S Korea faces another 1997, warns minister

S Korea faces another 1997, warns minister

By Anna Fifield in Seoul

Published: July 22 2008 11:29 | Last updated: July 22 2008 15:10

South Korea is now experiencing the same problems that accompanied the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the top economic policy maker warned on Tuesday, delivering the gravest official prognosis yet about the economic challenges.

But Kang Man-soo, the finance minister, vowed to press ahead with the privatisation of state-invested companies such as Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, despite the turmoil.

“Apart from exports, everything – including investment, consumption, employment and the current account balance – is showing a trend similar to that seen during the [financial crisis],” Mr Kang told a parliamentary session in Seoul.

Exports have been surprisingly robust but growth is slowing sharply, with international financial authorities expecting only a 4.2 per cent expansion this year. At the same time, inflation is at its highest level in almost a decade and Korea is on track to record its first current account deficit in 11 years.

Amid fears of a second crisis, the central bank has stressed that it has $258bn in foreign exchange reserves, compared with only $20bn in 1997.

The worsening exchange rate – the Korean won has lost more than 10 per cent of its value this year – has contributed to the economic dilemma. Authorities appear to have sold about $10bn of their reserves over the last month to try to stem the currency’s fall.

But Mr Kang on Tuesday said the government would act only when there was excessive volatility in the currency markets.

“The government knows well that not only foreign exchange rates but also all the other prices are determined in the market,” he said. “. [We] don’t intend to go against it but I think a government role is needed when there’s a herd mentality.”

Mr Kang has been accused of supporting of a “weak won” policy to help the nation’s exporters. A group of 117 economists and professors this week presented a petition calling for the finance minister to resign and take responsibility for “the growth-oriented economic scheme and a misguided foreign exchange policy”.

Separately, Mr Kang said that the government would move to sell off Daewoo Shipbuilding, even though Seoul’s appetite for privatisation has diminished markedly in the face of political unrest.

“State-owned firms that compete in the private sector, such as Daewoo, will be privatised immediately,” he said.

The 50-per cent stake in Daewoo, the world’s number three shipbuilder, due to be sold is likely to attract bids in the $4bn range. Union members are already protesting outside the Daewoo headquarters in central Seoul, erecting banners opposing foreign ownership.

Other privatisations are likely to proceed slowly, if at all. The long-awaited sale of Woori Bank, the country’s third biggest lender, is likely to be delayed to next year because of the financial market turmoil, according to government officials.

President Lee Myung-bak, faced with widespread public opposition to his privatisation plans, has also stepped back from plans to sell off the Korea Electric Power Corp and Korea Gas Corp.

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IMF warns of currency mismatches

By Krishna Guha in Washington

Published: July 22 2008 21:31 | Last updated: July 22 2008 21:31

The euro is overvalued, even though the dollar is close to its equilibrium value, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday, warning that new exchange rate misalignments could be emerging.

“In our view the euro is now overvalued relative to medium-term fundamentals, while the currencies of many current account surplus countries, including China, remain substantially undervalued,” John Lipsky, the IMF’s first deputy managing director, said in a speech.

By contrast, he told the Brookings Institution: “We assess that the US currency today is the closest to its medium-term equilibrium value in a decade.”

Hank Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, reiterated his backing for a strong dollar on Tuesday, saying the US would support the dollar by implementing economic policies that would strengthen the US economy and financial markets.

The IMF judges that the decline in the dollar over the past six years, and in particular over the past year of the credit crisis, has more or less gone far enough.

Mr Lipksy made clear that the IMF did not think that there was a serious risk that the dollar could lose its role as the world’s reserve currency in the coming years, even if there is an enhanced secondary role for the euro.

“Notwithstanding the dramatic claims by some, there is no doubt that the dollar will retain the central role, even though it may gradually share the stage with other currencies to a greater degree,” he said.

But while the number two IMF official welcomed the orderly decline in the dollar to date, and said it would make a positive contribution to moderating global economic imbalances, he warned that on its own, it would not be enough to bring the world economy into better balance.

“While the dollar depreciation is helping to reduce the US current account deficit, it has not been sufficient to alleviate imbalances and risks,” Mr Lipsky said. “Rather, new misalignments may be emerging and risks may be shifting.”

The IMF is concerned that the euro has borne too large a share of the overall adjustment in the dollar to date, and as a result has itself become overvalued.

It wants economies with large current account surpluses to revalue their currencies, including China’s renminbi, which Mr Lipsky said yesterday was “significantly undervalued” in spite of its recent appreciation against the dollar.

China is extremely sensitive about anything that might be construed as criticism of its currency policy, and the IMF’s decision to strengthen its surveillance of exchange rates has contributed to a more difficult relationship between the Fund and the world’s largest emerging economy.

Mr Lipsky highlighted the increased role of oil in the pattern of global trade deficits and surpluses. While he did not say as much, some senior IMF officials think the big oil exporters such as Saudi Arabia should revalue their currencies, breaking the peg with the dollar.

The depreciation of the dollar – mainly against freely floating currencies – is one of a package of developments economists have long argued would be necessary to reduce global trade imbalances, including the giant US current account deficit.

The US savings rate may be increasing, in response to the housing crash. But other elements that many economists think are essential for a more balanced world economy – including currency appreciation in Asia, greater consumption of foreign goods in Japan and reforms to boost productivity in Europe – still lag behind.

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US plans cut in farm subsidy

By Alan Beattie in Geneva

Published: July 22 2008 19:44 | Last updated: July 22 2008 22:37

The US on Tuesday made the first significant move in this week’s politically fraught meeting of trade ministers in Geneva, cutting its proposed ceiling for farm subsidies to $15bn a year.

The move would reduce US farm subsidies deemed to distort international trade by about $2bn (€1.3bn, £1bn) compared with the current offer in the so-called “Doha round” of trade talks, much lower than the present ceiling of about $48bn.

But it would be comfortably above the US’s recent real spending in trade-distorting farm support, estimated at $7bn-$9bn a year.

The offer would require substantial rewriting of the “farm bill” – the generous five-year programme of agricultural subsidies recently approved by the US Congress, which overcame an attempted White House veto.

Brazil and India, two of the US’s main negotiating partners in the struggling World Trade Organisation talks, dismissed the offer as inadequate. “This is a nice try but it is not enough,” said a spokesman for the Brazilian foreign minister, Celso Amorim. “It is not the final offer they can do.”

The European Union, which will be under pressure to reduce its subsidies if the US offers bigger cuts, was more supportive, saying it was a “reasonable offer at this stage, which will ... have constraining effects”.

But the offer did not spark rapid progress in the talks. A seven-hour negotiating meeting last night involving several dozen ministers ended with participants saying there had been little progress. They said Pascal Lamy, the WTO’s director-general, had postponed another session of talks on Wednesday and would try to make progress with smaller groups of negotiators.

The offer is within the range of $13bn-$16.4bn suggested by a draft text within Doha, but not towards the bottom of that range as many emerging market countries have demanded.

Some of the US’s negotiating partners, such as India, have called in the past for the US to agree a ceiling that would cut its actual spending. Susan Schwab, US trade representative, said the $15bn limit would have meant real cuts in spending in seven of the past 10 years. Soaring commodity prices, which have reduced price-linked subsidy payments, could not be relied on to remain high indefinitely, she said. “Anyone suggesting a number outside the ranges in the [negotiating] text is not serious about achieving an agreement.”

Ms Schwab said the offer was conditional on other countries opening their markets to US farm exports and agreeing not to launch litigation against US farm payments at the WTO, as has happened repeatedly. One such case, brought by Brazil, forced the US to revise its controversial cotton support subsidy programme.

US agricultural subsidies are blamed by many developing countries for pushing down commodity prices, although the US points to research showing farm import tariffs, not subsidies, do most damage to producers in poor countries.

The US offer did not change its existing proposal to limit the most trade-distorting form of subsidies to an annual $7.6bn a year, nor did it introduce new limits on the amount of money spent on any specific crop.

