警視庁が北の湖部屋捜索

【角界大麻汚染】警視庁が北の湖部屋捜索
2008.9.3 00:11
北の湖部屋の家宅捜索に入る警視庁の捜査員（中央）＝２日午後１１時５８分、東京都江東区北の湖部屋の家宅捜索に入る警視庁の捜査員（中央）＝２日午後１１時５８分、東京都江東区

　警視庁は２日、大麻取締法違反の疑いで、大麻の陽性反応が出た東十両６枚目の白露山（２６）＝本名、ボラーゾフ・バトラズ・フェーリクソビッチ＝が所属する北の湖部屋（東京都江東区）の家宅捜索を始めた。西前頭３枚目露鵬（２８）＝本名、ボラーゾフ・ソスラン・フェーリクソビッチ＝が所属する大嶽部屋（同）も捜索する。

　２人はこれまでの警視庁の聴取に大麻使用を否定している。相撲協会に対しても「身に覚えがない」と吸引を強く否定し、精密な検査を希望した。２人の尿サンプルは、ドーピング検査機関に送致され、３日から４８時間以内に正式な判定が下る。警視庁は精密鑑定の結果についても協会から提供を受ける。日本アンチ・ドーピング機構の大西祥平専門委員によると、少なくとも２、３日以内に体内に入らないと陽性反応は出ないという。

　大麻取締法では、大麻の「所持」「譲渡」などについては罰則規定があるが、「使用」を禁止する条文はない。このため警視庁は２人が所属する相撲部屋など関係先を捜索し、慎重に調べを進める必要があると判断した。

　今回の検査は、２人と同じロシア出身の元幕内若ノ鵬（２０）＝本名、ガグロエフ・ソスラン＝が８月に大麻取締法違反容疑（所持）で逮捕、解雇されたことを受けた措置。元若ノ鵬は露鵬と白露山と親交が深い。これまでの警視庁の調べに対し、元若ノ鵬は「ほかの力士はやっていない」といった趣旨の供述をしているという。

　露鵬は元関脇貴闘力の大嶽部屋所属、白露山は北の湖理事長（元横綱北の湖）が師匠の北の湖部屋に所属しており、今後の展開によっては理事長の進退問題にも発展しかねない。

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【角界大麻汚染】汚染連鎖　飛び交う実名
2008.9.3 00:30

　日本相撲協会の抜き打ち検査で２日、ロシア出身の露鵬と白露山の兄弟力士からも大麻に対する陽性反応が出た。「他の力士もやっているのでは」。元若ノ鵬の逮捕後にささやかれた疑惑がさらに広がった。

　８月に警視庁に逮捕された元若ノ鵬は調べに対し、「自宅や（所属する）間垣部屋の自室で何回かに分けて（袋の）大麻を吸った」と所持、吸引を認めた。

　「若ノ鵬逮捕」の直後から、連れだって遊んでいたという露鵬や白露山らロシア出身力士には疑いの目が向けられ、角界では大麻をやっているとされる力士の実名も飛び交う騒ぎとなっていた。

　元若ノ鵬が逮捕された当時、謝罪会見した北の湖理事長は「まさか信じられないという思いだった。びっくりした」と答えていた。

　さらに、報道陣からは「（北の湖部屋の）白露山には（大麻について）聞いたのか」との質問が飛んだが、北の湖理事長は「電話で『こういうことはないな』と率直に聞いた」と答え、所持や使用はないとの認識を示していた。

　それからわずか２週間あまり。協会トップの足もとから信頼が崩れ去りかねない事態となった。

　北の湖理事長は２日、「（弟子の）白露山は２週間前に（警視庁から）事情聴取されたときに何も言われなかったが、（今日の）検査でちょっと出たようだ。疑いがあるというなら、よく調べてもらえばいい。（露鵬を含め）２人とも疑いがあったと聞いている」と神妙に話した。

　ここ数年の角界の不祥事続きは異常ともいえる。特に、年々数が増える外国人力士を巡る騒動は、もはや日常茶飯事といってもよい。

　エストニア出身の把瑠都がまげを結わず、Ｔシャツ、短パン姿で深夜の繁華街を歩いていたとして、尾上親方とともに厳重注意を受けた。元若ノ鵬も「“粗暴さ”は数多い外国人力士の中で目立つ方だった」（角界関係者）。そして今回新たな疑惑が浮上した。「（大麻事件が）二度と起こらないようにするのが私の責任」と話していた北の湖理事長の言葉はむなしく響く。

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【角界大麻汚染】朝青龍も「え、本当？」　力士がさまざまな反応
2008.9.2 23:32

　元幕内若ノ鵬の逮捕、解雇を受け、力士会の冒頭、北の湖理事長が「いろんな事件に巻き込まれてはいけない。各自、責任のある行動を取るように」と異例の通達をした。その後、突然行われた尿検査に、力士はさまざまな反応を見せた。

　露鵬、白露山を除くとただ１人のロシア出身関取となる十両の阿覧は「検査は大丈夫だった」と笑みをこぼした。ただ、露鵬について尋ねられると「まだ（検査場所の）中にいる」と答えると、報道陣をさえぎるようにして国技館を後にした。

　横綱朝青龍は「大丈夫。問題ない」と自らの結果を説明したが、露鵬が検査場に残っていると聞かされると「え、本当？」と絶句した。人気者の幕内高見盛は「自分の疑いが晴れてよかった」と、冗談交じりに話した。

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【角界大麻汚染】北の湖理事長らへの厳罰は避けられず (1/2ページ)
2008.9.2 23:17

　元若ノ鵬が大麻取締法違反で逮捕されてからわずか１５日後、日本相撲協会が再び露鵬と白露山の大麻吸引疑惑という激震に見舞われた。事実であれば、白露山の師匠でもある北の湖理事長ら協会幹部への厳罰は避けられない。

　元若ノ鵬が逮捕された際、協会は理事会を開いて若ノ鵬を解雇、師匠の間垣親方（元横綱二代目若乃花）の理事辞任を了承している。最終的な検査結果によっては、両力士の解雇処分はもちろん、弟子の監督不行届を問われる理事長の辞任へと発展する可能性が高い。

　巡業の休場を申し出ながらモンゴルでサッカーに興じた昨年夏の朝青龍騒動で、北の湖理事長は「師弟の問題」として介入を拒否。騒動収拾に向けてリーダーシップを発揮できなかったと批判されたが、自身の責任には一切、触れなかった。

　同年秋に立件の方針が報じられた時津風部屋の傷害致死事件でも、「けいこ内容や弟子の私生活を監督するのは師匠の責任」との発言を連発。自主的に減俸を課したものの、事件に対する責任については「処分ではない」と否定した。

　しかし、自身の弟子にかけられた大麻吸引疑惑が事実であれば、「師弟の問題、師匠の問題」とする言い分はそのまま自分に降りかかる。吸引時期が元若ノ鵬の逮捕以降とみられることを考えても、監督責任を厳しく問われるのは当然だ。

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北の湖部屋、うわさの本星…マリフアナ疑惑の白露山

山兄露鵬とともに健康診断欠席

　北の湖理事長、辞任必至。火のないところに煙は立たない。やはりうわさは本物だった。またまたロシア出身の現役関取、西前頭３枚目露鵬（２８、大嶽）と東十両６枚目白露山（２６、北の湖）のマリフアナ疑惑。先月１８日、すでに解雇された元幕内若ノ鵬（２０、間垣）が大麻取締法違反で警視庁に逮捕されたとき、「アイツらもヤバいんじゃないか」と疑われたのがこの兄弟だった。

　この３人、同じロシアの北ソラチア出身。若ノ鵬は露鵬兄弟の父親にレスリングを習い、露鵬兄弟を頼って来日。露鵬のいる大嶽部屋で相撲の手ほどきを受け、外国人枠が空いていた間垣部屋に入門している。つまり、若ノ鵬にとって露鵬兄弟は大事な兄であり、コーチのようなもので、部屋は違ってもいつも２人の後ろに金魚のフンのようにくっついて行動していた。

　ところが、元若ノ鵬が逮捕されると、露鵬は相撲協会の事情聴取にも「最近、オレたちの言うことを聞かなくなった。一緒に行動していないので、よくわからない」とクビをひねり、大麻吸引についても「まったく知らない」と強く否定している。

　その一方で、先月２２日に行われた健康診断には露鵬、白露山とも欠席し、露鵬は２５日からのモンゴル巡業にもギックリ腰を理由に不参加。「なにかヤバい検査でもされると思ったのかな」と協会関係者の不信感を買っていた。

　これだけ見ると、２人は予期せぬ展開に警戒し、用心していたとも見えるが、この兄弟の行動は想像以上に大胆だった。２日午後１時から十両以上が出席して開かれた力士会でマリフアナなど、３種類の覚醒剤と麻薬の抜き打ち検査を実施し、露鵬兄弟の尿から陽性反応を得た相撲協会アンチ・ドーピング委員会の大西祥平委員（慶大教授）は「簡易検査では、２、３日以内の吸引でないと引っかからない。露鵬は３回、白露山は２回の簡易検査を行ったけど、いずれもマリフアナに強い反応を示した」と明かしている。

　つまり、２人は若ノ鵬が逮捕されても、マリフアナの吸引をやめず、ごく最近までやっていたことになる。大相撲界をなめていたとしか言いようがない。２人はただちに警視庁に通告され、任意の事情聴取を受けたが、２人の師匠、北の湖理事長、大嶽親方（元関脇貴闘力）の監督責任も重大。とりわけ、北の湖理事長は大相撲界のリーダーとしての責任もある。

　若ノ鵬の逮捕を受けた先月２１日の緊急理事会では、師匠の間垣親方は理事から平委員に２階級降格になった。北の湖理事長も、自分の足元で起こった事件だけに、これまでのように理事長に居座り続けるワケにはいかない。「まだ詳しい検査結果が出ていないので」とこの日の会見は拒否したが、辞任は免れない。

　注目の後任には、同じ出羽一門の武蔵川理事（元横綱三重ノ海）が有力視されているが、北の湖理事長の右腕の伊勢ノ海理事（元関脇藤ノ川）の緊急登板もあり得る。大相撲界の薬物汚染はどこまで広がるのか。見当もつかず、今月１４日からの秋場所を目前にして、大相撲界も福田辞任で混迷する政界に負けないぐらい揺れている。

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「秋場所中止」の声も…理事長が認識不足と批判も

　相撲協会は元若ノ鵬の逮捕の翌日、短時間の聞き取り調査で終止符を打とうとしていたが、今回の一件は、元若ノ鵬の件とスケールが違う。露鵬の入門時の師匠は元横綱大鵬の納谷幸喜氏で、白露山の現在の師匠は北の湖理事長だ。

　最も問われるのは、協会トップの北の湖理事長の責任問題。再発防止検討委員会のある親方は「露鵬や白露山はもちろん、理事長もあまりに認識不足だ」と批判。ある若手の師匠は「朝青龍に出場停止処分を下したのだから、協会は自ら秋場所を中止にしてもいい。もう終わりだ」と声を震わせた。

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大相撲：力士暴行死　来月７日に初公判

　大相撲時津風部屋の力士暴行死事件で、序ノ口力士、斉藤俊さん（当時１７歳）に対する傷害致死の罪に問われた兄弟子３人の公判前整理手続きが１日、名古屋地裁（芦澤政治裁判長）であり、１０月７日に初公判が開かれることが決まった。

　兄弟子３人は傷害致死罪の成立自体は争わないが、起訴事実での個々の実行行為や動機面について一部争うと見られる。公判は１０月７日以降、８、９、１０日と集中審理される。１１月１０日に最終弁論、論告求刑が行われ、結審する予定。

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投資家の利便性向上が課題　大証日経平均先物上場２０年 (1/2ページ)
2008.9.2 22:55

　日経平均株価を対象とする株価指数先物取引「日経２２５先物」（日経平均先物）が大阪証券取引所に上場して、３日で２０周年を迎える。国内の現物株取引が東京証券取引所に集中する中、大証がリードする金融派生商品（デリバティブ）の中核である日経平均先物。大証としては、１０月からは夜間取引時間を午後８時までに延長するなど投資家の利便性を高め、国際競争力の強化に取り組むことが課題になる。

　日経平均先物は昭和６３年９月３日に大証で取引が開始された。同時に、東証では東証１部に上場する全銘柄を対象とするＴＯＰＩＸ先物取引もスタートしたが、これまで、年間取引高、年間取引金額とも日経平均先物が、ＴＯＰＩＸ先物を下回ったことはない。

　平成１９年の年間取引高は日経平均先物が３００８万４７８１単位、ＴＯＰＩＸ先物が１６５７万８７３１単位。同年の取引金額は日経平均先物が５０７兆３７４９億円、ＴＯＰＩＸ先物は２７３兆２８７９億円。

　平成２～３年には、大証での日経平均先物の年間取引金額がシカゴ・マーカンタイル取引所のＳ＆Ｐ５００先物を上回り、株価指数先物としては世界一の規模になったこともある。しかし、ちょうどこのころ、株価の暴落を先物取引が誘導しているとする「先物悪玉論」が国内で台頭。日経平均先物への規制が強化され、低迷を余儀なくされた時期もあった。

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Asian issuers show preference for renminbi

By Andrew Wood in Hong Kong

Published: September 1 2008 17:48 | Last updated: September 1 2008 17:48

The renminbi has for the first time supplanted the dollar as emerging Asia’s most popular currency for fixed income corporate funding, reflecting a surge in local currency issues by Chinese companies.

Emerging Asia is also the only region of the world where companies have issued more bonds than during the same period last year, with China and South Korea leading the field.

However, last year’s big increase in convertible bond volume in the region, which continued into the first quarter of this year, is fizzling out, suggesting that credit conditions are easing in Asia. The value of new plain vanilla corporate bonds in Asia outside of Australia and Japan has risen by 3.1 per cent so far this year, while globally issues have fallen by 44.3 per cent, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.

By the end of last week, companies in emerging Asia had issued renminbi bonds (excluding convertibles) worth the equivalent of $24.9bn this year – a gain of 84.5 per cent on the same period last year. Similar issues in dollars fell 64.3 per cent to just $10bn. Euro issues slid 30.1 per cent and yen volumes were 43.3 per cent lower in dollar terms. Korean won issues were up 14.7 per cent at $13.7bn and the figure for Indian rupee corporate issuance was up by nearly a third at $12.6bn so far this year.

