which is calibrated to combat inflation.
But its task has been complicated further by confusing signals about the impact of the global financial turmoil on the real eurozone economy – and hence on inflation trends in the 15-country region.
The ECB’s argument that there is been no “credit crunch” has been strengthened by data showing eurozone lending to business accelerating and expanding at record rates. Lending to “non-financial corporations” grew at an annual rate of 14.8 per cent in February – the highest since the launch of the euro in 1999, according to ECB figures.
The central bank dismisses arguments that such data have been distorted by the financial turmoil – as a result, for instance, of banks facing difficulties in selling-on loans and removing them from their balance sheets.
If correct, that suggests businesses continue to invest in expansion plans, which should support economic growth.
In turn, that is likely to strengthen the ECB’s conviction that even if eurozone economic growth has slowed in recent quarters – as a result of the euro’s record strength, interest rate rises since 2005 and fears about the US economic outlook – no dramatic downturn is looming. Its upbeat outlook has discouraged financial markets from pricing in interest rate cuts before June at the earliest, despite sweeping cuts in the US.
Analysts warned that view could soon change, however. The European Commission reported that its eurozone “economic sentiment” indicator had fallen in March below its long-term average, pointing to a further significant deceleration in economic growth. At 99.6 in March, down from 100.2 in February, the indicator is at its lowest level since November 2005.
However, stark regional differences have emerged. In Spain, which has been hit by fears of a housing market collapse, the economic sentiment indicator fell in March to the lowest level since January 1994. But Germany reported an increase in optimism in the same month, while sentiment in France remained unchanged.
Regional differences might also explain the strong growth in business lending shown in the ECB’s figures, analysts said. If Germany and the Netherlands were excluded, growth in loans would have declined, said Jacques Cailloux at Royal Bank of Scotland.
But Mr Cailloux argued that much of the growth in Germany was due to capital expenditure plans. Given the importance that the ECB attached to such information, “it clearly highlights the risk that the first [interest] rate cut is delayed until after the second quarter,” he said.
By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt
Published: March 31 2008 11:20 | Last updated: March 31 2008 11:20
Eurozone inflation has soared to the highest level for almost 16 years, data published on Monday showed, creating a fresh dilemma for the European Central Bank as it again pumps in extra overnight funds in money markets.
The pick-up in inflation, from 3.3 per cent in February to 3.5 per cent in March, all but rules out any cut in ECB interest rates in the near future, even as economic growth slows. The Frankfurt-based institution aims to keep inflation “below but close” to 2 per cent.
At the same time, the ECB announced it had injected €15bn into eurozone overnight money markets to ease tensions at the end of the quarter.
The ECB has so far drawn a clear distinction between operations aimed at easing financial market tensions and its main interest rate policy, which is calibrated to combat inflation.
But its task has been complicated further by confusing signals about the impact of the global financial turmoil on the real eurozone economy – and hence on inflation trends in the 15-country region.
The ECB’s argument that there is been no “credit crunch” has been strengthened by data showing eurozone lending to business accelerating and expanding at record rates. Lending to “non-financial corporations” grew at an annual rate of 14.8 per cent in February – the highest since the launch of the euro in 1999, according to ECB figures.
The central bank dismisses arguments that such data have been distorted by the financial turmoil – as a result, for instance, of banks facing difficulties in selling-on loans and removing them from their balance sheets.
If correct, that suggests businesses continue to invest in expansion plans, which should support economic growth.
In turn, that is likely to strengthen the ECB’s conviction that even if eurozone economic growth has slowed in recent quarters – as a result of the euro’s record strength, interest rate rises since 2005 and fears about the US economic outlook – no dramatic downturn is looming. Its upbeat outlook has discouraged financial markets from pricing in interest rate cuts before June at the earliest, despite sweeping cuts in the US.
Analysts warned that view could soon change, however. The European Commission reported that its eurozone “economic sentiment” indicator had fallen in March below its long-term average, pointing to a further significant deceleration in economic growth. At 99.6 in March, down from 100.2 in February, the indicator is at its lowest level since November 2005.
However, stark regional differences have emerged. In Spain, which has been hit by fears of a housing market collapse, the economic sentiment indicator fell in March to the lowest level since January 1994. But Germany reported an increase in optimism in the same month, while sentiment in France remained unchanged.
Regional differences might also explain the strong growth in business lending shown in the ECB’s figures, analysts said. If Germany and the Netherlands were excluded, growth in loans would have declined, said Jacques Cailloux at Royal Bank of Scotland.
But Mr Cailloux argued that much of the growth in Germany was due to capital expenditure plans. Given the importance that the ECB attached to such information, “it clearly highlights the risk that the first [interest] rate cut is delayed until after the second quarter,” he said.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
三浦和義元社長逮捕 三浦元社長、サイパンの拘置施設の中庭で弁護団と接見
三浦和義元社長逮捕 三浦元社長、サイパンの拘置施設の中庭で弁護団と接見
アメリカ自治領サイパン島で逮捕された三浦和義容疑者(60)が29日、サイパンの拘置施設の中庭で、弁護団と接見した。
三浦元社長は、黒っぽいTシャツにズボンのカジュアルな格好で、およそ30分間、弁護団と話をした。
法廷での今後の審理について対応を協議したとみられ、ホテルの日本食店からテークアウトしたすしが差し入れられたという。
4月2日に予定されていたロサンゼルスの裁判所での逮捕状の無効の審理は当分延期されており、三浦元社長の拘置は長期化する見通し。
------------------
三浦元社長、差し入れのすし食べ喜ぶ
１９８１年の米ロサンゼルス銃撃事件で、サイパンで逮捕された元会社社長、三浦和義容疑者（６０＝日本では無罪確定）の弁護団は２９日午後、拘置先の収容施設で接見し、ホテルの日本食レストランで調達したにぎりずしを差し入れた。
弁護人のフィッツジェラルド氏によると、約４５分の接見の間、三浦元社長は差し入れられたマグロなどのすしを食べ、喜んでいた。拘置施設では、土日に限り食べ物の差し入れが認められているという。
弁護団は、ロサンゼルス郡地裁で４月２日に予定されていた逮捕状取り消し請求の審理が、弁護側が提出した１９８８年の東京地検による殺人罪の起訴状などが英訳されていないことを理由に、延期された経緯を説明。
フィッツジェラルド氏は審理延期を「ロスの裁判所が、（無罪となった）日本の裁判資料を読みたいということだ」と好意的に受け止めており、三浦元社長も納得した様子だったという。
アメリカ自治領サイパン島で逮捕された三浦和義容疑者(60)が29日、サイパンの拘置施設の中庭で、弁護団と接見した。
三浦元社長は、黒っぽいTシャツにズボンのカジュアルな格好で、およそ30分間、弁護団と話をした。
法廷での今後の審理について対応を協議したとみられ、ホテルの日本食店からテークアウトしたすしが差し入れられたという。
4月2日に予定されていたロサンゼルスの裁判所での逮捕状の無効の審理は当分延期されており、三浦元社長の拘置は長期化する見通し。
------------------
三浦元社長、差し入れのすし食べ喜ぶ
１９８１年の米ロサンゼルス銃撃事件で、サイパンで逮捕された元会社社長、三浦和義容疑者（６０＝日本では無罪確定）の弁護団は２９日午後、拘置先の収容施設で接見し、ホテルの日本食レストランで調達したにぎりずしを差し入れた。
弁護人のフィッツジェラルド氏によると、約４５分の接見の間、三浦元社長は差し入れられたマグロなどのすしを食べ、喜んでいた。拘置施設では、土日に限り食べ物の差し入れが認められているという。
弁護団は、ロサンゼルス郡地裁で４月２日に予定されていた逮捕状取り消し請求の審理が、弁護側が提出した１９８８年の東京地検による殺人罪の起訴状などが英訳されていないことを理由に、延期された経緯を説明。
フィッツジェラルド氏は審理延期を「ロスの裁判所が、（無罪となった）日本の裁判資料を読みたいということだ」と好意的に受け止めており、三浦元社長も納得した様子だったという。
Marubeni employees' scam hit Lehman
Marubeni employees' scam hit Lehman
Reuters - Sunday, March 30 07:49 am
NEW YORK/TOKYO (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers was fleeced out of more than $355 million in a fraud the U.S. investment bank believes was perpetrated by two employees at Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp., according to a person briefed on the matter.
The fraud may have hit other financial institutions as well, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
If Lehman's arguments are true, the scamsters perpetrated one of the more sophisticated corporate con jobs since Enron set up a fake trading floor to impress analysts. Lehman believes the scam included forged documents and an imposter.
Lehman is trying to recover a loan to a fund headed by Asclepius Ltd -- a now-bankrupt unit of LTT Bio-Pharma Co Lehman had believed the money, supposedly to be used to finance medical leases, was backed by Marubeni.
The bank believes Marubeni is now shirking its obligations to pay back the partnership between Lehman, Marubeni and the fund, the person told Reuters.
Marubeni, which fired the two employees on March 10, said the two employees may have been manipulated by the former president of Asclepius, that Marubeni had not approved the leases and that police are working on the case.
The employees were contractors, spokesman Hirokazu Iwashima said, adding that there was "no involvement by Marubeni as a company."
Lehman plans to sue Marubeni, spokesmen in Tokyo and New York said. They declined to say how much money it had put into the business or elaborate on what exactly the former Marubeni employees did.
"We are confident in our legal claim which we will pursue until we receive repayment from Marubeni," said Matthew Russell, Lehman Brothers head of Corporate Communications, Asia-Pacific, in a statement sent to Reuters.
The person briefed in the matter told Reuters that two former Marubeni employees -- Shingo Yamaura and Takuro Nitahara -- convinced Lehman to help finance what it understood were Marubeni's equipment leases and supply contracts with hospitals. Lehman gave the partnership money in advance to fund initial leases and contracts.
When Lehman sought payment under its deal on Feb 29, 2008, Marubeni said the seals on the contracts had been forged, and refused payment, according to the person briefed on the matter.
Marubeni declined comment on Lehman's statements, and said it could not give information on people no longer with the trading house or comment on ongoing investigations.
Yamaura and Nitahara were not able to be reached for comment.
Before agreeing to fund the venture, Lehman asked to meet the Marubeni general manager involved. The man Lehman employees met was an imposter, Lehman believes, the source said.
Lehman said in a statement on Saturday, "Lehman Brothers Japan Inc. today confirmed that it is working closely with the authorities to seek full recovery of funds it believes to have been fraudulently misappropriated from transactions in which an affiliate provided financing."
LTT Bio-Pharma officials were not available for comment.
The company announced on March 19 that bankruptcy proceedings filed by Asclepius were approved by the Tokyo District Court and also announced that Asclepius was suspected of being involved in illegal dealings.
Kyodo News said Asclepius dismissed its then-president on March 7.
A spokesman at the Metropolitan Police Agency declined to comment on ongoing investigations.
($1=99.12 Yen)
------------------
Lehman alleges Japan investment fraud
By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer Sun Mar 30, 7:33 AM ET
TOKYO - Lehman Brothers is accusing a Japanese trading company of perpetrating a massive fraud and plans to sue it for hundreds of millions of dollars, officials at the U.S. investment bank said Sunday.
Lehman is seeking to recoup $350 million in outstanding loans, which it provided to a unit of LTT Bio-Pharma, according to company officials, who spoke condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the case.
The subsidiary, a medical consulting company, filed for bankruptcy March 19, leaving investors stuck with millions in outstanding loans.
Matthew Russell, a senior spokesman for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., said that Japanese trading giant Marubeni Corp. secured the loans and should repay them. The company's Japanese unit, Lehman Brothers Japan Inc., will file a civil suit as early as Monday at the Tokyo District Court, Russell said.
Marubeni said in a statement Saturday that it did not secure the loans, and documents to that effect are fake. It contends that it is also a victim of the alleged fraud and therefore should not have to cover any damages.
LTT Bio-Pharma acknowledged in a statement this month that its unit's bankruptcy was related to "an alleged illegal transaction."
Marubeni fired two of its employees after acknowledging that they may have collaborated with the fund's managers to forge documents, according to the statement. It added that Marubeni has filed a separate criminal complaint against the fund's managers.
"We have nothing to do with the fraudulent acts, and we have no obligation to cover any repayment requests," Marubeni said.
Russell said that his company has been "working closely with the (Japanese) authorities on a fraud it uncovered that was perpetrated by employees at Marubeni ... at the company's offices." He said Lehman is among "several financial institutions and other parties" that have been allegedly defrauded.
Russell said meetings were held at Marubeni's office to discuss the funds before the agreement was struck late last year. He declined to discuss the amount of the loans or details of the transactions, citing ongoing police probe.
"Lehman Brothers is confident that it undertook all the appropriate measures on the transaction," Russell said, adding that his company "is confident in its legal case and fully expects its funds to be repaid."
Officials of LTT-Bio-Pharma, its bankrupt unit and its lawyer were not available for comment Sunday.
----------------------
2008 年3 月29 日
各 位
丸紅株式会社
3 月29 日の一連の報道について
本年3 月6 日に、突然、当社と取引関係のない投資事業組合に対して出資していたとい
う外資系証券会社が、当社に対して業務委託手数料の存在を確認してきたことがきっかけ
で、当社として初めて当該案件を知り、直ちに社外の弁護士とともに社内調査を開始しま
した。その後、他の投資事業組合の出資者からも同様の問合わせがありましたが、上記の
社内調査の結果、当社は、これらの投資事業組合等との間で債権・債務は一切なく、また、
提示を受けた当社名義の契約書類などは、すべて偽造されたものであることが判明いたし
ました。また、これらの書類の偽造について、会社として一切関与していないことも同時
に確認致しております。従いまして、これら一連の請求に関して、当社には一切支払い義
務はございません。
投資事業組合等から提示を受けた契約書類等を見ますと、投資事業組合等が当社から受
託したという架空の医療関係の業務について、投資事業組合等がこれを第三者に再委託し
た上で、その対価として数十億円もの巨額の金額をこの第三者に振り込み送金し、数ヶ月
後に、当社の借入レートの数十倍を上回る非現実的な金利相当額を加えて、当社が投資事
業組合等に支払うという契約構成となっています。金額を含めて取引自体が極めて異例な
仕組みとなっており、当社が行う取引ではありえないことが一目瞭然です。
第三者が投資事業組合等から受託した業務を履行しない場合でも、当社が投資事業組合
等に対して業務委託手数料を支払う旨の異例な業務委託契約書が締結され、その締結とほ
ぼ同時に、当社は委託業務の完了を確認し、投資事業組合等に対して約定期日の支払を約
束する旨の「納品請求受領書」なる文書が投資事業組合等に交付されていましたが、上記
のとおり、これらはいずれも偽造されたものであります。一部報道では、当社の「保証書」
が偽造されていたとありますが、当社が投資事業組合等から提示を受けた書類の中には「保
証書」またはこれに類する題名の文書は含まれておりません。
一部の投資事業組合から、当社の稟議書を所持しているとの報告を受けておりますが、
多くの日本企業と同様に、当社において重要な社内文書である稟議書を社外に提供するこ
とはあり得ませんし、また、当該稟議書は当社の書式と全く異なるものでありました。
当社は、医療機器の販売を当社の業務として取り扱っておりますが、これらは、病院等
の医療関係者に対して行っている実体のある取引であり、上記の架空取引とはなんら関連
はございません。
上記の社内調査で、一連の偽造文書の作成に関与していたとみられる株式会社アスクレ
ピオスの元社長らから当社の元嘱託2 名が利用されて、当社の会議室を不正に使用させた
ことなどが判明し、すでに同人らを3 月10 日付けで懲戒解雇しておりますが、同人らのこ
れらの行為はあくまで個人としての行為であり、当社は、会社としてはこれらの行為に一
切関与しておりません。なお、元嘱託2 名はいずれも社内調査では書類の偽造には関与し
ていないと説明しております。
本件につきまして、当社は当社名義の契約書類等が偽造されたことについて被害者の立
場にあり、すでに警察当局に被害申告しております。警察当局の捜査中ですので、これ以
上の詳細は差し控えさせていただきますが、当社は、今後とも引き続き警察当局の捜査に
全面的に協力してまいります。
以 上
≪本件に関する問い合わせ先≫
丸紅株式会社 広報部報道課長 橋本 尚 電話：03-3282-4803
Reuters - Sunday, March 30 07:49 am
NEW YORK/TOKYO (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers was fleeced out of more than $355 million in a fraud the U.S. investment bank believes was perpetrated by two employees at Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp., according to a person briefed on the matter.
The fraud may have hit other financial institutions as well, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
If Lehman's arguments are true, the scamsters perpetrated one of the more sophisticated corporate con jobs since Enron set up a fake trading floor to impress analysts. Lehman believes the scam included forged documents and an imposter.
Lehman is trying to recover a loan to a fund headed by Asclepius Ltd -- a now-bankrupt unit of LTT Bio-Pharma Co Lehman had believed the money, supposedly to be used to finance medical leases, was backed by Marubeni.
The bank believes Marubeni is now shirking its obligations to pay back the partnership between Lehman, Marubeni and the fund, the person told Reuters.
Marubeni, which fired the two employees on March 10, said the two employees may have been manipulated by the former president of Asclepius, that Marubeni had not approved the leases and that police are working on the case.
The employees were contractors, spokesman Hirokazu Iwashima said, adding that there was "no involvement by Marubeni as a company."
Lehman plans to sue Marubeni, spokesmen in Tokyo and New York said. They declined to say how much money it had put into the business or elaborate on what exactly the former Marubeni employees did.
"We are confident in our legal claim which we will pursue until we receive repayment from Marubeni," said Matthew Russell, Lehman Brothers head of Corporate Communications, Asia-Pacific, in a statement sent to Reuters.
The person briefed in the matter told Reuters that two former Marubeni employees -- Shingo Yamaura and Takuro Nitahara -- convinced Lehman to help finance what it understood were Marubeni's equipment leases and supply contracts with hospitals. Lehman gave the partnership money in advance to fund initial leases and contracts.
