Government to nationalise Bradford & Bingley

Government to nationalise Bradford & Bingley
Reuters
By Steve Slater and Sumeet Desai Reuters - 17 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - The government will nationalise troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley and is discussing the sale of its savings book and branches, people in the banking industry familiar with the matter said.
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The Treasury is leading talks on the rescue of the bank and said on Sunday discussions were continuing and a decision will be announced before Monday's market opening.

The Treasury would have preferred a private sector rescue for Britain's ninth biggest mortgage provider but rivals appear unwilling to come in as a "white knight" amid a global credit crisis and weakening housing market.

The BBC said B&B will be nationalised and its mortgage book merged with Northern Rock, the lender taken under state ownership in February.

The government this month brokered the takeover of HBOS, Britain's biggest home lender, by rival Lloyds TSB.

B&B is the latest bank to be hit by a global financial crisis, which was sparked by losses on poor quality U.S. home loans and has claimed a number of high-profile victims in the United States and Europe.

The crisis and the weakening economy have heaped pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose party lags the opposition Conservatives in opinion polls and whose leadership has been questioned by some in his own party.

BRANCHES COULD BE SOLD

B&B's 24 billion pounds of savings and its 200 branches could be sold to a rival or rivals. Spain's Santander, which owns Abbey and is in the process of buying Alliance & Leicester, was in talks about possibly taking over deposits and branches, an industry source said.

But rivals are reluctant to take ownership of B&B's book of 41 billion pounds of residential loans -- representing 3.4 percent of UK mortgages -- as many of them are higher risk buy-to-let and self-certified loans and the British housing market is weakening, raising the prospect of rising bad debts.

The government could nationalise B&B using legislation put through to deal with the Northern Rock crisis.

A spokesman for B&B said: "We can confirm we are working with regulatory authorities to bring clarity to the bank's future." He said news would be announced before Monday's stock market opening and customers' savings were safe.

B&B shares tumbled to a record low on Friday and the cost of insuring its debt jumped, prompting regulators to step up efforts to find potential white knights for the bank.

Its shares closed on Friday at 20 pence, valuing it at under 300 million pounds.

Another option being considered is asking a group of banks to take part in a "lifeboat rescue" of B&B, where they would take all or the best of its mortgage book, the sources said.

The top five banks -- HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and HBOS -- and Santander already own about 30 percent of B&B between them after they stepped in to help save a rights issue that flopped in June.

Talks were also being held in Amsterdam and Brussels on the fate of another European bank, troubled Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis, and one report said it may sell itself or the ABN AMRO Dutch banking business it acquired last year.

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Bahrain's Unicorn eyes bank acquisitions
Reuters
Reuters - 25 minutes ago

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain-based Unicorn Investment Bank said on Sunday it was looking to spend up to $2 billion (1.09 billion pounds) to buy banks in the United Kingdom, Southeast Asia and the Gulf and plans to arrange $1.5 billion of Islamic bonds by year end.
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Fred Stonehouse, head of strategic mergers and acquisitions at the Islamic bank, said it planned to convert any banks it acquires to comply with Islamic banking rules that ban interest.

"In the UK we see potential businesses we could acquire and Islamicise as appropriate," he told Reuters.

"In Southeast Asia we have two opportunities we are looking at and in the (Gulf Arab region) we have four deals we are looking at ... We are in no rush to conclude these," he added.

"The total acquisition value of these would be in the range of $1.5 billion to $2 billion ... There are some mid-range institutions and one fairly sizeable one."

The bank also said it would buy family-owned foreign exchange firm Bahrain Financing Company, without giving details of the cost of the deal.

Stonehouse said Unicorn planned to expand Bahrain Finance Company both organically and through acquisitions over the next two years in Bahrain, Kuwait and the Gulf Arab region.

The deal would be concluded by the end of October, he said.

Unicorn is also looking to arrange $1.5 billion worth of sukuk in the Gulf Arab region by year end, Majid al-Sayed Bader al-Refai, the bank's managing director and chief executive said.

In January Unicorn bought 80 percent of U.S. electronics firm Victron Inc for $70 million in its second purchase in the United States in two months. In December, it bought 75 percent of Open-Silicon Inc, a microchip maker.