The decline in interest in the dollar for corporate bonds reflects the currency’s recent weakness, according to Nicholas de Boursac, managing director of the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association in Hong Kong.

“In the early part of the year, people were concerned about the strength of the dollar,” Mr de Boursac said. “Investors were more interested in having an asset in an Asian currency.”

However, he said the the trend might reverse. “Companies have been trying to dip into local pools of capital. The trouble is those pools are not terribly big, and when you have done one or two deals, there may not be anything left.”

Emerging Asia’s fixed income markets still lag Europe and North America in size and depth.

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The Short View: Summer’s rally in US stocks

By John Authers, Investment Editor

Published: September 2 2008 21:39 | Last updated: September 2 2008 21:39

It is back-to-school time. It is also the time when money should start flowing into global capital markets again and when the summer’s US stock market rally can be put to the test.

August’s doldrums usually feature slow trading, but this year was exceptional. New York Stock Exchange volume dropped by a third from July, for the slowest August trading since 2002, Bloomberg data show.

Meanwhile, the amount of US shares held “short”, in a bet that their price would fall, fell to 2.8 per cent of NYSE shares outstanding. That was down from 4.9 per cent in July, and cut short-interest to levels last seen in February last year. This rally was about short-sellers abandoning their bets against the US, amid very slow trading.

That rally can be explained almost entirely as a response to the crack in the oil price in mid-July. High oil prices had weighed on the dollar, for many reasons. On Tuesday, with hurricane Gustav not as bad as feared, crude was down more than $28 a barrel from its mid-July peak.

Since then, the dollar has risen more than 8 per cent on a trade-weighted basis, and the S&P 500 has gained 4.4 per cent. In contrast, MSCI’s EAFE index, covering the developed world outside the US, is down 3 per cent and its emerging markets index is down 8.3 per cent. So this rally saw the US gain at the rest of the world’s expense.

Short-interest in the financial stocks that have caused most concern is barely down from its highs. The big reduction in overall short-interest looks like a global bet that funds will flow to the US and that the dollar will continue to gain while the oil price falls.

So the rally appears to reflect little confidence in US stocks. Rather, it is a bet that US equities will outperform the rest of the world while the oil price falls. That will be tested now that traders return. It will be put to a much greater test when oil prices finally find a level.

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OECD slashes forecasts for UK and eurozone

By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt and Norma Cohen in London

Published: September 2 2008 10:16 | Last updated: September 2 2008 22:31

Eurozone economies will “barely creep forward” in the second half of this year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned, with the outlook for growth in France slashed nearly in half.

Updated projections by the Paris-based organisation suggested the 15-country eurozone would avoid a technical recession – two quarters of contraction – this year but would grow by just 1.3 per cent overall. Previously it had expected 1.7 per cent growth.

However, the UK was expected to fall into a technical recession in the second half of this year, with the annualised quarter on quarter growth rate falling to -0.3 per cent and -0.4 per cent in the third and fourth quarters of 2008. The sharp downward revision to the UK growth outlook includes the effect of sharply falling house prices for the first time.

An OECD spokesman explained that in the past house price information did not appear to change forecasts of GDP growth, but that had now changed. House price data were also now used to forecast US GDP growth, he said.

“Basically what we are predicting is that in all of these eurozone countries, including the UK, growth is largely flat [for the rest of 2008]. But the UK has a larger probability to be on the minus side,” said the spokesman.

For France, estimates of GDP growth for the third quarter have been scaled down to a year-on-year rate of just 1.0 per cent, down from 1.8 per cent a few months ago.

Presenting the latest forecasts, Jorgen Elmeskov, the OECD’s acting chief economist, warned that worrying eurozone underlying inflation trends meant it could be harder to bring price pressures back under control than in the US.

Recent falls in oil prices would help reduce headline inflation figures but “this very persistent trend for underlying inflation to drift up is a cause for some worry . . . It is not so clear that a turning point has been reached”. In the US, inflation figures would respond faster, he suggested.

Against that background “the current level of [eurozone] interest rates seems to be about right”, he said. Despite the eurozone slowdown, the European Central Bank is expected to leave its main interest rate unchanged this week at 4.25 per cent and to signal that cuts in official borrowing costs are unlikely soon.

Mr Elmeskov suggested that global financial turmoil might be entering a “new phase” with the stream of bad news reported by banks now reflecting general economic weakness rather than direct effects of the credit squeeze.

The OECD report highlighted the uncertainty that current financial turmoil was unleashing.

“The eventual depth and extent of financial disruption is still uncertain, however, with potential further losses on housing and construction finance being one source of concern,” the report said. I

In Europe, the downturn in housing markets was spreading beyond countries such as Denmark, Ireland, Spain and the UK, which have seen sharp corrections, he added. Sharply lower transaction volumes in housing markets were a likely “precursor of downturns elsewhere,” Mr Elmsekov said.

Japan, which saw negative growth in GDP in the three months to June, is expected to bounce back in the second half of the year.

The OECD revised up significantly its forecast for US growth this year, after significantly stronger-than-expected second quarter data. It expected 1.8 per cent growth, compared with its previous forecast of 1.2 per cent.

But Mr Elmsekov warned that there was a lot of uncertainty about how quickly the effects of the US fiscal stimulus package would fade. Overall, “the picture for the major economies is of a particularly weak second half”.

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Nato urged to bolster Baltic defence

By James Blitz in Brussels

Published: September 2 2008 21:53 | Last updated: September 2 2008 21:53

The US called on Nato on Tuesday to be better prepared to defend the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – from military attack, after Russia’s recent incursion into Georgia.

Kurt Volker, the new US ambassador to Nato, made the call as Russia attacked Washington’s policy towards Georgia. It accused Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, of visiting the region as part of a deliberate policy of confrontation.

However, Moscow has shrugged off a European Union move to halt talks on a new partnership deal until Russian troops withdrew from the conflict zone.

Mr Cheney is due in Tbilisi on Thursday, where he is expected to announce a package of US aid for reconstruction of the Georgian economy, on top of humanitarian aid being delivered by US aircraft and warships. Washington Democrats have called for $1bn (€688m, £560m) to be given in aid.

A mission from the International Monetary Fund is also in the Georgian capital assessing the country’s financial needs.

The IMF is in advanced stages of negotiating an extension to a $750m loan to Georgia, according to one person familiar with the talks, who said a deal could be reached this week. Georgia is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in reconstruction aid from international organisations and countries.

Georgian officials expect up to a further $350m in infrastructure funds from the World Bank and are hoping for about $1bn from the US and €1bn from the EU.

As the US worked on an aid package for Tbilisi, this week’s EU summit called for an international conference to assist reconstruction.

In Brussels, Mr Volker said Nato was firmly committed to defending the Baltic states from attack because, unlike Georgia, they were signatories to the alliance’s Article 5, which guarantees defence of one ally by all the rest.

Nato must, therefore, send signals in the area of military “planning and exercising” that it intends to help shore up the Baltic states.

“Those countries are members of Nato; so if there is any attack on those countries we will all respond,” Mr Volker said in an interview with the Financial Times.

“They are feeling a little rattled by seeing Russia use military force to invade a sovereign, small neighbouring country. We need to send signals to shore them up a little bit.

“We will have to make sure . . . that the Article 5 commitment is realisable not just as a political matter but as a military matter too.”

Mr Volker, a career diplomat who was formerly an adviser to John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, took over as Nato ambassador as the Georgia crisis was unfolding.

“We need to do what Nato ought to do, not in a provocative way and not in a rushed or hasty way. But Nato being credible is what’s important,” said Mr Volker.

The three Baltic republics, all once part of the former Soviet Union, have been among the most outspoken new members of Nato and the EU in taking a tough stance over Russia’s action in Georgia. All have ethnic Russian minorities that Moscow insists it has the right to protect.

Mr Volker spoke after Monday’s emergency summit of EU leaders decided to postpone its negotiations with Russia on a new partnership agreement, pending the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia.

Moscow shrugged off the EU’s action on Tuesday and gave little indication it would withdraw its troops from a “buffer zone” around the secessionist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, let alone from the regions themselves.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, said the EU response to Russia’s military presence in Georgia was “positive”, as a harder line had been ruled out at the summit. “Despite certain divisions among the EU states on the issue, a reasonable, realistic point of view prevailed because some of the states were calling for some mythical sanctions,” said Mr Medvedev.

The UK, Poland and the Baltic states had been pushing for tougher measures to be imposed against Russia for its military intervention in Georgia. But the end result was a compromise as France, Germany and Italy had been keen to maintain dialogue with Moscow.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, hailed the EU stance. “Thank God common sense has prevailed. We have not seen any extreme conclusions,” said Mr Putin while in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital.

However, Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev expressed disappointment the EU had not criticised Georgian “aggression” in starting the conflict.

Additional reporting by Catherine Belton in Moscow, Isabel Gorst in Tblisi and Daniel Dombey and James Politi in Washington

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The next big project for the EU is energy

By Michaele Schreyer and Ralf Fuecks

Published: July 10 2008 18:58 | Last updated: July 10 2008 18:58

The global energy system is undergoing a structural crisis. At its heart lies the need to restrain climatic change while at the same time dealing with energy security in an era of rapidly growing demand. The widening gap between rising demand for energy and limited resources of oil and gas has, together with speculation, increased fuel prices to record levels. This in turn has raised the spectre of a recession. These combined challenges pose a significant threat to international economic and political stability.

The current make-up of the European Union, with its flagging institutional reform owing to the Irish No vote, is ill-equipped to deal with these challenges. An outdated Nice treaty that does not reflect the new realities of an EU with 27 members is impeding effective decision-making, thereby undermining the EU’s role in a rapidly changing international system that is increasingly being shaped by rising powers such as China, India and Russia. The urgency for institutional reform is quite clear to everyone. Nevertheless, in times like these the EU cannot limit itself to institutional reform alone.

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UN steps up food aid to North Korea

By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing and Song Jung-a in Seoul

Published: September 2 2008 17:32 | Last updated: September 2 2008 17:32

The United Nations World Food Programme is to expand its emergency operation in North Korea into its largest globally to avert a looming famine, following cuts in aid by China and South Korea.

China’s food aid to North Korea almost halved between 2005 and 2007 and soaring domestic food inflation last year prompted Beijing to introduce export taxes on grains, making it far more difficult and expensive for aid groups to source food in the country.

South Korea, which provided more than half the North’s food aid last year, has suspended shipments of food and fertiliser this year in a tougher policy towards Pyongyang from new President Lee Myung-bak.

The drop in aid, higher global food prices and last year’s devastating floods have pushed North Korea closer to famine than at any time since the late 1990s, according to Tony Banbury, regional director of the WFP.

“Over the last 12 months, there has been a significant deterioration in the food security situation across the country,” he said. “We estimate that half of all families in the country have had to reduce their food intake from three to two meals a day and many are resorting to foraging for wild foods.”

The WFP aims to provide food to 6.24m children, elderly people, and pregnant or nursing women over the next 15 months and is appealing for the $503m (€346m, £282m) needed to fund the programme until then.

Pyongyang is now offering more co-operation and access to the WFP than at any time since the programme began in the mid-1990s. The agency and private international groups had to scale back their presence two years ago.

The US promised in May to donate 400,000 tonnes of food aid to North Korea through the WFP and a further 100,000 tonnes through private US organisations. That would nearly double the amount donated last year by China, which has in past said its relationship with Pyongyang was as close as “lips and teeth”.

Anthea Webb, director of WFP China, said the WFP had complained to the Chinese government “on many occasions and at many levels” that export restrictions were hampering global aid organisations’ food purchases for efforts in North Korea and Burma, but Beijing will only say it is considering the matter. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to comment on Tuesday but did say it always provided help to North Korea to the best of its ability.

Seoul’s unification ministry said it was still reviewing funding requests by the WFP. Public sentiment in South Korea has chilled toward North Korea since a South Korean tourist was shot dead at the Mount Kumgang resort in July.

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Argentina in debt repayment U-turn

By Jude Webber in Buenos Aires

Published: September 3 2008 03:00 | Last updated: September 3 2008 03:00

Cristina Fernández, Argentina's president, announced in a surprise U-turn yesterday that she would repay the country's $6.7bn defaulted debt to the Paris Club of western creditors using central bank reserves.

The move came after market turbulence and heightened fears among investors that Argentina, despite strong macroeconomic data, was heading for another crash after racking up the world's worst sovereign debt default in 2001.

Ms Fernández said she had signed a decree instructing the economy minister to use freely available central bank reserves to pay off the debt, demonstrating Argentina's "willingness to pay".

Argentina had steadfastly refused until now to use central bank reserves to pay back the 19 governments in the Paris Club, despite the fact that the default was blocking as much as $8bn in much-needed foreign investment to the country.

The Paris Club had been pushing for Argentina to submit to International Monetary Fund surveillance, saying that was a requirement for any renegotiation of its debt.

But Argentina, which paid off its outstanding $9.5bn debt to the IMF in one swoop in 2006, was in no hurry to return to scrutiny of its economic management by an institution the government blames for fostering the conditions that led to Argentina's meltdown.

"The Paris Club wanted an understanding with the International Monetary Fund," Daniel Marx, a former deputy finance minister, told the Financial Times. "Basically, the government said, 'we won't bother, we'll just pay them off'."

But there are restrictions on using central bank funds, which stood at just over $47bn at the start of this week, to fund government operations. "Some people might ask what the criteria are for using reserves," Mr Marx noted.

Though the decision to resolve the Paris Club situation, which has been a huge outstanding issue for the government, was widely greeted as good news, the way it was announced underlines the government's reputation for unpredictability. Argentina sent alarm bells ringing with investors last month when it unexpectedly sold a costly bond to Venezuela. The 15 per cent interest rate was considered excessive and made Argentina look desperate, despite the fact economists agree that with its budget and trade surpluses, strong exports and healthy central bank reserves, Argentina is not in imminent danger of a new crisis.

What compounded market alarm was that Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's president, swiftly sold the bond, sending Argentine debt prices crashing and forcing the government to implement a hasty buy-back to quell market fears.

The announcement coincided with an international seminar of central bankers and economists organised by Argentina's central bank.

Business leaders welcomed the decision, saying it would open up new avenues of credit. But it will do nothing to improve Argentina's access to international financial markets or ease the government's forced reliance on Venezuela for financing.