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ＷＴＯ会合が紛糾　農業鉱工業、少数国で打開探る

　【ジュネーブ＝馬場燃】世界貿易機関（ＷＴＯ）は23日、農業や鉱工業分野の貿易自由化ルールでの合意をめざす閣僚会合を一時中断した。前日の会合で農業補助金や鉱工業分野の関税引き下げ幅を話し合ったが、参加国の対立が解けないためだ。参加閣僚を絞った少数国会合に議論の場を移して打開の道を探る。

　今回の多角的通商交渉（ドーハ・ラウンド）には150を超える国と地域が参加。先進国と途上国がそれぞれ農業や鉱工業の関税削減を進め、貿易拡大に弾みをつける狙いだ。21日から始まった主要30カ国強の閣僚会合で関税削減幅など決めきれていない数値を詰め、7年に及ぶ交渉を年内に決着させる段取りを描いている。

　順調に議論が進めば、25日にも新たな閣僚合意案にこぎつける見通しだった。しかし、農業分野での譲歩策として国内農業補助金の削減を示した米国に途上国が反発。溝を埋められないまま、3日目の閣僚会合は中止となった。

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King seeks emergency failure fund

By Delphine Strauss and Jane Croft

Published: July 22 2008 22:50 | Last updated: July 22 2008 22:50

Banks should pay upfront to build a multi-billion pound fund that would help compensate depositors quickly when an institution failed, Mervyn King told MPs on Tuesday.

The Bank of England governor’s comments come as many banks struggle to rebuild their balance sheets, making ministers wary of forcing the industry to pay into a pre-funded pool of assets that would help meet the costs of dealing with future banking failures and guaranteeing savers’ deposits.

Kitty Ussher, economic secretary to the Treasury, said legislation would include power to pre-fund compensation payments, but would only be used if there were a “market consensus”.

But Mr King wants the government to toughen this position before it finalises plans for banking reform. He said banks should contribute on a scale that would build a fund of “many billions” over 10 years, paying more if they had riskier business models.

“Some element of pre-funding is desirable . . . I hope that issue will still be on the table,” he said.

Although no one was suggesting seeking large sums now, or expecting to rely on pre-funding, he said that “if you wait until there is a problem, that’s a pretty bad time to ask banks to put up a large amount of money’’.

Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers Association, questioned Mr King’s proposal for “risky” banks to pay more into the fund. “How is riskiness assessed? Are big institutions classed as risky because they have a large number of customers even though they are well capitalised? Or are smaller banks regarded as riskier even though they have fewer customers.”

Mr King and Ms Ussher were speaking to MPs scrutinising Treasury proposals for reforming financial stability arrangements proved inadequate by Northern Rock’s collapse last autumn.

Separately the government on Tuesday published a consultation on the details for a proposed new regime to deal with failing banks, which offers some enhanced protection for shareholders’ rights.

MPs criticised several elements of the draft legislation, saying the way powers were split between the Bank, FSA and government risked creating more muddle and could amount to little more than “mopping up”.

Mr King was pressed to justify arrangements for scrutiny of the Bank’s financial stability work; he himself will chair a sub-committee of the court of directors.

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Brown signals end of military role in Iraq

By George Parker, Political Editor

Published: July 22 2008 22:24 | Last updated: July 22 2008 22:24

British troops could begin their long-awaited withdrawal from Iraq early next year after Gordon Brown on Tuesday predicted “a fundamental change of mission” in the first months of 2009.

Mr Brown’s statement to MPs signals what he hopes will be the end of Britain’s military involvement in Iraq, and could clear the way for combat troops to come home well before an expected general election in 2010.

The prime minister steered clear of setting out a precise timetable for withdrawing the 4,100 troops at Basra air base, but he stressed that the army had almost completed its tasks in southern Iraq.

He told the Commons that from early next year he ex-pected Britain’s relationship with Iraq to be transformed, ending its role as an occupying power and becoming an ally, providing lower level military assistance.

“We would expect a further fundamental change of mission in the first months of 2009 as we make the transition to a long-term bila-teral partnership with Iraq,” he said.

This would be “similar to the normal relationships which our military forces have with other important countries in the region”.

Mr Brown’s aides said this was a reference to countries such as Oman or Jordan, which receive training and other military assistance from Britain. Service personnel involved are more likely to be measured in hundreds than thousands.

The prime minister, who travelled to Basra last Saturday, has kept President George W. Bush informed. Mr Brown’s aides said the White House was content with the plan.

Mr Brown is also expected to discuss the plan with Barack Obama, the democratic presidential candidate, when he visits Downing Street on Saturday. Mr Obama has also pledged to bring US troops home from Iraq.

However, David Cameron, Conservative leader, said the prime minister had made promises on troop withdrawals before, only to be thwarted by events on the ground. He said servicemen and their families wanted no more false dawns.

Last year Mr Brown said Britain intended to reduce the number of troops it had in Iraq to about 2,500 by the beginning of this year, but that plan had to be put on hold after renewed violence erupted across southern Iraq. Rather than again committing to an arbitrary deadline for troop withdrawals, Mr Brown said he would now work with military commanders and allies such as the US to determine the best time to withdraw the forces that remained.

However, the prime minister said the security situation in the Basra region had been transformed since the Iraqi army confronted militants in the city. He praised Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, for leading the offensive.

Britain’s forces are confined to the heavily-fortified Basra air station, conducting training and operating in an “overwatch” capacity – theoretically able to intervene to support Iraqi forces. Mr Brown said the mission was nearing completion with more than 20,000 Iraqi troops trained, provincial elections planned and economic development under way.

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Mediterranean gas field fires Israel

By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem

Published: July 22 2008 23:03 | Last updated: July 22 2008 23:03

To many Israelis, the geology of the Middle East has always seemed more than a little unfair. While other countries in the region have been raking in hydrocarbon riches for many decades, Israel has searched for oil and gas largely in vain.

More recently, however, thanks to oil prices soaring to more than $140 a barrel – although they have settled below $130 in recent days – and rising global demand for natural gas, the country’s fledgling oil barons have a spring in their step. Across the country – in the southern desert, around the Dead Sea and off Israel’s Mediterranean coastline – companies are exploring oil and gas projects.

Both industry executives and the government stress there is little chance of Israel becoming a state flush with petro-shekels. They hope that the projects, combined with an effort to extract more oil and gas from existing fields, may cut Israel’s dependence on foreign fuel imports and give a significant boost to its domestic energy industry.

The biggest excitement surrounds a spot in the Mediterranean Sea known as Tamar, about 90km west of Haifa. Here a consortium of Israeli and US companies has identified a deposit they hope may contain as much as 90bn cubic metres of natural gas. While small compared to some of the fields in the Persian Gulf, it is three times the size of the biggest Israeli find to date.

Delek Energy, an Israeli group, and Noble Energy of the US plan to sink an exploration well into the sea later this year. At a cost of $140m (€88m, £70m), it will be the most expensive drill in Israel’s history.

Gideon Tadmor, the chief executive of Delek Energy, says the steep rise in oil and gas prices has spurred on the companies: “The current level of commodity prices has a lot to do with justifying such an investment.”

He cautions that so far most exploration wells in Israel have not translated into commercially viable finds, and puts the chances of success at the Tamar site at about 35 per cent. But that has done little to dampen the enthusiasm of both the industry and Israel’s government.

“Our off-shore operations are on a high at the moment for two reasons,” says Yaakov Mimran, the government’s petroleum and mining commissioner. “First, you have the rise in the oil and gas price. Secondly, there is a tremendous expectation as we look ahead to the first drilling at Tamar. We hope it will be a breakthrough.”

It has been a long wait. The country’s oil production reached a modest high of 4,000 barrels a day in the 1960s but soon tapered off. While the first – and so far only – major success in gas exploration came in the late 1990s, when Delek and Noble found a sizeable natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, close to southern city of Ashkelon. It now produces about 2.5bn cubic metres of gas a year.