When Lehman sought payment under its deal on Feb 29, 2008, Marubeni said the seals on the contracts had been forged, and refused payment, according to the person briefed on the matter.
Marubeni declined comment on Lehman's statements, and said it could not give information on people no longer with the trading house or comment on ongoing investigations.
Yamaura and Nitahara were not able to be reached for comment.
Before agreeing to fund the venture, Lehman asked to meet the Marubeni general manager involved. The man Lehman employees met was an imposter, Lehman believes, the source said.
Lehman said in a statement on Saturday, "Lehman Brothers Japan Inc. today confirmed that it is working closely with the authorities to seek full recovery of funds it believes to have been fraudulently misappropriated from transactions in which an affiliate provided financing."
LTT Bio-Pharma officials were not available for comment.
The company announced on March 19 that bankruptcy proceedings filed by Asclepius were approved by the Tokyo District Court and also announced that Asclepius was suspected of being involved in illegal dealings.
Kyodo News said Asclepius dismissed its then-president on March 7.
A spokesman at the Metropolitan Police Agency declined to comment on ongoing investigations.
($1=99.12 Yen)
------------------
Lehman alleges Japan investment fraud
By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer Sun Mar 30, 7:33 AM ET
TOKYO - Lehman Brothers is accusing a Japanese trading company of perpetrating a massive fraud and plans to sue it for hundreds of millions of dollars, officials at the U.S. investment bank said Sunday.
Lehman is seeking to recoup $350 million in outstanding loans, which it provided to a unit of LTT Bio-Pharma, according to company officials, who spoke condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the case.
The subsidiary, a medical consulting company, filed for bankruptcy March 19, leaving investors stuck with millions in outstanding loans.
Matthew Russell, a senior spokesman for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., said that Japanese trading giant Marubeni Corp. secured the loans and should repay them. The company's Japanese unit, Lehman Brothers Japan Inc., will file a civil suit as early as Monday at the Tokyo District Court, Russell said.
Marubeni said in a statement Saturday that it did not secure the loans, and documents to that effect are fake. It contends that it is also a victim of the alleged fraud and therefore should not have to cover any damages.
LTT Bio-Pharma acknowledged in a statement this month that its unit's bankruptcy was related to "an alleged illegal transaction."
Marubeni fired two of its employees after acknowledging that they may have collaborated with the fund's managers to forge documents, according to the statement. It added that Marubeni has filed a separate criminal complaint against the fund's managers.
"We have nothing to do with the fraudulent acts, and we have no obligation to cover any repayment requests," Marubeni said.
Russell said that his company has been "working closely with the (Japanese) authorities on a fraud it uncovered that was perpetrated by employees at Marubeni ... at the company's offices." He said Lehman is among "several financial institutions and other parties" that have been allegedly defrauded.
Russell said meetings were held at Marubeni's office to discuss the funds before the agreement was struck late last year. He declined to discuss the amount of the loans or details of the transactions, citing ongoing police probe.
"Lehman Brothers is confident that it undertook all the appropriate measures on the transaction," Russell said, adding that his company "is confident in its legal case and fully expects its funds to be repaid."
Officials of LTT-Bio-Pharma, its bankrupt unit and its lawyer were not available for comment Sunday.
----------------------
2008 年3 月29 日
各 位
丸紅株式会社
3 月29 日の一連の報道について
本年3 月6 日に、突然、当社と取引関係のない投資事業組合に対して出資していたとい
う外資系証券会社が、当社に対して業務委託手数料の存在を確認してきたことがきっかけ
で、当社として初めて当該案件を知り、直ちに社外の弁護士とともに社内調査を開始しま
した。その後、他の投資事業組合の出資者からも同様の問合わせがありましたが、上記の
社内調査の結果、当社は、これらの投資事業組合等との間で債権・債務は一切なく、また、
提示を受けた当社名義の契約書類などは、すべて偽造されたものであることが判明いたし
ました。また、これらの書類の偽造について、会社として一切関与していないことも同時
に確認致しております。従いまして、これら一連の請求に関して、当社には一切支払い義
務はございません。
投資事業組合等から提示を受けた契約書類等を見ますと、投資事業組合等が当社から受
託したという架空の医療関係の業務について、投資事業組合等がこれを第三者に再委託し
た上で、その対価として数十億円もの巨額の金額をこの第三者に振り込み送金し、数ヶ月
後に、当社の借入レートの数十倍を上回る非現実的な金利相当額を加えて、当社が投資事
業組合等に支払うという契約構成となっています。金額を含めて取引自体が極めて異例な
仕組みとなっており、当社が行う取引ではありえないことが一目瞭然です。
第三者が投資事業組合等から受託した業務を履行しない場合でも、当社が投資事業組合
等に対して業務委託手数料を支払う旨の異例な業務委託契約書が締結され、その締結とほ
ぼ同時に、当社は委託業務の完了を確認し、投資事業組合等に対して約定期日の支払を約
束する旨の「納品請求受領書」なる文書が投資事業組合等に交付されていましたが、上記
のとおり、これらはいずれも偽造されたものであります。一部報道では、当社の「保証書」
が偽造されていたとありますが、当社が投資事業組合等から提示を受けた書類の中には「保
証書」またはこれに類する題名の文書は含まれておりません。
一部の投資事業組合から、当社の稟議書を所持しているとの報告を受けておりますが、
多くの日本企業と同様に、当社において重要な社内文書である稟議書を社外に提供するこ
とはあり得ませんし、また、当該稟議書は当社の書式と全く異なるものでありました。
当社は、医療機器の販売を当社の業務として取り扱っておりますが、これらは、病院等
の医療関係者に対して行っている実体のある取引であり、上記の架空取引とはなんら関連
はございません。
上記の社内調査で、一連の偽造文書の作成に関与していたとみられる株式会社アスクレ
ピオスの元社長らから当社の元嘱託2 名が利用されて、当社の会議室を不正に使用させた
ことなどが判明し、すでに同人らを3 月10 日付けで懲戒解雇しておりますが、同人らのこ
れらの行為はあくまで個人としての行為であり、当社は、会社としてはこれらの行為に一
切関与しておりません。なお、元嘱託2 名はいずれも社内調査では書類の偽造には関与し
ていないと説明しております。
本件につきまして、当社は当社名義の契約書類等が偽造されたことについて被害者の立
場にあり、すでに警察当局に被害申告しております。警察当局の捜査中ですので、これ以
上の詳細は差し控えさせていただきますが、当社は、今後とも引き続き警察当局の捜査に
全面的に協力してまいります。
以 上
≪本件に関する問い合わせ先≫
丸紅株式会社 広報部報道課長 橋本 尚 電話：03-3282-4803
U.S. V&S bidder would put spirits HQ in Sweden
U.S. V&S bidder would put spirits HQ in Sweden
Reuters - Saturday, March 29 02:28 pm
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. Fortune Brands would headquarter its international spirits business in Sweden if its bid for the country's state-owned Vin & Sprit group is accepted, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter cited two separate unidentified sources as saying the U.S. spirits maker, one of four rivals to submit final offers for the maker of Absolut vodka this week, had included in its bid a pledge to locate the headquarters of its international spirits business in Stockholm.
The Swedish government, which is seen unveiling the winner in the Vin & Sprit auction in the coming weeks, has said price is the paramount consideration, but it is widely expected it would look kindly on a solution which kept much of the operations on Swedish soil.
"The central functions, such as the legal operations, book-keeping, marketing, PR and distribution would be placed here (in Sweden)," one of the paper's sources was quoted as saying in reference to Fortune Brands' bid.
The report comes days after a source close to the situation told Reuters one of Fortune Brands' contenders for Vin & Sprit -- Sweden-based private equity firm EQT -- hoped to gain an edge over foreign rivals by stressing the benefits of keeping Vin & Sprit in Swedish hands.
Dagens Nyheter said Fortune Brands' offer to headquarter the international spirits operations in Sweden was also motivated by plans to expand Absolut sales across the Baltic Sea in Russia and the former Soviet republics on its borders.
Besides Fortune Brands and EQT, which has teamed up with holding company Investor AB on a bid, France's Pernod Ricard and Bermuda-based Bacardi have submitted final offers for Vin & Sprit which the Swedish government is selling as part of the country's biggest ever privatisation.
Reuters - Saturday, March 29 02:28 pm
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. Fortune Brands would headquarter its international spirits business in Sweden if its bid for the country's state-owned Vin & Sprit group is accepted, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter cited two separate unidentified sources as saying the U.S. spirits maker, one of four rivals to submit final offers for the maker of Absolut vodka this week, had included in its bid a pledge to locate the headquarters of its international spirits business in Stockholm.
The Swedish government, which is seen unveiling the winner in the Vin & Sprit auction in the coming weeks, has said price is the paramount consideration, but it is widely expected it would look kindly on a solution which kept much of the operations on Swedish soil.
"The central functions, such as the legal operations, book-keeping, marketing, PR and distribution would be placed here (in Sweden)," one of the paper's sources was quoted as saying in reference to Fortune Brands' bid.
The report comes days after a source close to the situation told Reuters one of Fortune Brands' contenders for Vin & Sprit -- Sweden-based private equity firm EQT -- hoped to gain an edge over foreign rivals by stressing the benefits of keeping Vin & Sprit in Swedish hands.
Dagens Nyheter said Fortune Brands' offer to headquarter the international spirits operations in Sweden was also motivated by plans to expand Absolut sales across the Baltic Sea in Russia and the former Soviet republics on its borders.
Besides Fortune Brands and EQT, which has teamed up with holding company Investor AB on a bid, France's Pernod Ricard and Bermuda-based Bacardi have submitted final offers for Vin & Sprit which the Swedish government is selling as part of the country's biggest ever privatisation.
German watchdog eyes $600 bln global bank losses
German watchdog eyes $600 bln global bank losses
Reuters - Saturday, March 29 03:23 pm
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The financial market crisis could cause losses of up to $600 billion (300 billion pounds) at banks and other financial institutions worldwide, a German magazine reported on Saturday, citing an internal report by German financial watchdog BaFin.
The $600 billion figure represents a worst-case scenario for losses linked to the financial turmoil sparked by the meltdown in the U.S. subprime mortgage market, Der Spiegel magazine said in a story released in advance of publication on Monday.
"Based on current knowledge and the market situation, we believe $430 billion is more likely," the magazine quoted what it said was a 16-page report by BaFin as saying.
BaFin calculated that banks had already acknowledged about $295 billion in losses, of which Germany accounted for around 10 percent, the magazine said.
Extrapolating from this percentage, German banks could suffer $60 billion in losses in the worst case and $43 billion in the more favourable scenario, the magazine added.
However, the magazine also said BaFin cited the risk that the financial crisis could spread beyond the banking sector to affect hedge funds, insurance companies, pension funds and even some non-financial companies.
A BaFin spokeswoman declined to comment on the Spiegel report but said the watchdog had prepared a discussion paper ahead of a two-day meeting of financial regulators and central bankers in Rome that ended on Saturday.
A figure of around $300 billion for losses reported to date came from publicly available sources, she said.
German mass-circulation Bild newspaper reported on Friday that German banks could face as much as 70 billion euros (55 billion pounds) in writedowns on their investments as a result of the credit crisis, citing "speculation by banking insiders" for the report.
A spokesman for Germany's Finance Ministry on Friday also said worldwide losses so far were about $300 billion but said he was not aware of the 70 billion euro figure mentioned in Bild.
Germany's big listed banks such as Deutsche Bank , Commerzbank and Deutsche Postbank have largely escaped the huge subprime-related writedowns seen at some international rivals.
However, the country's state-sector banks have been hit hard, with two of their number nearly collapsing after billions of euros in risky investments turned bad.
Reuters - Saturday, March 29 03:23 pm
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The financial market crisis could cause losses of up to $600 billion (300 billion pounds) at banks and other financial institutions worldwide, a German magazine reported on Saturday, citing an internal report by German financial watchdog BaFin.
The $600 billion figure represents a worst-case scenario for losses linked to the financial turmoil sparked by the meltdown in the U.S. subprime mortgage market, Der Spiegel magazine said in a story released in advance of publication on Monday.
"Based on current knowledge and the market situation, we believe $430 billion is more likely," the magazine quoted what it said was a 16-page report by BaFin as saying.
BaFin calculated that banks had already acknowledged about $295 billion in losses, of which Germany accounted for around 10 percent, the magazine said.
Extrapolating from this percentage, German banks could suffer $60 billion in losses in the worst case and $43 billion in the more favourable scenario, the magazine added.
However, the magazine also said BaFin cited the risk that the financial crisis could spread beyond the banking sector to affect hedge funds, insurance companies, pension funds and even some non-financial companies.
A BaFin spokeswoman declined to comment on the Spiegel report but said the watchdog had prepared a discussion paper ahead of a two-day meeting of financial regulators and central bankers in Rome that ended on Saturday.
A figure of around $300 billion for losses reported to date came from publicly available sources, she said.
German mass-circulation Bild newspaper reported on Friday that German banks could face as much as 70 billion euros (55 billion pounds) in writedowns on their investments as a result of the credit crisis, citing "speculation by banking insiders" for the report.
A spokesman for Germany's Finance Ministry on Friday also said worldwide losses so far were about $300 billion but said he was not aware of the 70 billion euro figure mentioned in Bild.
Germany's big listed banks such as Deutsche Bank , Commerzbank and Deutsche Postbank have largely escaped the huge subprime-related writedowns seen at some international rivals.
However, the country's state-sector banks have been hit hard, with two of their number nearly collapsing after billions of euros in risky investments turned bad.
Dubai and Brigdepoint reportedly plan Euromedic bid
Dubai and Brigdepoint reportedly plan Euromedic bid
Reuters
Reuters - Sunday, March 30 06:19 am
DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai International Capital (DIC) and private-equity firm Bridgepoint plan to bid jointly for healthcare group Euromedic International for about 700 million pounds, the London Times said on Sunday.
DIC, an investment agency owned by the ruler of Dubai, and Bridgepoint hired UBS AG to advise on an approach for the European firm, which is owned by private-equity house Warburg Pincus, the newspaper reported, without citing anyone.
A sale of Euromedic, which makes diagnostic equipment, would be one of the biggest private-equity deals this year, at a time when the credit crunch has dented mergers and acquisitions volumes, The Times said.
DIC and Bridgepoint already have a relationship in the healthcare sector after Bridgepoint sold Britain-based Alliance Medical to DIC for 600 million pounds last year. Bridgepoint reinvested some of the proceeds into Alliance in return for a 17 percent stake, the Times said.
The two partners are looking at a three-way merger involving Euromedic, Alliance Medical and Gambro, which Bridgepoint bought last year, the newspaper said.
Euromedic is a provider of both diagnostic and dialysis equipment to the central and eastern European markets, as well as Britain. Alliance Medical is a mainly western European business in the diagnostics field, while Gambro, which serves western and northern European markets, specialises in dialysis care services.
Putting the three together would create a pan-European healthcare giant in the manufacture of diagnostics and dialysis technology and services, The Times said.
Jehad Saleh, a spokeswoman for DIC, could not immediately be reached for comment when Reuters called on Sunday.
Reuters
Reuters - Sunday, March 30 06:19 am
DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai International Capital (DIC) and private-equity firm Bridgepoint plan to bid jointly for healthcare group Euromedic International for about 700 million pounds, the London Times said on Sunday.
DIC, an investment agency owned by the ruler of Dubai, and Bridgepoint hired UBS AG to advise on an approach for the European firm, which is owned by private-equity house Warburg Pincus, the newspaper reported, without citing anyone.
A sale of Euromedic, which makes diagnostic equipment, would be one of the biggest private-equity deals this year, at a time when the credit crunch has dented mergers and acquisitions volumes, The Times said.
DIC and Bridgepoint already have a relationship in the healthcare sector after Bridgepoint sold Britain-based Alliance Medical to DIC for 600 million pounds last year. Bridgepoint reinvested some of the proceeds into Alliance in return for a 17 percent stake, the Times said.
The two partners are looking at a three-way merger involving Euromedic, Alliance Medical and Gambro, which Bridgepoint bought last year, the newspaper said.
Euromedic is a provider of both diagnostic and dialysis equipment to the central and eastern European markets, as well as Britain. Alliance Medical is a mainly western European business in the diagnostics field, while Gambro, which serves western and northern European markets, specialises in dialysis care services.
Putting the three together would create a pan-European healthcare giant in the manufacture of diagnostics and dialysis technology and services, The Times said.
Jehad Saleh, a spokeswoman for DIC, could not immediately be reached for comment when Reuters called on Sunday.
Oregon and Washington growers, beekeepers to ask OSU to research bee die-off
Oregon and Washington growers, beekeepers to ask OSU to research bee die-off
As the colony collapse disorder spreads to the Pacific Northwest, farmers worry their crops won't get pollinated
Sunday, March 30, 2008
MICHAEL MILSTEIN
The Oregonian Staff
Oregon farmers nervous that they, their crops and the public will feel the sting from suddenly declining bee populations are pressing for improved research into what's troubling a key link in the food supply.
Bees are vital to pollinate Oregon's high value crops from pears near Hood River to cranberries on the coast, not to mention the roses and other flowers in Portland-area backyards.
But commercial bee colonies that travel around the country to pollinate crops have been hammered in the past few years by a mysterious malady loosely known as colony collapse disorder. In many cases, beekeepers have found their hives suddenly empty, the bees gone and presumed dead.
The disorder has been linked to a virus that can be transmitted by a tiny mite that infests bees. But its dynamics are still fuzzy.
Robert Whannell, who cultivates 25 acres of cranberries south of Astoria, said the beekeeper from Washington who usually brings bees to pollinate his crop lost 4,000 hives' worth of bees this winter out of 13,000 total hives.