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Belgian officials eye Fortis solution
AFP
AFP - 2 hours 7 minutes ago

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Belgian banking officials sought to hammer out a plan on Sunday aimed at maintaining confidence in the Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis, a spokesman for Belgium's financial regulator said.
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Officials were hoping to reach a solution on Fortis, whose shares have been hammered by liquidity concerns, by Sunday "afternoon or evening," said the spokesman for the Belgian Banking, Finance and Insurance Commission (CBFA).

"There always are meetings and we are always examining initiatives that we will take with the BNB (Belgium's central bank)," the spokesman said.

Belgian officials were coordinating with authorities in the Netherlands overseeing Fortis, including the Dutch Central Bank, in order to find a common solution, he said.

Belgian ministers held a cabinet meeting late Saturday with central bank and CBFA officials to discuss the global financial crisis, and "especially Fortis," said a spokesman for Prime Minister Yves Leterme.

The spokesman refused to give more details, saying, "We will make a statement as soon as there is a solution, but not before that because it's unnecessary."

In Amsterdam, Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos met late Saturday with top central bank officials, the ANP news agency reported, but no details were given about the subject of the meeting.

Fortis said late Friday it had replaced its chief executive, Herman Verwilst, with Filip Dierckx, head of its banking division.

After two days of steep slides in its share price, the Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance group hastily arranged a news conference to assure clients that their deposits were safe and that it had ample funding.

But shares in the group only fell further, sliding nearly 21 percent Friday -- down 71 percent since the beginning of the year.

Fortis's market value stood late Friday at 13 billion euros -- one third of what it was at the end of 2007. Despite assurances, some banking analysts said the group was looking increasingly vulnerable to a takeover.

"A takeover by ING (of the Netherlands) or BNP Paribas (of France) is more and more possible," Dresdner Kleinwort analyst Jaap Meijer said, adding that BNP Paribas had already shown interest in Fortis in 1999.

Other potential buyers include Spain's Santander, Germany's Deutsche Bank or Britain's HSBC.

Fortis's Belgian rivals Dexia and KBC refused to comment on a report by the De Tijd newspaper that they could be involved in a rescue deal for the beleaguered bank.

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Bank of China says open to Wall Street buys
Reuters
Reuters - Sunday, September 28 08:56 am

TIANJIN, China (Reuters) - Bank of China, the country's largest foreign-exchange lender, is open to buying into U.S. banks in the wake of the global financial crisis, a senior executive said on Sunday.
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Banking industry observers in China are torn over whether the fall in the share prices of many U.S. financial firms presents more of a risk or a buying opportunity.

Zhu Min, vice-president of Bank of China , did not shy away when asked whether his bank was currently considering making investments in Wall Street.

"We are open. From a business point of view, we are looking for all the possible deals everywhere," Zhu told a meeting of the World Economic Forum being held in this northern port city.

While Zhu did not elaborate, his remarks contrast with more cautious comments by senior executives of other Chinese banks on their plans for expanding overseas.

Guo Shuqing, chairman of China Construction Bank Corp said on Saturday that CCB would be relatively careful in considering whether to make purchases abroad, especially in the United States.

Jiang Jianqing, chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , said on Friday that the country's biggest lender would be careful in exploring U.S. acquisitions during the current turmoil.

Others were more optimistic.

Antony Leung, chairman of greater China for U.S. private-equity house Blackstone Group , said on Sunday that the recent fall in asset prices could present good buying opportunities for Chinese investors, including China Investment Corp (CIC), the $200 billion (108.7 billion pound) sovereign wealth fund.

"Right now, whether we're talking about CIC or other investors, I think it's a chance you see only once a century," Leung told the forum.

"When the market is good, it's hard to even get the opportunity to buy a relatively big strategic stake in a good-quality company overseas. Now you have that chance."

The steep losses CIC has incurred since it invested $3 billion in Blackstone last year have been a source of uncertainty among Chinese bankers about venturing abroad.

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Long View: Testing times for true believers in a bull run

By John Authers, Investment editor

Published: September 26 2008 20:31 | Last updated: September 26 2008 20:31

Writing anything about this financial crisis is nerve-racking. People may be reading how financial journalists wrote about this crisis decades from now, and things we now accept as unquestioned orthodoxy may come to be ridiculed. I am acutely conscious of this as I covered Washington Mutual for the Financial Times in the late 1990s.