According to Mr Mimran, the boom in commodity prices has not only helped make expensive projects like Tamar worth the risk, it has also sparked renewed interest in the country’s lower-volume existing oil and gas finds. He cites the example of the Heretz field in the south, one of the country’s oldest oil finds that still produces a small amount of crude, and where the government recently awarded a new licence to exploit the field.

Ginko Oil, another Israeli company, is pursuing a similar strategy at sites close to the Dead Sea, where it is re-tapping several shuttered oil fields. In addition, the company has become partners with Delek to exploit what Rami Kremien, Ginko’s managing director, describes as “the diamond in the crown” – a potential large oil find at Zuk Tamrur near the Dead Sea.

“We found a very interesting reservoir that we believe contains 6.5m barrels of oil, worth about $900m,” says Mr Kremien.

The site, however, lies within one of Israel’s natural parks, and so far the park authorities have refused permission to drill an exploration well there. If their objections can be overcome, Mr Kremien hopes to prove that Zuk Tamrur is just the start. “We believe the entire Dead Sea basin has a potential of 20bn barrels of oil, of which 5-6 per cent is recoverable. Our target is to find and extract 1bn barrels.”

That would be enough to satisfy Israel’s total oil consumption for more than 12 years.

It is, Mr Kremien admits, a long shot. But in these heady days for Israel’s small band of oil and gas executives, everything seems possible.

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Kazakhstan considers extending oil export tax

By Isabel Gorst in London

Published: July 22 2008 22:13 | Last updated: July 22 2008 22:13

Kazakhstan is considering imposing an oil export tax on Chevron’s Tengiz field, broadening a campaign to milk more revenues from the petroleum industry.

When the $109.81 per tonne oil export duty was launched in May, Kazakhstan said big foreign oil projects shielded against adverse tax changes by contracts signed in the 1990s would be exempt. But this month KPO, the oil group led by BG and Eni developing the huge Karachaganak field, was forced to pay the duty.

Daulet Yergozhin, Kazakhstan’s deputy minister of finance, said lawyers had exploited loopholes in KPO’s contract to impose the export tax and were now seeking similar openings in the Tengiz contract.

“We are in talks with Tengizchevroil [the joint venture operating the field].

“Lawyers are examining the contract. If they say we cannot legally impose the export tax, I will hand the oil group a letter exempting them from the tax,” he said.

Tengizchevroil said in a statement it “strongly believes it is exempt from the export duty in accordance with the terms of its contract with the Republic of Kazakhstan”.

Karachaganak said KPO was paying the export tax “under protest” while ”assessing all legal options”.

Mr Yergozhin said the export duty was deductible against other taxes and would “not harm the economics” of the Karachaganak project.

“We are not Venezuela. We are not asking them to give up rights to the fields. We are not trying to steal anything.

“We ask them to pay taxes so that there is a fairer balance of interests at oilfields,” he said.

Analysts said the financial difficulties hitting Kazakhstan in the wake of the US subprime crisis had spurred the government to introduce oil export duties ahead of a package of tax reforms coming into force in early 2009.

But Mr Yerdozhin said the oil export duty had “nothing to do with the credit crunch”.

Kazakhstan’s strategy is to shift more of the tax burden on to the oil and mining industries to compensate for planned tax reductions in other, less profitable sectors.

An oil production tax, to be introduced next year will be simple to administer, limiting opportunities for corruption by both taxpayers and collectors, he said.

Corporate income tax will be reduced to about 20 per cent from 30 per cent.

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Cadogan shares suspended

By Toby Shelley in London and Roman Olearchyk in Kiev

Published: July 22 2008 19:40 | Last updated: July 22 2008 22:31

Shares in Cadogan Petroleum were suspended on Tuesday, just a month after the company floated in London.

The company became the latest victim of perceived legal risks of working in Ukraine, Cadogan’s sole area of operation, as a lawyer for Nadra Ukraine, the state-owned natural resources company, said it was taking action “to return interests that were wrongfully stripped away”.

In June Cadogan floated at an offer price of 230p, with an implied market capitalisation of £532m, but the shares have traded below that level since.

On Monday its market capitalisation was £341m, with the share price at 147½p.

There had been speculation in the Ukrainian press that a local court had questioned the validity of two of Cadogan’s gas development licences. The case was not brought against Cadogan, the company said.

Cadogan said it was fully confident in its titles to the assets and would contest vigorously any claim to the contrary. It added that joint venture operations with Nadra were continuing as normal.

Cadogan learned of the hearing only when news of it was posted on the internet on Monday afternoon. The company then began investigating the reports.

But speaking to the Financial Times, Viktor Pankov, chief lawyer at Nadra, said his company’s interest in the licence areas had been diluted through “manipulations” identified by a state oversight agency.

He said: “Our position is to return interests that were wrongfully stripped away from Nadra, a state company which has in the past invested sizable funds to develop this field.”

Cadogan has proven and probable reserves of 80m barrels of oil equivalent. Commercial production from the Pirkovskoe field began this month and production at the Zagoryanska field should start next year. However, these are the licences cited as being in legal doubt.

Cadogan is not the first UK-listed oil and gas company to be frustrated in Ukraine. Regal Petroleum’s licences were challenged in court – one of the factors leading to the company’s share price collapse in 2005 – and JKX Oil & Gas battled in the courts for three years to defend its position.

Nonetheless, gas production in Ukraine is particularly attractive. Russia, which supplies much of the country’s needs, has pushed up the price of gas, allowing Ukrainian producers to follow suit.

Cadogan said when it floated that it expected Ukrainian domestic gas prices to reach parity with western Europe in the near term. The domestic price rose 40 per cent in 2007.

With this market environment Regal and JKX have maintained their enthusiasm for Ukraine.

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Hitachi, GE to develop smaller nuclear reactors
AFP
AFP - 2 hours 15 minutes ago

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Hitachi and US giant General Electric will team up to sell midsize nuclear reactors to meet growing demand for power facilities in Southeast Asia, a Hitachi spokesman said Wednesday.

The move comes as soaring crude oil prices and worries about global warming spur interest in nuclear power.

The move is aimed at tapping into the markets in countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, where demand for reactors with output of one million kilowatts or less is expected to grow, spokesman Masayuki Takeuchi said.

"We've been developing the core part of midsize nuclear reactors and we will now work closely with our potential customers over details of reactor designs," he said.

Hitachi and GE will jointly develop compact and advanced boiling-water reactors to try to meet that need, he said.

Hitachi and GE already have a tie-up that has been focusing on larger nuclear reactors.

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Daily Mail revenue up as B2B offsets weak ads
Reuters
Reuters - 12 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - Publishing group Daily Mail & General Trust said third-quarter revenue rose 5 percent on last year as growth in the group's business information division offset weak advertising revenue.
(Advertisement)

The group, which publishes the Daily Mail and Evening Standard newspapers, said advertising revenue for the national Associated unit fell by 3 percent and was down by 11 percent for the regional Northcliffe division.

However, advertising revenue for the Associated unit includes the faster-growing digital advertising sales, and without this, advertising for Associated's newspapers only was down 5 percent.

Display advertising was down 5 percent and classified advertising fell 9 percent. The group said these trends had also continued into July.

"Despite the current weakness in economic conditions, our business-to-business divisions are continuing to perform well," its Chairman, Viscount Rothermere, said in a statement.

"Inevitably, the well-publicised deterioration in the UK economy since we last reported in May is having an impact on our newspaper businesses there."

Rival newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror warned in June that full-year operating profit would be about 10 percent below expectations as advertising market conditions had deteriorated.

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Japan to Boost Rice Production as Alternative to Corn, Wheat

By Aya Takada
Enlarge Image/Details

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Japan, the world's largest grain importer, plans to boost production of rice for feed and flour, as part of a strategy to reduce corn and wheat imports.