"His message to us was, 'If we can't get ahead of this problem, I'm going to be out of business,' " Whannell said. "If it continues to escalate, we're all going to be in trouble."
Without the extra bees to pollinate his cranberries, Whannell said his production would probably drop 70 percent to 80 percent. The bees ferry pollen from flower to flower, fertilizing blossoms so they ripen into plump fruit.
Oregon State University, the state's land grant university that supports agriculture, no longer has a full-time professor focused on bee research. Some farmers are hoping to change that and have an April 8 meeting planned with OSU administrators in Corvallis.
Although the Pacific Northwest had seemed to escape bee die-offs as severe as those seen in other parts of the country, there are signs that the die-off is spreading to this region, too.
Whannell's beekeeper, based in Yakima told Whannell he'd make it to the cranberries this year, but cannot promise that he will next year.
There's increasing unease among farmers about what will happen if beekeepers they depend upon no longer have enough bees to bring.
Growers, beekeepers and others around the state and in Washington will attend the meeting in Corvallis to discuss the need for increased research into honey bee health and pollinators in Oregon.
"We're hoping this is going to be a wake-up call that we need to be focused on this issue that affects the whole food chain," Whannell said.
Oregon State cut back faculty positions as state funding decreased early in this decade, said Stella Coakley, associate dean in OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences. College officials recognize the rising concern about the health of bees -- and the fallout for Oregon agriculture -- if they disappear.
"It does now appear that there are some problems in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest," she said. "Suddenly, it has the attention of the Pacific Northwest in a way it did not before, and correctly so."
She said OSU located some funding so its extension service could expand the services of its insect identification laboratory. The lab is now available to screen bees for diseases including colony collapse disorder or related problems. The lab also surveys Oregon beekeepers to better gauge the health of their bees.
"We're hoping to identify who's having problems and what's causing them," Coakley said.
She said the College of Agricultural Sciences and extension service has a much smaller staff than it did five or six years ago. The main way OSU has been able to expand its research positions is through endowments created with the help of private donors and supportive industries.
For example, the hazelnut industry in Oregon created an endowed professorship focused on hazelnut research.
-----------------
Strange illness makes beekeeping a challenge
Sunday, March 30, 2008
By Jessica Harding (Contact)
Gazette Reporter
ALBANY — John Griffith of Fultonville said Saturday that keeping honeybees is more difficult now than when he started 30 years ago.
At one time, Griffith, one of about 200 attending the Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association’s annual spring seminar, said he had about 50 hives.
Now trying to tend five in semi-retirement, he predicted that this season he’ll only have two survive from last year and they are not likely to be strong.
“Bees were much healthier back then. We didn’t have to worry about these serious health issues. Now, we have to worry about things like mites, beetles and colony collapse,” he said.
Various pests have been threatening the survival of honeybees over the years, including the varroa mite, which began attacking honeybees in the 1980s and was described as “public enemy No. 1 in the beekeeping world” by Shane Gebauer of Brushing Mountain Bee Farm in North Carolina.
But in the past year, a new, unexplainable phenomenon has emerged to vex honeybee populations, called Colony Collapse Disorder.
After a year of research, scientists have not been able to come up with a cause for CCD, which killed millions of honeybees last year, according to Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University.
“No one thing yet can account for CCD,” vanEngelsdorp said. “It is probably a lot of things working together.”
VanEngelsdorp updated participants at the beekeepers seminar held at the University at Albany about ongoing research to find a cause of CCD.
VanEngelsdorp talked about his research, offered possible causes of CCD and gave the beekeepers advice about how to keep honeybees healthy.
Researchers from across the country are helping to study CCD, including those from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Penn State and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. The public became aware of CCD in fall 2006, but vanEngelsdorp said the phenomenon probably started a couple years before that but was dismissed as varroa mites.
“Clearly, varroa mites can’t explain these loses,” vanEngelsdorp said.
VanEngelsdorp said the symptoms of CCD are the appearance of the queen honeybee, dead bees are not present, the remaining bees appear young and there are an insufficient amount of bees to care for the eggs.
Many believe that CCD is due to stress on the honeybees when they are moved, especially in commercial beekeeping operations that have thousands of hives.
VanEngelsdorp said he doesn’t believe the disorder is caused by stress from movement because beekeepers have been moving honeybees for hundreds of years. He said CCD is probably due to a bacteria or virus.
“It is increasingly likely that we are dealing with the bee flu,” he said. “Like the flu in humans it is worse some years than others.”
He said the researchers are currently gathering data to see how bad the CCD problem was this year. He said anecdotal evidence shows that it was about 80 percent as bad as the previous year.
Until a cause is found, vanEngelsdorp encouraged beekeepers to control varroa mites in their colonies, eradicate or don’t use equipment where a colony has completely died, and use protein supplements when necessary to keep bees strong.
“I do think there is hope. I don’t think we can keep the bees healthy,” he said.
The health of honeybee colonies is not only important to the production of honey, but to the agriculture industry that relies on honeybees to pollinate crops. Most flowering plans rely on pollinators to bear fruit.
VanEngelsdorp said the current honeybee population is just enough to meet the pollination demands of the country’s farmers.
“All of our extra bees are gone, and there are a limited number of bees left to meet the pollination demands,” he said.
Griffith said he is not convinced that his bee colonies had died due to CCD. Rather, it seemed as if starvation was the biggest contributor, he said. Nevertheless, Griffith said he’ll give beekeeping one more season before giving up.
“I just bought five more hives that I’ll release in April,” he said. “If they don’t make it, I’ll give up.”
As the colony collapse disorder spreads to the Pacific Northwest, farmers worry their crops won't get pollinated
Sunday, March 30, 2008
MICHAEL MILSTEIN
The Oregonian Staff
Oregon farmers nervous that they, their crops and the public will feel the sting from suddenly declining bee populations are pressing for improved research into what's troubling a key link in the food supply.
Bees are vital to pollinate Oregon's high value crops from pears near Hood River to cranberries on the coast, not to mention the roses and other flowers in Portland-area backyards.
But commercial bee colonies that travel around the country to pollinate crops have been hammered in the past few years by a mysterious malady loosely known as colony collapse disorder. In many cases, beekeepers have found their hives suddenly empty, the bees gone and presumed dead.
The disorder has been linked to a virus that can be transmitted by a tiny mite that infests bees. But its dynamics are still fuzzy.
Robert Whannell, who cultivates 25 acres of cranberries south of Astoria, said the beekeeper from Washington who usually brings bees to pollinate his crop lost 4,000 hives' worth of bees this winter out of 13,000 total hives.
"His message to us was, 'If we can't get ahead of this problem, I'm going to be out of business,' " Whannell said. "If it continues to escalate, we're all going to be in trouble."
Without the extra bees to pollinate his cranberries, Whannell said his production would probably drop 70 percent to 80 percent. The bees ferry pollen from flower to flower, fertilizing blossoms so they ripen into plump fruit.
Oregon State University, the state's land grant university that supports agriculture, no longer has a full-time professor focused on bee research. Some farmers are hoping to change that and have an April 8 meeting planned with OSU administrators in Corvallis.
Although the Pacific Northwest had seemed to escape bee die-offs as severe as those seen in other parts of the country, there are signs that the die-off is spreading to this region, too.
Whannell's beekeeper, based in Yakima told Whannell he'd make it to the cranberries this year, but cannot promise that he will next year.
There's increasing unease among farmers about what will happen if beekeepers they depend upon no longer have enough bees to bring.
Growers, beekeepers and others around the state and in Washington will attend the meeting in Corvallis to discuss the need for increased research into honey bee health and pollinators in Oregon.
"We're hoping this is going to be a wake-up call that we need to be focused on this issue that affects the whole food chain," Whannell said.
Oregon State cut back faculty positions as state funding decreased early in this decade, said Stella Coakley, associate dean in OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences. College officials recognize the rising concern about the health of bees -- and the fallout for Oregon agriculture -- if they disappear.
"It does now appear that there are some problems in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest," she said. "Suddenly, it has the attention of the Pacific Northwest in a way it did not before, and correctly so."
She said OSU located some funding so its extension service could expand the services of its insect identification laboratory. The lab is now available to screen bees for diseases including colony collapse disorder or related problems. The lab also surveys Oregon beekeepers to better gauge the health of their bees.
"We're hoping to identify who's having problems and what's causing them," Coakley said.
She said the College of Agricultural Sciences and extension service has a much smaller staff than it did five or six years ago. The main way OSU has been able to expand its research positions is through endowments created with the help of private donors and supportive industries.
For example, the hazelnut industry in Oregon created an endowed professorship focused on hazelnut research.
-----------------
Strange illness makes beekeeping a challenge
Sunday, March 30, 2008
By Jessica Harding (Contact)
Gazette Reporter
ALBANY — John Griffith of Fultonville said Saturday that keeping honeybees is more difficult now than when he started 30 years ago.
At one time, Griffith, one of about 200 attending the Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association’s annual spring seminar, said he had about 50 hives.
Now trying to tend five in semi-retirement, he predicted that this season he’ll only have two survive from last year and they are not likely to be strong.
“Bees were much healthier back then. We didn’t have to worry about these serious health issues. Now, we have to worry about things like mites, beetles and colony collapse,” he said.
Various pests have been threatening the survival of honeybees over the years, including the varroa mite, which began attacking honeybees in the 1980s and was described as “public enemy No. 1 in the beekeeping world” by Shane Gebauer of Brushing Mountain Bee Farm in North Carolina.
But in the past year, a new, unexplainable phenomenon has emerged to vex honeybee populations, called Colony Collapse Disorder.
After a year of research, scientists have not been able to come up with a cause for CCD, which killed millions of honeybees last year, according to Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University.
“No one thing yet can account for CCD,” vanEngelsdorp said. “It is probably a lot of things working together.”
VanEngelsdorp updated participants at the beekeepers seminar held at the University at Albany about ongoing research to find a cause of CCD.
VanEngelsdorp talked about his research, offered possible causes of CCD and gave the beekeepers advice about how to keep honeybees healthy.
Researchers from across the country are helping to study CCD, including those from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Penn State and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. The public became aware of CCD in fall 2006, but vanEngelsdorp said the phenomenon probably started a couple years before that but was dismissed as varroa mites.
“Clearly, varroa mites can’t explain these loses,” vanEngelsdorp said.
VanEngelsdorp said the symptoms of CCD are the appearance of the queen honeybee, dead bees are not present, the remaining bees appear young and there are an insufficient amount of bees to care for the eggs.
Many believe that CCD is due to stress on the honeybees when they are moved, especially in commercial beekeeping operations that have thousands of hives.
VanEngelsdorp said he doesn’t believe the disorder is caused by stress from movement because beekeepers have been moving honeybees for hundreds of years. He said CCD is probably due to a bacteria or virus.
“It is increasingly likely that we are dealing with the bee flu,” he said. “Like the flu in humans it is worse some years than others.”
He said the researchers are currently gathering data to see how bad the CCD problem was this year. He said anecdotal evidence shows that it was about 80 percent as bad as the previous year.
Until a cause is found, vanEngelsdorp encouraged beekeepers to control varroa mites in their colonies, eradicate or don’t use equipment where a colony has completely died, and use protein supplements when necessary to keep bees strong.
“I do think there is hope. I don’t think we can keep the bees healthy,” he said.
The health of honeybee colonies is not only important to the production of honey, but to the agriculture industry that relies on honeybees to pollinate crops. Most flowering plans rely on pollinators to bear fruit.
VanEngelsdorp said the current honeybee population is just enough to meet the pollination demands of the country’s farmers.
“All of our extra bees are gone, and there are a limited number of bees left to meet the pollination demands,” he said.
Griffith said he is not convinced that his bee colonies had died due to CCD. Rather, it seemed as if starvation was the biggest contributor, he said. Nevertheless, Griffith said he’ll give beekeeping one more season before giving up.
“I just bought five more hives that I’ll release in April,” he said. “If they don’t make it, I’ll give up.”
「客離れ怖い」苦渋のスタンド、値下げ「１日から」続々
「客離れ怖い」苦渋のスタンド、値下げ「１日から」続々
値下げを知らせる紙が張り出されたガソリンスタンド（山形市香澄町の「野口鉱油山形駅前給油所」）＝２９日、米山裕之撮影
ガソリン税などの暫定税率の期限切れ対策として、全国のガソリンスタンド（ＧＳ）で、４月１日から大幅な値下げに踏み切る所が増えている。
石油元売り大手のうち出光興産、ジャパンエナジー、コスモ石油が１日出荷分のガソリンから１リットルあたり２２～２３円程度の値下げを決め、３社の系列店を中心に値下げが広がる見通しとなった。
こうした動きは特約店や他の系列店にもあり、すでに先行値下げに踏み切ったところも。ただ、初日のガソリン注文量が配送能力を上回り、売り切れが相次ぐ懸念も出ている。
静岡市の出光興産系列ＧＳでは、１日から１３０円程度で販売する。男性店長は「高い税率で仕入れた在庫を２５円引きで売るなら、３月中に１０～１５円引きで売ったほうがまし」と腐心しており、月内の値下げも検討中だ。他の大手の系列店でも値下げの動きはあり、エクソンモービル系列の「野口鉱油」（山形県天童市）は、「客に納得してもらえない」として、１日から２５円値下げする。
こうした動きは大手の特約店の中にもあるが、各社が懸念しているのが値段の据え置きによる客離れだ。東京都内ＧＳの男性店長（３６）は「後れをとってほかに客を奪われては目も当てられない」。「他社に勝つには我慢するしかない」（新潟市の特約店）、「値下げをあてにした客とのトラブルが怖い」（京都府長岡京市のＧＳ）という声もある。
一方、新日本石油の系列では、製油所からの距離によって卸価格の値下げ時期に差が生じる。秋田県西部の系列ＧＳでは、仕入れ価格が下がるのは７～１０日程度先。「ライバル店が値下げしたら追随するしかない」と苦しい胸のうちを明かした。
都心の特約店は１日から２５円値下げする。在庫の２２０キロ・リットルは暫定税率上乗せ分が含まれた価格で仕入れているため、「従業員２０人分の給与（約５５０万円）をかぶることになるが、客に高いガソリンは売れない」。
今回の値下げを商機ととらえ、先行値下げに踏み切ったところも。北陸地方でセルフ式スタンド６店を経営する「カナショク」（金沢市）は２８日から、４店で７～８円の値下げに踏み切った。１日からは２５・１円まで値下げ幅を広げる。
同社の藤沢忠男社長（５６）は「客の期待は裏切れない。新規顧客の獲得にもなる」と話している。
値下げを知らせる紙が張り出されたガソリンスタンド（山形市香澄町の「野口鉱油山形駅前給油所」）＝２９日、米山裕之撮影
ガソリン税などの暫定税率の期限切れ対策として、全国のガソリンスタンド（ＧＳ）で、４月１日から大幅な値下げに踏み切る所が増えている。
石油元売り大手のうち出光興産、ジャパンエナジー、コスモ石油が１日出荷分のガソリンから１リットルあたり２２～２３円程度の値下げを決め、３社の系列店を中心に値下げが広がる見通しとなった。
こうした動きは特約店や他の系列店にもあり、すでに先行値下げに踏み切ったところも。ただ、初日のガソリン注文量が配送能力を上回り、売り切れが相次ぐ懸念も出ている。
静岡市の出光興産系列ＧＳでは、１日から１３０円程度で販売する。男性店長は「高い税率で仕入れた在庫を２５円引きで売るなら、３月中に１０～１５円引きで売ったほうがまし」と腐心しており、月内の値下げも検討中だ。他の大手の系列店でも値下げの動きはあり、エクソンモービル系列の「野口鉱油」（山形県天童市）は、「客に納得してもらえない」として、１日から２５円値下げする。
こうした動きは大手の特約店の中にもあるが、各社が懸念しているのが値段の据え置きによる客離れだ。東京都内ＧＳの男性店長（３６）は「後れをとってほかに客を奪われては目も当てられない」。「他社に勝つには我慢するしかない」（新潟市の特約店）、「値下げをあてにした客とのトラブルが怖い」（京都府長岡京市のＧＳ）という声もある。
一方、新日本石油の系列では、製油所からの距離によって卸価格の値下げ時期に差が生じる。秋田県西部の系列ＧＳでは、仕入れ価格が下がるのは７～１０日程度先。「ライバル店が値下げしたら追随するしかない」と苦しい胸のうちを明かした。
都心の特約店は１日から２５円値下げする。在庫の２２０キロ・リットルは暫定税率上乗せ分が含まれた価格で仕入れているため、「従業員２０人分の給与（約５５０万円）をかぶることになるが、客に高いガソリンは売れない」。
今回の値下げを商機ととらえ、先行値下げに踏み切ったところも。北陸地方でセルフ式スタンド６店を経営する「カナショク」（金沢市）は２８日から、４店で７～８円の値下げに踏み切った。１日からは２５・１円まで値下げ幅を広げる。
同社の藤沢忠男社長（５６）は「客の期待は裏切れない。新規顧客の獲得にもなる」と話している。
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Demon Seed
Demon Seed
How fear of life-saving technology swept through Africa
Kerry Howley | March 28, 2008
In May 2002, in the midst of a severe food shortage in sub-Saharan Africa, the government of Zimbabwe turned away 10,000 tons of corn from the World Food Program (WFP). The WFP then diverted the food to other countries, including Zambia, where 2.5 million people were in need. The Zambian government locked away the corn, banned its distribution, and stopped another shipment on its way to the country. “Simply because my people are hungry,” President Levy Mwanawasa later said, “is no justification to give them poison.”