Holders of defaulted Argentine bonds who did not accept a restructuring deal in 2005 are suing for their money back - with interest that debt totals some $29bn, according to Neil Dougall, a Dresdner Kleinwort analyst. Their lawsuits are blocking Argentina from tapping international capital -markets.

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Baghdad and Beijing oil deal confirmed

BAGHDAD, September 2 – Iraq’s cabinet has approved a $3bn (€2bn, £1.6bn) oil service contract with China, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Monday, in a move that could signal the shape of anticipated future oil deals.

“The cabinet has approved a service contract to develop and produce the Adhab oilfield between the [Iraqi] Northern Oil Company and a Chinese company, according to terms initialled by both sides,” Ali al-Dabbagh, the government spokesman, said in a statement.

The Iraqi government recently announced renegotiated terms of an oil deal with the China National Petroleum Corporation, which was originally signed in 1997.

The deal marks the first significant oil contract with a foreign company for Iraq, which boasts the world’s third-largest proven reserves, since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

CNPC, the parent company of PetroChina and Asia’s biggest oil and gas company, has a head start as foreign firms line up to sign lucrative long-term oil deals with Iraq.

The CNPC deal is sure to be watched closely by companies seeking to secure the most profitable terms they can in any contracts brokered with Iraq.

Under a service contract, oil companies are paid a flat fee for their services, rather than gaining a share of the profits. Oil companies generally dislike service contracts because they do not allow for much upside potential. However, advocates of service agreements have argued that oil companies take on very little risk in Iraq and should therefore not be rewarded with more than a flat fee.

The al-Ahdab field, 160km from Baghdad, is expected to produce about 100,000 barrels a day. Iraq produces 2.4m b/d of crude, of which it exports 1.9m.

Iraq toughened its terms in renegotiating the CNPC deal, changing the contract to a set-fee service deal from the oil production sharing agreement signed under Saddam.

Meanwhile, foreign companies bidding for longer-term contracts, which would involve billions of dollars of investment, are having to proceed without the security of clear hydrocarbons legislation. A draft law regulating the oil industry and the distribution of oil revenues has been stuck in parliament for more than a year, with little prospect of approval.

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Now is the wrong time to demand a rate cut

By Wolfgang Munchau

Published: September 1 2008 03:00 | Last updated: September 1 2008 03:00

Over the past year, a persistent gap has built up between Europe's monetary policymakers and those who make a living watching them. This spring, various organised groups of central bank watchers were debating whether and when the European Central Bank would cut interest rates. In fact, the bank decided to raise its rates.

Although the ECB's decision was not unanimous, a clear majority of the central bankers on its governing council supported the increase. The ECB watchers have essentially the same information but they arrived at a different conclusion. Indeed, I recall one ECB watchers' group in which not a single participant voted in favour of a rise in interest rates at the same time as the ECB did.

There is always the question of whether those watchers make forecasts based on the world as they would like to see it or the world as it is, but some disconnection evidently exists between those who watch the ECB and the ECB's council itself.

After recent growing evidence of a slowdown in the eurozone's economic growth, the same disconnection is evident. The policy observers speculated about prospects of a rate cut until the ECB last week wheeled out senior officials to explain that this was not going to happen. Axel Weber, president of the Bundesbank and the euro system's most reliable hawk, even hinted at another rate increase early next year. Here we go again.

I can offer only two explanations for this persistent gap between expectations and reality. The first is that the vast majority of ECB watchers assume inflation is perfectly inversely related to growth and can therefore be safely ignored. As long as the central bank stabilises output growth near the trend, all will be fine.

The second, more insidious, possible reason is that many watchers do not accept the ECB's inflation target. They have their own implicit or explicit target in their heads. It may be growth or employment, some other inflation rate or inflation range, or even some stock market index.

I am still surprised at the sheer number of observers who choose to ignore the inconvenient fact that the ECB is obliged by international treaty to follow a price stability rule. This is an inflexible, rather than a "yes, but", type of condition. As those of us who witnessed the negotiations ahead of monetary union in the late 1990s know, there would not be a euro without it.

Once you accept that the policy goal is to ensure price stability over the medium term, the policy choices become a lot less difficult. The ECB once defined price stability as an inflation rate of just under 2 per cent. One can quibble with this particular definition, as I have done in the past. But any other reasonable choice of target would not make much difference.

Current inflation rates are close to 4 per cent. Inflation expectations have been rising. The strong disinflationary impulses from the German labour market are disappearing. While I am not greatly concerned about the next German wage round, it is nevertheless clear that the period of wage moderation is over. The oil price may have fallen from its previous peaks but it remains high and China has turned to exporting inflation. In such an environment of modest inflationary pressures, a short-term nominal interest rate of 4.25 per cent is hardly unreasonable for the euro area.

Of course, an unexpected fall in demand results in a fall in prices in the short term - though not necessarily in the long term, as supply adjusts. Long-term inflation is a monetary phenomenon and thus subject to control by monetary policy. So whether the eurozone experiences a mild slowdown, as Mr Weber and many of his ECB colleagues expect, or whether it will suffer a full-blown recession, will clearly affect headline inflation rates.

But given the long and uncertain delays before monetary policy affects the real economy, the ECB should treat a temporary fall in the headline inflation rate just as it treated the temporary rise in inflation during last year. The ECB should ignore it, unless such a movement would have a plausible medium to long-term impact.

In the present environment, characterised by a rise in global inflation, the cyclical behaviour of the eurozone economy is not going be the most decisive factor for monetary policy. If you are serious about the price stability target - and I know that many economists are not - you would be absolutely mad to consider a cut in interest rates at this point. I have yet to see a credible forecast by anybody suggesting in earnest that inflation could fall below target in the medium term.

The situation is somewhat different in the US, where the central bank operates under a dual target - price stability and employment - so that both central bankers and their observers can effectively choose which of the two hares they want to chase at any one point. As I have argued before, I suspect the US will come out of this financial crisis with a strong and persistent increase both in inflation and in inflationary expectations.

In that respect I am more optimistic about the eurozone. I would expect that the ECB will ultimately meet its goal of keeping inflation below 2 per cent. But to achieve this, interest rates will almost certainly remain at levels persistently above those demanded and projected by the ECB observers.

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North-west leads way for business

By John Willman, Business Editor

Published: September 3 2008 00:06 | Last updated: September 3 2008 00:06

Britain’s north-western cities have significantly increased their attractiveness as places to do business in recent years, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

The resurgence of cities such as Salford, Manchester and Liverpool has led to jumps in their ratings in the annual UK Competitiveness Index, which ranks 407 local areas, according to what they offer to growing businesses and entrepreneurs.

After 20 years of government-funded regeneration programmes, the most successful areas have attracted businesses by improving the qualifications of school-leavers, raising skill levels and helping unemployed people back into the workforce. They have also worked to attract knowledge-based industries and encourage entrepreneurship – increasing incomes and output per head.

In the north-west, much of the improvement has been led by the regional development agency, which has targeted digital and creative industries, attracting organisations such as the BBC to Salford and Playbox, the video gaming company, to Liverpool. It offers support on training and infrastructure, as well as helping improve quality of life in the region by supporting initiatives such as Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture.

The survey, carried out by the Centre for International Competitiveness at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff, comes just weeks after a Conservative think-tank recommended abandoning attempts to regenerate northern cities and promoting migration to the south.

Urban warriors
Top 15 cities in 2006-08 for improving their competitiveness, (excluding London)
1 Durham
2 Leicester
3 Norwich
4= Liverpool
4= Salford
6 Peterborough
7= York
7= Dundee
7= Plymouth
10 Gloucester
11 Derby
12 Wakefield
13 Manchester
14= Aberdeen
14= Coventry
Source: Centre for International Competitiveness

Professor Robert Huggins, who has compiled the index since 2000, said further migration to the south would only accentuate existing problems. “Our research strongly suggests that urban development in the UK is achieving a significant degree of success.”

The competitiveness index rates local areas on measures such as research and development expenditure, the workforce’s educational and training qualifications, business start-up rates and the number of businesses per 1,000 inhabitants.

Regional and local development agencies outside the most prosperous south-east have been investing billions of pounds to improve their competitiveness on such measures in efforts to narrow the north-south divide.

But the greatest improvement in competitiveness since 2006 has been in Newham. The east London borough will be at the centre of the 2012 London Olympic Games and has already benefited from public investment in the preparations.

The second biggest riser is Darlington in the north-east of England, which has sharply improved the skills of its workforce and raised the number of business start-ups per 1,000 inhabitants by more than 10 per cent. New businesses include Argos, whose home delivery distribution centre employs 600, and Infoserve, which employs 185 people on helping small businesses market their services online.

Other cities to have climbed the league table since 2006 include York and Durham in the north-east, Derby and Leicester in the east Midlands, Norwich in East Anglia and Plymouth in the south-west.

The most competitive city outside London is Guildford, followed by St Albans and Cambridge. The least competitive cities are Hull, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Swansea – though all but Swansea have improved their position since 2006.

The least competitive regional economy is the north-east, followed by Wales, Northern Ireland and Yorkshire & Humber. However, Northern Ireland has strengthened its competitiveness since 2006, as its economy has become more robust following the peace settlement.

London is the most competitive region, but the north-west has jumped two places in the regional league table, largely due to the improved performance of Liverpool, Manchester and Salford. The east and West Midlands regions have also shown improvements in competitiveness since 2006, while Scotland has dropped two places having shown little improvement.

Gains by urban areas appear to have been at the expense of rural economies. The Orkney Islands, mid-Devon and west Somerset have fallen most since 2006, and the least competitive localities in the survey were Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales and Easington in the north-east.

Coastal towns such as Bournemouth, Poole and Torbay have improved in response to regeneration policies in the seaside towns. “Increased efforts are required to explore how the competitiveness of rural economies can be improved in coming years,” said Prof Huggins. If these localities were allowed to decline further, it could harm the competitiveness of the economy.

The competitiveness index suggests that the way public finance is allocated to regions needed an overhaul, the survey concludes. The so-called “Barnett formula”, which gives Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland more more public spending per head than the English regions, was not improving the competitiveness of the worst performing areas.

“A far more realistic option is for government to ensure that the public finance received by regions is based on the needs required to improve their future competitiveness rather than past spending patterns and population levels,” Prof Huggins said.

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Fastest decline in job vacancies for 7 years

By Andrew Taylor, Employment Correspondent

Published: September 3 2008 03:36 | Last updated: September 3 2008 03:36

Demand for staff last month fell at the fastest rate for almost seven years as the outlook for jobs continued to falter, according to a survey of recruitment companies.

The study by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and consultant KPMG reported that appointments of permanent staff had fallen at the fastest rate since November 2001. Billings for temporary staff had fallen for the first time since May 2003.

According to last month’s official figures, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit has risen in each of the previous six months, increasing in July at the fastest rate since 1992.

The total number of people out of work rose by 60,000 to 1.67m during the three months to the end of June. Although the numbers are still low by historical standards they are expected to rise in the coming months as the impact of redundancies announced in the financial and building sectors start to work through into other areas of the economy.

REC/KPMG‘s job vacancy index has fallen to its lowest level since December 2001. The findings mirror official figures reporting that vacancies in July fell for the first time in almost two years.

REC/KPMG said: “While the first wave of job losses has been centred on construction, reflecting the housing market downturn, there is increasing evidence that other sectors are also set to see significant cutbacks. Recent surveys of purchasing managers in both manufacturing and services have signalled falling levels of employment, as firms struggle under the weight of slowing demand and elevated cost inflationary pressures.”

According to government figures, vacancies in the shops, hotels and restaurants sector, including wholesalers, fell by almost 18 per cent during the three months to the end of July. Construction vacancies were down 12.6 per cent and fin­ance and business services by 9.9 per cent.

Kevin Green, REC chief executive, said: “The deteriorating economy is now having the expected negative impact on the labour market. The demand for both permanent and temporary workers is weakening, although it must be remembered that this follows a period of unprecedented high demand for staff.”

Increasing business uncertainty, according to REC/KPMG, had “in some cases resulted in recruitment decisions being put on hold”.

Nursing and medical care was the only employment sector to register an increase in permanent appointments last month, it said. The biggest fall in demand was for hotel and catering workers.

Alan Nolan, KPMG director, said: “The slide in the UK economy continues to hit the jobs market hard – with yet another sharp drop in recruitment. UK employers are continuing to control payroll costs through redundancies.”

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Abu Dhabi takes its fortunes to Hollywood

By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New York and Simeon Kerr in Dubai

Published: September 2 2008 23:31 | Last updated: September 2 2008 23:31

Fresh from buying into English Premier League football, Abu Dhabi has its eye on another trophy. The emirate will on Wednesday set out plans to become one of the world’s largest film producers, with $1bn to invest in productions to be made in Hollywood, Bollywood and beyond.

The funding, provided by Abu Dhabi’s government, will allow the Gulf state to back up to eight films a year over the next five years, Edward Borgerding, chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Media Company told the Financial Times.

Some Hollywood studios are struggling to replace the funds that rushed in from private equity and hedge funds in recent years. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer last month hired Goldman Sachs to “explore enhancements” to its long-term capital structure, amid reports Merrill Lynch was wavering in its commitment to finance MGM’s Universal Artists studio.

Abu Dhabi is seeking to usurp Dubai as the region’s leading media hub. The Islamic state remains wary of some western content, however, only agreeing to show edited versions of Syriana, the George Clooney film, because it feared that it would show the Gulf in a negative light.

Mr Borgerding, a former Walt Disney executive, said ADMC had set up a company, called imagenation abu dhabi, to manage its film investments. The first co-production partnerships would be announced within weeks. He would not comment on which Hollywood studios ADMC would work with, but highlighted its link with Warner Bros for video games development. It was also looking to work with film-makers in India, the UK and around the Middle East.

Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment has spent £200m ($357m) to buy Manchester City football club. Abu Dhabi’s state investment funds have taken stakes in Ferrari, GE, Carlyle and Citigroup.

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Abu Dhabi County

Published: September 3 2008 03:00 | Last updated: September 3 2008 03:00

Albert Camus claimed to have learnt about morality from football. If he had been following English football this week, he might have learnt lessons about global economics to boot. The new force in modern football is the rise in commodity prices and the credit squeeze, the latest example of which appeared this week with Abu Dhabi's move on Manchester City.

In recent years, the English Premier League has benefited handsomely from high oil prices. Roman Abramovich, the billionaire former owner of Sibneft, bought Chelsea in 2003. Thanks to his formidable spending power, the London club won the league for the first time in 50 years and became a serious challenger in European competitions. Once a backwater, Chelsea is now a serious footballing power.