The country wants to become less dependent on overseas grain supplies to protect it from soaring international prices and ensure long-term security of supply, Yuji Sawa, vice minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said in an interview.

Japan, self-sufficient in rice, imports more than 60 percent of its food requirements, the highest level among developed countries. Reduced overseas purchases of corn and wheat may help damp prices for the grains, which soared to records on rising global demand for food and biofuels. The increases spurred food inflation and caused riots in developing countries.

``Rice holds the key to self-sufficiency as the grain is the best crop to grow under the country's natural conditions,'' said Nobukazu Taniguchi, professor for agricultural and resource economics at the University of Tokyo.

Corn climbed 82 percent in the past year on the Chicago Board of Trade and reached a record $7.9925 a bushel on June 27. Wheat gained 29 percent in the past year, reaching an all-time high of $13.495 on Feb. 27.

The area planted to feed-use rice in Japan will rise to 20,000 hectares (49,400 acres) this year from 286 hectares last year and the government aims for production of 3.5 million tons from 400,000 hectares, Sawa said, without specifying a timeframe. The government from April 1 started a payment to farmers of 25,000 yen ($233) a ton for feed-use rice, he said.

Livestock Farmers

``We are taking measures to promote use of rice for feed, as a surge in world grain prices boosted production costs for livestock farmers,'' Sawa said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday.

Government income support for farmers who produce rice for animal feed will help Japan cut feed-grain imports, Taniguchi said. Japan's total imports of feed grains including corn, sorghum and barley were 14.5 million tons last year, meeting almost all of its feed requirements. The country imports about 5 million tons of wheat for flour, meeting 90 percent of its needs.

Itochu Feed Mills Co., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based trading company Itochu Corp., is co-operating with a farmers group in northern Japan to produce high-yielding rice for feed, said spokeswoman Yuko Takeuchi.

Production Plans

The company expects to harvest about 300 tons of rice this year from 40 hectares for use in feed for chickens and hogs. Itochu Feed plans to produce 1.2 million tons of compound feed this fiscal year, 5 percent of total Japan feed output.

``As prices of corn, the biggest ingredient in compound feed, surge on growing demand from the U.S. ethanol industry, producing feed-use rice in Japan is a way for the industry to secure raw material,'' Takeuchi said. Wider use of rice in feed would require lower prices of the grain, she said.

Lawson Inc., Japan's second-largest convenience store chain, will start sales July 29 of bread made from Japanese rice flour.

``We will probably use as much as 10,000 tons of domestic rice for the bread annually,'' said Yayoi Sugihara, spokeswoman for the Tokyo-based company. Consumer interest in rice flour is growing because of rising wheat prices, she added.

Japan is developing higher-yielding rice for feed that is easier to grow than food varieties, where taste is more important, Sawa said. The country plans to sell more than 600,000 tons of foreign rice this year from its stockpiles to feed makers, up 50 percent from a year earlier, a ministry official said last month.

Japanese rice for food is the world's most expensive grain, costing 240,000 yen a ton and protected from foreign competition by a 778 percent tariff on imports.

For rice to widely replace wheat in flour, its price would need to fall to around 70,000 yen a ton, the government estimates. To become an alternative to corn in feed, it must drop to about 40,000 yen.

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東京海上ホールディングス、米損保会社を買収へ

　東京海上ホールディングスは23日、米損害保険会社のフィラデルフィアを買収する方針を決めた。買収額は4000億円規模とみられる。同日夕に記者会見して発表する。

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厚労省改革、浅野氏ら起用　テリー伊藤氏にも打診

　舛添要一厚生労働相は22日、有識者を交えて同省の組織改革などを検討する「厚労行政あり方懇談会（仮称）」のメンバーに浅野史郎前宮城県知事らを起用する方針を固めた。演出家のテリー伊藤氏にも参加を打診している。月内にも初会合を開きたい考えだ。

　同懇談会は厚労相直属の組織で、政府が社会保障分野の緊急対策として月末にまとめる「5つの安心プラン」の一環として設置。厚労省の硬直的な組織や人事制度が公的年金記録問題などを巡る混乱の原因になったとの反省から、信頼回復に向けて組織の抜本的な見直しも視野に議論する。

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野村、証券担保ローン展開　ネット手続き、翌日にも最大5000万円

　野村グループは7月末から、個人投資家が保有する株式や投資信託などを担保にお金を借りられる証券担保ローンを本格展開する。インターネット上で手続きすれば翌日にも最大5000万円まで借りられる仕組み。野村信託銀行を介することで借入利率を低く抑えた。証券総合口座に銀行機能を一部取り込むことで使い勝手を改善。新たな個人顧客の開拓につなげる。

　証券担保ローンを利用できるのは、野村証券の口座に預かり資産のある個人顧客すべて。株、債券、投信、上場投資信託（ＥＴＦ）など、担保とする預かり資産の残高に応じて貸出限度額（500万―5000万円）を設定。担保の種類にもよるが、預かり資産が700万円以上あればウェブサイトを通じた手続きだけで翌日に借り入れることができる。借入金額は10万円以上1万円単位で最大5000万円まで。使い道は事業目的以外であれば限定しない。

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スズキ、営業最高益に　４―６月410億円強

　スズキの2008年4―6月期の連結営業利益は410億円強と、前年同期（404億円）を上回り過去最高となったもようだ。インドやロシアなど新興国で販売が好調だったほか、値上げで原材料高の影響を吸収した。北米の収益依存度が高いホンダや日産自動車は4―6月期の減益が濃厚。新興国を主戦場とするスズキの収益力が際立つ格好となる。

　スズキが全営業利益の4割近くを稼ぐインドでは、自動車需要が年率5―6％のペースで成長している。4―6月期もスズキの世界戦略車「スイフト」や「ＳＸ４」などの販売が伸びた。

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大塚家具、東京・銀座に大型店

　大塚家具は2010年秋、東京・銀座に高級家具専門の大型直営店を開業する。約7000平方メートルの売り場に60万円以上の欧米製ソファなどをそろえる。住宅着工の減少で家具需要は伸び悩んでいるが、高級感を演出し富裕層らの需要を取り込む。

　銀座1丁目に新規開業する商業ビルの1―10階部分を賃借。ソファ、テーブル、照明器具など1万点以上を扱う。価格はソファで60万円台から数百万円まで。顧客の要望通りに家具を作るオーダーメード受注も本格的に始める。

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マルハニチロ、600億円投資　漁業に回帰　10年度中計

　マルハニチロホールディングスは22日、2010年度までの中期経営計画を発表した。十数年ぶりに漁船2隻の建造に着手するほか、地元漁協などと共同で漁業会社を設立し漁業に再注力する。欧州など海外企業の買収も視野に入れる。世界的に高騰する水産資源を囲い込み、競争力を強化する。

　旧マルハと旧ニチロの昨年10月の経営統合後、中期計画をまとめるのは初めて。今後3年間で計600億円を設備やＭ＆Ａ（合併・買収）などの投資に充てる。内訳は水産部門が170億円、食品部門が200億円、残りが230億円。

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みずほＣＢ頭取、テレ東女性記者との不倫関係認める
全銀協・杉山会長が会見で明かす

　全国銀行協会の杉山清次会長（みずほ銀行頭取）は２２日の定例記者会見で、みずほコーポレート銀行の斎藤宏頭取（６４）がテレビ東京女性記者とのキスシーンを写真週刊誌「フライデー」に激写されたことについて、「誠に遺憾だと思う」と述べた。

　杉山会長は「（持ち株会社であるみずほフィナンシャルグループの）前田晃伸社長が斎藤頭取から（事実関係を）聞いている。実際に写真を撮られたわけで、（斎藤頭取も）事実関係を認めている」と説明。斎藤氏が女性記者との不倫関係を認めていることが初めて明らかにされた。

　金融界では、斎藤頭取の女性問題に対して「軽率な行動」といった批判が出ている。この日の会見でも女性問題に関する質問が相次いだが、杉山会長は「個人的な問題なのでコメントは控える」と繰り返した。