The corn came from farms in the United States, where most corn produced—and consumed—comes from seeds that have been engineered to resist some pests, and thus qualifies as genetically modified. Throughout the 90s, genetically modified foods were seen as holding promise for the farmers of Africa, so long as multinationals would invest in developing superior African crops rather than extend the technology only to the rich. When Zambia and Zimbabwe turned away food aid, simmering controversy over the crops themselves brimmed over and seeped into almost every African state. Cast as toxic to humans, destructive to the environment, and part of a corporate plot to immiserate the poor, cutting edge farming technology is most feared where it is most needed. As Robert Paarlberg notes in his new book, Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is Being Kept Out of Africa (Harvard University Press), in 2004 the Sudanese government “took time out from its genocidal suppression of a rebellion in Darfur to issue a memorandum requiring that all food aid brought into the country should be certified as free of any GM ingredients.”
Starved for Science includes forwards by both Jimmy Carter and Norman Borlaug, the architect of Asia’s Green Revolution and the man credited with saving more human lives than anyone else in history. Paarlberg, a Professor of Political Science at Wellesley and a specialist in agricultural policy, wants the West to help small African farmers obtain promising technologies just as it helped Asia discover biological breakthroughs in the 60s and 70s. Instead, he says, a coalition of European governments and African elites are promoting a Western vision of rustic, low-productivity labor.
reason: Was there a particular experience with African farmers that led you to write this book?
Robert Paarlberg: Partly it was the strong impression made on me by my own visits to rural Africa, working with African organizations, working with USAID, working with International Food Policy Research Institute. I started visiting small farms in Africa 15 years ago. I’d seen a lot of poor farmers in Asia and Latin America but absolutely nothing like this. There was simply no uptake of any modern productivity-enhancing technologies at all in some cases. And I wondered why I hadn’t been aware of this. And then, when I saw more and more narrative in the NGO community and the donor community that was frankly hostile to science, I thought “I have to put this down and write a book for younger people in the donor community who may not remember the importance of technology uptake in Asian agriculture 40 years ago.”
reason: You suggest that your understanding of modern ideas about food production arises from interactions with your students. What is it that they want?
Paarlberg: My students know just what kind of food system they want: a food system that isn’t based on industrial scale monoculture. They want instead small farms built around nature imitating polycultures. They don’t want chemical use; they certainly don’t want genetic engineering. They want slow food instead of fast food. They’ve got this image of what would be better than what we have now. And what they probably don’t realize is that Africa is an extreme version of that fantasy. If we were producing our own food that way, 60 percent of us would still be farming and would be earning a dollar a day, and a third of us would be malnourished. I’m trying to find some way to honor the rejection that my students have for some aspects of modern farming, but I don’t want them to fantasize about the exact opposite.
reason: Can you give an example of a genetically modified seed or organism, something in use today?
Paarlberg: Bt crops have been engineered to contain a gene from a naturally occurring soil bacterium that expresses a certain protein that cannot be digested by caterpillars. Mammals can digest the protein with absolutely no problem, but caterpillars cannot. When the caterpillars eat the plant, they die.
What’s wonderful about this is that it’s so precisely targeted at the insects eating the plant. The other insects in the field aren’t affected. Using conventional corn instead of Bt corn, you have to spray the whole field and you end up killing a lot of non-targeted species. With this variety, you don’t have to spray.
reason: That sounds less scary than “Genetically Modified Organism.”
Paarlberg: The book makes the argument that the overregulation of this technology in Europe and the anxieties felt about it in the United States are not so much a reflection of risks, because there aren’t any documented risks from any GM crops on the market. I explain that reaction through the absence of direct benefit. The technology is directly beneficial to only a tiny number of citizens in rich countries—soybean farmers, corn farmers, a few seed companies, patent holders. Consumers don’t get a direct benefit at all, so it doesn’t cost them anything to drive it off the market with regulations. The problem comes when the regulatory systems created in rich countries are then exported to regions like Africa, where two thirds of the people are farmers, and where they would be the direct beneficiaries.
reason: How pervasive are genetically modified foods in the U.S.?
Paarlberg: Roughly 90 percent of the cotton and soybeans produced in the US are genetically modified. Fifty or 70 percent of the corn is genetically modified. If you look at the products on a retail store shelf, probably 70 percent of them contain some ingredients from genetically modified crops. Mostly corn or soybeans.
reason: Are there documented safety risks that merit caution?
Paarlberg: There aren’t any. It’s like the first ten years of aviation without a plane crash.
reason: What about environmental risks? Don’t GM crops affect surrounding plantlife?
Paarlberg: The only impacts they have different from conventional crops are beneficial to the environment. They allow you to control weeds and insects with fewer sprayings of toxic chemicals. And they don’t require as many trips through the field with your diesel tractor, so you burn less fossil fuel. And there is more carbon sequestered because you’re not tilling the soil the way you otherwise would.
There are environmental impacts; there is gene flow. The pollen from a genetically modified maize plant will flow into a neighboring field and will fertilize the crops in that neighboring field. Some of the seeds, as a consequence, will contain the transgene, but that’s no different from pollen from a conventional maize plant flowing into the next field. It’s only if you decide arbitrarily to define gene flow from genetically modified crops as “contamination” and flow from all other crops as natural. Only then does it start to become describable as an adverse effect.
The worst environmental damage ever done by American agricultural was the dustbowl of the 1930s, when we plowed up the southern plains to grow wheat, and all the topsoil blew away. The way we increased production back then was to expand crop area, which was environmentally disastrous. It was a calamity. That was the way we tried to increase production before we had high yielding crops, before we had high yielding wheat varieties, before we had hybrid maize, before we learned to increase the productivity of the land already under cultivation.
reason: Can you give us a sense of what an average African farmer in, say, Zambia, is currently working with?
Paarlberg: It would be a woman and her children primarily, and they would plant not a hybrid maize, but a traditional openly pollinated variety, and they would time the preparation of the soil and planting as best they could for when they thought the rains would come. But the rains might not come in time, or they might be too heavy and wash the seeds out of the ground. It’s a risky endeavor. They can’t afford fertilizer, and it’s too risky to use fertilizer because in a drought the maize would shrivel up and the fertilizer would be wasted. They don’t have any irrigation. As a consequence, even in a good year their yields per hectare will be only about one third as high as in Asian countries, 1/10 as high as in the United States.
reason: Just as it used to be in Asia.
Paarlberg: Everywhere!
reason: Right, everywhere. But Asia has moved on in recent memory. The Green Revolution introduced new biological breakthroughs to Asian agriculture to the point where no one today thinks of South Korea as a rural backwater. Why was Africa not a part of this?
Paarlberg: One reason is that Africa is not easily irrigated. The big irrigated crops like rice aren’t to be found in Africa and the big investments in the Green Revolution went into improving Asian crops like rice. The crops Africans grow weren’t the crops that were being improved during the green revolution.
But I don’t blame it all on the Asia-focus of the original green revolution; we have had plenty of time to invest in scientific research for Africa’s crops, and to make investments in rural public goods like roads or power to make it affordable for African farmers to purchase fertilizer. But African governments have not done that job. In my book I show that typically African governments will spend less than 5 percent of their budget on agriculture even though that’s where two thirds of their citizens work. And if you don’t have larger public sector investments than that, there is just not going to be any uptake in the countryside. But then I go around and show that you can’t blame African governments, entirely, because prosperous donor countries are no longer supporting agriculture in Africa.
reason: No African government other than South Africa’s has made it legal to plant GMOs. You call this “out of character” for the same governments.
Paarlberg: They have not yet enacted the law, set up the biosafety committee, and granted approval, which is the laborious process that [the United Nations Environmental Program] and the European governments have coached them into adopting.
It’s interesting. In no other area are governments in Africa particularly concerned about hypothetical environmental risks. They know better than to invoke the precautionary principle when it comes to unsafe food in open air markets. They know that they need to first get rid of actual food shortages and raise income; then and only then can they afford to impose the same extremely high standards of food safety on open air markets that are imposed on supermarkets in Europe. Yet curiously when it comes to GMOs they adopt the highly precautionary European standard, which makes it impossible to put these products on the market at all. I take that as evidence that this is not an authentic African response, it’s a response imported from Europe.
reason: So the romanticization of bucolic farm landscapes unmarred by scientific advance has an American and European pedigree.
Paarlberg: It’s not what we do at home—only two percent of agricultural products in the US are organically grown. And many of those that are organically grown are grown on industrial scale organic farms in California that don’t bear any resemblance to small bucolic farms. But it’s the image we promote in our new cultural narrative. It’s something that affects the way we give foreign assistance.
reason: Many of the anti-agricultural science gurus you mention in your book have a spiritual dimension. Can you talk a bit about Sylvester Graham?
Paarlberg: Sylvester Graham, the father of the modern graham cracker, was opposed to the modern flour milling industry. He didn’t like the industrialization of bread production, and he wanted women to go back to grinding flour. He was a religious man, a minister, and he had all of the narrow minded prejudices we might associate with a New England clergyman from the 19th century. He thought that women should stay in the home, he believed people should be vegetarians because that would keep their sexual appetite back. We sometimes forget what goes along with the food purist zealotry. It’s often zealotry about more than just a certain kind of food to eat.
In Zambia today there are expatriate Jesuits from the United States who have come to believe genetic engineering is against God’s teaching, though this is not a belief that is embraced by the Vatican. They believe that all living things, including plants, have a right not to have their genetic makeup modified. Of course we have been modifying the genetic makeup of plants ever since we domesticated them 10,000 years ago, but these particular fathers are focused only on genetic engineering.
reason: Isn’t it paternalistic to blame Europeans for the decisions of African governments? Is this something African elites are at least as complicit in?
Paarlberg: It’s a codependency. The African elites depend upon Europe for financial assistance, they depend upon European export markets, they depend on NGOs for technical assistance, it’s just easier for them to follow the European lead than to go against that lead. And to some extent the European governments depend upon having dependents in Africa that will, despite the difficult experience of colonization, continue to imitate and validate and honor European culture and taste.
reason: What exactly have European NGOs done to discourage productivity in farming? You quote Doug Parr, a chemist at Greenpeace, arguing that the de facto organic status of farms in Africa is an opportunity to lock in organic farming, since African farmers have yet to advance beyond that.
Paarlberg: Some of it is well intentioned. The organic farming movement believes this is an appropriate corrective to the chemical intensive farming that they see in Europe. In Europe, where prosperous consumers are willing to pay a premium for organic products, it sometimes makes sense to use a more costly production process. So they think, “Well it’s the wave of the future here in Europe, so it should be the future in Africa as well.”
So they tell Africans who don’t use enough fertilizer that instead of using more they should go to zero and certify themselves as organic. That’s probably the most damaging influence — discouraging Africans from using enough fertilizer to restore the nutrients they mine out of their soil. They classify African farmers as either certified organic, or de facto organic. Indeed, many are de facto organic. And their goal is not to increase the productivity of the organic farmers, but to certify them as organic.
I just find that to be lacking in moral clarity.
reason: But there are functioning organic farms. If I decide to buy only organic food from Africa, what will I be buying?
Paarlberg: It wouldn’t be grown by small fair-trade-type poor farmers. It would be grown through a vertically integrated, probably European, company that would bring in the machinery, bring in the seeds, bring in the fertilizers, set up a production system that would more nearly resemble a colonial-era plantation than a small independent African farm.
reason: We’ve seen similar resistance to GMOs in India and Brazil, both of which now have legalized the use of genetically modified crops. What happened?
Paarlberg: Farmers were planting them illicitly before the final approval—that’s one reason they were forced into the approval. The technology worked so well that farmers were planting them on their own and you couldn’t criminalize all Brazilian soybean growers so you had to approve them. Similarly in India, Bt cotton spread on its own and performed so well that the government was eventually shamed into approving it.
reason: You aren’t just calling for people to get out of the way. You want increased aid for agricultural research. But why would any of this require aid? If it’s going to prove profitable, shouldn’t the incentive for private investment be there?
Paarlberg: The farmers who need the technology in Africa don’t have enough purchasing power to be of interest to private companies. Or they’re growing crops that aren’t a part of a commercial seed market that would interest private seed companies. The only way to reach them, really, is to consider the crops that they grow, for example tropical white maize or cassava. It’s a little bit like the orphan disease problem. It’s really something that has to be done as a public good by the public sector.
That’s how the green revolution proceeded in India in the 1960s. It was a wonderful success, and it wasn’t really driven by the private sector. It was driven by philanthropic foundations and public investment. Also you need not just seed improvement, but more rural farm-to-market roads, electrification, and things that really governments and only governments are incentivized and capable of doing.
There was a time, before scare stories about technology spread, when the concern was a much more legitimate one: that we’ve handed this technology over to private companies to develop, and they won’t have any incentive to get it to Africa. And to some extent that’s still a legitimate concern. There was never any fear that Brazilian farmers or Canadian farmers wouldn’t be able to get the technology, because they’re big commercial growers. The concern was originally that Africans would want the technology but wouldn’t be able to get it because they didn’t have the purchasing power or the investment climate that could attract private companies.
reason: The book is 200 pages of frustration. Are there any glimmers of hope ahead?
Paarlberg: Just last week in Nairobi the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and African Agricultural Technology Foundation announced that they would be going forward with the drought-tolerant maize project that I describe in chapter 5 of my book. I’m very pleased that the Gates Foundation has seen the opportunity that this new technology provides. It would be too bad if drought tolerant corn were being grown in Iowa in 2010 and not available to the farmer who really needed it in Africa.
Drought in Africa pushes small farmers back into poverty whenever it strikes. They have to sell off all their household possessions to buy the food their families need until the next season. It blocks the escape from poverty that they might otherwise achieve. Anything that puts a safety net under crop yields is going to protect small African farmers from that periodic decapitalization and let them start accumulating assets for a change.
How fear of life-saving technology swept through Africa
Kerry Howley | March 28, 2008
In May 2002, in the midst of a severe food shortage in sub-Saharan Africa, the government of Zimbabwe turned away 10,000 tons of corn from the World Food Program (WFP). The WFP then diverted the food to other countries, including Zambia, where 2.5 million people were in need. The Zambian government locked away the corn, banned its distribution, and stopped another shipment on its way to the country. “Simply because my people are hungry,” President Levy Mwanawasa later said, “is no justification to give them poison.”
The corn came from farms in the United States, where most corn produced—and consumed—comes from seeds that have been engineered to resist some pests, and thus qualifies as genetically modified. Throughout the 90s, genetically modified foods were seen as holding promise for the farmers of Africa, so long as multinationals would invest in developing superior African crops rather than extend the technology only to the rich. When Zambia and Zimbabwe turned away food aid, simmering controversy over the crops themselves brimmed over and seeped into almost every African state. Cast as toxic to humans, destructive to the environment, and part of a corporate plot to immiserate the poor, cutting edge farming technology is most feared where it is most needed. As Robert Paarlberg notes in his new book, Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is Being Kept Out of Africa (Harvard University Press), in 2004 the Sudanese government “took time out from its genocidal suppression of a rebellion in Darfur to issue a memorandum requiring that all food aid brought into the country should be certified as free of any GM ingredients.”
Starved for Science includes forwards by both Jimmy Carter and Norman Borlaug, the architect of Asia’s Green Revolution and the man credited with saving more human lives than anyone else in history. Paarlberg, a Professor of Political Science at Wellesley and a specialist in agricultural policy, wants the West to help small African farmers obtain promising technologies just as it helped Asia discover biological breakthroughs in the 60s and 70s. Instead, he says, a coalition of European governments and African elites are promoting a Western vision of rustic, low-productivity labor.
reason: Was there a particular experience with African farmers that led you to write this book?
Robert Paarlberg: Partly it was the strong impression made on me by my own visits to rural Africa, working with African organizations, working with USAID, working with International Food Policy Research Institute. I started visiting small farms in Africa 15 years ago. I’d seen a lot of poor farmers in Asia and Latin America but absolutely nothing like this. There was simply no uptake of any modern productivity-enhancing technologies at all in some cases. And I wondered why I hadn’t been aware of this. And then, when I saw more and more narrative in the NGO community and the donor community that was frankly hostile to science, I thought “I have to put this down and write a book for younger people in the donor community who may not remember the importance of technology uptake in Asian agriculture 40 years ago.”
reason: You suggest that your understanding of modern ideas about food production arises from interactions with your students. What is it that they want?
Paarlberg: My students know just what kind of food system they want: a food system that isn’t based on industrial scale monoculture. They want instead small farms built around nature imitating polycultures. They don’t want chemical use; they certainly don’t want genetic engineering. They want slow food instead of fast food. They’ve got this image of what would be better than what we have now. And what they probably don’t realize is that Africa is an extreme version of that fantasy. If we were producing our own food that way, 60 percent of us would still be farming and would be earning a dollar a day, and a third of us would be malnourished. I’m trying to find some way to honor the rejection that my students have for some aspects of modern farming, but I don’t want them to fantasize about the exact opposite.
reason: Can you give an example of a genetically modified seed or organism, something in use today?
Paarlberg: Bt crops have been engineered to contain a gene from a naturally occurring soil bacterium that expresses a certain protein that cannot be digested by caterpillars. Mammals can digest the protein with absolutely no problem, but caterpillars cannot. When the caterpillars eat the plant, they die.
What’s wonderful about this is that it’s so precisely targeted at the insects eating the plant. The other insects in the field aren’t affected. Using conventional corn instead of Bt corn, you have to spray the whole field and you end up killing a lot of non-targeted species. With this variety, you don’t have to spray.
reason: That sounds less scary than “Genetically Modified Organism.”
Paarlberg: The book makes the argument that the overregulation of this technology in Europe and the anxieties felt about it in the United States are not so much a reflection of risks, because there aren’t any documented risks from any GM crops on the market. I explain that reaction through the absence of direct benefit. The technology is directly beneficial to only a tiny number of citizens in rich countries—soybean farmers, corn farmers, a few seed companies, patent holders. Consumers don’t get a direct benefit at all, so it doesn’t cost them anything to drive it off the market with regulations. The problem comes when the regulatory systems created in rich countries are then exported to regions like Africa, where two thirds of the people are farmers, and where they would be the direct beneficiaries.
reason: How pervasive are genetically modified foods in the U.S.?