Continued high commodity prices, however, have created competitors. Alisher Usmanov, an Uzbek metals billionaire, has bought a stake in Arsenal. Lakshmi Mittal, the steel magnate, invested in little Queen's Park Rangers.

Now Abu Dhabi United Group, a sovereign wealth fund, has agreed to buy Manchester City for £200m. They have already spent more than £30m - outbidding Chelsea - to buy Robinho, a Brazilian forward, from Real Madrid, the big euro-spender.

At the same time as petro-clubs are flush with cash, clubs relying on credit are finding it hard going. A pair of US businessmen bought Liverpool last year with grand plans. Thanks to the credit squeeze, however, a new stadium has been put on hold. The likeliest candidate for buying them out of their predicament? The Dubai Investment Corporation, of course.

Some supporters may regret the passing of the good old days, when men were men and clubs were insolvent, but it is good that more clubs enjoy the financial backing to be serious competitors for national championships.

New money also offers a return to the past. Former giants fallen from grace, such as Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday, routinely fill big stadiums with loyal fans and would be natural candidates for a petrocash injection or, perhaps, a Chinese sovereign wealth fund.

Foreign investment could also spice up fixtures by importing other continents' regional rivalries. Who wants to see Bolton v Wigan when you could be watching a geopolitical face-off between ancient rivals?

The trend also offers hope for greater financial literacy. Fans have a tradition of inventive abuse for their rivals. Manchester City may soon be taunted with the spot price for Brent Crude. "You're going down with the euro . .

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China to Ease Soybean Import Dependence, Boost Foreign Controls

By William Bi

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- China, the world's biggest soybean buyer, will ease its dependence on imported beans and increase controls on investments by overseas processors, the top economic planner said.

China should slow the growth of its soybean imports by ``appropriately'' allowing more imports of soybean oil and by expanding domestic oilseed output, the National Development and Reform Commission said today in a statement on its Web site.

China will also increase regulations on overseas-owned soybean processors, which have ``rapidly'' taken market share, the statement said. The government will help domestic-controlled firms expand overseas by leasing land to grow the crop and set up logistical and processing facilities, it said.

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Buffett Becomes Vulture as HomeServices Seeks Deals (Update2)

By Kathleen M. Howley
Enlarge Image/Details

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Ron Peltier runs HomeServices of America Inc., the second-largest U.S. real estate brokerage, and unlike No. 1 NRT Inc., his company is making money in the worst housing slump since the Great Depression.

HomeServices also has a parent, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., with $28 billion of cash to help finance the purchase of brokerages that can't weather the housing recession. By contrast, NRT's parent Realogy Corp., owned by Leon Black's Apollo Management LP, has at least $875 million of debt that has an 89 percent chance of defaulting within five years, credit-default swaps tracked by London-based CMA DataVision indicate.

Three years of tumbling U.S. home sales and prices may give Peltier, who says he fields as many as three calls a week to his Minneapolis office from desperate brokerages seeking a buyer, a chance to grab market share. NRT's pace of acquisitions has dropped to four this year from an annual average of 20 since 2002 as Realogy's debt ratio -- borrowing relative to earnings beforeinterest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- increased to 4.9 in June from 3.8 at the end of 2007.

``Cash is king,'' Peltier said in an interview. ``If you've got cash available, you have the opportunity to take advantage of some great buying opportunities.''

NRT's options are limited by the growing debt of its parent, said Steven Kaplan, a finance professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Realogy, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, said it will pay interest in October on $550 million of 11 percent notes due in 2014 by borrowing $32 million. The company had total debt of $6.4 billion at the end of June.

Capital Structure

``If you are paying debt with new debt, you're not in a position to be making acquisitions,'' Kaplan said. ``Unless a move puts extra cash on their balance sheet right away, it's not happening.''

Richard Smith, chief executive officer of Realogy, said in an Aug. 25 interview that NRT is buying fewer brokerages because ``sellers have not been quick to drop their prices to keep pace'' with the industry's decline in revenue.

``The capital structure to handle all of our needs is in place,'' Smith said. ``We are still acquisitive, if the deal makes sense for us.''

Peltier said he expects to spend $200 million in the next two years paying 20 cents to 25 cents on the dollar for distressed brokerages to get HomeServices into new markets. The HomeServices chief executive officer said he couldn't give details on pending deals, though he expects at least one to close by the end of the year. HomeServices spent about $10 million buying companies in the past year, Peltier said.

`Tuck-in' Purchases

``Since mid-2006, we've been focusing on tuck-in acquisitions: smaller companies that can be folded into an existing primary market,'' the 59-year-old Peltier said. ``We think we are starting to see signs of the end of the downturn, so our interest is growing in making some very noteworthy acquisitions going forward.''

HomeServices is part of Berkshire Hathaway's Des Moines, Iowa- based MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. When the housing slump started in 2006, Buffett, who declined to be interviewed for this story, said the market's woes ``should lead to additional acquisition possibilities.'' He said in his annual shareholders letter that year that HomeServices would probably be ``far larger a decade from now.''

NRT had 939 brokerage offices at the end of 2007, compared with HomeService's 379, and more than triple the sales, according to real estate research and publishing firm Real Trends in Denver. NRT sold $174 billion of homes in 2007, compared with HomeServices's $50 billion. NRT is in 35 of the largest U.S. real estate markets, while HomeServices is in 24.

Buffett's Approach

``Last year was a slow year for residential sales, and 2008 probably will be slower,'' Buffett said in his annual letter to investors published six months ago. ``We will continue, however, to acquire quality brokerage operations when they are available at sensible prices.''

That opportunistic view of the worst housing recession in seven decades is ``classic Buffett,'' said Charles Hamilton, an analyst at FTN Midwest Securities Corp. in Nashville, Tennessee.

``When you have Buffett's long-term investment philosophy, you can wait for things to go on sale,'' Hamilton said. ``In the real estate brokerage business, this is the perfect time to be a buyer and a terrible time to be a seller.''

Peltier's purchases follow the Buffett pattern. He looks for strong management, keeps the local brand name and the top executives, and lets them run the company with little interference, just as Buffett tends to leave him alone.

Local Brands

The real estate business ``is highly cyclical, yet one we view quite enthusiastically,'' Buffett wrote in his February 2004 letter to investors. ``We have an exceptional manager, Ron Peltier, who through both his acquisition and operational skills is building a brokerage powerhouse.''

When NRT buys a business, it relaunches it under one of Realogy's franchises, such as Coldwell Banker or ERA, said Smith, 55, in last week's interview.

``We substantially improve the bottom line by collapsing new companies under one brand,'' Smith said. ``We believe consumers are more and more leaning toward national brands.''

HomeServices's pretax profit fell 71 percent to $42 million last year from the peak of $145 million in 2005, according to President Robert Moline. In the first seven months of this year, pretax profit was $2 million, helped by $90 million of cost-cutting since 2007, Moline said.

Peltier said he's got enough money to weather the housing decline. If an opportunity is too big to handle in-house, Peltier can tap Berkshire's cash.

Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway has the highest AAA rating from Moody's Investors Service.

Credit Rating Cut

Moody's downgraded Realogy's debt this month by one grade to Caa1 from B3, citing the dangers of the real estate recession and its ``highly leveraged capital structure.'' Moody's assessed the rating outlook as ``stable.'' Caa1 is the seventh-lowest speculative, or junk, grade.

Realogy had a net loss of $27 million in the second quarter, with the brokerages at the NRT unit reporting an 8 percent year- over-year decline in average sale price as they handled a growing number of foreclosures. NRT paid $75 million in intercompany royalties and marketing fees to Realogy Franchise Group during the period for using the brand names it licenses. On a pretax basis, Realogy lost $46 million in the second quarter.

`Walkovers'

NRT's expansion plans are focused on ``walkovers,'' recruiting top producers from other brokerages, Smith said on an Aug. 14 conference call with investors and analysts.

``The vast majority of brokerages contemplating a sale are probably going to wait until the market improves a little bit so they have some earnings,'' Smith said in last week's interview.

NRT has access to Realogy's $750 million revolving line of credit put in place when Apollo acquired the company for $6.8 billion in April 2007, Smith said. Apollo financed the purchase with $2 billion of equity and $4.4 billion of debt, in the form of bank loans and bonds. Realogy, not NRT, is carrying the debt, Smith said.

During the Aug. 14 conference call, Smith told investors that Realogy had a balance of $205 million on the revolving line of credit as of June 30. The company expects to keep its debt ratio below the maximum cited in the credit agreement, which currently is 5.6, Smith said on the call.

If the housing slump continues into next year, Realogy may have difficulty meeting the loan terms, said Lenny Ajzenman, a Moody's Investors Service analyst. The ratio will tighten to 5 by next September, according to an Aug. 8 report from Moody's.

Apollo's Black ``is a smart guy,'' said Paul Schaye, managing director of New York-based Chestnut Hill Partners LLC, which helps private-equity funds identify investments. ``If the underpinnings of a deal make sense, he will financially engineer it. But if a deal doesn't support the bottom line, it's not going to happen.''

Edina Roots

Measuring so-called transaction sides, a standard industry gauge that counts the involvement of a selling and a buying agent for every deal, NRT was ahead of all its peers. The company had 326,323 sides in 2007, down 17 percent from the prior year, according to Real Trends.

That was more than twice as many as HomeServices's 152,826 sides in 2007, which fell 16 percent from a year earlier, Real Trends said.

While NRT's acquisition pace has slowed this year, one purchase hit close to HomeServices's turf: NRT's Coldwell Banker Burnet in Edina, Minnesota, bought the four offices of RHS Realty in surrounding towns of the western Minneapolis suburb.

Edina, where Peltier got his 1977 start in real estate after a two-year stint as a history teacher and hockey coach, is also the town where he first started moving up the management ranks at Edina Realty, now owned by HomeServices. Peltier said his company wasn't interested in buying RHS Realty.

``It wasn't a beneficial acquisition for us to go after because we already dominate that market,'' Peltier said.

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消費税率引き上げの是非、「年内に結論を」　財務相が認識

　伊吹文明財務相は3日午前に開いた財政制度等審議会（財務相の諮問機関）の会合で、「恒久税法そのものを年内に作るべきだ」と述べ、安定財源を確保するため年末の税制改正で消費税率引き上げの是非について結論を出し、税制改正案をまとめるべきだとの考えを示した。

　実施時期については「違った観点からの判断が必要」と述べ、衆院選の結果などを踏まえ慎重に判断すべきだとの考えを強調した。2011年度に国と地方の基礎的財政収支（プライマリーバランス）を黒字化する政府目標に関しても、衆院選で民意を問う必要があると強調。「恒久税法が工程表通りにしっかりいけば（目標は）達成できる」と語った。

　財制審の西室泰三会長は会合後の記者会見で、政府が総合経済対策の財源として建設国債の発行を検討していることについて、「国債の追加発行は可能な限り避けるべきだ」と指摘した。

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大証、米ＣＭＥと協力協定　24時間取引も整備検討

　大阪証券取引所と米大手取引所のシカゴ・マーカンタイル取引所（ＣＭＥ）は3日、相互協力協定（ＭＯＵ）を締結する。ＣＭＥグループのレオ・メラメド名誉会長が同日、大阪市内で記者会見し明らかにした。先物などデリバティブ（金融派生商品）分野で日米の時差を利用した24時間取引の整備を検討するほか、新商品の共同開発にも取り組む。

　日米の両取引所は日経平均先物という共通の金融商品を上場していることから、これまでも親密な関係にあった。大証はＭＯＵの締結で関係強化を一段と進める。

　現在、日経平均先物を売買する投資家にとって、ＣＭＥと大証を使えば長時間の取引が可能だが、扱う証券会社が限られるほか、取引所ごとに決済しなければならない。ＭＯＵの締結後は決済をどちらの取引所でもできる制度や、両取引所で取引可能な証券会社を増やすなどの施策について検討する。

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公務員定員、実質700人増　09年度、純減目標の達成遠く

　主要15省庁の2009年度の定員要求が実質約700人の純増となることが明らかになった。政府は総人件費の抑制に向けて06年度から5年間で自衛隊員などを除く国家公務員約1万9000人以上の定員純減を掲げている。だが今回の要求のうち純減は15省庁のうち3省にとどまっており、実質的な目標達成にはほど遠い内容といえる。

　各省庁ごとに新規の増員要求数から削減数を差し引いた定員数を見ると、主要省庁のうち純減要求は農林水産、国土交通、防衛（事務官ら）の3省のみだった。

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東証のシステム障害、設計・開発から点検を　再発防止で提言

　7月に起きたデリバティブ（金融派生商品）取引のシステム障害を受け、東京証券取引所が設置した特命チームは2日、再発防止のための提言を発表した。システムを変更する際に、開発メーカーが作成したプログラムの内容まで東証が点検するのが柱。システムの設計・開発段階から東証がかかわり、障害の発生を防ぐ狙いだ。

　東証のシステム障害は今年に入って3回起きている。東証は8月に再発防止に向けて取り組む9項目を示した。ＩＴ（情報技術）関連の責任者らで構成する特命チームの設置はその1つで、デリバティブ取引の障害に焦点を当て、抜本的な対応策を議論してきた。提言の内容は将来、通常の株取引など、ほかのシステムにも「可能な限り応用したい」（ＩＴ開発部）という。

　提言は東証がメーカーに依頼した通りにシステムを設計しているかを厳重にチェックするように求めた。システムを変更した個所だけでなく、システム変更が全体に与える影響を総合的に検証すべきだと指摘した。

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ローソン店内に郵便局　局長、店舗オーナーが兼務

　日本郵政グループとローソンは2日、ローソン店内に郵便局の窓口を置く新型店舗の1号店を今月12日に開くと発表した。過疎地の規模の小さな郵便局（簡易郵便局）では、担い手の高齢化などを理由に閉鎖が相次いでいる。郵便局の運営をローソンの店舗オーナーに委託することで、過疎地での郵便局網の維持につなげる。

　日本郵政とローソンは今年2月に包括提携で合意。郵便局内にコンビニを開く事業を進めているが、コンビニの中に郵便局を開くのは初めて。ローソンのオーナーが簡易郵便局長を兼ねる。

　1号店の場所は長野県坂城町。すぐ近くで農協が簡易郵便局を運営していたが昨年9月末で閉鎖となり、日本郵政が代わりの担い手を探していた。ローソンのオーナーが銀行代理業の許可を得るまでは、日本郵政が社員を派遣する。郵便と貯金を扱い、保険は扱わない。深夜営業は行わない。