　旧３行（旧富士銀行、旧第一勧業銀行、旧日本興業銀行）の微妙なパワーバランスの上で成り立つみずほグループ。トップ人事も、みずほフィナンシャルグループの前田社長（６３）は旧富士銀出身、みずほ銀の杉山頭取（６１）は旧第一勧銀出身、みずほコーポレート銀の斎藤頭取は旧興銀出身ときれいに旧３行で分け合っている。

　「杉山氏がちょっとでも斎藤頭取の女性問題で口を滑らそうものなら、みずほグループ内の抗争の大きな火ダネになってしまう。記者会見で女性問題の質問が出ることを想定して、どのように答えるかは事前に十分打ち合わせをしていたはずだ」（大手銀行幹部）という。

　ちなみに全銀協会長は、自分の出身銀行から優秀な部下を全銀協に一緒に連れて行くのが慣例。その部下が全銀協での活動の戦略などを練ることになる。

　全銀協会長の杉山氏は１９７１年の入行で、女性問題を起こした斎藤頭取（６６年入行）はバンカーとして先輩にあたる。それだけに「杉山氏も女性問題での受け答えは気が気でなかっただろう」（同）との声も。

　この問題では、渡辺喜美金融担当相が同日午前の閣議後の記者会見で、一般論とした上で、「取材対象になっているわけだから、メディアとの付き合いは間合いの取り方が重要だ」と発言した。

　斎藤頭取は７月８日、テレ東女性記者と東京・麻布の寿司屋で食事をした後、近くの路上で熱いキスを交わしたところをフライデーに写真を撮られた。写真ではエリートバンカーとしての精悍な風貌は影を潜めており、デレデレした様子は「みずほ内に大きなショックとして伝わった」（関係者）という。

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１年間ほぼ毎日万引で生活…茨城、３０代夫婦を逮捕

　茨城県警大宮署は２３日までに、ホームセンターでゴルフウエア３点（１万７０００円相当）を万引したとして、窃盗容疑で同県常陸大宮市上村田、無職の妻（３９）と無職の夫（３７）の両容疑者を逮捕した。

　同署によると、夫婦は盗んだものをリサイクルショップに持ち込み換金、生活費に充てていた。持ち込んだ品物は昨年１２月から今月まで確認できただけで約１６００点、買い取り額で約２４０万円に上り、店には夫婦専用の買い取りコーナーがあった。同妻は「昨年４月からほぼ毎日万引していた」と容疑を認めている。

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偽装表示：中国産トラフグを国産と－－山口・下関の業者

　山口県下関市の水産加工会社「エツヒロ」（森敏一社長）が、中国で養殖されたトラフグを国産と偽って販売していた疑いが強まり、農林水産省が立ち入り検査を実施したことが分かった。関東以西の大手スーパーや百貨店などに卸していたとみられる。農水省は２３日に、日本農林規格（ＪＡＳ）法違反で同社に改善指示を出す。

　農水省によると、同社は今年３～６月、中国から輸入した養殖のトラフグやシロサバフグ計約５トンを刺し身などに加工し、熊本や山口県産と虚偽表示をして販売したという。同省は関係者からの情報提供を受け、今月７～１５日、下関市の本社や同県長門市の工場など３カ所で計５回、立ち入り検査を行った。

　エツヒロは東京都内の水産商社からフグを輸入。大半が中国産だったが、これまでに「中国産」と表示して販売したことはほとんどないという。

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年金機構：懲戒処分の社保庁職員８６７人は一律不採用

　政府・与党は２２日、社会保険庁の後継組織となる日本年金機構の職員採用に関し、最も軽い「戒告」を含め過去に懲戒処分を受けた社保庁職員８６７人全員を例外なく採らない方針を固めた。２３日の自民党厚生労働部会で協議したうえで、政府は処分歴がある職員の一律不採用などを盛り込んだ基本計画を、２９日にも閣議決定する。

　社保庁は１７日の同部会に、給料をもらいながら労働組合活動に専念する「ヤミ専従」職員やその上司のほか、処分歴のある職員のうち停職・減給処分を受けた約２５０人を不採用とする方針を示した。しかし自民党は、戒告処分のみの職員も含め、処分歴があれば一切採用しないことを求めたため、厚生労働省が再検討していた。

　戒告処分には、車を運転中の速度違反などのケースも含まれており、舛添要一厚労相は一律不採用には慎重だった。しかし、自民党は譲歩する姿勢を示さず、厚労省も「与党の了承を得るためにはやむを得ない」として方針を転換する。

　現在の社保庁の正規職員は１万３１１３人。政府案によると、機構発足時の１０年１月には１７％減の１万８８０人となる。民間から採用する１０００人を考慮すると、定年退職者などを除き最大１５００人が新機構に移ることができない。

　社保庁は新機構に採用されない職員について、処分歴の有無にかかわらず、厚労省の地方部局での採用や、民間への再就職あっせんを進めるが、数百人は行き先が見つからないとみている。こうした職員については、最終的には民間企業の解雇にあたる「分限免職」に踏み切ることを検討している。

　一方、社保庁は、正規雇用者以外に社保庁職員１４００人を、期限付きで採用する。対象者は処分歴のない職員だが、このうち千数百人は最長でも６年程度の雇用となる見込み。処分歴があるため新機構に移れず厚労省の地方部局に移る職員が公務員身分を維持する一方で、処分歴なしに有期雇用で新機構に移った人の一部は公務員身分も将来的な雇用も失うことになり、「矛盾する」との批判も受けそうだ。

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「物価の優等生」もついに！　鶏卵、８月以降１パック３０円値上げへ
2008.7.23 11:36

　鶏卵卸最大手のＪＡ全農たまご（東京）は２３日、飼料価格の高騰などを受けて大手スーパーなどと行っていた「しんたまご」などのブランド卵の値上げ交渉が決着したことを明らかにした。同社は８月以降、出荷価格を１パック（１０個入り）当たり約１２％、約３０円程度引き上げる。

　これに伴いスーパーの店頭価格も同程度値上げされる見通し。「物価の優等生」と言われ、値上げと無縁だった卵だが、今後は一般の卵にも値上げの動きが広がる可能性も出てきた。

　ＪＡ全農たまごなど鶏卵卸各社は、トウモロコシなどの飼料価格の高騰や、原油高による包装容器の価格上昇を受け、流通各社に卸価格の引き上げを打診。個別に交渉を行っていた。他の鶏卵卸各社と流通各社との値上げ交渉も決着したもようで、幅広い銘柄のブランド卵が値上げになるとみられる。

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国際的スポーツイベントを誘致、開催　東京都が専門組織設立を検討 (1/2ページ)
2008.7.23 00:16

　スポーツ振興を都市戦略に位置づけている東京都が、国際的スポーツイベントや大会を誘致・開催する専門組織として、東京版「スポーツコミッション」の設立を検討している。欧米では定着している組織だが、設立されれば国内では初となる。スポーツイベントの誘致や開催は “不慣れ”な行政や競技団体が進めるケースが多かったが、都はスポーツマーケティングを専門に行うスポーツコミッションを受け皿にして、観客動員数が見込める大規模な国際大会の招致を進めていきたい考えだ。

　都が構想するスポーツコミッションは、スポーツイベントや大会開催のノウハウを持つ民間出身者らで構成する法人格を持った専門組織。株式会社、ＮＰＯ法人など組織の形態は現時点では決まっていない。

　都によると、欧米のスポーツコミッションは、商工団体やスポーツ競技団体を中心に、都市単位や国単位で設立されているものが多い。このうち、都がモデルケースとするのは、米インディアナ州やロサンゼルスで、事業収入や寄付金を原資にスポーツイベントや大会の企画や運営を行い、産業振興を図るタイプで、今後具体化に向けた議論を始める。