Paarlberg: Roughly 90 percent of the cotton and soybeans produced in the US are genetically modified. Fifty or 70 percent of the corn is genetically modified. If you look at the products on a retail store shelf, probably 70 percent of them contain some ingredients from genetically modified crops. Mostly corn or soybeans.
reason: Are there documented safety risks that merit caution?
Paarlberg: There aren’t any. It’s like the first ten years of aviation without a plane crash.
reason: What about environmental risks? Don’t GM crops affect surrounding plantlife?
Paarlberg: The only impacts they have different from conventional crops are beneficial to the environment. They allow you to control weeds and insects with fewer sprayings of toxic chemicals. And they don’t require as many trips through the field with your diesel tractor, so you burn less fossil fuel. And there is more carbon sequestered because you’re not tilling the soil the way you otherwise would.
There are environmental impacts; there is gene flow. The pollen from a genetically modified maize plant will flow into a neighboring field and will fertilize the crops in that neighboring field. Some of the seeds, as a consequence, will contain the transgene, but that’s no different from pollen from a conventional maize plant flowing into the next field. It’s only if you decide arbitrarily to define gene flow from genetically modified crops as “contamination” and flow from all other crops as natural. Only then does it start to become describable as an adverse effect.
The worst environmental damage ever done by American agricultural was the dustbowl of the 1930s, when we plowed up the southern plains to grow wheat, and all the topsoil blew away. The way we increased production back then was to expand crop area, which was environmentally disastrous. It was a calamity. That was the way we tried to increase production before we had high yielding crops, before we had high yielding wheat varieties, before we had hybrid maize, before we learned to increase the productivity of the land already under cultivation.
reason: Can you give us a sense of what an average African farmer in, say, Zambia, is currently working with?
Paarlberg: It would be a woman and her children primarily, and they would plant not a hybrid maize, but a traditional openly pollinated variety, and they would time the preparation of the soil and planting as best they could for when they thought the rains would come. But the rains might not come in time, or they might be too heavy and wash the seeds out of the ground. It’s a risky endeavor. They can’t afford fertilizer, and it’s too risky to use fertilizer because in a drought the maize would shrivel up and the fertilizer would be wasted. They don’t have any irrigation. As a consequence, even in a good year their yields per hectare will be only about one third as high as in Asian countries, 1/10 as high as in the United States.
reason: Just as it used to be in Asia.
Paarlberg: Everywhere!
reason: Right, everywhere. But Asia has moved on in recent memory. The Green Revolution introduced new biological breakthroughs to Asian agriculture to the point where no one today thinks of South Korea as a rural backwater. Why was Africa not a part of this?
Paarlberg: One reason is that Africa is not easily irrigated. The big irrigated crops like rice aren’t to be found in Africa and the big investments in the Green Revolution went into improving Asian crops like rice. The crops Africans grow weren’t the crops that were being improved during the green revolution.
But I don’t blame it all on the Asia-focus of the original green revolution; we have had plenty of time to invest in scientific research for Africa’s crops, and to make investments in rural public goods like roads or power to make it affordable for African farmers to purchase fertilizer. But African governments have not done that job. In my book I show that typically African governments will spend less than 5 percent of their budget on agriculture even though that’s where two thirds of their citizens work. And if you don’t have larger public sector investments than that, there is just not going to be any uptake in the countryside. But then I go around and show that you can’t blame African governments, entirely, because prosperous donor countries are no longer supporting agriculture in Africa.
reason: No African government other than South Africa’s has made it legal to plant GMOs. You call this “out of character” for the same governments.
Paarlberg: They have not yet enacted the law, set up the biosafety committee, and granted approval, which is the laborious process that [the United Nations Environmental Program] and the European governments have coached them into adopting.
It’s interesting. In no other area are governments in Africa particularly concerned about hypothetical environmental risks. They know better than to invoke the precautionary principle when it comes to unsafe food in open air markets. They know that they need to first get rid of actual food shortages and raise income; then and only then can they afford to impose the same extremely high standards of food safety on open air markets that are imposed on supermarkets in Europe. Yet curiously when it comes to GMOs they adopt the highly precautionary European standard, which makes it impossible to put these products on the market at all. I take that as evidence that this is not an authentic African response, it’s a response imported from Europe.
reason: So the romanticization of bucolic farm landscapes unmarred by scientific advance has an American and European pedigree.
Paarlberg: It’s not what we do at home—only two percent of agricultural products in the US are organically grown. And many of those that are organically grown are grown on industrial scale organic farms in California that don’t bear any resemblance to small bucolic farms. But it’s the image we promote in our new cultural narrative. It’s something that affects the way we give foreign assistance.
reason: Many of the anti-agricultural science gurus you mention in your book have a spiritual dimension. Can you talk a bit about Sylvester Graham?
Paarlberg: Sylvester Graham, the father of the modern graham cracker, was opposed to the modern flour milling industry. He didn’t like the industrialization of bread production, and he wanted women to go back to grinding flour. He was a religious man, a minister, and he had all of the narrow minded prejudices we might associate with a New England clergyman from the 19th century. He thought that women should stay in the home, he believed people should be vegetarians because that would keep their sexual appetite back. We sometimes forget what goes along with the food purist zealotry. It’s often zealotry about more than just a certain kind of food to eat.
In Zambia today there are expatriate Jesuits from the United States who have come to believe genetic engineering is against God’s teaching, though this is not a belief that is embraced by the Vatican. They believe that all living things, including plants, have a right not to have their genetic makeup modified. Of course we have been modifying the genetic makeup of plants ever since we domesticated them 10,000 years ago, but these particular fathers are focused only on genetic engineering.
reason: Isn’t it paternalistic to blame Europeans for the decisions of African governments? Is this something African elites are at least as complicit in?
Paarlberg: It’s a codependency. The African elites depend upon Europe for financial assistance, they depend upon European export markets, they depend on NGOs for technical assistance, it’s just easier for them to follow the European lead than to go against that lead. And to some extent the European governments depend upon having dependents in Africa that will, despite the difficult experience of colonization, continue to imitate and validate and honor European culture and taste.
reason: What exactly have European NGOs done to discourage productivity in farming? You quote Doug Parr, a chemist at Greenpeace, arguing that the de facto organic status of farms in Africa is an opportunity to lock in organic farming, since African farmers have yet to advance beyond that.
Paarlberg: Some of it is well intentioned. The organic farming movement believes this is an appropriate corrective to the chemical intensive farming that they see in Europe. In Europe, where prosperous consumers are willing to pay a premium for organic products, it sometimes makes sense to use a more costly production process. So they think, “Well it’s the wave of the future here in Europe, so it should be the future in Africa as well.”
So they tell Africans who don’t use enough fertilizer that instead of using more they should go to zero and certify themselves as organic. That’s probably the most damaging influence — discouraging Africans from using enough fertilizer to restore the nutrients they mine out of their soil. They classify African farmers as either certified organic, or de facto organic. Indeed, many are de facto organic. And their goal is not to increase the productivity of the organic farmers, but to certify them as organic.
I just find that to be lacking in moral clarity.
reason: But there are functioning organic farms. If I decide to buy only organic food from Africa, what will I be buying?
Paarlberg: It wouldn’t be grown by small fair-trade-type poor farmers. It would be grown through a vertically integrated, probably European, company that would bring in the machinery, bring in the seeds, bring in the fertilizers, set up a production system that would more nearly resemble a colonial-era plantation than a small independent African farm.
reason: We’ve seen similar resistance to GMOs in India and Brazil, both of which now have legalized the use of genetically modified crops. What happened?
Paarlberg: Farmers were planting them illicitly before the final approval—that’s one reason they were forced into the approval. The technology worked so well that farmers were planting them on their own and you couldn’t criminalize all Brazilian soybean growers so you had to approve them. Similarly in India, Bt cotton spread on its own and performed so well that the government was eventually shamed into approving it.
reason: You aren’t just calling for people to get out of the way. You want increased aid for agricultural research. But why would any of this require aid? If it’s going to prove profitable, shouldn’t the incentive for private investment be there?
Paarlberg: The farmers who need the technology in Africa don’t have enough purchasing power to be of interest to private companies. Or they’re growing crops that aren’t a part of a commercial seed market that would interest private seed companies. The only way to reach them, really, is to consider the crops that they grow, for example tropical white maize or cassava. It’s a little bit like the orphan disease problem. It’s really something that has to be done as a public good by the public sector.
That’s how the green revolution proceeded in India in the 1960s. It was a wonderful success, and it wasn’t really driven by the private sector. It was driven by philanthropic foundations and public investment. Also you need not just seed improvement, but more rural farm-to-market roads, electrification, and things that really governments and only governments are incentivized and capable of doing.
There was a time, before scare stories about technology spread, when the concern was a much more legitimate one: that we’ve handed this technology over to private companies to develop, and they won’t have any incentive to get it to Africa. And to some extent that’s still a legitimate concern. There was never any fear that Brazilian farmers or Canadian farmers wouldn’t be able to get the technology, because they’re big commercial growers. The concern was originally that Africans would want the technology but wouldn’t be able to get it because they didn’t have the purchasing power or the investment climate that could attract private companies.
reason: The book is 200 pages of frustration. Are there any glimmers of hope ahead?
Paarlberg: Just last week in Nairobi the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and African Agricultural Technology Foundation announced that they would be going forward with the drought-tolerant maize project that I describe in chapter 5 of my book. I’m very pleased that the Gates Foundation has seen the opportunity that this new technology provides. It would be too bad if drought tolerant corn were being grown in Iowa in 2010 and not available to the farmer who really needed it in Africa.
Drought in Africa pushes small farmers back into poverty whenever it strikes. They have to sell off all their household possessions to buy the food their families need until the next season. It blocks the escape from poverty that they might otherwise achieve. Anything that puts a safety net under crop yields is going to protect small African farmers from that periodic decapitalization and let them start accumulating assets for a change.
EU allows imports of genetically-modified maize
EU allows imports of genetically-modified maize
By DPA
Mar 28, 2008, 17:22 GMT
Brussels - The European Commission on Friday extended the authorisation of products derived from genetically-modified (GM) maize after EU member states failed to agree on the issue.
The so-called GA21 maize is already authorised for feed and food use within the bloc. But Friday's decision allows the import of this kind of maize from third countries where it is cultivated.
EU countries are currently not allowed to grow GA21.
Officials in Brussels said the maize has been considered safe by the European Food Safety Authority.
But Germany, Austria, Italy and other member states still oppose its use.
Neither the pro- or anti-GM camps succeeded in obtaining a qualified majority at a recent meeting of EU agriculture ministers, leaving a final decision on the issue in the hands of the commission.
By DPA
Mar 28, 2008, 17:22 GMT
Brussels - The European Commission on Friday extended the authorisation of products derived from genetically-modified (GM) maize after EU member states failed to agree on the issue.
The so-called GA21 maize is already authorised for feed and food use within the bloc. But Friday's decision allows the import of this kind of maize from third countries where it is cultivated.
EU countries are currently not allowed to grow GA21.
Officials in Brussels said the maize has been considered safe by the European Food Safety Authority.
But Germany, Austria, Italy and other member states still oppose its use.
Neither the pro- or anti-GM camps succeeded in obtaining a qualified majority at a recent meeting of EU agriculture ministers, leaving a final decision on the issue in the hands of the commission.
Industry cooperation needed for applying rice tests
Industry cooperation needed for applying rice tests
By Laura Crowley
KEYWORDS
* Food safety and labelling
GET THE LATEST MARKET REPORTS
* FSA
* Bt63
* China
* emergency measures
All market reports
28-Mar-2008 - The food industry is being asked to work with the European Commission to implement testing measures for rice imports from China to prevent unauthorised GM material entering the European food system.
The new strict methods will come into force on April 15th, following the identification of rice contaminated with the GMO Bt63 in imports from China. Bt63 is not authorised in either China or the EU.
While the Commission is responsible for regulation, under EU law, business operators are responsible for the safety of food or feed they put on the market.
Food companies and local authorities are being asked to inform enforcement authorities if such GM rice has left their possession and to recall it if it has reached consumers.
However, a spokesperson for FSA said she could not comment on the probability of Bt63 rice still being on the market. She said this will become apparent after the testing has been carried out.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) sent out a letter today.
It said Chinese imports of rice and rice products may now only be placed on the EU market if: "a) they are accompanied by an original analytical report issued by an official or accredited laboratory which demonstrates that the product does not contain Bt63 or b) satisfactory results of analysis are received by the food authority at the point of entry to the Community, following sampling carried out by or under the supervision of that authority."
It added that positive and negative results must be reported to the Commission as emergency measures "need to be taken to ensure that products which are found to contain, consist or to be produced from GM rice 'Bt63' are not placed on the market".
Although the Agency says it is unaware of any health implications for consumers who eat rice products containing Bt63, European regulation 1829/2003 states that GM food and feed should not be placed on the EU market unless it is covered by an authorisation.
GM rice incident
GM contamination of Chinese rice was first discovered in September 2006. The Chinese authorities announced measures to address the problem of GM rice in 2007, including sampling and testing and an official Chinese Inspection and Quarantine Certifical.
Despite these measures, the presence of some material containing BT 63 was still being reported in some countries late last year, meaning the European Commission was forced to draw up stringent testing policies.
The Commission's Standing Committee of Food Chain and Animal Health voted in February to introduce the emergency measures.
The European Commission has now set out the chain of responsibility for ensuring that imported products do not contain GM material.
It says that China is responsible for ensuring that Bt63 does not enter the EU food chain, and that imports are certified as free from this GMO.
Authorities in member states are responsible for controlling imports at their borders, and preventing contaminated consignments appearing on the market.
Member states should also conduct controls on products already on the market to ensure they are Bt63-free.
Finally, businesses importing rice products from China are responsible for ensuring Bt63 does not enter the food chain, and that imports are Bt63-free.
US contaminated rice
This appeal to businesses comes the same week it was decided rice imported from the United States no longer needs to be tested for GMO presence both at the point of export and on arrival in the EU, following an amendment to measures following a similar contamination incident.
Bayer's LL Rice 601, deisgned to tolerate the herbicide glufosinate ammonium, was discovered in batches of American long grain rice in the EU in August 2006. At that time the rice variety was not approved for human consumption. It has since been approved in the US, but no GM rice is allowed in the EU.
The two incidents have had a large impact on the rice industry, and brought into question the efficiency of the food alert system.
The FSA came under considerable fire when LLRice 601 was discovered in American rice supplies intended for export.
Friends of the Earth called for a judicial review, saying the FSA should have done more work with local authorities and the food industry to ensure illegal GM rice was detected and removed from shelves and other parts of the market.
By Laura Crowley
KEYWORDS
* Food safety and labelling
GET THE LATEST MARKET REPORTS
* FSA
* Bt63
* China
* emergency measures
All market reports
28-Mar-2008 - The food industry is being asked to work with the European Commission to implement testing measures for rice imports from China to prevent unauthorised GM material entering the European food system.
The new strict methods will come into force on April 15th, following the identification of rice contaminated with the GMO Bt63 in imports from China. Bt63 is not authorised in either China or the EU.
While the Commission is responsible for regulation, under EU law, business operators are responsible for the safety of food or feed they put on the market.
Food companies and local authorities are being asked to inform enforcement authorities if such GM rice has left their possession and to recall it if it has reached consumers.
However, a spokesperson for FSA said she could not comment on the probability of Bt63 rice still being on the market. She said this will become apparent after the testing has been carried out.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) sent out a letter today.
It said Chinese imports of rice and rice products may now only be placed on the EU market if: "a) they are accompanied by an original analytical report issued by an official or accredited laboratory which demonstrates that the product does not contain Bt63 or b) satisfactory results of analysis are received by the food authority at the point of entry to the Community, following sampling carried out by or under the supervision of that authority."
It added that positive and negative results must be reported to the Commission as emergency measures "need to be taken to ensure that products which are found to contain, consist or to be produced from GM rice 'Bt63' are not placed on the market".
Although the Agency says it is unaware of any health implications for consumers who eat rice products containing Bt63, European regulation 1829/2003 states that GM food and feed should not be placed on the EU market unless it is covered by an authorisation.
GM rice incident
GM contamination of Chinese rice was first discovered in September 2006. The Chinese authorities announced measures to address the problem of GM rice in 2007, including sampling and testing and an official Chinese Inspection and Quarantine Certifical.
Despite these measures, the presence of some material containing BT 63 was still being reported in some countries late last year, meaning the European Commission was forced to draw up stringent testing policies.
The Commission's Standing Committee of Food Chain and Animal Health voted in February to introduce the emergency measures.
The European Commission has now set out the chain of responsibility for ensuring that imported products do not contain GM material.
It says that China is responsible for ensuring that Bt63 does not enter the EU food chain, and that imports are certified as free from this GMO.
Authorities in member states are responsible for controlling imports at their borders, and preventing contaminated consignments appearing on the market.
Member states should also conduct controls on products already on the market to ensure they are Bt63-free.
Finally, businesses importing rice products from China are responsible for ensuring Bt63 does not enter the food chain, and that imports are Bt63-free.
US contaminated rice
This appeal to businesses comes the same week it was decided rice imported from the United States no longer needs to be tested for GMO presence both at the point of export and on arrival in the EU, following an amendment to measures following a similar contamination incident.
Bayer's LL Rice 601, deisgned to tolerate the herbicide glufosinate ammonium, was discovered in batches of American long grain rice in the EU in August 2006. At that time the rice variety was not approved for human consumption. It has since been approved in the US, but no GM rice is allowed in the EU.
The two incidents have had a large impact on the rice industry, and brought into question the efficiency of the food alert system.
The FSA came under considerable fire when LLRice 601 was discovered in American rice supplies intended for export.
Friends of the Earth called for a judicial review, saying the FSA should have done more work with local authorities and the food industry to ensure illegal GM rice was detected and removed from shelves and other parts of the market.