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簡易郵便局：ローソンに開局　長野で全国初、一時閉鎖解消目指し

　日本郵政グループの郵便局会社とコンビニエンスストア大手のローソンは２日、一時閉鎖中の地方の簡易郵便局を再開するため、ローソンの店舗内に全国で初めて開局すると発表した。郵便局の中にローソンが併設されたケースはあるが、ローソンのオーナーが簡易郵便局長を初めて兼務して共存を図る。

　開局するのは、長野県坂城（さかき）町のローソン坂城村上店。周辺の簡易郵便局が一時閉鎖となっていた。本局の上田郵便局の分室として店内に１２日開局し、当初は上田郵便局の局員が業務を行う。オーナーは研修を受けて簡易郵便局長となり、０８年度内に簡易郵便局となることを目指す。

　簡易郵便局は郵便局会社の委託を受け、個人や団体が郵便、貯金などを扱う。全国に８月末時点で４３０３局あるが、個人経営者の高齢化や農協支所の統廃合などで、過疎地を中心に約１割の４４３局が一時閉鎖となっている。郵便局はローソンのほか警備最大手のセコムなどに運営委託する方向で協議を進めている。

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米倉庫大手ＡＭＢ、日本で2000億円超投資　物流施設を倍増

　米倉庫大手のＡＭＢプロパティは今後4年間で総額2000億円以上を投じ、日本で保有する物流施設の数を倍増させる。日本の陸運会社や大手メーカーは原油高による物流コスト増大に苦しんでおり、外部の施設を活用する需要は今後も拡大すると判断した。日本では倉庫会社などによる施設の新設・大型化の動きが広がっており、ＡＭＢは大型投資で攻勢を強める。

　来日したハミド・モガダム会長が明らかにした。現在首都圏を中心に合計33カ所の物流施設を保有。今年度中にも主要拠点の成田空港周辺で、3棟を7棟程度に増やす。羽田を含めた空港周辺で重点的に倉庫を建設し、海上貨物に比べ単価が高い航空貨物関連の需要を取り込む。

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車ディーラー、相次ぎ海外へ　横浜トヨペット、加に大型店

　自動車ディーラーの海外進出が相次いでいる。日本流の接客サービスや店舗運営で競合店との違いを出し、現地顧客を開拓する。日本国内は人口減や若者の車離れが続き、新車需要は頭打ちで、資源高で潤うカナダや、成長著しいアジア市場に活路を求める戦略だ。同様の動きは小売り、食品会社などでも活発で、内需型産業の海外進出が加速しそうだ。

　横浜トヨペット（横浜市）は6月、カナダ東部のオンタリオ州に「トヨタ」店を出店した。敷地面積2万3400平方メートルの大型店で、「ヴィッツ」や「カローラ」などトヨタ自動車の代表的な車種を扱う。板金塗装や整備センターも備え、日本と同様の技術サービスを展開するのが特徴だ。

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「ユニクロ」、印・ロに出店検討

　ファーストリテイリングは３日、事業戦略説明会で中国、韓国で早期に100店舗体制を目指すと発表した。未出店のインド、ロシアへの出店も検討。 2010年8月期には、ユニクロ事業として、08年8月期見通しの4割増の7000億円を目指す。ベトナムでの生産も拡大する。

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国際石油帝石、洋上ＬＮＧ基地建設計画　インドネシア政府と協議

　インドネシア政府は2日、海底ガス田「マセラ鉱区」の開発を巡り、権益を持つ国際石油開発帝石ホールディングスとの間で同国のティモール海に洋上式液化天然ガス（ＬＮＧ）基地の建設計画を進めていることを明らかにした。日本企業側は鉱区に近いオーストラリア側に陸上ＬＮＧ基地を作る案を示したものの、インドネシア側が反発。マセラ鉱区は日本向けの有力な供給先と期待されているが、洋上基地だとコストなど課題が多く、協議は曲折も予想される。

　同基地の対象地域は国際石油帝石が100％権益を確保しているオーストラリアとの国境近くのティモール海の海底ガス田「マセラ鉱区」。インドネシア・エネルギー・鉱物省によると、基地の規模は年産400万―500万トンで、生産開始は2015年以降となる見通し。

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三菱航空機の旅客機開発、富士重工が参加　主要部品を設計

　富士重工業は三菱航空機（名古屋市）が2013年の就航を目指す国産初の小型ジェット旅客機「ＭＲＪ」の開発に参加する。富士重は戦前の「中島飛行機」の流れをくみ、現在も自衛隊機や米ボーイング社製の部品設計や生産を手掛けている。実績豊富な富士重の参加で、ＭＲＪの開発スピードを上げる。

　富士重は主翼を支える中央翼など機体の主要部品の設計で協力する。設計技術者を三菱航空機に送り込み、米ボーイング向けの機体設計などで培ったノウハウを提供する。まず設計で協力し、将来は部品の受託生産も視野に入れる。

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25―39歳の７割「ここ３年で転職考えた」　民間調べ

　インターネットサービスを手掛けるＮＴＴレゾナント（東京・千代田）とオールアバウトは「キャリアプランとビジネススキルについてのアンケート」をまとめた。それによると、25―39歳の働く人のうち過去3年間に転職を検討したことがある人は70.3％に上った。

　転職を考える際に何を重視するか、複数回答で聞いたところ「年収」が45.8％で最も多く、「職場の雰囲気」が36.4％、「勤務時間」が30.1％で続いた。4位は「会社の安定性」で26.5％、5位は「自分の業務内容」で23.6％だった。「特にない（今後転職したいとは考えないと思う）」は 6.4％にとどまった。

　調査は7月29―31日にかけてインターネットで実施。男女計1077人が回答した。

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車の充電、自宅で可能　伊藤忠系など、分譲戸建てで設備標準化

　伊藤忠都市開発は電気自動車対応型の分譲戸建てを2008年中に発売する。駐車場に200ボルトの屋外コンセントを標準装備する。三菱自動車などが来夏以降、電気自動車の販売を計画しているのに対応、環境意識の高い顧客の需要を取り込む。住生活グループやトヨタホームなども同様の取り組みを始めており、電気自動車の普及に向けた基盤整備が進みそうだ。

　伊藤忠都市開発はまず、横浜市で約20戸を発売。09年には分譲戸建ての主力商品すべてに標準装備する。導入コストは販売価格に転嫁せず販売効率の改善などで吸収する。

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調剤薬局、在宅医療を支援　タカサは高齢者専用アパート

　調剤薬局チェーンが高齢者向けの在宅医療支援事業に乗り出す。タカサ（千葉県市原市）は高齢者専用の賃貸アパート運営を開始。ファルメディコ（大阪市）は薬剤師が自宅で薬の飲み方などを指導する事業を始める。政府は医療費削減の一環として入院から在宅へのシフトを促す施策を推進しており、関連ビジネスのすそ野は拡大している。調剤各社は地域密着の経営スタイルを武器に在宅医療市場を取り込み、ドラッグストアなどに対抗する。

　千葉県で調剤薬局を約30店展開するタカサは高齢者専用賃貸アパート運営の第1弾として「ラヴィータカサ1番館」を市原市に開設した。家賃は約8万円からで、入居者を募集し始めた。医師の往診は通常月に2、3回程度で、薬剤師が薬を届けて飲み忘れの確認や飲み方の指導をしながら体調を診る。消毒薬やオムツなど日用品も配達する。

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エルム、長寿命のＬＥＤランプ　５年間交換不要

　電子機器メーカーのエルム（鹿児島県南さつま市、宮原隆和社長）はダウンライト（天井埋め込み型）用の長寿命の発光ダイオード（ＬＥＤ）を開発、9月中旬から出荷を始める。放熱効率を高めることで、製品寿命を省エネ効果が大きいとされる電球型蛍光灯の10倍近い約5万時間に伸ばした。主にホテルやオフィスなどに売り込む。

　開発した「エコノライト」は高輝度ＬＥＤを4個採用。90ワットの白熱電球とほぼ同じ明るさを確保し、消費電力は約10分の1の9ワットに抑えた。外寸は60ワットの白熱電球とほぼ同じ。口金も共通で、既存の照明器具に取り付けることができる。

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すかいらーく、宅配バイク地元登録せず　地方税法違反か

　外食大手のすかいらーくが、全国の約720店舗で宅配用に使う約2000台のミニバイクを地元自治体でナンバー登録をせず、各自治体に払うべき軽自動車税を本社のある東京都武蔵野市で一括納税していたことが3日、分かった。

　同社は「一括納税は好ましくないと認識している。地方税法に違反するかどうかを再確認し、納税先を変更したい」としている。

　同社によると、全国の店舗で使用しているミニバイクは2179台で、この大半を武蔵野市でナンバー登録をしていた。納税手続きはバイクのリース会社が行っていたという。

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愛知県警察官を窃盗容疑で逮捕

　愛知県警運転免許課の男性巡査部長（33）が先月、名古屋市内の書店で漫画本を万引きしたとして、窃盗容疑で逮捕されていたことが3日、分かった。

　県警監察官室は「被害額が少なかったため公表を控えていた。誠に遺憾で再発防止に努める」としている。近く巡査部長を懲戒処分する。

　調べによると、巡査部長は8月30日午前10時45分ごろ、名古屋市東区の「イオンナゴヤドーム前ショッピングセンター」にある書店で漫画本9冊（4770円相当）を万引きした疑い。巡回中の警備員が発見し、県警東署に通報した。

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違法労働経験の若者、76％は泣き寝入り　ＮＰＯアンケート

　残業代不払いをはじめとする違法労働を経験したことがあるとした若者は51％に上り、うち76％は泣き寝入りしている実態が2日、若年労働者を支援する民間非営利団体（ＮＰＯ）の「ＰＯＳＳＥ」（ポッセ、東京）による計500人の街頭アンケートで分かった。ＰＯＳＳＥは「労組などの社会的サポートがなく、あきらめが広がっている」と分析している。

　アンケートは今年6、7月、東京都内で若者が多い渋谷、立川など4カ所で、学生アルバイトを除く34歳までの労働者に実施。

　経験した違法状態は、残業代不払いが最も多く、有給休暇が取得できなかったり社会保険に入れないなどのほか、セクハラやパワーハラスメントもあった。違法状態に対し何もしなかった理由は「是正させることができると思わなかった」「職場の人間関係が壊れる」など。労組や労働基準監督署に相談した人はゼロで、対処した人の大半は自分で会社と掛け合った。

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多喜二シンポ、英国で開催　蟹工船ブームに関心

　著書「蟹工船」が若者の共感を集めているプロレタリア作家小林多喜二（1903―33）の生誕105年を記念したシンポジウムが16日から3日間、英国のオックスフォード大で開かれる。主催者によると、海外でのシンポは2005年の中国に次いで2回目。

　主催団体のメンバー、島村輝女子美術大教授（プロレタリア文学）によると、過酷な労働に耐えかねて闘争に立ち上がる労働者を描いた「蟹工船」が日本の若者の間でブームとなっていることは、フランスや韓国でも報道されるなど世界的に関心が高まっているという。

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三井物産九州支社、不正利益２億円計上　元社員を刑事告訴へ

　三井物産九州支社の元男性社員（49）が循環取引に関与していたとされる疑惑で、同社は3日、約7年半に及ぶ取引の売上総額が約82億9000万円に上り、約2億1900万円の不正な利益を計上していたとする社内調査の最終結果を発表した。同社は元社員を福岡県警に近く刑事告訴するとともに損害賠償を求める方針。

　同社によると、元社員は2000年9月―06年4月、同支社の嘱託社員などとして農薬や土壌改良材の取引を担当。実際に商品を動かさず伝票上で売買したように見せかける循環取引に関与した。06年5月―08年4月には、元社員が福岡県内に設立した会社が同支社から業務委託を受ける形で同様の取引を続けていた。

　対象商品の債権残高は約8億円に上るという。循環取引には三井物産を除き、主に福岡県内の8社が関与。このうち2社は元社員と親しい間柄で共謀していたという。2社は06年5月と08年4月、元社員とコンサルタント契約を結び、月額20万―40万円を支払っていた。

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水連がメダリストに金一封…北島は２冠だけど１冠分

　日本水連は２日の常務理事会で、北京五輪のメダリストに報奨金として「金一封」を贈ることを決めた。金メダルは２００万円、銀が１００万円、銅が５０万円で、個人で複数のメダルを獲得した場合は最上位の１個のみを対象とする。

　競泳男子平泳ぎの北島康介（日本コカ・コーラ）は２大会連続２冠を獲得し、４００メートルメドレーリレーでも銅メダルを取ったが、金１個分の２００万円のみ。また、１００メートルで世界新を出したことに対し、北島を指導する平井伯昌コーチにも１００万円を贈る。金額はアテネ五輪と同額にした。

　また、来年から開催する日豪対抗を５月１０、１１日にキャンベラで開催することが報告された。

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愛知経営者殺害：顔面に激しい殴打跡　工場資材が凶器に

　愛知県一宮市の金属加工業「仲孝工業所」で１日夜、経営者の仲島孝治さん（５７）が殺害された事件で、工場内から凶器とみられる資材が見つかったことが県警一宮署捜査本部の調べで分かった。仲島さんの首に巻かれたワイヤも工場で使用されていたもので、捜査本部は犯人が工場内の資材を凶器として使用したとみて、突発的な犯行との見方を強め、交友関係を中心に捜査している。

　調べでは、仲島さんの遺体は前頭部や顔に数カ所激しく殴られた跡があり、頭がい骨の一部が骨折していた。工場内に血の付いた資材が残されており、凶器として使われた可能性が高いという。

　また、仲島さんの首に巻かれていた金属製のワイヤも日ごろから工場で使われていた資材とみられる。

　これまでの捜査で、仲島さんの傷は前頭部や顔面に集中し、防御した際に腕などにできる傷もなかったことから、仲島さんはいきなり正面から殴られた可能性が高いという。

　工場内部に荒らされた跡がないことから、捜査本部は犯人は顔見知りで、何らかのトラブルで突発的に犯行に及んだとの見方を強めている。

　仲島さんは１日午後９時過ぎ、工場内でワイヤを首に巻かれ、クレーンにつるされているのを長男（１９）が発見した。司法解剖の結果、死因はワイヤで圧迫されたことによる窒息死とみられる。