　国際的なスポーツイベントや大会は、国内では各競技団体が中心となって運営し、行政が「後援」の形でサポートすることが多いが、ノウハウのなさから観客動員数が伸び悩むなどの課題も多かった。都内では３万人超が都心を走る東京マラソンが２度行われ、昨年は新体操の世界クラブ選手権やバドミントンの国際大会などが開催されているが、コミッションの設立で、さらなる観客動員数の増加が見込めるようになるとみられる。

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だから五輪から外される？　米で草野球が衰退
2008.7.23 12:15

　野球の本場、米国では子供の草野球が衰退しているという。ＡＰ通信が取り上げたもので、学校は夏休みに入っているが、草野球に夢中になる子供の姿が昔ほど見られなくなった。

　テレビゲームの普及や、防犯意識の変化などが理由。米国の野球人口は横ばいというデータはある。しかし、その多くが組織だったチームに所属している。

　大リーグ、ヤンキースのデーモン外野手は「１年中、遊びではない野球をしているため、高校に入るころには飽きてしまうのではないか」と指摘する。草野球に代わるものを用意しようという動きも出てきた。野球用具は準備するが、大人の指導などに制限を設けて活動するグループだ。

　子供の草野球は過去の遊びになったのか。ミシガン州立大のグールド教授は「われわれが子供に望んでも、草野球はもう戻ってはこない」と話す。

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受取額もとに相続税算定　政府税調、５０年ぶり改正へ（1/2ページ）

2008年7月23日3時2分

　福田首相の諮問機関、政府税制調査会（香西泰会長）は２２日、５０年ぶりとなる相続税の課税方式の改正に取りかかった。亡くなった人の遺産総額をもとに課税額を決める現行方式から、遺産を受け取った相続人の受取額をもとに個人単位で課税額を決める「遺産取得課税」方式に改める。相続税の「公平性」を高める狙いがある。

　政府税調は２２日、今年度初の会合を開き、相続税見直しを議論することで合意した。財務省が改正の具体案を作り、今秋までに政府税調に提示。政府税調は今年１１月にもまとめる答申に盛り込む。０９年度税制改正の焦点となる消費増税論議を控え、低所得者の不満を抑えるため相続課税の強化の是非も検討する。

　現在の相続税は、同じ額を相続しても支払う税金が異なることがある。遺産総額４千万円のうち２千万円を相続した人は総額が基礎控除額より低いため無税だが、基礎控除額を超える遺産総額１億円のうち２千万円を相続した人は、課税される場合がある。

　今秋から中小企業の後継者の相続税を軽減する「事業承継税制」を拡充するが、現行方式では事業を受け継ぐ相続人だけでなく、全相続人が同様の恩恵を受ける問題がある。このため政府は、事業承継税制の拡充を決めた今年１月の閣議決定では「併せて取得課税方式に改めることを検討する」としていた。

　遺産取得課税方式は、相続を受けた個人の相続額をもとに課税額を決める。相続額が同じなら原則として課税額も同じになるため「現行方式より公平で分かりやすい」とされる。

　政府税調は相続税の課税最低限の引き下げなど課税強化も議論する。相続税はバブル期の地価高騰などを背景に課税最低限を引き上げた。その結果、かつては死亡者の１０％程度に課税されていたが、地価が下落した現在は４％程度しか課税されていない。

政府税調は首相の方針に従い例年より約２カ月早く議論を始めた。与党内から先送りの声が出ている消費税引き上げは、景気や社会保障制度のあり方などを考慮しながら議論を進めることを確認した。

　道路特定財源の一般財源化や、それに伴う環境税の導入、たばこ税の増税なども話し合う。

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Russia and Venezuela focus on energy, transport, space and military-tech cooperation

22.07.2008, 20.00

NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 22 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia-Venezuela relations have a solid foundation and develop rather successfully, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday.

“Naturally, energy is one of the cooperation spheres,” he said. “Both Russia and Venezuela make a substantial contribution to the world energy market. Energy resources are in high demand.”

“We are developing the legal foundation of our contacts and seeking diversification of bilateral relations. First and foremost, we cooperate in transport, space exploration, high technologies and, certainly, military-technical spheres,” Putin said.

“You know that Russia is a reliable partner,” he told Chavez.

Putin voiced hope for comprehensive development of the bilateral relations, including humanitarian contacts.

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TNK-BP, PDVSA Venezuelan State Oil Company to draft joint crude project

22.07.2008, 20.25

MOSCOW, July 22 (Itar-Tass) -- TNK-BP and PDVSA Venezuelan State Oil Company will form a supervisory committee of the joint working group, which will develop an oil production project, says a TNK-BP report received by Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

The companies will draft technical and commercial offers for the possible joint project of the production of super-heavy crude, the improved quality of crude and crude selling outside Venezuela.

A document to that effect was signed earlier in the day between Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister and PDVSA President Rafael Dario Ramirez Carreno and TNK-BP Executive Director German Khan in the attendance of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The agreement was signed in development of a memorandum on the evaluation and certification of reserves of the Ayakucho 2 bloc, which the sides approved in October 2007. The memorandum says that TNK-BP will assist PDVSA in the appraisal and certification of the bloc reserves. A technical and commercial team of TNK-BP has been working in Venezuela together with PDVSA since January 2008. The side analyzed earlier data and collected new information through well drilling.

“We are satisfied with cooperation with PDVSA,” Khan said. “Venezuela is an important element of global balance of crude demand and supply. We hope that TNK-BP will have an access to the development of Venezuelan crude reserves for the benefit of all interested countries.”

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Russia creates Arktica system for polar monitoring

21.07.2008, 23.04

ST. PETERSBURG, July 21 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia’s Federal Hydrometeorological Service and the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) are creating the world’s first and unparalleled Arktika space system for monitoring the planet’s polar regions.

A representative of the Moscow-based research centre Planeta, Viktor Asmus, said an international conference in St. Petersburg this week that the “orbiting system Arktika will consist of two weather satellites in high elliptical orbits and two polar orbiting radar satellites”.

In his words, the system “should conduct constant monitoring of the Arctic area and provide information every 15-30 minutes”.

These data are critical for the safety of sea and air navigation, and for geological prospecting and exploration, the researcher said.

Asmus said the Federal Hydrometeorological Service’s system of three large centres in Moscow (Planeta), Novosibirsk, and Khabarovsk “monitor the Arctic seas using data from foreign satellites”.

However “prior to 2001 Russia’s Okean satellite grouping was the world’ s first satellite system providing regular radar all-weather monitoring of the ice cover in the Arctic”, he said.

The grouping included nine satellites of this series that operated for 25 years and “largely helped create the existing foreign satellite systems”, Asmus said.

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Ukraine, Russia agree on gradual transition to market gas price

23.07.2008, 12.15
KIEV, July 23 (Itar-Tass) - Russia and Ukraine have coordinated approaches to the formation of the natural gas prices in 2009, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko said at a government meeting on Wednesday commenting on her meeting in Kiev on July 22 with CEO of Russia’s natural gas giant Gazprom Alexei Miller. “We have reached compromise on the concept of the gas price formation for the next year,” she said.

The Ukrainian prime minister noted that Russia will soon complete negotiations with Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on the gas prices, after which will finally coordinate with the Ukrainian side the gas price for 2009.

Timoshenko stressed that Ukraine and Russia have reached an agreement on a stage-by-stage transition to market prices. “The price increase to the market level will be made gradually in several years,” said the Ukrainian government head. According to her, “There will be no shock.” Timoshenko noted that the model of the price formation “has been chosen and is clear.” She believes it has been an achievement of the Ukrainian and Russian governments.

The prime minister also noted that under agreements with Gazprom, before the beginning of the heating season Ukraine will accumulate in its underground gas storage facilities 14.5-15 billion cubic metres of gas that will belong to the Naftogaz Ukrainy company. She added that the gas price will not change and will be 179.5 US dollars per 1,000 cubic metres, which will allow Ukraine to soften the possible gas price hikes in 2009. Timoshenko noted that mediator companies – Rosukrenergo and Ukrgaz-Energo had earlier had big gas volumes in storage facilities. They used to buy gas at one price and to sell it to Ukraine at another starting from next year.