Emergency honey bee plan in the wings
Emergency honey bee plan in the wings
Friday, 28 March 2008 Anna Salleh
ABC
bee pollination
Beekeepers, your country needs you. Australian beekeepers are under pressure to deliver bees to farmers (Source: iStockphoto)
Related Stories
* Aussie bees cleared of US colony collapse?, Science Online, 12 Nov 2007
* Bees go wild over purple flowers, Science Online, 25 Jun 2007
* Stowaway bees could spread deadly mite, Science Online, 14 Jun 2007
* Map: Canberra 2600
Australian farmers are facing a shortage of bees to pollinate their food crops and are working with beekeepers to develop an emergency plan.
Many crops, such as fruit and vegetables, rely heavily on free pollination by wild European honey bees.
But these are under threat from the Varroa mite, says Dr Max Whitten, former CSIRO chief of entomology, who is involved in the plan.
Varroa has played a key role in Colony Collapse Disorder in the US. It has spread throughout the world and been in New Zealand since 2000, says Whitten, who has long advised the honey bee industry.
The mite is not yet in Australia. But Whitten says that pollination-dependent industries, worth up to A$4 billion, are holding their collective breath for its arrival.
"We expect Varroa to come in any time," he says. "Once it comes in it will spread rapidly through the country."
If millions of wild bee colonies are destroyed by Varroa, there will be a greater reliance on beekeepers to supply bees for polllination, says Whitten.
The relatively small honey-focused industry will need to ramp up their number of hives to take up the slack left by the destroyed wild honey bee population, he says.
So, food producers met with the honeybee industry recently in Canberra to discuss the development of a new body, called Pollination Australia
With the support of the Australian government, the body will co-ordinate research and development into bees, pollination, biosecurity and train pollination-dependent industries.
"It's an emergency plan triggered principally by the likelihood that Varroa will come in," says Whitten, who is based in Queensland.
Other issues to be dealt with by the new body, expected to be established in July this year, include payment for pollination services and beekeeper access to flowering plants on public lands.
Whitten, who is on Pollination Australia's steering committee, says even without Varroa there is a need to boost commercial hives to service rapidly growing industries such as almonds.
Whitten says certain native bees could be used in select crops but they would never become a mainstream source of pollination.
"They should be exploited to the hilt but they will be an entirely secondary source," he says.
Friday, 28 March 2008 Anna Salleh
ABC
bee pollination
Beekeepers, your country needs you. Australian beekeepers are under pressure to deliver bees to farmers (Source: iStockphoto)
Related Stories
* Aussie bees cleared of US colony collapse?, Science Online, 12 Nov 2007
* Bees go wild over purple flowers, Science Online, 25 Jun 2007
* Stowaway bees could spread deadly mite, Science Online, 14 Jun 2007
* Map: Canberra 2600
Australian farmers are facing a shortage of bees to pollinate their food crops and are working with beekeepers to develop an emergency plan.
Many crops, such as fruit and vegetables, rely heavily on free pollination by wild European honey bees.
But these are under threat from the Varroa mite, says Dr Max Whitten, former CSIRO chief of entomology, who is involved in the plan.
Varroa has played a key role in Colony Collapse Disorder in the US. It has spread throughout the world and been in New Zealand since 2000, says Whitten, who has long advised the honey bee industry.
The mite is not yet in Australia. But Whitten says that pollination-dependent industries, worth up to A$4 billion, are holding their collective breath for its arrival.
"We expect Varroa to come in any time," he says. "Once it comes in it will spread rapidly through the country."
If millions of wild bee colonies are destroyed by Varroa, there will be a greater reliance on beekeepers to supply bees for polllination, says Whitten.
The relatively small honey-focused industry will need to ramp up their number of hives to take up the slack left by the destroyed wild honey bee population, he says.
So, food producers met with the honeybee industry recently in Canberra to discuss the development of a new body, called Pollination Australia
With the support of the Australian government, the body will co-ordinate research and development into bees, pollination, biosecurity and train pollination-dependent industries.
"It's an emergency plan triggered principally by the likelihood that Varroa will come in," says Whitten, who is based in Queensland.
Other issues to be dealt with by the new body, expected to be established in July this year, include payment for pollination services and beekeeper access to flowering plants on public lands.
Whitten, who is on Pollination Australia's steering committee, says even without Varroa there is a need to boost commercial hives to service rapidly growing industries such as almonds.
Whitten says certain native bees could be used in select crops but they would never become a mainstream source of pollination.
"They should be exploited to the hilt but they will be an entirely secondary source," he says.
悪玉コレステロール：少なくても危険？ 脳卒中や心筋梗塞
悪玉コレステロール：少なくても危険？ 脳卒中や心筋梗塞
脳卒中や心筋梗塞（こうそく）の発症の危険性を高める「悪玉」とされるＬＤＬコレステロールは、低いほど死亡率が高まることが、大櫛陽一・東海大教授（医療統計学）らの疫学調査で分かった。ＬＤＬ値の高さは、４月から始まる特定健診・保健指導（メタボ健診）でも、メタボか否かを判断する基準の一つで、悪玉という位置づけの是非が議論になりそうだ。
大櫛教授らは、神奈川県伊勢原市で８７～０６年に２回以上住民健診を受けた約２万６０００人を平均８．１年追跡。ＬＤＬ値ごとに７群に分け、死亡率や死因との関係を調べた。
全死因合計の「総死亡率」でみると、男女とも、最もＬＤＬ値が低い群（血液１デシリットル中７９ミリグラム以下）が一番死亡率が高い。男性では年間死亡率が人口１０万人あたり約３４００人と、死亡率が最も低い群（１４０～１５９ミリグラム）の約１．６倍。女性も人口１０万人あたり約１９００人で、死亡率が最も低い群（１２０～１３９ミリグラム）の約１．３倍だった。
脳卒中や心筋梗塞など心血管疾患による死亡率に限ると、男性では１８０ミリグラム以上になると死亡率が上昇したが、女性はほとんど関係ない。男女ともＬＤＬ値が低いと、がんや呼吸器疾患による死亡が増え、全体の死亡率が高くなった。
大櫛教授はＬＤＬ値の適正範囲を「男性１００～１８０ミリグラム、女性１２０ミリグラム以上」と提案。メタボ健診の基準では、ＬＤＬ値が１２０ミリグラム以上の人は下げることを勧めているが、大櫛教授は「適切な範囲にあるＬＤＬ値を下げ過ぎる危険がある。コレステロールは人体に必須の物質で、少ないと免疫機能が低下するため死亡率が上がるのではないか」と話している。
脳卒中や心筋梗塞（こうそく）の発症の危険性を高める「悪玉」とされるＬＤＬコレステロールは、低いほど死亡率が高まることが、大櫛陽一・東海大教授（医療統計学）らの疫学調査で分かった。ＬＤＬ値の高さは、４月から始まる特定健診・保健指導（メタボ健診）でも、メタボか否かを判断する基準の一つで、悪玉という位置づけの是非が議論になりそうだ。
大櫛教授らは、神奈川県伊勢原市で８７～０６年に２回以上住民健診を受けた約２万６０００人を平均８．１年追跡。ＬＤＬ値ごとに７群に分け、死亡率や死因との関係を調べた。
全死因合計の「総死亡率」でみると、男女とも、最もＬＤＬ値が低い群（血液１デシリットル中７９ミリグラム以下）が一番死亡率が高い。男性では年間死亡率が人口１０万人あたり約３４００人と、死亡率が最も低い群（１４０～１５９ミリグラム）の約１．６倍。女性も人口１０万人あたり約１９００人で、死亡率が最も低い群（１２０～１３９ミリグラム）の約１．３倍だった。
脳卒中や心筋梗塞など心血管疾患による死亡率に限ると、男性では１８０ミリグラム以上になると死亡率が上昇したが、女性はほとんど関係ない。男女ともＬＤＬ値が低いと、がんや呼吸器疾患による死亡が増え、全体の死亡率が高くなった。
大櫛教授はＬＤＬ値の適正範囲を「男性１００～１８０ミリグラム、女性１２０ミリグラム以上」と提案。メタボ健診の基準では、ＬＤＬ値が１２０ミリグラム以上の人は下げることを勧めているが、大櫛教授は「適切な範囲にあるＬＤＬ値を下げ過ぎる危険がある。コレステロールは人体に必須の物質で、少ないと免疫機能が低下するため死亡率が上がるのではないか」と話している。
道路特別会計：国交省北海道開発局も人件費支出 職員２２６６人分、１８８億円
道路特別会計：国交省北海道開発局も人件費支出 職員２２６６人分、１８８億円
ガソリン税などの道路特定財源が原資となる道路整備特別会計（道路特会）から、国土交通省職員の人件費が支出されていた問題で、国交省北海道開発局でも０６年度に全職員の約３割にあたる２２６６人分、１８８億５００万円が支出されていたことが分かった。
道開発局によると、全職員は約６０００人。このうち道内各地の道路担当の現場職員の人件費（１人あたり約８３０万円）が道路特会から支出されていた。１８８億５００万円の内訳は▽職員基本給約８０億円▽職員諸手当約３７億８６００万円▽超過勤務手当約１６億円▽退職手当約１７億６６００万円－－など。
道路特会からの支出は、特別会計法で「道路整備事業、道路関係付帯工事及び道路関係委託工事に要する費用」に充てられる規定がある。道開発局は「いつから支払っていたのかは分からないが、道路整備事業に従事する人のために必要な措置」としている。
国交省職員約４万人のうち、各地方整備局や国道事務所などで道路整備に携わる職員８０００人（北海道と沖縄を除く）の人件費が道路特会から支出され、０６年度は約６８０億円に達していることが既に明らかになっている。
ガソリン税などの道路特定財源が原資となる道路整備特別会計（道路特会）から、国土交通省職員の人件費が支出されていた問題で、国交省北海道開発局でも０６年度に全職員の約３割にあたる２２６６人分、１８８億５００万円が支出されていたことが分かった。
道開発局によると、全職員は約６０００人。このうち道内各地の道路担当の現場職員の人件費（１人あたり約８３０万円）が道路特会から支出されていた。１８８億５００万円の内訳は▽職員基本給約８０億円▽職員諸手当約３７億８６００万円▽超過勤務手当約１６億円▽退職手当約１７億６６００万円－－など。
道路特会からの支出は、特別会計法で「道路整備事業、道路関係付帯工事及び道路関係委託工事に要する費用」に充てられる規定がある。道開発局は「いつから支払っていたのかは分からないが、道路整備事業に従事する人のために必要な措置」としている。
国交省職員約４万人のうち、各地方整備局や国道事務所などで道路整備に携わる職員８０００人（北海道と沖縄を除く）の人件費が道路特会から支出され、０６年度は約６８０億円に達していることが既に明らかになっている。
米軍グアム移転：基地外整備も日本負担 発電所や上下水道
米軍グアム移転：基地外整備も日本負担 発電所や上下水道
米軍再編の在沖縄海兵隊グアム移転費をめぐる日本側負担の１割強にあたる７．４億ドル（約７４０億円）のインフラ整備について、グアム地域住民も使用する発電所など基地外の施設整備に充てることで日米の調整が進んでいることが２９日分かった。政府は０６年５月の日米合意当時、インフラ整備については基地内部の施設が対象と説明していた。用途拡大に野党などの批判も予想される。
海兵隊グアム移転経費総額１０２．７億ドルのうち、日本側負担は５９％に当たる６０．９億ドル（約６０９０億円）。司令部庁舎や生活関連施設に２８億ドル（約２８００億円）の拠出や、７．４億ドルのインフラ整備融資などが盛り込まれていた。日本政府の関係者によると、海兵隊の移転先となる米海軍基地の外に発電所や上下水道、廃棄物処理施設などを整備し、これに日本が融資することで調整が進んでいる。「基地内に施設を新設するよりも、日本がグアムの電力会社などに融資し、住民向け設備の新設・改築費用を分担する方が効率的」との意見が米側を中心に強まったため。米軍との共用を前提に、日本も受け入れが可能と判断した。
また、基地内施設についても沖縄から移転する海兵隊の「生活関連施設」として、既に決まっている学校に加え、ゴルフ場などのレクリエーション施設、病院、消防施設の整備が新たに固まった。整備費は未定。学校は日本側が負担することがすでに決まっているが、レクリエーション施設などについても、日本側の負担が今後、日米で協議される見通しだ。
海兵隊関連施設は１０年春以降、グアム北部の米海軍通信基地（フィネガヤン地区）などで着工。部隊ごとに移転を順次開始し、１４年に終了する計画。
米軍再編の在沖縄海兵隊グアム移転費をめぐる日本側負担の１割強にあたる７．４億ドル（約７４０億円）のインフラ整備について、グアム地域住民も使用する発電所など基地外の施設整備に充てることで日米の調整が進んでいることが２９日分かった。政府は０６年５月の日米合意当時、インフラ整備については基地内部の施設が対象と説明していた。用途拡大に野党などの批判も予想される。
海兵隊グアム移転経費総額１０２．７億ドルのうち、日本側負担は５９％に当たる６０．９億ドル（約６０９０億円）。司令部庁舎や生活関連施設に２８億ドル（約２８００億円）の拠出や、７．４億ドルのインフラ整備融資などが盛り込まれていた。日本政府の関係者によると、海兵隊の移転先となる米海軍基地の外に発電所や上下水道、廃棄物処理施設などを整備し、これに日本が融資することで調整が進んでいる。「基地内に施設を新設するよりも、日本がグアムの電力会社などに融資し、住民向け設備の新設・改築費用を分担する方が効率的」との意見が米側を中心に強まったため。米軍との共用を前提に、日本も受け入れが可能と判断した。
また、基地内施設についても沖縄から移転する海兵隊の「生活関連施設」として、既に決まっている学校に加え、ゴルフ場などのレクリエーション施設、病院、消防施設の整備が新たに固まった。整備費は未定。学校は日本側が負担することがすでに決まっているが、レクリエーション施設などについても、日本側の負担が今後、日米で協議される見通しだ。
海兵隊関連施設は１０年春以降、グアム北部の米海軍通信基地（フィネガヤン地区）などで着工。部隊ごとに移転を順次開始し、１４年に終了する計画。
ＩＨＩ巨額損失：決算虚偽記載で調査 証券監視委
ＩＨＩ巨額損失：決算虚偽記載で調査 証券監視委
造船・重機大手「ＩＨＩ」（旧石川島播磨重工業、東京都江東区）の巨額損失問題で、証券取引等監視委員会が証券取引法違反（有価証券報告書の虚偽記載など）の疑いで調査を始めたことが分かった。経理書類を任意提出させるとともに担当者から事情聴取している。調査には少なくとも数カ月を要する見通しで、約１６億円と過去最高額の課徴金を勧告する公算が大きい。
調査の対象は（１）連結営業利益約１０億円を計上した０６年９月期の半期報告書（２）連結営業利益約２４６億円を計上した０７年３月期の有価証券報告書。同社は昨年１２月「計上すべきコストが含まれていなかった」などとして（１）を営業損失約８７億円（２）を同約５６億円とする訂正報告書を提出した。
証券監視委は訂正幅が大きいうえ、赤字決算を黒字として公表した事実を重視。「証券市場に重大な影響を与えた」として調査を開始した。０７年１～２月（１）に基づいて新株約６３９億円、同６月に社債３００億円を発行しているため「いつ決算の誤りに気づいたか」を焦点に調査を進めているとみられる。
虚偽と知りつつ新株と社債を発行していた場合、悪質性から刑事事件化する可能性がある。しかし、証券監視委は「社債発行後にミスに気づいた」との見方を強めている。
ただ、ミスであっても結果的に虚偽の決算書類を提出すれば、修正幅が大きい場合課徴金を科される。増資額や時価総額などを基に算出する課徴金の総額は約１６億円となり、これまで最高だった日興コーディアルグループの５億円（０７年１月納付命令）を大幅に上回る見通しだ。
損失の大部分を生み出した当時のエネルギー事業本部長（０７年１２月末に取締役兼執行役員を辞任）は毎日新聞の取材に「業績悪化の可能性を認識したのは昨年７月下旬。損失額を把握できたのは８月で、盆明けに社長に報告した」と説明している。【堀文彦】
【ＩＨＩの巨額損失問題】 昨年９月、火力発電所ボイラーの生産遅れなどが原因で最大約８５０億円の営業損失が発生すると公表。同１２月、うち約３０２億円を０７年３月期決算に計上する大幅な訂正を行った。併せて０６年９月期の半期報告書も修正し、釜和明社長ら１４人を処分した。東京証券取引所は「管理体制に問題がある」として、改善状況の報告を義務付ける特設注意市場銘柄に指定している。
造船・重機大手「ＩＨＩ」（旧石川島播磨重工業、東京都江東区）の巨額損失問題で、証券取引等監視委員会が証券取引法違反（有価証券報告書の虚偽記載など）の疑いで調査を始めたことが分かった。経理書類を任意提出させるとともに担当者から事情聴取している。調査には少なくとも数カ月を要する見通しで、約１６億円と過去最高額の課徴金を勧告する公算が大きい。
調査の対象は（１）連結営業利益約１０億円を計上した０６年９月期の半期報告書（２）連結営業利益約２４６億円を計上した０７年３月期の有価証券報告書。同社は昨年１２月「計上すべきコストが含まれていなかった」などとして（１）を営業損失約８７億円（２）を同約５６億円とする訂正報告書を提出した。
証券監視委は訂正幅が大きいうえ、赤字決算を黒字として公表した事実を重視。「証券市場に重大な影響を与えた」として調査を開始した。０７年１～２月（１）に基づいて新株約６３９億円、同６月に社債３００億円を発行しているため「いつ決算の誤りに気づいたか」を焦点に調査を進めているとみられる。
虚偽と知りつつ新株と社債を発行していた場合、悪質性から刑事事件化する可能性がある。しかし、証券監視委は「社債発行後にミスに気づいた」との見方を強めている。
ただ、ミスであっても結果的に虚偽の決算書類を提出すれば、修正幅が大きい場合課徴金を科される。増資額や時価総額などを基に算出する課徴金の総額は約１６億円となり、これまで最高だった日興コーディアルグループの５億円（０７年１月納付命令）を大幅に上回る見通しだ。
損失の大部分を生み出した当時のエネルギー事業本部長（０７年１２月末に取締役兼執行役員を辞任）は毎日新聞の取材に「業績悪化の可能性を認識したのは昨年７月下旬。損失額を把握できたのは８月で、盆明けに社長に報告した」と説明している。【堀文彦】
【ＩＨＩの巨額損失問題】 昨年９月、火力発電所ボイラーの生産遅れなどが原因で最大約８５０億円の営業損失が発生すると公表。同１２月、うち約３０２億円を０７年３月期決算に計上する大幅な訂正を行った。併せて０６年９月期の半期報告書も修正し、釜和明社長ら１４人を処分した。東京証券取引所は「管理体制に問題がある」として、改善状況の報告を義務付ける特設注意市場銘柄に指定している。
皇太子ご一家、長野県のスキー場で静養
皇太子ご一家、長野県のスキー場で静養
皇太子ご夫妻と長女の愛子さまは29日午後、スキー場での静養のため新幹線で長野県に入られた。県北部のホテルに数日間滞在し、ご一家でスキーを楽しまれる予定。
ＪＲ長野駅に到着したご夫妻は愛子さまの手をとりながら階段を下り、車に乗り込まれた。白いコート姿の愛子さまは、詰めかけた市民らに車窓から手を振って応えられた。愛子さまが新幹線で乗り物酔いされたため、長野駅からの出発は約1時間遅れとなった。
ご一家は昨年3月にも同県へスキー旅行に出かけられている。
------------------
皇太子ご一家が御所訪問／両陛下と昼食
2008/03/26 13:21
皇太子ご一家が御所訪問／皇居に入る皇太子ご一家 天皇、皇后両陛下との昼食のため、皇居に入る皇太子ご一家＝２６日午前、皇居・半蔵門（代表撮影）
皇太子ご一家は２６日、天皇、皇后両陛下と昼食を共にするため、皇居・御所を訪問された。
車に乗ったご一家は、御所に近い半蔵門から皇居の中へ。集まった沿道の人たちに、雅子さまは窓を開け、笑顔を浮かべながら手をあげて応えていた。