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タイ：岐阜県警が捜査員派遣　県出身男性の不明事件

　バンコクに長期滞在していた岐阜県出身の棚橋貴秀さん（３３）が行方不明になっていた事件で、岐阜県警は３日、捜査員６人を警察庁の職員とともにタイに派遣した。この事件では、タイ警察が殺人容疑で日本人の男２人の逮捕状を取ったが、既に帰国しており、逮捕状は日本国内では効力がないことから、同県警は２人を国内で立件することも視野に、情報交換などのため捜査員を派遣することを決めた。

　タイ警察から逮捕状が出ている大阪府吹田市出身の男（３０）が帰国後の８月２１日に京都府警に出頭し、その後、岐阜県警が行った事情聴取で「事件とは関係ない」と話していたという。

　また、もう１人の愛知県一宮市出身の男（３０）も愛知県警に出頭し、調べに「棚橋さんの銀行口座から現金約１０００万円を引き出した。吹田市の男に頼まれ、現金は渡した」と説明していたことも分かった。

　この事件では、棚橋さんの親族らが現地に向かい、近く記者会見を開いて事件の解決を訴える意向を示している。

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性犯罪：福岡で多発　強姦被害は全国最悪

　福岡県で性犯罪が多発している。昨年の強姦、強制わいせつ事件（未遂を含む）は計５６４件で１０年前の約２倍。今年上半期の強姦被害は人口１０万人あたり１．３人で、全国最悪だった。福岡県警博多署が強盗強姦容疑で逮捕した男（２８）は１人暮らしの女性宅に忍び込む手口を詳細に供述した。県警は自己防衛策をまとめた冊子を作り、啓発に力を入れている。

　「ワンルームマンションの無施錠の部屋を狙った。ドアノブを１軒１軒回して確かめた」

　男は０６年ごろから女性を襲い始めたとみられ、８月までに強姦容疑などで計５回逮捕された。オートロックでも駐車場から塀を乗り越えるなどして侵入。無施錠の部屋を見つけると、ドアを開け室内のにおいや靴で男女の別を判断した。時間は午前４～６時。スタンガンや目出し帽を準備し、熟睡した女性を襲った。

　同署幹部は「オートロックや高層階でも安心はできない。鍵をかけていれば防げたケースも多い」と話す。被害者は身を守れなかった自分を責めがちで、県警生活安全総務課は「泣き寝入りをしている被害者もおり、実際の被害は３～５倍」とみている。

　県警も取り締まりに力を入れており、今年の検挙数は７月末で２３８件と昨年同期の１２６件の２倍近い。それでも歯止めがかからない現状に、昨年作った防犯意識が分かる冊子を８万部増刷し、今年は県内の女子高生全員に配った。夜間の一人歩きなどで十代の被害が多く、昨年の県内の性犯罪被害者のうち女子高生が約２割を占めるためだ。

　「コンビニやレンタルビデオ店に夜１人で行く」「ナンパされてついて行ったことがある」「音楽やメールをしながら歩いていることがある」など１５項目に答え、危険度をチェックする仕組み。

　「エレベーターは非常ベルが押せる位置に乗る」など防犯ポイントを書いたあぶらとり紙も作り、コンビニで無料提供している。同課は「残暑の季節でも性犯罪は多い。正しい知識を持って、防犯意識を高めてもらいたい」と訴えている。

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窃盗：ＰＣで鍵を複製　トヨタ車窃盗団を逮捕－－神奈川県警

　特殊なパソコン（ＰＣ）ソフトでキーを複製しトヨタ車ばかりを盗んだとして、神奈川県警捜査３課などは２日、横浜市中区尾上町３の中古車販売業、篠田伸之被告（３８）＝窃盗罪で公判中＝ら３人を窃盗容疑、車の輸出に必要な書類を偽造した神奈川県小田原市東町１の自称文書作成代行請負業、小野一浩容疑者（４１）ら２人を偽造有印私文書行使容疑などで逮捕したと発表した。被害は１都５県で約３００台、５億円近くに上るとみられる。

　調べでは、篠田被告は０７年１２月、同僚と共謀、同県厚木市の駐車場で、トヨタの「ハリアー」（時価約１５０万円）を盗んだ疑い。

　篠田被告らは、エンジンキー差し込み口付近の５ケタの数字を打ち込むと、キーの形状が画面に表示されるトヨタ車専用のキー作製ソフトをブローカーの男から入手。金属加工具で、画面に従い１本当たり３０分程度で合鍵を作っていた。小野容疑者は「約１０００台分を偽造した」と供述している。

　同課は、ブローカーの男や、男に指示を出したとされるパキスタン人の男が、複数の窃盗団を配下に置いていたとみて捜査している。

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原爆展：ベルギーで「ヒロシマ・ナガサキ原爆展」

　国立長崎原爆死没者追悼平和祈念館（内田進博館長）は２日、「ヒロシマ・ナガサキ原爆展」を１０月２日～１２月１２日にベルギー・アントワープの市立平和センターで開催すると発表した。

　長崎、広島の被爆写真パネル３８点や、被爆で止まった広島の時計、浦上天主堂（長崎市）で被爆死した信者のロザリオなど被災資料１９点などを展示する。アントワープの公立中生徒を対象にした、被爆者による体験講話も予定している。

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乳価：交渉難航…１０月値上げ困難な状況

　飲用向け生乳価格（乳価）の引き上げをめぐる酪農団体と乳業各社の交渉が難航し、当初予定していた１０月の価格改定が極めて困難な状況になっている。酪農団体側は生乳１キロ当たり１０円（１０％程度）の値上げを求めているが、消費者の牛乳離れを懸念する乳業各社との隔たりは大きく、妥結のめどは立っていない。

　関東生乳販売農業協同組合連合会（東京）など全国８団体は５月以降、明治乳業、森永乳業などの各社と順次、値上げ交渉に入った。７月末までに乳業各社に回答するよう求めたが、乳業側は「夏場の需要動向を見極めたい」と期限延長を申し入れ、８月中も大きな進展はなかった。小売業者や学校給食団体などへの周知期間などを考えると、１０月の価格改定は見送られる可能性が高まっている。

　乳価は通常年１回の改定で、今年４月に約３％引き上げられたばかり。しかし、その後も穀物高が続き、酪農団体は「牛乳の安定供給に影響を及ぼしかねない」と異例の再値上げを申し入れた。

　一方、明治、森永など乳業大手は４月に牛乳類を値上げした結果、４～６月の販売量が前年同期比で約１割減少。「酪農家の厳しい状況は理解するが、消費者の牛乳離れも深刻」（大手乳業）と、慎重な姿勢を崩していない。

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有給休暇：取得、仏３４日・日本８日　有給でも休まない、休めない－－９カ国調査

　インターネット系旅行会社で世界最大手のエクスペディア（米国）は、日本と欧米の計９カ国で行った有給休暇に関する調査結果を発表した。日本人の有給休暇の年間取得日数はわずか８日で、首位フランス（３４日）の４分の１以下にとどまり最下位だった。２位はイタリアとスペイン（ともに２７日）だった。

　今年３～８月、１６歳以上の男女を対象にインターネットでアンケートし、約４０００人から回答を得た。

　日本人を対象に有給休暇を取得できない理由を聞くと「仕事が多忙」「上司・同僚が取っていない」などの声が目立った。

　「どうすれば休めるか？」の問いには、「経営者や上司が有給休暇の取得を奨励してほしい」との回答が首位を占め、有給休暇を取りやすい雰囲気を職場で作る重要性が浮き彫りとなった。【太田圭介】

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

　■ことば
　◇有給休暇

　賃金をもらいながら休める制度。１年単位なので年次有給休暇と呼び、労働基準法で認められている。６カ月以上継続して働く▽全労働日の８割以上出勤するなどが条件。１０日間以上付与され、一定要件で加算される。未消化分は次年度へ繰り越しできる。雇用主が、取得を理由として労働者に不当な扱いをすることは禁じられている。

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Moscow confirms Georgian official announcement of diplomatic relations’ end

02.09.2008, 23.33

TBILISI, September 2 (Itar-Tass) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed the Georgian announcement of the break off of diplomatic relations, a ministry source told Itar-Tass.

“We are studying the statement,” he said. “As we have warned before, this step will not help preserve civilized official contacts between the two nations. First and foremost, it will have a negative effect on the interests of Georgian citizens who are staying in Russia permanently or temporarily.”

“Any future problems in consular affairs should be attributed to the state, which has initiated such developments,” he said. “In this case, we should attribute them to Tbilisi.”

The consular department of the Georgian embassy in Moscow will suspend its activity on September 3 until further instructions from the Russian Foreign Ministry, the embassy said on Tuesday.

The department announced they had made the decision in connection with the Georgian government’s wish to break off diplomatic relations with Russia.

The department said it would issue visas and other documents to earlier applicants, while the acceptance of new applications would be suspended temporarily.

Director of the Georgian Foreign Ministry’s Russian desk Irakly Torondzhadze presented two memos to Russian embassy adviser Andrei Smaga on Tuesday.

One memo announced the termination of the bilateral diplomatic relations, the other said that consular relations would go on, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

“Bearing in mind the Russian hostile actions against Georgia, including the military aggression, the occupation of lands and the illegal recognition of the so-called independence of the Abkhaz and Tskhinvali regions – internationally recognized territories of Georgia – and on the basis of the Georgian parliament resolution of August 28, 2008, Georgia repeals the protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia of July 2, 1992,” the first memo runs.

The second memo announces with the reference to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations that Georgia will preserve consular relations with Russia and the Georgian consular service in Moscow (the consul, two vice-consuls and technical staff) will continue their activity.

Smaga called ‘a mistake’ the Georgian decision to break off diplomatic relations. “From my point of view, this is a Georgian mistake that will not help to resolve existent problems,” he said.

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Pacific Future Fishery fair opens in Vladivostok Wed

03.09.2008, 07.25

VLADIVOSTOK, September 3 (Itar-Tass) - A Pacific Future Fishery-2008 exhibition and fair opened here on Wednesday as the first event of an International Congress of Fishermen.

The fair features programmes for shipbuilding and ship repairs, services in the designing of fishing trawlers, ship refuellers, ship equipment and components, fishing gear as well as packaging materials and containers.

An official in the congress organising committee has said that this year representatives of international nature conservation organisations are taking part in the fair for the first time. The World Wildlife Fund presents a programme for the certification of sea fisheries.

The official said, "The organisers sought to offer such a programme of the exhibition that would be of maximum use and interest to its participants. Seminars that are to be held are aimed at raising the qualification of technologists and other specialists of fishery enterprises. For example, the presentation of the Busan International Seafood and Fisheries EXPO (BISFE) will be of interest to those who would like to establish cooperation and find partners in South Korea."

The fair generates traditionally a lively interest among Vladivostok residents. On view are many new types of fish products and a special site has been arranged for retail trading.

The exhibition is held under the programme of the International Congress if Fishermen. This year it has drawn 350 delegates from Russia and 15 foreign countries -- Pacific Rim and European ones. The programme of the forum also provides for a plenary session and roundtable meetings.

The main theme of the congress is the development of international cooperation in effective uses of marine resources. Problems under discussion include innovative technology support for mechanisms of steady use of marine bioresources, and logistics of commodity flows and investment initiatives in support of Russian fisheries and fish processing. The congress is to end on September 5 with the adoption of a resolution on the results of discussions.

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Georgia to ease visa regime with Russia
02.09.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/106268-Georgia_visa_regime_Russia-0

Georgia intends to ease the visa entry regime with Russia, which was toughened after the termination of diplomatic relations between the neighboring states, the Kommersant newspaper says. The newspaper quotes a high-ranking source from the Georgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, who stated that Russian citizens would be able to receive Georgian visas at border crossing stations, as it was practiced before.

The Georgian consulate office in Russia continues to work according to its usual schedule. Officials at the office said that there were no additional restrictions introduced for Russian citizens to obtain Georgian visas. A Russian citizen can receive an entrance visa to Georgia in any consulate office of Georgia in any country, including Russia. A person applying for the visa will only need to show an original invitation to visit the country.

We would like to remind that deputy minister for foreign affairs of Georgia, Grigol Vashadze, said on August 29 that Georgia was going to terminate its diplomatic relations with Russia in connection with Russia’s recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on August 26. Georgia also toughened the visa regime for Russian citizens.

The issuing of Georgian visas to Russians was stopped at all checkpoints in Georgia on August 30. In accordance with an official note, the visas for citizens of the Russian Federation will be issued only at consulate offices and diplomatic missions of Georgia located abroad from September 8, 2008.

Entry visas to Georgia will be issued only at the submission of originals of invitations for the citizens of the Russian Federation, who visit Georgia to meet their family members, as well as for those, who visit the country with humanitarian and business purposes. Until recently, Russian citizens could obtain a Georgian visa at an airport of Tbilisi for the price of $20.

It is worthy of note that an official spokesman for the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Andrei Nesterenko, stated at a press conference that Russia could stop issuing visas to Georgian citizens. The official said that Georgia’s single-handed termination of diplomatic relations with Russia testified to violation of human rights, the rights of Russia-based Georgian citizens in this particular case.

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Russia, Uzbekistan to build gas pipe, update price formula

16:30 | 02/ 09/ 2008

TASHKENT, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Uzbekistan agreed on Tuesday to build a new pipeline through Uzbekistan to export Turkmen and Uzbek natural gas, and to switch to a European gas pricing formula, the Russian prime minister said on Tuesday.

Analysts say the planned pipeline to be linked to Russia will allow Moscow to maintain its monopoly on Central Asian gas exports to Europe and help bolster its influence in the region.

"We have reached an agreement to start joint practical work to build a new gas pipeline system in Uzbekistan to meet the growing export potential of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan," Vladimir Putin told reporters after talks with President Islam Karimov.

The new pipeline and the modernization of the 1974 Central Asia-Center pipeline network will raise combined Uzbek-Turkmen exports from the current 45 billion cubic meters to 80-90 billion cu m a year.

Russia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan agreed on the projects in May, delivering a blow to a rival Western-backed project to build a trans-Caspian pipeline bypassing Russia, currently the sole re-exporter of Turkmen gas. The new pipeline will run along the Caspian Sea's eastern coast to Europe via Russia's pipeline network.

Putin also said Russia and Uzbekistan have agreed to switch to a European pricing formula for the purchases of Uzbek gas. The price issue had earlier prevented the countries from finalizing the pipeline deal.

Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan said in March they would sell gas to Russia at European-level prices in 2009.

The head of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, Alexei Miller, said in July he expected Central Asian producers to double their prices in 2009.

Russia currently pays $160 per 1,000 cu m of Uzbek gas and $150 for gas from Turkmenistan. The formula to be agreed on will set the prices until 2028.

Putin's visit to Uzbekistan came soon after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's attempt to secure Central Asian support for Moscow's recognition of Georgia's rebel regions.

Russia's four ex-Soviet partners in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan - voiced support for Russia's actions in Georgia at Thursday's summit in Dushanbe, but stopped short of backing recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.

Uzbekistan has moved to improve ties with the West, which it severed in 2005 over strong Western criticism of its brutal crackdown on the Andijan protests.

Last Thursday, Uzbekistan's defense minister received a senior U.S. military official, raising suspicions in Moscow that Tashkent is considering reinstating a U.S. airbase in the country.

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Researchers to examine gas trapped in Lake Baikal's depths
17:14 | 02/ 09/ 2008

NOVOSIBIRSK, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - Researchers studying Siberia's Lake Baikal have said they plan to use the lake to test the potential use of methane clathrates as an energy source, but that the lake itself would not be tapped for the fuel.

Methane clathrates, which look like ice and are found mainly in Antarctic ice cores and ocean beds, are composed of crystallized water molecules trapping methane and other gases. Baikal, the world's deepest lake, holds large volumes of clathrates in its sediment.

A member of the research team conducting a series of mini-submarine dives to lake's depths told RIA Novosti on Tuesday: "We are developing the scientific basis for creating production technology" for methane clathrates.

The experiment, to be jointly conducted with Japanese scientists, is scheduled for next year, Oleg Klystov, laboratories director at the Irkutsk-based Limnological Institute, said.

He stressed that the Baikal "natural laboratory" is being used purely for research, and that if such technology were developed it would only be employed at other sites.

Clathrates, also known as gas hydrates, hold vast reserves of potentially climate-warming methane, and are a major source of concern for environmentalists. Scientists have suggested that if global temperatures were to rise above a critical level, the gas could be rapidly released, dramatically altering the Earth's atmosphere.

The second stage of a major expedition to explore the depths of the lake began on August 20. During the ongoing expedition, the Mir-1 and Mir-2 mini-submarines have enabled scientists to take samples of oil that seeps through cracks in the lake's bedrock and is digested by the lake's organisms.

Baikal is the world's oldest lake, with an age estimated at 25 million years. Scientists taking part in the current expedition, during which 160 deepwater dives are planned over the next two years, have stressed that research is not aimed at exploiting possible oil and gas reserves, but at protecting Baikal's unique ecosystem.

The lake has been the focus of major environmental scares in recent years, with a last-minute change to an oil pipeline route that was set to pass near Baikal's shores, and environmental regulators' claims against a pulp mill accused of pumping large volumes of toxic waste into the lake.

A spokesman for the Baikal preservation foundation told RIA Novosti on Tuesday that during a mini-sub dive on August 31, scientists took water samples near the Baikal Pulp Mill at a depth of over 1,000 meters to assess the extent of the environmental damage caused by the mill's waste.

"The results of the research will be known in around two months, after a laboratory analysis of the samples," the spokesman said.

The Baikal Pulp Mill, built in the mid-1960s, is located on the lake's southern shore, and is the only facility still pumping waste into the lake. The mill is owned by Continental Management, a subsidiary of billionaire Oleg Deripaska's industrial conglomerate Basic Element.

The mill plans to switch to a closed water cycle by September 10, a few days ahead of a government-set deadline.

Baikal, a UNESCO World Heritage site, holds around 20% of the planet's freshwater.

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EU-Russia: signal to cooperation instead of sanctions
21:18 | 02/ 09/ 2008

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Oleg Mityayev) - On September 1, the European Union (EU) held an emergency summit on relations with Russia after the war in South Ossetia.

Russia's biggest trade partner, the EU refrained from imposing any economic sanctions on it. Europe depends too much on Russian energy sources, and the leading Western companies are highly interested in expanding their business in Russia.

Nevertheless, economic sanctions against Russia had been seriously discussed shortly before. Poland, for instance, suggested rather tough financial and economic measures against Russia. Its draft resolution said that the EU should consider the Russian market unstable and full of risks and recommend major businessmen to reduce investment into Russia. Another proposal was to limit some Russia-exported goods, such as metals and fertilizer. Finally, the EU could advise European banks not to re-credit Russian banks and companies.

But the biggest consumers of Russian hydrocarbons - Italy, Germany, and France - expressed themselves against any economic sanctions. This is not surprising; the EU accounts for 50% of Russia's foreign trade, most of which consists of energy supplies. Today, Russia provides the EU with a third of its oil and 40% of its gas.

The EU summit watered down its resolution, which does not say a word about economic sanctions against Russia because of its armed conflict with Georgia. This may be considered a diplomatic victory for Russia. Instead the document says that Russia-EU relations should be substantially revised, and that they "have reached a crossroads." The EU leaders instructed their bureaucrats to search for alternative energy sources in order to reduce dependence on Russia. This is not the first time they have been faced with this task, but it has not yet been resolved.

Britain and Poland, the main advocates of a tough line towards Russia, had to settle for the document's statement that "meetings on the negotiation of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement will be postponed." But these meetings had already been delayed for the last year and a half because of the stubborn position take by such EU members as Poland and Lithuania, and resumed only this summer. In any event, the agreement on partnership and cooperation with Europe plays a symbolic role, and is not all-important for Russia.

At the same time, Italy, France, and Germany declared unanimously that isolating Russia was not an option, and that it is necessary to continue dialogue with it. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the last EU resolution on Russia signaled the need for an alliance.

Economic contacts between Europe and Russia cannot be broken, primarily because business in the West and the rest of the world is vitally interested in the rapidly developing Russian market.

Major European and world carmakers who conduct business in Russia through their European subsidiaries are looking to expand their Russian operations further. All forecasts predict that this year Russia will leave Germany behind and become the world's biggest car market. TNK-BP, the daughter of the British oil giant, is going through a difficult period, but BP still intends to develop its business in Russia.

The optimism of European investors and exporters is shared by their American colleagues. Last week, the U.S. National Council on International Trade Development, which unites more than 300 companies, urged President George W. Bush not to impose any economic sanctions against Russia. Also last week, PepsiCo purchased Lebedyansky, Russia's biggest juice producer. Incidentally, agreement on this deal was reached in spring, so the U.S. company had plenty of time to ponder the wisdom its investment.

Needless to say, the conflict in South Ossetia has dealt certain damage to foreign investment in Russia. Finances were the hardest hit, since they are more susceptible to speculations. Between eight and twenty billion dollars left Russia during the conflict, first of all from its stock market. Some three to four billion dollars followed suit a week later.

Experts maintain that no fundamental changes have taken place in the Russian economy. The leading Russian companies continue to be highly profitable, and now there is an opportunity to buy into them (relatively) cheaply. Most likely, foreign investors will return to the Russian stock market by the end of the year.

--------------------------------
Russia to build Baltic nuclear power plant
21:54 | 02/ 09/ 2008

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Tatyana Sinitsyna) - Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power (Rosatom), has signed the order on the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Kaliningrad Region, Russia's exclave on the Baltic Sea. Preliminary work for the project is to start in 2009.

Russia decided to build a nuclear power plant in its westernmost region to ensure its own energy security, but the new power plant will also export energy to its European neighbors.

New facilities to be built in the special economic zone in the Kaliningrad Region will need guaranteed electricity supplies. Besides, the power bridge that supplies a considerable amount of the region's electricity is becoming increasingly fragile. The region will be badly short of electricity after the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania, which supplies approximately 30% of the region's electricity, is shut down.

For safety reasons, the Baltic Nuclear Power Plant will not be built on the coast. A suitable site has been found after a year-long research in the eastern part of the small exclave, which occupies 13,300 square kilometers, some 120 km (75 miles) from the region's center, Kaliningrad.

Now that Kiriyenko has signed the order, the developers will need to receive permits and licenses and register the new project. The plant will be built by Rosenergoatom, the controller of Russia's nuclear power plants that was renamed Concern Energoatom in early August 2008, to a design by St. Petersburg's Atomenergoproekt, which has designed 18 nuclear power plants in Russia and abroad.

Previously slated as a twin AES-92 plant with two 1000 MW VVER-1000 pressurized water reactors, similar to those planned for Belene in Bulgaria, it is now to be the more modern and larger VVER-1200, also known as AES-2006. Another change to the plan is to commission the first reactor a year earlier, in 2015.

The Baltic NPP, worth 6 billion euros, will be Russia's first nuclear project to be built with foreign assistance. Under Russian legislation, nuclear power plants belong to the state, which holds a 51% stake in them. The remaining 49% in the Baltic plant will be offered to foreign partners, first of all European ones. The Russian government plans to attract foreign investors and nuclear organizations, which may supply equipment for the plant.

Rosatom will hold a tender to choose investors and is now analyzing their attitude to the project. Potential partners are clearly interested because involvement in the project will benefit them economically and give them access to an asset built on the border with the European Union. Some of them are ready to buy everything they can immediately.

The economic aspects of the project satisfy the generally accepted market rules, but the political aspect is a highly sensitive matter, because even wholly civilian nuclear projects often provoke unjustified fears.

Russia's EU neighbors are not happy with Russia having a nuclear power plant close to their borders. They argue that Europe has more than enough nuclear facilities and radiation risks are running high. This is indeed so, and the Kaliningrad Region is also located in the zone of risk.

But the truth is that the EU is worried by Russia's growing influence in the region, which a new nuclear plant will further strengthen.

Taking into account the European system of electricity interchange, the Baltic plant will be able to supply electricity far and wide. Experts say its two power units will help diversify Russia's foreign trade by exporting electricity produced by a nuclear power plant, which can be described as a high-tech product. Russia will make a strong geopolitical move through the Kaliningrad Region, which makes the EU unhappy.

The world needs more and more energy, and that need is feeding a desire to build nuclear power plants. Lithuania, which is being encouraged to shut down its Soviet-era Ignalina NPP, is preparing to build a replacement, Ignalina-2. Belarus will soon hold a tender for its first nuclear power plant, and Estonia and Albania would also like to have nuclear plants.

The countries that have recently learned to enjoy the benefits of energy sufficiency will most likely build more nuclear power plants. Finland is considering the possibility, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at a recent EU summit that France would expand its nuclear power program.

The Baltic Nuclear Power Plant, also called the Kaliningrad Plant, has already provoked energetic protests from its neighbors at the discussion stage, but the other EU countries have expressed their support for it.

One way or another, all of them will have to accept it as a fact of life now that Rosatom's chief has signed the construction order.

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Australian state mulls uranium mining ban
AFP
AFP - 1 hour 37 minutes ago

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia could lose the chance to become the world's biggest uranium producer if a threatened ban on mining yellowcake in a key state is imposed, an industry lobby group said Wednesday.
(Advertisement)

The economy could miss out on billions of dollars in potential revenue if Premier Alan Carpenter implements his pledge to ban uranium mining in Western Australia state should his government be re-elected this weekend, it warned.

"The proposal to ban uranium mining in Western Australia fails on so many counts," Australia Uranium Association director Michael Angwin told AFP. "This proposed ban is pretty uninformed and would be a real blow to Australia."

The ban would deprive the Australian economy of up to 3.2 billion dollars (2.66 billion US) in additional revenue between now and 2030, and reduce its uranium-producing potential by more than two-thirds, Angwin said.

The issue has become a core topic in campaigning for Saturday's state elections in vast Western Australia, where Carpenter's Labor Party will face off against a Liberal candidate in favour of uranium mining.

Carpenter last week said that if his Labor government wins, it would ban the mining of yellowcake in the resource-rich state to show his commitment to a "clean, green" policy.

"We will ban, by legislation, the mining of uranium in Western Australia and instead we will drive 100 percent renewable energy production," he said.

"Nuclear is not green, is not safe, and has no role in Western Australia's future energy mix under a Labor government."

But opposition leader Colin Barnett has said he would support a policy to export uranium to countries that are members of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Carpenter this week launched a series of television advertisements warning that uranium production and export would result in dangerous nuclear waste being sent back to Western Australia by countries using nuclear power.

But Angwin dismissed the campaign as electoral scare tactics and said more damage would be done if the proposed legislation to ban uranium mining was adopted by the state's parliament.

A ban would stoke investor uncertainty in the state's uranium industry, and its resources industry generally, he said.

Western Australia's booming mining industry is the motor of Australia's economy amid increasing demand for resources by emerging powers such as China and India.

Australia boasts the world's largest uranium reserves -- 24 percent of the planet's known resources -- and was the world's second largest miner of yellowcake after Canada in 2007, producing 21 percent of the world's supply.

But there are currently only three uranium mines operating in the country, although several more have been proposed, including in Western Australia.

Angwin said Australia produces about 10,000 tonnes of uranium per year, but added that figure could increase to between 28,000 and 37,000 tonnes by 2030 as the global appetite for nuclear power increases.

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Multiplying and arriving

Aug 28th 2008
From The Economist print edition
Immigrants and babies could make Britain the EU’s biggest country

IF DEMOGRAPHY is destiny, then the British are roaring forward. On August 27th Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical service, predicted that by 2060 Britain would be the EU’s largest country, with a population of 77m (compared with around 61m today). Germany, the current top dog, will see its 82m citizens dwindle to 71m over the same period. Britain’s boom will be fuelled by a mix of immigration and a comparatively high birth rate (partly a consequence of the higher fecundity of its immigrants).

Besides getting bigger, Britain will also remain youthful, at least by EU standards. Although the share of people over 65 will rise from 16% to 25% by 2060, that will still mean fewer greybeards than anywhere else in Europe except Luxembourg. Eurostatisticians prophesy that Britain will suffer less stress on its pensions and social-security systems than faster-ageing countries. Yet not all Britons revel in the idea of millions of new citizens.