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Russia and Belarus accused of delivering arms to Sudan
21.07.2008 Source: URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/105839-russia-sudan-0

Russia has been accused of delivering military hardware to Sudan in violation of UN Resolution 1591, which forbids any arms shipments to the government of this country and Darfur insurgents.

The Sudan Tribune newspaper wrote that the government of Sudan received a batch of Russian MiG-29 fighter jets. A source of the newspaper in the Sudanese army said that 12 fighters had been secretly delivered to Sudan from Belarus. The aircraft, the newspaper wrote, have been delivered to Wadi Seidna air base in Sudan.

Belarus is one of the countries that supplied military hardware to Sudan, the newspaper wrote. According to the Sudan Tribune, Belarus signed a defense cooperation agreement with Sudan in 2006.

Official spokespeople for the Ministry of Defense of Belarus said that the information of the Sudan Tribune newspaper was a hoax.

“I do not see a point in commenting stupidity,” the press secretary of the Belarussian Defense Ministry, Vyacheslav Remenchik said.

It is worthy of note that Russia sent another group of peacemakers to Sudan in February of the current year. It became the fourth group of peacemakers that Russia sent to the country after it joined the UN peacemaking mission in Sudan.

The presence of Russian specialists and Russian-made arms in Sudan has been made the subject of international discussions repeatedly. There is no reliable information to prove the existence of Russian-made jetfighters in Darfur. Moscow officially rejects it, although there were several scandals on the matter before.

Russia and China have been named the largest suppliers of arms to the conflict zone. A serious scandal broke out in 2004, a year after the start of the civil war in Darfur. Amnesty International published a report, in which it was said that Russia had signed a contract to ship 12 MiG-29 fighters, Mi-24 battle choppers and other arms to Sudan in the total sum of $200 million.

The document stated that the deal to sell the jetfighters had been concluded upon the request of the Sudanese government. Amnesty International stated that two constant UN Security Council members – Russia and China – were virtually exacerbating the armed conflict.

Moscow immediately rejected those accusations. The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry said that Russia was promoting the peaceful regulation of the conflict and never supplied any arms to Sudan.

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Islam to become Russia’s predominant religion by 2050?
21.07.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/history/105837-russia-islam-0

Islam is likely to become the primary religion in the Russian Federation by 2050 due to the high birth rate in Muslim republics.

The current Chinese-led conquest of Russia’s Far East already seems to be a matter of immediate concern for the Kremlin. The ethnic birth rate disproportion in different regions of the country is another problem. The Muslim community may become the largest community by the middle of the current century. Therefore, Islam has all chances to become the predominant religion in Russia.

Ukrainian scientists of politics, Valery Chaliy and Mikhail Pashkov, believe that this is not the only challenge, which Russia has to face nowadays.

“The Russian macroeconomic stability is being shattered with the high inflation rate and growing food prices. Considerable funds are being invested in state-run corporations and are being spent on social needs. Corruption restrains the growth of the national economy. Russia dropped from the 120th to the 14th place among 160 countries on Transparency International’s corruption list. Russian found itself in the company of Gambia, Indonesia and Togo at this point. Russia takes the humble 58th place on the list of 131 countries on the integral rating of the competitive ability of the economy for 2007.

Islam is currently the second most widely professed religion in the Russian Federation. It is impossible to provide official statistics of "practicing" adherents of Islam or any other religion in Russia because there is no country-wide census or statistics done on this matter by any governmental organization. Roman Silantyev, a Russian Islamologist has estimated that there are only between 7 and 9 million people who practise Islam in Russia, and that the rest are only Muslims by ethnicity. Muslim communities are concentrated among minority nationalities residing between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea: Adyghe, Balkars, Chechens, Circassians, Ingush, Kabardin, Karachay, and numerous Dagestani peoples. Also, in the middle of the Volga Basin reside populations of Tatars and Bashkirs, many of whom are Muslims.

There was much evidence of official conciliation toward Islam in Russia in the 1990s. The number of Muslims allowed to make pilgrimages to Mecca increased sharply after the embargo of the Soviet era ended in 1990. In 1995 the newly established Union of Muslims of Russia, led by Imam Khatyb Mukaddas of Tatarstan, began organizing a movement aimed at improving inter-ethnic understanding and ending Russians' lingering misconception of Islam. The Union of Muslims of Russia is the direct successor to the pre-World War I Union of Muslims, which had its own faction in the Russian Duma. The post-Communist union has formed a political party, the Nur All-Russia Muslim Public Movement, which acts in close coordination with Muslim imams to defend the political, economic, and cultural rights of Muslims and other minorities. The Islamic Cultural Center of Russia, which includes a madrassa (religious school), opened in Moscow in 1991.

The majority of Muslims in Russia adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam. About 2% are Shi'a Muslims. In a few areas, notably Chechnya, there is a tradition of Sunni Sufism. The Azeris have also historically and still currently been nominally followers of Shi'a Islam, as their republic split off from the Soviet Union, significant number of Azeris immigrated to Russia in search of work.

Many Muslim citizens, in particular Muslim clerics, often cite instances of arrest and harassment by authorities, as well as ocassional confiscation of Islamic educational sources. The problems have been exacerbated by terrorist attacks linked with Islamic extremism and Chechen independence. Many ordinary Muslims in Russia fear that they have become the victims of a violent backlash.

The rise in the Russian Muslim population, terrorist attacks and the steep decline of the ethnic Russian population have given rise to a greater degree of Xenophobia and Islamophobia in Russia. Violent racist attacks by ethnic Russians, particularly Neo-Nazi skinheads, which used to be mainly conducted against Jews, are becoming increasingly frequent towards Muslims. As such, Muslims bear the brunt of the escalating racist violence in Russia. Racist attacks struck 539 people in 2006, a 17 percent rise over 2005, the Sova analytical center said in a report. Nearly half of the 56 people killed in the attacks were from the overwhelmingly North Caucasus and Central Asia.

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U.S. urges Iran to accept nuclear deal
12:31 | 23/ 07/ 2008

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Goncharov) - High-level international talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear program ended inconclusively on July 19.

The talks in Geneva focused on an updated package of incentives offered by the six world powers to Tehran in order to breathe life into the deadlocked talks.

Iran faces the following alternative: It must cooperate with advanced nuclear powers offering such cooperation; or it would inevitably face all-out political isolation.

Commenting on the results of the Solana-Jalili talks, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "We hope the Iranian people understand that their leaders need to make a choice between cooperation, which would bring benefits to all, and confrontation, which can only lead to further isolation."

"It was a constructive meeting, but still we did not get an answer to our questions. We hope very much we get the answer and we hope it will be done in a couple of weeks," Solana told a news conference.

The UN Security Council pinned high hopes on a package of incentives virtually offering the required amount of enriched uranium and state-of-the-art technology to Iran. Drafted in early May and officially presented to Tehran on June 14, the package suggested that Iran get a temporary reprieve from economic and financial sanctions in exchange for freezing its enrichment activities.

The concerned parties which are used to Iranian negotiating tactics were not surprised after receiving no response from Tehran. However, the latest package of incentives falls short only of a hypothetical UN Security Council resolution that would allow Tehran to develop its own atomic bomb.

Still, everyone was waiting for the Iranian response because Tehran had more than enough time to study the Iran Six's proposals.

As the talks approached, the EU unilaterally froze the assets of the National Bank of Iran and declared additional sanctions against some Iranian officials linked with the country's missile and nuclear programs. Brussels made it clear that the EU wanted Tehran to engage in constructive negotiations.

President Ahmadenijad, a staunch advocate of the uranium-enrichment program, reportedly no longer has any say in nuclear matters, while Washington delegated Ambassador Burns to the talks in Geneva.