ご一家の御所訪問をめぐっては、宮内庁の羽毛田信吾長官が２月の記者会見で、訪問回数の少なさを指摘する異例の発言をした。その後、ご一家は今月１５日、愛子さまの幼稚園卒園を報告するため御所を訪れている。
----------------
秋篠宮ご一家、御料牧場に…両陛下と滞在
秋篠宮ご一家は２８日、静養のため栃木県の御料牧場に入られた。２７日夜から滞在している天皇、皇后両陛下と３０日まで過ごされる。
この日は温かな春の陽気。正午ごろ車で到着したご一家は、牧場職員約７０人の出迎えを受けられた。ご夫妻の長男、悠仁さま（１）は紀子さまに手を引かれてよちよちと歩き、あいさつのために並んでいた職員の列に近付く場面もあった。
宮内庁によると、両陛下とご一家は滞在中、サイクリングやイチゴ狩り、家畜との触れ合いを楽しまれるという。
皇太子ご夫妻と長女の愛子さまは29日午後、スキー場での静養のため新幹線で長野県に入られた。県北部のホテルに数日間滞在し、ご一家でスキーを楽しまれる予定。
ＪＲ長野駅に到着したご夫妻は愛子さまの手をとりながら階段を下り、車に乗り込まれた。白いコート姿の愛子さまは、詰めかけた市民らに車窓から手を振って応えられた。愛子さまが新幹線で乗り物酔いされたため、長野駅からの出発は約1時間遅れとなった。
ご一家は昨年3月にも同県へスキー旅行に出かけられている。
------------------
皇太子ご一家が御所訪問／両陛下と昼食
2008/03/26 13:21
皇太子ご一家が御所訪問／皇居に入る皇太子ご一家 天皇、皇后両陛下との昼食のため、皇居に入る皇太子ご一家＝２６日午前、皇居・半蔵門（代表撮影）
皇太子ご一家は２６日、天皇、皇后両陛下と昼食を共にするため、皇居・御所を訪問された。
車に乗ったご一家は、御所に近い半蔵門から皇居の中へ。集まった沿道の人たちに、雅子さまは窓を開け、笑顔を浮かべながら手をあげて応えていた。
ご一家の御所訪問をめぐっては、宮内庁の羽毛田信吾長官が２月の記者会見で、訪問回数の少なさを指摘する異例の発言をした。その後、ご一家は今月１５日、愛子さまの幼稚園卒園を報告するため御所を訪れている。
----------------
秋篠宮ご一家、御料牧場に…両陛下と滞在
秋篠宮ご一家は２８日、静養のため栃木県の御料牧場に入られた。２７日夜から滞在している天皇、皇后両陛下と３０日まで過ごされる。
この日は温かな春の陽気。正午ごろ車で到着したご一家は、牧場職員約７０人の出迎えを受けられた。ご夫妻の長男、悠仁さま（１）は紀子さまに手を引かれてよちよちと歩き、あいさつのために並んでいた職員の列に近付く場面もあった。
宮内庁によると、両陛下とご一家は滞在中、サイクリングやイチゴ狩り、家畜との触れ合いを楽しまれるという。
イージス艦事故の漁船捜索、防衛省が費用負担へ
イージス艦事故の漁船捜索、防衛省が費用負担へ
海上自衛隊のイージス艦衝突事故を受け、防衛省は27日、行方不明となった父子の捜索に協力した新勝浦市漁協（千葉県勝浦市）に対し、燃料代などの経費を負担する方針を決めた。石破茂防衛相が同日の参院外交防衛委員会で「漁協関係者から誠心誠意やったといわれるよう早急に検討する」と表明した。
経費負担は事故発生当初からほぼ連日、捜索に自主的に協力してくれた漁協側への「謝礼」と位置付ける。燃料代や事務所費、食事代などを負担する方向だ。
------------------
衝突事故、イージス艦長更迭
防衛省は28日、漁船との衝突事故を起こした海上自衛隊のイージス艦「あたご」艦長の船渡健一等海佐ら6人を同日付で護衛艦隊司令部付とする人事を発令した。事故前後の当直士官だった航海長や水雷長も含む事実上の更迭人事。艦長の後任には第二護衛隊群幕僚の清水博文一等海佐を充てる。
海上自衛隊のイージス艦衝突事故を受け、防衛省は27日、行方不明となった父子の捜索に協力した新勝浦市漁協（千葉県勝浦市）に対し、燃料代などの経費を負担する方針を決めた。石破茂防衛相が同日の参院外交防衛委員会で「漁協関係者から誠心誠意やったといわれるよう早急に検討する」と表明した。
経費負担は事故発生当初からほぼ連日、捜索に自主的に協力してくれた漁協側への「謝礼」と位置付ける。燃料代や事務所費、食事代などを負担する方向だ。
------------------
衝突事故、イージス艦長更迭
防衛省は28日、漁船との衝突事故を起こした海上自衛隊のイージス艦「あたご」艦長の船渡健一等海佐ら6人を同日付で護衛艦隊司令部付とする人事を発令した。事故前後の当直士官だった航海長や水雷長も含む事実上の更迭人事。艦長の後任には第二護衛隊群幕僚の清水博文一等海佐を充てる。
丸紅、英資産運用子会社が176億円の損失・サブプライム問題で
丸紅、英資産運用子会社が176億円の損失・サブプライム問題で
丸紅は28日、英国の資金運用子会社が保有する証券化商品などの金融資産に176億円の評価損が発生したと発表した。信用力の低い個人向け住宅融資（サブプライムローン）問題で証券化商品市場に信用収縮が起き、資産の時価が大きく下落した。サブプライムローン問題に関連した損失が金融機関だけでなく一般の事業会社にも広がり始めた。
丸紅の子会社の名称は「マルベニ・インターナショナル・ファイナンス」（本店ロンドン）で、1984年から資金運用事業を手掛けている。運用資産は約 400億円（2007年3月末）で、およそ半分が公社債、残りは債務担保証券（ＣＤＯ）や資産担保証券（ＡＢＳ）などで運用している。
丸紅は「金融商品はいずれもハイリスク・ハイリターン商品ではなかった」と説明しているが、サブプライムローン問題で仕組み債の格付けが低下し、時価が下落した。一方、公社債の損失はほとんどないという。
--------------------
偽造の「丸紅保証書」で投資、米証券が240億円回収不能
東京都内の医療コンサルティング会社の関係者らが偽造された大手商社丸紅の保証書を使って投資を募り、米大手証券が出資した約240億円が回収不能となっていることが28日、関係者の話で分かった。丸紅は偽造にかかわったとして男性契約社員2人を今月上旬に解雇し、警視庁に有印私文書偽造容疑で被害届を提出した。同庁は資金の流れなど事実関係の確認を進めている。
約240億円が回収不能になったのは、米大手証券リーマン・ブラザーズの日本にある関連会社。リーマンは近く詐欺容疑などで取引にかかわった数人を刑事告訴する方針。リーマン同様に投資した別の米大手証券は出資金を回収したが、数十億円規模の回収不能金が発生した投資家もほかに複数いるとみられる。
丸紅は28日、英国の資金運用子会社が保有する証券化商品などの金融資産に176億円の評価損が発生したと発表した。信用力の低い個人向け住宅融資（サブプライムローン）問題で証券化商品市場に信用収縮が起き、資産の時価が大きく下落した。サブプライムローン問題に関連した損失が金融機関だけでなく一般の事業会社にも広がり始めた。
丸紅の子会社の名称は「マルベニ・インターナショナル・ファイナンス」（本店ロンドン）で、1984年から資金運用事業を手掛けている。運用資産は約 400億円（2007年3月末）で、およそ半分が公社債、残りは債務担保証券（ＣＤＯ）や資産担保証券（ＡＢＳ）などで運用している。
丸紅は「金融商品はいずれもハイリスク・ハイリターン商品ではなかった」と説明しているが、サブプライムローン問題で仕組み債の格付けが低下し、時価が下落した。一方、公社債の損失はほとんどないという。
--------------------
偽造の「丸紅保証書」で投資、米証券が240億円回収不能
東京都内の医療コンサルティング会社の関係者らが偽造された大手商社丸紅の保証書を使って投資を募り、米大手証券が出資した約240億円が回収不能となっていることが28日、関係者の話で分かった。丸紅は偽造にかかわったとして男性契約社員2人を今月上旬に解雇し、警視庁に有印私文書偽造容疑で被害届を提出した。同庁は資金の流れなど事実関係の確認を進めている。
約240億円が回収不能になったのは、米大手証券リーマン・ブラザーズの日本にある関連会社。リーマンは近く詐欺容疑などで取引にかかわった数人を刑事告訴する方針。リーマン同様に投資した別の米大手証券は出資金を回収したが、数十億円規模の回収不能金が発生した投資家もほかに複数いるとみられる。
ガソリン、値下げ競争が早くも激化・青森や静岡
ガソリン、値下げ競争が早くも激化・青森や静岡
ガソリンにかかる暫定税率が今月末に期限切れになることを見越し、給油所の値下げ競争が早くも広がっている。据え置いている給油所も多いものの、青森や静岡では一足早く値下げに踏み切る給油所が登場。4月1日からの大幅値下げを宣言する例も増えている。
暫定税率が切れるとガソリンの税負担は1リットルあたり約25円軽くなる。給油所は3月に仕入れた課税済みの在庫があるうちは値下げしにくいが、競争激化でいち早く価格を下げる例が出てきた。
ガソリンにかかる暫定税率が今月末に期限切れになることを見越し、給油所の値下げ競争が早くも広がっている。据え置いている給油所も多いものの、青森や静岡では一足早く値下げに踏み切る給油所が登場。4月1日からの大幅値下げを宣言する例も増えている。
暫定税率が切れるとガソリンの税負担は1リットルあたり約25円軽くなる。給油所は3月に仕入れた課税済みの在庫があるうちは値下げしにくいが、競争激化でいち早く価格を下げる例が出てきた。
新銀行東京、400億円出資可決・都議会
新銀行東京、400億円出資可決・都議会
経営難に陥った新銀行東京（東京・千代田、津島隆一代表執行役）への400億円の追加出資を盛り込んだ東京都の2008年度補正予算案が28日の都議会本会議で、自民、公明の賛成多数で可決、成立した。同行への監視強化など付帯決議を付けた。都は経営を監視するため、4月1日付で産業労働局に金融監理室を設置する。
石原慎太郎知事は議会閉会を前に追加出資に至った事態を謝罪。その後の記者会見で「（11年4月までの）私の在任中にメドをつけ再建を果たす」と強調した。
都議会では補正予算案の可決後、経営悪化の責任が石原知事にあるとして、民主などが知事の問責決議案を、共産が不信任決議案をそれぞれ提出したが、いずれも賛成少数で否決した。都知事への不信任案は東竜太郎知事に出されて以来、43年ぶり。問責を含め石原知事の責任を追及する決議案が出たのは今回が初めてとなる。
----------------
新銀行東京の長期優先債務４段階格下げ・ＪＣＲ
日本格付研究所（ＪＣＲ）は28日、新銀行東京（東京・千代田）の長期優先債務の格付けを「シングルＡ」から「トリプルＢマイナス」に4段階引き下げた。4年後に黒字化する再建計画の達成が困難で、都の追加的な財務支援も見込みにくいと判断し、格下げした。格付けの見通しは「ネガティブ」とした。
---------------
新銀行東京：追加出資の１００億円は投資引き当て分
経営危機に陥った「新銀行東京」（東京都千代田区）に追加出資される４００億円のうち１００億円は、中小ベンチャー企業を支援する「ファンド投資」への出資元本が全額棄損した場合に備えた資金であることが分かった。新銀行が、巨額の税金をつぎ込んだ再建計画でも、リスクの高い事業モデルを柱に据える姿勢を示すもので、関係者からは疑問の声が出ている。
新銀行の再建計画は、単年度に７００億円の投融資・保証を実行するとし、このうちファンド投資は１００億円を見込む。０７年１２月末までに１０のファンドに総額５４億円を出資して約５億円の運用益を上げており、再建計画でも有力な収益源に組み込んだ。
将来性の高いベンチャー企業向け融資にも１００億円を積み上げる計画を立てており、ベンチャー企業には計２００億円が投じられる形だ。
しかし、ファンド投資は担保も保証もなく、自己資本比率の規制に基づき元本の全額手当てが必要となる。新銀行は１１年度までの再建期間中、ファンド投資の残高１００億円を維持する方針で、追加出資分の４分の１に当たる１００億円をそのリスク対応に充てる。ファンド投資に依存しない堅実な事業計画を作っていれば、追加出資額は少なく済んだ可能性がある。
都は新銀行の将来について「最新の金融ノウハウを持つ銀行などとの連携を視野に入れながら、銀行業務を強化する」と強気の姿勢。しかし、ファンド投資を主力とした事業モデルについて、ある都銀幹部は「貸し出しこそ銀行の基本で、手間を省いて利益を上げようというのは安直な発想だ」と話している。
経営難に陥った新銀行東京（東京・千代田、津島隆一代表執行役）への400億円の追加出資を盛り込んだ東京都の2008年度補正予算案が28日の都議会本会議で、自民、公明の賛成多数で可決、成立した。同行への監視強化など付帯決議を付けた。都は経営を監視するため、4月1日付で産業労働局に金融監理室を設置する。
石原慎太郎知事は議会閉会を前に追加出資に至った事態を謝罪。その後の記者会見で「（11年4月までの）私の在任中にメドをつけ再建を果たす」と強調した。
都議会では補正予算案の可決後、経営悪化の責任が石原知事にあるとして、民主などが知事の問責決議案を、共産が不信任決議案をそれぞれ提出したが、いずれも賛成少数で否決した。都知事への不信任案は東竜太郎知事に出されて以来、43年ぶり。問責を含め石原知事の責任を追及する決議案が出たのは今回が初めてとなる。
----------------
新銀行東京の長期優先債務４段階格下げ・ＪＣＲ
日本格付研究所（ＪＣＲ）は28日、新銀行東京（東京・千代田）の長期優先債務の格付けを「シングルＡ」から「トリプルＢマイナス」に4段階引き下げた。4年後に黒字化する再建計画の達成が困難で、都の追加的な財務支援も見込みにくいと判断し、格下げした。格付けの見通しは「ネガティブ」とした。
---------------
新銀行東京：追加出資の１００億円は投資引き当て分
経営危機に陥った「新銀行東京」（東京都千代田区）に追加出資される４００億円のうち１００億円は、中小ベンチャー企業を支援する「ファンド投資」への出資元本が全額棄損した場合に備えた資金であることが分かった。新銀行が、巨額の税金をつぎ込んだ再建計画でも、リスクの高い事業モデルを柱に据える姿勢を示すもので、関係者からは疑問の声が出ている。
新銀行の再建計画は、単年度に７００億円の投融資・保証を実行するとし、このうちファンド投資は１００億円を見込む。０７年１２月末までに１０のファンドに総額５４億円を出資して約５億円の運用益を上げており、再建計画でも有力な収益源に組み込んだ。
将来性の高いベンチャー企業向け融資にも１００億円を積み上げる計画を立てており、ベンチャー企業には計２００億円が投じられる形だ。
しかし、ファンド投資は担保も保証もなく、自己資本比率の規制に基づき元本の全額手当てが必要となる。新銀行は１１年度までの再建期間中、ファンド投資の残高１００億円を維持する方針で、追加出資分の４分の１に当たる１００億円をそのリスク対応に充てる。ファンド投資に依存しない堅実な事業計画を作っていれば、追加出資額は少なく済んだ可能性がある。
都は新銀行の将来について「最新の金融ノウハウを持つ銀行などとの連携を視野に入れながら、銀行業務を強化する」と強気の姿勢。しかし、ファンド投資を主力とした事業モデルについて、ある都銀幹部は「貸し出しこそ銀行の基本で、手間を省いて利益を上げようというのは安直な発想だ」と話している。
ユニクロが北京に再進出・13年までに中国全土で100店体制へ
ユニクロが北京に再進出・13年までに中国全土で100店体制へ
【北京＝高橋哲史】ファーストリテイリングは29日、北京の代表的な繁華街「西単」にカジュアル衣料専門店「ユニクロ」を開業した。北京からは一度撤退しており、再進出した格好。香港を含む中国での店舗数は18になった。8月の北京五輪に伴う消費ブームの広がりをにらんで出店を強化し、2013年までに香港を含む中国全体で100店体制を築く計画だ。
ユニクロの大笘直樹最高執行責任者は「北京では五輪開催前にさらに2店の開業を目指す。（現在11ある）中国本土の店舗数は1年後をメドに倍増させたい」と語った。
----------------------
東ソー、樹脂添加剤を７割増産・200億円投資、中国向け強化
東ソーは200億円強を投じて樹脂や紙などの機能を高める添加剤を7割増産する。2012年までに南陽事業所（山口県周南市）に設備を新設。米ダウ・ケミカルなどと並ぶ世界でトップ水準の生産能力となる。中国では建設投資の拡大に伴い、建材の硬化用などに添加剤の需要が拡大している。いち早く中国などアジア向けの供給体制を強化し、海外化学大手に対抗する。
「エチレンアミン」と呼ばれる添加剤を増産する。建材などに使うエポキシ樹脂の硬化やティッシュペーパーなど紙類の強度向上、潤滑油の粘性維持など幅広い用途がある。アジアでは建材のほか、生活水準の向上でティッシュペーパーなど添加剤の使用が広がっている。
---------------
松下電工、インドに配線器具新工場・住宅建設急増に対応
松下電工はビルや住宅の建設が急増しているインドで住宅建設向け配線器具の市場開拓を本格化する。北部に新工場を建設するなどで生産拠点を統廃合し、 2010年度をメドに生産能力を倍増、年間売上高も500億円と06年度の2倍に引き上げる。最新の製造技術の移転や人材派遣も積極化する。国内市場が伸び悩むなか、建設ラッシュが続く新興国需要の取り込みを急ぐ。
新工場はインド北部のハリドワール県に建設し、スイッチやブレーカーなどの配線器具の完成品組み立て拠点とする。同時に10カ所ある既存工場を統廃合し、新工場を含めて計5拠点に集約する。西部のカッチ県にある工場を金属部品生産の中核拠点とするなど、各工場の機能を明確に分ける。
----------------
国産野菜だけの総菜パック、フジッコが４月試験発売
フジッコは主力商品の総菜パック「おかず畑」で国内産野菜だけを利用した新商品を4月から試験発売する。中国産製品の安全性に対する消費者の不安が増大しているのに対応、九州産里いもをかつおだしで煮た「里いも煮」（100グラム、298円）など3種類を投入する。中国産だった従来商品に比べ、グラム単位価格は2倍以上になるが、少量でも良品を求める消費者ニーズはあると判断した。
新商品は里いものほか、福岡産たけのこのかつおだし煮「たけのこ煮」（100グラム、298円）、青森・北海道産を中心としたごぼうの「酢ごぼう」（120グラム、298円）。漂白剤や保存料は使っていない。首都圏と近畿圏のスーパーで販売する。
【北京＝高橋哲史】ファーストリテイリングは29日、北京の代表的な繁華街「西単」にカジュアル衣料専門店「ユニクロ」を開業した。北京からは一度撤退しており、再進出した格好。香港を含む中国での店舗数は18になった。8月の北京五輪に伴う消費ブームの広がりをにらんで出店を強化し、2013年までに香港を含む中国全体で100店体制を築く計画だ。
ユニクロの大笘直樹最高執行責任者は「北京では五輪開催前にさらに2店の開業を目指す。（現在11ある）中国本土の店舗数は1年後をメドに倍増させたい」と語った。
----------------------
東ソー、樹脂添加剤を７割増産・200億円投資、中国向け強化
東ソーは200億円強を投じて樹脂や紙などの機能を高める添加剤を7割増産する。2012年までに南陽事業所（山口県周南市）に設備を新設。米ダウ・ケミカルなどと並ぶ世界でトップ水準の生産能力となる。中国では建設投資の拡大に伴い、建材の硬化用などに添加剤の需要が拡大している。いち早く中国などアジア向けの供給体制を強化し、海外化学大手に対抗する。
「エチレンアミン」と呼ばれる添加剤を増産する。建材などに使うエポキシ樹脂の硬化やティッシュペーパーなど紙類の強度向上、潤滑油の粘性維持など幅広い用途がある。アジアでは建材のほか、生活水準の向上でティッシュペーパーなど添加剤の使用が広がっている。
---------------
松下電工、インドに配線器具新工場・住宅建設急増に対応
松下電工はビルや住宅の建設が急増しているインドで住宅建設向け配線器具の市場開拓を本格化する。北部に新工場を建設するなどで生産拠点を統廃合し、 2010年度をメドに生産能力を倍増、年間売上高も500億円と06年度の2倍に引き上げる。最新の製造技術の移転や人材派遣も積極化する。国内市場が伸び悩むなか、建設ラッシュが続く新興国需要の取り込みを急ぐ。
新工場はインド北部のハリドワール県に建設し、スイッチやブレーカーなどの配線器具の完成品組み立て拠点とする。同時に10カ所ある既存工場を統廃合し、新工場を含めて計5拠点に集約する。西部のカッチ県にある工場を金属部品生産の中核拠点とするなど、各工場の機能を明確に分ける。
----------------
国産野菜だけの総菜パック、フジッコが４月試験発売
フジッコは主力商品の総菜パック「おかず畑」で国内産野菜だけを利用した新商品を4月から試験発売する。中国産製品の安全性に対する消費者の不安が増大しているのに対応、九州産里いもをかつおだしで煮た「里いも煮」（100グラム、298円）など3種類を投入する。中国産だった従来商品に比べ、グラム単位価格は2倍以上になるが、少量でも良品を求める消費者ニーズはあると判断した。
新商品は里いものほか、福岡産たけのこのかつおだし煮「たけのこ煮」（100グラム、298円）、青森・北海道産を中心としたごぼうの「酢ごぼう」（120グラム、298円）。漂白剤や保存料は使っていない。首都圏と近畿圏のスーパーで販売する。
Putin and Bush: Last battle coming in April
Putin and Bush: Last battle coming in April
27.03.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/104688-putin_bush-0
George W. Bush accepted Moscow’s invitation and will come to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin. The US-Russian presidential meeting will take place on April 6 in the city of Sochi, on the Black Sea coast of Russia, after the NATO Summit and after Bush’s visit to Croatia.
“We are glad that President Bush accepted President Putin’s invitation to hold a work meeting and discuss a wide range of questions,” an official spokesman for the Russian presidential administration, Sergei Prikhodko said.
Bush’s national security advisor Steven Hadley said that the forthcoming talks will give an opportunity to estimate the achieved progress and see if the two countries can solve serval other problems.
George Bush pointed out only one issue which he said he would discuss with Putin in April – the deployment of the US missile defense system in Europe.
The USA intends to deploy a radar station in the Czech Republic and ten interceptor missiles in Poland. Moscow persistently continues to set out its concerns with the deployment of US defense objects in close proximity to Russian borders.
Bush will yet again try to convince his Russian counterpart of the need to deploy the missile defense system in Eastern Europe. The US president said that he would try to prove it to Putin that it would be impossible to defend Europe from a possible attack from Iran without the system.
"I think a lot of people in Europe would have a deep sigh of relief if we're able to reach an accord on missile defense," Bush said during a roundtable interview with foreign journalists. "And hopefully we can,” the AP quoted Bush as saying.
Bush declined to comment on what he thinks democracy will be like in Russia under Medvedev, Putin's protege and hand-picked successor. U.S. concerns about democratic backsliding in Russia were already on the rise before the Kremlin's power was enlisted to help smooth Medvedev's election.
Bush first said he had not yet met Medvedev, though the White House has said the two met once four years ago when the Russian was a government minister. Bush quickly then said "I have yet to work with him."
He said he liked some things he's heard Medvedev say, but he said he would be "listening very carefully" as time goes on and suggested he would withhold judgment on the new president's leadership until after he has dealt with him.
AP photo
Prepared by Dmitry Sudakov
Pravda.ru
27.03.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/104688-putin_bush-0