In the wake of enthusiastic migration from eastern Europe from 2004, local councils complained that official underestimates of their populations left them starved of cash and unable to do their jobs properly. And a popular conception that Britain is “full” receives some backing from statistics. Although its overall population density of 251 people per square kilometre is not particularly high for western Europe, England has 392 people per square kilometre, the second-highest density in Europe (behind the tiny Netherlands, with 395). Emigration is at record levels, and anecdotal evidence from firms that help organise departures suggests that feeling life in Britain is cramped is a common reason for leaving.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, has found talk of overpopulation a useful way to appeal to voters who worry about overcrowding and crumbling infrastructure, as well as to Tories much further to the right than their leader. Others, including the Optimum Population Trust, a think-tank that counts Jonathon Porritt, a government adviser, as a board member, reckon Britain must reduce its population to save its environment and consume fewer resources. It is an argument that plays well at a time of high prices for oil and food.

Such pressure may persuade officials to consider demography in their planning, something that they do only intermittently now, mainly when considering social-security entitlements. But demographic predictions are notoriously unreliable. In the 1940s one projection failed to predict the post-war baby boom and showed just 35m people living in Britain by 2000. As recently as 2001 British women were having an average of 1.6 children each, a record low. Today that has risen to 1.9, a number not seen for a quarter of a century, for reasons that are still unclear (although immigration plays a part). That much of Eurostat’s predicted boom comes from immigration makes it even wobblier, since migration flows depend heavily on economic circumstances, as well as on fickle changes in politics and migration law.

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労使合同、タクシー運転手ら２５００人デモ　大阪

2008年9月3日

　タクシー激戦区の大阪で、労働環境の悪化にあえぐ運転手らが３日、大阪市内をデモ行進した。業界団体と労働組合が合同で催し、参加した約２５００人は「もう限界だ」と生活の向上を訴えた。タクシー業界の「労使のタッグ」は全国でも珍しいという。

　「多すぎるタクシー減らせ」「規制緩和あきません」――。行進前、大阪城公園の一角であった集会。暮らしの改善を訴えるのぼりが立ち並ぶ中、はちまき姿の約２５００人が気勢を上げた。ステッカーを車体にはったタクシー５５台のパレードも行われた。

　「２、３時間動かないのもしょっちゅうや」。集会に参加した大阪市西成区の運転手林裕人さん（６３）はぼやいた。初乗り運転の安い車を探す客が毎日のように隣を通り過ぎる。かつて４０万円を超えた月収は半分以下に減った。

　別の男性運転手（３７）は年２５０万円に満たない収入を巡って妻との言い争いが絶えず、３年前に離婚。９歳と６歳の息子２人と別れて暮らす。「別の仕事を選んでおけばと思うこともある」

　０２年２月、国の規制緩和で新規参入や増車が容易になり、大阪府内のタクシーは緩和前から約２８００台増えた。遠距離割引など値引き競争も進み、１台あたりの営業収入は１日約３万３千円（００年度）から同約２万９千円（０６年度）に落ち込んだ。

　国は７月、大阪や東京など競争の激しい地域を、参入や増車を厳しくする「特定特別監視地域」に指定。だが、業界団体、労組双方に「参入規制をもっと強めて、同一賃金を実施しないと共倒れになる」という声が多く、今回のデモが計画された。

　競争の激化に加え、燃料高が運転手らに追い打ちをかける。デモを主催した府内のタクシー会社１５５社が加盟する「大阪タクシー協会」によると、総運送収入にしめる燃料費は約１１％。３年前と比べ５ポイント以上はね上がった。同協会などはこの日の集会に与野党の国会議員を招き、燃料高への支援策も求めた。

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ハエたたき、０．２秒の勝負　逃げられる仕組み解明

2008年9月3日10時32分

　【ワシントン＝勝田敏彦】ハエたたきに失敗が多いのは、ハエが逃げるための「離陸準備」をコンマ２秒という素早さでできるから――。そんな論文を米カリフォルニア工科大のチームが米専門誌カレントバイオロジー（電子版）に発表した。

　同大のマイケル・ディキンソン教授らは、１秒間に５４００コマ録画できる高解像度・高速度カメラを使い、ほぼ３６０度の視野がある目を持っているショウジョウバエをハエたたきで狙う実験を撮影・分析した。

　その結果、ハエは飛び上がる前に脚を使って体の重心を微妙に移動させ、ハエたたきが来る方向とは反対に飛べるように準備することがわかった。この動きには０．２秒ほどしかかかっていなかった。

　これは、ハエの神経系に、危険が迫る方向と、脚や体の適切な動きを即座に結びつける「対応表」のような仕組みがあることを示すという。

　同教授は「ハエたたきのコツは、ハエが今いるところを狙うのではなく、逃げる方向を先回りすること」とアドバイスしている。

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【福田退陣】首相「最高指揮官」の責任放棄　自衛隊高級幹部会同を異例の欠席
2008.9.3 12:55

　福田康夫首相は３日、防衛省で行われた自衛隊高級幹部会同への出席をとりやめた。自衛隊の最高指揮官である首相が年に１度の高級幹部会同を代理も立てずに欠席したのは異例。首相周辺は「１日に辞任を表明したため出席を辞退した」と説明しているが、自衛隊・防衛省からは「自衛隊全体の士気が下がる」と指摘する声が出ている。

　福田首相は就任後初の昨年１１月の自衛隊高級幹部会同には出席し、幹部自衛官に訓示したが、自衛隊が首相に敬意を表す儀式の「栄誉礼・儀仗（ぎじよう）」を受けるのは辞退した。政府関係者は当時、守屋武昌前防衛事務次官にからむ一連の不祥事を受けて首相官邸主導で同省改革に取り組む中、「なれ合い和気あいあいの雰囲気でもない」と首相が判断したとしていた。

　今年の自衛隊高級幹部会同について首相は当初、出席し、栄誉礼・儀仗も受ける予定だったが、辞任表明後の２日、出席すること自体を急きよキャンセルすることを決めた。

　過去１０年では、平成１３、１４の両年に小泉純一郎首相が外遊などの公務を理由に高級幹部会同を出席しなかったが、当時、官房長官だった福田首相自身が代理として出席し訓示しており、今回の首相の対応は「異例中の異例」（防衛省関係者）という。

　自衛隊にとって高級幹部会同は全国から幹部自衛官が集まり、最高指揮官の訓示を各部隊に伝える重要な恒例行事であり、陸上自衛隊幹部は「首相が欠席のうえ訓示もないとなると、組織としての士気は下がるだけだ」と語っている。

　自民党中堅議員も「後継首相が決まるまでは福田首相は自衛隊の最高指揮官であり、高級幹部会同欠席は職務や責任を放棄したと同じ。“ひきこもり”を決め込むのはご免こうむりたい」を批判した。

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国際民事紛争の裁判権、ルール策定へ
2008.9.3 16:32

　どの国で裁判を行うか明確な規定がない国際的な民事裁判について、日本で裁判を開くことができるルールを定めるため、保岡興治法相は３日、法制審議会にルールの概要を示すことなどを諮問した。日本ではまだ法律に規定がなく、判例に従って判断されているのが現状。日本企業が国際的な係争に巻き込まれた場合、日本で裁判を起こすことができるかどうかを明文化して、安心して海外取引ができるようにするのが狙いだ。平成２２年の通常国会での法案提出を目指す。

　外国人や外国企業が被告となる国際的な訴訟を、どの国で開くべきかの「国際裁判管轄」は従来、明確なルールがなかった。昭和５２年にマレーシア航空機が同国で墜落し、死亡した日本人客の遺族が日本で起こした損害賠償請求訴訟の最高裁判決に沿って、各裁判所が個別に判断してきた。

　ルールを定める条約を制定する動きもあったが、各国の意見がまとまらずに頓挫。一方で欧州連合（ＥＵ）は内部で条約を結んでいるほか、スイスや韓国が国内法で規定を定めている。現状のままでは、日本人や日本企業がコスト面から国際的訴訟を躊躇（ちようちよ）する傾向が出ているため、企業や法律学者から日本でも明文化するよう求める声が出ていた。

　法制審は、被告となる外国企業が、営業所しか日本にない場合▽日本人旅行者が海外で食事をし、帰国後に食中毒になった場合▽日本の特許権をめぐり外国企業同士が争う場合－など細かいケースについても議論を重ね、どんなケースが日本で裁判を開くことができるのかを判断していく。

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元売り２社が復旧費１億数千万円請求、隠岐島の軽油混入
2008.9.3 12:11

　島根県隠岐の島町の油槽所で６月、ガソリンに軽油が混入した問題で、出光興産（東京）など石油元売り２社が、油槽所を経営する山陰タンク（鳥取県米子市）に、復旧にかかった経費１億数千万円を請求したことが３日、分かった。

　関係者によると、出光興産などは、軽油の混入で販売できなくなったガソリンの代わりとして、１日最大約５０キロリットルを島に輸送。８月中旬に代替ガソリン代や輸送費の支払いを求めたという。

　軽油混入は経済産業省中国経済産業局が６月２８日に公表。タンカーから荷揚げする際、油槽所の従業員がバルブ操作を誤ったことが原因とみられている。

　軽油が混入したガソリンはスタンドで車に給油され、約千台に不具合が生じるなど、島民生活に影響が出た。

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夏季期間中の出入国者減少　成田空港
2008.9.3 17:25

　東京入管成田空港支局は３日、７月１７日から８月３１日の夏の旅行シーズン期間中、成田空港を利用した出入国者数が前年比約２２万５７００人（約５・９％）減の約３６２万２７００人（速報値）だったと発表した。減少要因について、空港支局は「国際線の航空運賃に上乗せされる燃油特別付加運賃（燃油サーチャージ）の値上げなどが影響したのではないか」と分析している。

　日本人の出国者数は約１２１万２４００人（約１０万６０００人減）で、帰国者数は約１１８万４６００人（約８万４９００人減）。外国人は入国者数が約５８万８４００人（約２万９２００人減）、出国者数は約６３万７３００人（約５６００人減）だった。

　空港が最も混雑した日は出国が８月９日の約４万８７００人、入国は８月１７日の約５万１０００人。

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食品値上げで病院・施設も“悲鳴”、食費給付引き上げ論も

　食料価格高騰が、福祉や医療の現場も直撃している。コスト増を施設の入所者や入院患者の負担に上乗せするのは制度上難しく、献立のやりくりでしのぐのも限界にきている。「国が決めている食費の額を引き上げないと、やっていけない」との声も上がっている。

　東京都羽村市の特別養護老人ホーム「羽村園」。５月ごろから揚げ物を減らし、いため物や焼き物を増やした。「小麦粉も油もガス代も値上げ。なるべくそれらを使わず調理時間を短くするしかない」と経営する社会福祉法人の幹部（４６）は話す。今は何とか食費を前年並みに抑えているが、気がかりは調味料値上げの動き。「食事が楽しみという入所者は多く、味付けは変えられない。保存期間が長い調味料は買い置きが必要かも」

　今年７月の土用の丑(うし)の日。都内のある特別養護老人ホームの食卓には、「ウナギちらし」が並んだ。

　昨年はかば焼きだった。だが今年は高騰でやりくりが難しく、サイズが小さいウナギを刻んでご飯の上に散らして出した。栄養士の女性は「何だか申し訳なかった」と声を落とす。月に数回は出していた果物も、最近は月１回ペースだ。

　厚生労働省によると、介護保険施設の利用者１人当たりの食費は１日１３８０円と定められている。収入が比較的多い利用者は全額自己負担のため上乗せすることができるが、それ以外の人は、自己負担の限度額と保険からの給付額が決まっており、食費の上乗せは事実上できない。同省老健局には「今の金額ではやっていけない」「施設側の持ち出しで値上げ分を補っている」との声が全国の施設から届いており、担当者は「このまま高騰が続くなら、額の引き上げ検討が必要かも」と話す。

　事情は病院も同じ。東京都立川市の立川病院では、中国製冷凍ギョーザ事件などを受け、野菜を安価な中国産から国内産などに切り替えていたところに高騰が襲った。肉も魚も仕入れ額は上がっており、鳥肉は昨年同時期の１・３５倍、タラはほぼ倍だ。「栄養バランスが重要な病院の食事は、献立を大きく変えられない。小麦も高いままだが、めん類は食欲のない人にも好まれるので簡単に減らせない」と谷島義治栄養科長（５８）は頭を抱える。

　栄養管理面などで一定要件を満たした病院に入る患者１人あたりの食事療養費は１食６４０円で、健康保険と患者の自己負担で賄っている。同省によると１日あたりの金額は１０年以上前からほぼ変わっていない。谷島科長は「あまりに物価を反映していない。このまま高騰が続けば経営問題になる。国は引き上げを検討してほしい」と話した。

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イージス事故海難審判、当直士官「漁船側にも問題」主張へ

　海上自衛隊イージス艦「あたご」と漁船「清徳丸」の衝突事故で、衝突前の当直士官だった後瀉(うしろがた)桂太郎・前航海長（３６）が、４日から横浜地方海難審判庁で始まる海難審判で、事故の主因はあたご側にあったことを大筋で認める一方、清徳丸などの漁船群にも問題があったと主張する意向であることがわかった。

　読売新聞社の取材に答えた。

　後瀉前航海長は、あたごの右前方に清徳丸がおり、回避義務はあたご側にあったとして、「悪いことをしたのは本艦」と認めた。

　だが、交代後、事故当時、当直士官を務めた長岩友久・前水雷長（３５）が再確認した漁船群の位置から、「（漁船群は）ぶつかってしまうような動きをしていた」という。そのうえで、「（漁船の）航跡は一部しか明らかになっていない。清徳丸のＧＰＳ（全地球測位システム）はぬれて解析できなかったようだが、もしそれがあれば私たちの主張も裏付けられた」として、「争うところはある」と話した。

　また、海難審判理事所の申立書で、後瀉前航海長が漁船の動静監視を怠ったうえ、レーダーも読み間違えて「衝突の危険なしと誤った引き継ぎをした」と指摘されたことについては、「抗議したい」としている。

　防衛省は、「前方に漁船の赤灯を見ていたあたご側に回避義務があった」と認めている。海難審判では、審判を受ける指定海難関係人の後瀉前航海長や長岩前水雷長ら４人と、あたご所属の第６３護衛隊（事故後再編）は、あたご側に事故の主因があったことは大筋で認める見通し。申立書では、事故原因は、あたご側の動静監視不十分にあるとし、清徳丸側も衝突を避けるための「最善の協力動作」をとらなかったとした。

　事故は２月１９日午前４時６分、千葉県房総半島沖で発生。清徳丸は、あたごとの衝突で左舷中央部が分断されて沈没し、乗員の吉清(きちせい)治夫さん（当時５８歳）と哲大(てつひろ)さん（当時２３歳）が行方不明になり、５月に死亡認定された。