The talks were significant because it was the first time that a senior U.S. diplomat joined other envoys in meeting with the top Iranian nuclear negotiator. The shift in Bush administration policy is intended to help lead to a breakthrough in the impasse over the Iranian program. But, if Tehran fails to respond positively, this would only unify the international coalition dealing with Iran.

When his turn to speak arose, Ambassador Burns delivered a clear message: The United States is serious in its support for the package Mr. Solana conveyed in Tehran last month, is serious in its support of P5 + 1 unity, and the United States with its P1+5 partners, is serious that Iran must suspend uranium enrichment to continue any negotiations involving the United States.

In other words, no other package of incentives is forthcoming.

Ambassador Burns' presence at the talks implied that Washington was heeding the Russian stand. Mr. Burns, who served as U.S. Ambassador in Moscow in 2005-2008, repeatedly met with Russian experts on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and knows the Russian position that the Iranian nuclear program must be linked with the need to preserve the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The U.S. State Department's official statement is, in effect, an ultimatum to Tehran. Washington's patience has run out, and other members of the Iran Six coalition are also feeling restive.

It appears that all the parties at the talks have directly or indirectly agreed with this ultimatum. This prompted U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to ask the UN Security Council to pass another resolution on Iran and to toughen sanctions against Iran in case of Tehran's negative reply. Washington plans to launch this process in September.

Tehran has remained silent thus far because it probably did not expect this. The Iranian online media have only noted the sides' agreement to meet in two weeks. According to Jalili and Ahmadinejad, this is a step forward.

The Iranian side still declines to comment on the uranium enrichment issue which, as Jalili told journalists, was not even discussed in Geneva.

Tehran, which must choose between cooperation and confrontation, has probably taken the first step in the right direction.

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外部役員を監事起用へ

2008年7月21日 朝刊

　日本相撲協会は２０日、愛知県体育館で理事会を開き、監督官庁の文部科学省から求められていた外部からの役員は、監事とすることを決めた。九重広報部長（元横綱千代の富士）は「９月の理事会までに決められることは決めたい。できれば早急に」と語り、人選に着手する考えを示した。

　昨年６月の時津風部屋での力士死亡事件などで、文科省から組織の改革と透明性を高めるよう求められ、５月の臨時理事会で外部役員を招くことを正式に決めていた。

　監事は理事の業務執行を監査する役職で、理事会で意見を述べることはできるが、議決に加わることはできない。松浪健四郎文科副大臣からは議決権のある理事を要望されていた。

　相撲協会の北の湖理事長（元横綱）は「いろいろ指導もきているし、将来的には外部理事も考えている。そう遠くはない」と語った。

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外部役員は監事に決定　相撲協会、理事は見送り

　日本相撲協会は２０日、名古屋市中区の愛知県体育館で理事会を開き、外部からの役員は監事職とすることを決めた。９月の秋場所後の理事会までに人選などを進める。

　関係者によると、監事は非常勤の２人を予定しており、３人の親方が務める現在の監事は名称を「理事代行」などに改める案が挙がっている。

　監督官庁である文部科学省の松浪健四郎副大臣からは、議決権のある理事を強く要望されていたが、相撲協会の九重広報部長（元横綱千代の富士）は「理事は考えていない。（人選などは）早急に決めていきたい」と話した。相撲協会の規則では、監事は理事会で意見を述べることはできるが、議決に加わることはできないとされている。

　相撲協会は昨年６月に時津風部屋で序ノ口力士が急死した問題で文科省から組織の透明性を求められ、５月の臨時理事会で外部役員を招くことを正式に決定していた。

　また同協会が両国国技館の改修工事で業者と随意契約を交わしたことが公益法人として問題があるとして、文科省から行政指導を受けていたことがこの日判明。今後は競争入札制度に改める予定で、北の湖理事長（元横綱）は「何十年も続けてきたことを言われた。しっかりと改善していきたい」と話した。

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松浪文科副大臣：相撲協会の外部理事拒否に「文科省への挑戦だ」

　文部科学省の松浪健四郎副大臣は２１日、日本相撲協会が外部役員に議決権のある理事ではなく監事を採用することを決めたことについて、承認しない方針を明らかにした。「正式な相撲協会からの報告を見ないといけないが、議決権のある理事でなければ世論は納得しない。これは文科省に対する挑戦。受けて立つ」と厳しく言い放った。

　文科省は昨年発生した序ノ口力士の暴行致死事件を重く受けとめ、相撲協会に再発防止と体質改善を要求。その一環として、松浪副大臣は透明な組織運営が行われるように議決権のある外部理事の導入を求めていた。「日本サッカー協会も最近外部理事を採用している。身近なところにいい例があるのに相撲協会は認識が甘い」と指摘した。

　相撲協会では９月の理事会までに財団法人の規定である寄付行為を改訂して人選を進めるとしているが、文科省の対応次第では再考を余儀なくされそうだ。（スポニチ）

2008年7月22日

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松浪副大臣が改革不十分相撲協会を再指導

　日本相撲協会が外部からの理事を登用しないことを決めた。２０日の理事会後、九重広報部長（元横綱千代の富士）が「外部監事については９月（秋）場所後の理事会までに人選を含めて調整していく。外部理事は（協会として）考えていない」と発表した。

　昨年６月に時津風部屋で序ノ口力士が急死した問題で文科省から組織の透明性を求められ、今年２月に監督官庁の文部科学省からの指導を受けて、外部役員登用の検討を始め、５月の臨時理事会で外部役員を招くことを決定した。同月に北の湖理事長（元横綱）らに要請した松浪健四郎副大臣が、報道陣に「外部役員は議決権のある理事も入れなければ意味がない」と話していたが、同協会は外部役員を議決権のない監事の採用のみとした。

　北の湖理事長は「文科省から（正式に）指導があったのは外部役員だったので、まず監事を２人か３人。将来的には理事もあると思う」と話した。これを受けて松浪副大臣は「それでは通らない。これ以上相撲協会だけが特殊では許されない。公益法人見直し後、相撲協会は内閣府の監督下になるが、今回の指導は内閣府の意向もあってのこと。当然、再指導する」との見解を示した。

　同協会は３０年（昭５）に当時の陸軍幹部を理事に迎えたのを最後に、親方衆だけで理事会を構成しており、外部監事の採用だけでも７８年ぶりの改革。だが同省はこれを「真の改革」とは認めないようだ。

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報告書提出は再検討後に　力士急死事件で相撲協会

　日本相撲協会は２０日、昨年６月の力士急死事件から１年が経過したことを受けて８月上旬に文部科学省へ提出予定だった報告書について、時期を延ばし、理事会で内容を再度検討してから提出することを決めた。

　再発防止検討委員会の伊勢ノ海委員長（元関脇藤ノ川）は「委員会でもう１回、もっとしっかりした内容をまとめて理事会で決めたい」と話した。同委員長によれば、８月中にも臨時理事会を開く可能性があるという。

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国立大学協会：交付金削減幅拡大に反対の声明文

　国立大学協会（会長・小宮山宏東京大学長）は２３日、政府が０９年度予算の概算要求基準（シーリング）で「重点化促進枠」を３０００億円に拡大するため、国立大の運営費交付金の削減幅を３％に拡大する方針を固めたことについて、「教育の質を保つことは難しくなり、一部国立大学の経営が破綻（はたん）する」と反対する声明文を発表した。

　同協会は「緊急アピール」として、削減幅拡大で▽地域の医師などの人材育成機能が低下する▽基礎研究の芽をつぶし、これまで積み上げてきた国の高等教育施策の成果を根底から崩壊させる－－などと訴えている。

　政府は骨太の方針０６に沿って公共事業費などを０８年度比３％、国立大運営費交付金や私学助成費などを同１％削減することに加え、重点化促進枠拡大のため社会保障費などを除く政策経費全般をさらに２％絞り込む方針を固めている。