George W. Bush accepted Moscow’s invitation and will come to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin. The US-Russian presidential meeting will take place on April 6 in the city of Sochi, on the Black Sea coast of Russia, after the NATO Summit and after Bush’s visit to Croatia.
“We are glad that President Bush accepted President Putin’s invitation to hold a work meeting and discuss a wide range of questions,” an official spokesman for the Russian presidential administration, Sergei Prikhodko said.
Bush’s national security advisor Steven Hadley said that the forthcoming talks will give an opportunity to estimate the achieved progress and see if the two countries can solve serval other problems.
George Bush pointed out only one issue which he said he would discuss with Putin in April – the deployment of the US missile defense system in Europe.
The USA intends to deploy a radar station in the Czech Republic and ten interceptor missiles in Poland. Moscow persistently continues to set out its concerns with the deployment of US defense objects in close proximity to Russian borders.
Bush will yet again try to convince his Russian counterpart of the need to deploy the missile defense system in Eastern Europe. The US president said that he would try to prove it to Putin that it would be impossible to defend Europe from a possible attack from Iran without the system.
"I think a lot of people in Europe would have a deep sigh of relief if we're able to reach an accord on missile defense," Bush said during a roundtable interview with foreign journalists. "And hopefully we can,” the AP quoted Bush as saying.
Bush declined to comment on what he thinks democracy will be like in Russia under Medvedev, Putin's protege and hand-picked successor. U.S. concerns about democratic backsliding in Russia were already on the rise before the Kremlin's power was enlisted to help smooth Medvedev's election.
Bush first said he had not yet met Medvedev, though the White House has said the two met once four years ago when the Russian was a government minister. Bush quickly then said "I have yet to work with him."
He said he liked some things he's heard Medvedev say, but he said he would be "listening very carefully" as time goes on and suggested he would withhold judgment on the new president's leadership until after he has dealt with him.
AP photo
Prepared by Dmitry Sudakov
Pravda.ru
ECB takes new steps to ease markets
ECB takes new steps to ease markets
By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt
Published: March 28 2008 20:34 | Last updated: March 28 2008 20:34
Fresh measures to combat financial market tensions were unveiled by the European Central Bank on Friday, even as scares about eurozone inflation further reduced the scope for cutting its main interest rate.
Extending its armoury, the ECB announced its first injections of six-month money into eurozone markets. A €25bn operation will be launched next week, while a second in July will extend beyond the end of this year. The Frankfurt-based institution will also continue additional injections of three-month money.
The moves follow recent surges in market interest rates and point to heightened ECB concerns about the unfolding global financial crisis. The measures were aimed “at supporting the normalisation of the functioning of the euro money market”, it said.
But an unexpected acceleration in German inflation on Friday suggested the ECB’s main interest rate would remain firmly at 4 per cent in spite of sweeping cuts by the US Federal Reserve.
Axel Weber, president of Germany’s Bundesbank, expressed alarm about recent inflation trends and hinted interest rates increases could not be ruled out. He said in Luxembourg that the ECB would “act if necessary” to secure price stability.
However, the ECB knows that tougher talk on interest rates could lead to further upward pressure on the euro, which is already at record levels against the dollar and on Friday hit a fresh high against sterling.
Eurozone inflation data on Monday could show the annual rate for the 15-country region rising to a 16-year high of as much as 3.5 per cent this month, economists said. Eurozone growth figures for the first quarter could also be better than expected, said Jürgen Stark, an ECB executive board member.
Since the start of the financial crisis last August, the ECB has drawn a clear distinction between its actions to ease market tensions and its main interest rate policy, aimed at combating inflation. Even though the ECB believed the current level of interest rates would suffice, “the bank is under huge pressure to explain why it is not responding to this surge in inflation”, said Jacques Cailloux of Royal Bank of Scotland.
By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt
Published: March 28 2008 20:34 | Last updated: March 28 2008 20:34
Fresh measures to combat financial market tensions were unveiled by the European Central Bank on Friday, even as scares about eurozone inflation further reduced the scope for cutting its main interest rate.
Extending its armoury, the ECB announced its first injections of six-month money into eurozone markets. A €25bn operation will be launched next week, while a second in July will extend beyond the end of this year. The Frankfurt-based institution will also continue additional injections of three-month money.
The moves follow recent surges in market interest rates and point to heightened ECB concerns about the unfolding global financial crisis. The measures were aimed “at supporting the normalisation of the functioning of the euro money market”, it said.
But an unexpected acceleration in German inflation on Friday suggested the ECB’s main interest rate would remain firmly at 4 per cent in spite of sweeping cuts by the US Federal Reserve.
Axel Weber, president of Germany’s Bundesbank, expressed alarm about recent inflation trends and hinted interest rates increases could not be ruled out. He said in Luxembourg that the ECB would “act if necessary” to secure price stability.
However, the ECB knows that tougher talk on interest rates could lead to further upward pressure on the euro, which is already at record levels against the dollar and on Friday hit a fresh high against sterling.
Eurozone inflation data on Monday could show the annual rate for the 15-country region rising to a 16-year high of as much as 3.5 per cent this month, economists said. Eurozone growth figures for the first quarter could also be better than expected, said Jürgen Stark, an ECB executive board member.
Since the start of the financial crisis last August, the ECB has drawn a clear distinction between its actions to ease market tensions and its main interest rate policy, aimed at combating inflation. Even though the ECB believed the current level of interest rates would suffice, “the bank is under huge pressure to explain why it is not responding to this surge in inflation”, said Jacques Cailloux of Royal Bank of Scotland.
Credit tremors rock Spanish housing boom
Credit tremors rock Spanish housing boom
By Leslie Crawford in Madrid
Published: March 28 2008 18:25 | Last updated: March 28 2008 18:25
Spain’s Socialist government kept a gag on any discussion of the housing slump in the run-up to the general election on March 9, but now it has secured re-election, the trickle of bad news has become a flood.
Builders are going out of business because real estate developers – whose sales have slumped – cannot afford to pay them. The number of construction groups filing for protection from creditors shot up 87 per cent in the last quarter of 2007, compared with the same period in 2006, according to the national statistics institute.
Some of Spain’s biggest real estate groups, including Colonial, Fadesa and Habitat, have been locked in negotiations with creditors to stave off bankruptcy.
At the height of the 10-year construction boom, Spanish and international banks lent billions of euros to these companies to finance their expansion at home and abroad. In a downturn, real estate groups will be under pressure to write down the value of assets on their books. The Bank of Spain, the financial regulator, is also obliging banks to set aside more provisions against loans to builders and real estate developers.
The question now is how deeply the real estate slump will affect the wider economy.
Dominic Bryant, an economist with BNP Paribas, says Spain is more vulnerable to a housing crisis than other European countries because of the size of its construction sector. “Housing investment equals 9 per cent of [gross domestic product], more than double the average of some developed economies and much higher than the 6.3 per cent of GDP seen in the US before the collapse of housing investment,” Mr Bryant says. Investment in the rest of the construction sector accounts for another 9 per cent of GDP. Construction employs 13 per cent of the workforce.
At the same time, the international credit squeeze has dried up foreign funding for Spain’s spending spree, much of it on housing, and this has transformed a soft landing for the construction sector into a crash.
“A sharp slowdown is clearly under way in Spain,” Mr Bryant says. He estimates economic growth will slow to 2 per cent in 2008 and 1 per cent in 2009, from 3.8 per cent last year.
But if house prices start falling – as Asprima, the association of real estate developers, predicts they will – the contraction will be still sharper.
By Leslie Crawford in Madrid
Published: March 28 2008 18:25 | Last updated: March 28 2008 18:25
Spain’s Socialist government kept a gag on any discussion of the housing slump in the run-up to the general election on March 9, but now it has secured re-election, the trickle of bad news has become a flood.
Builders are going out of business because real estate developers – whose sales have slumped – cannot afford to pay them. The number of construction groups filing for protection from creditors shot up 87 per cent in the last quarter of 2007, compared with the same period in 2006, according to the national statistics institute.
Some of Spain’s biggest real estate groups, including Colonial, Fadesa and Habitat, have been locked in negotiations with creditors to stave off bankruptcy.
At the height of the 10-year construction boom, Spanish and international banks lent billions of euros to these companies to finance their expansion at home and abroad. In a downturn, real estate groups will be under pressure to write down the value of assets on their books. The Bank of Spain, the financial regulator, is also obliging banks to set aside more provisions against loans to builders and real estate developers.
The question now is how deeply the real estate slump will affect the wider economy.
Dominic Bryant, an economist with BNP Paribas, says Spain is more vulnerable to a housing crisis than other European countries because of the size of its construction sector. “Housing investment equals 9 per cent of [gross domestic product], more than double the average of some developed economies and much higher than the 6.3 per cent of GDP seen in the US before the collapse of housing investment,” Mr Bryant says. Investment in the rest of the construction sector accounts for another 9 per cent of GDP. Construction employs 13 per cent of the workforce.
At the same time, the international credit squeeze has dried up foreign funding for Spain’s spending spree, much of it on housing, and this has transformed a soft landing for the construction sector into a crash.
“A sharp slowdown is clearly under way in Spain,” Mr Bryant says. He estimates economic growth will slow to 2 per cent in 2008 and 1 per cent in 2009, from 3.8 per cent last year.
But if house prices start falling – as Asprima, the association of real estate developers, predicts they will – the contraction will be still sharper.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)