WaMu on Friday became the biggest bank failure in US history (a title it will hopefully keep for a while). Its decline, as has been amply documented, lay in its huge portfolio of mortgages and mortgage-backed bonds.

A decade ago, assumptions were different. The last WaMu story I wrote covered a day when its share price fell 5 per cent in June 1999. It fell because investors were worried that it was retreating from its policy of levering up by buying mortgage-backed securities.

Analysts told me that retreating from leverage would harm WaMu’s revenues in the short term, along with its earnings and its share price.

The implicit assumption was that leverage was good. Shareholders punished companies and executives when they paid down their debt and took less risk.

This should remind us of the breadth of the failure of the global markets system that we are now witnessing. Shareholders themselves egged on the lending binge in the US, and did so before the stratospheric growth in the credit derivatives market.

Bearing this in mind, let us make some assumptions about what the next few days may hold.

Let us assume that the politicians agree on some form of a bail-out for the financial system.

The reason for the assumption? If the failure of WaMu, the quintessential Main Street bank, does not make clear that the “Wall Street” crisis will have real implications on Main Street, then the credit market suggests that other banks will come under the same pressure. That could force lawmakers to do something.

Let us also assume that a bail-out, in whatever form it finally passes, would have the following effects; it would allow the money markets to unfreeze and it would stem the threat of panic over the banking system. It should thus avert the scenario of a return to the 1930s, in which regulators allowed a market dislocation to turn into the Great Depression by allowing banks to fail.

Compared to the present outlook, these outcomes would be good. But that is all a bail-out would achieve. Beyond that, the world after a bail-out will not look pretty for investors.

Long-term valuation measures do not give a strong “buy” signal. Over the past century, the best long-term market-timing signals have come from cyclically adjusted price/earnings ratios. These adjust for the short-term profit cycle by taking a share price’s multiple of the long-term average of a company’s profits.

There are various ways to calculate this, but the version used by Andrew Smithers, of Smithers & Co. in London, is typical. By his reckoning, the US stock market entered this week about 40 per cent above its long-term “fair value”. Over history, this measure has had to move well below its long-term average to send a clear buying signal.

Further, long-term market bottoms tend to happen when an economy is in recession. But the latest revised figures for US growth show that a recession had not started even by the end of the second quarter – cheap money from the Fed, a devalued dollar and tax rebates had delayed this hour of reckoning.

A US recession in the months to come, with credit so constricted, seems close to a certainty. This will limit corporate earnings, which are still supposed, according to brokers’ estimates, to grow quite well next year.

There is relative value to be found elsewhere. Both Europe and the emerging markets now look cheap, at least compared with the US.

The MSCI emerging markets index now trades at an earnings multiple more than 25 per cent cheaper than that of the MSCI World index of developed markets; and the FTSE-Eurofirst index trades at less than half the multiple of the S&P 500.

When this bear market comes to an end, there will be great value opportunities in Europe and in the emerging world. But the problem is that both have grown much cheaper relative to the US, even as concern over the US has intensified. A year ago, the emerging markets were actually at a premium to the developed world, while Europe was only at a 10 per cent discount to the US.

The markets believe that a US recession would be worse for the rest of the world than it would be for the US. Hopeful concepts of “decoupling” from the US have been jettisoned.

With funds flowing on that assumption, stocks outside the US could keep cheapening relative to the US, even with a bail-out.

There will be bargains for those alert enough to find them. There always are. But, whatever happens now in Washington, a broader creation of wealth lies further in the future. The assumption that resolving this scare will lead to a new bull market should be tested; just like the old assumption that leverage was good for WaMu.

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東証、純利益６割減　今期見通し下方修正

　東京証券取引所は2009年3月期の純利益見通しを、期初計画の100億円から60億―70億円に下方修正する方針を固めた。売買代金の低迷で、営業収益の柱となる取引参加料金収入が想定を下回っているためで、前期に比べ約60％減の大幅減益となる。

　東証は当初、今期の1日当たりの平均売買代金を2兆9000億円程度と見込んでいた。しかし、今年4―6月期の平均売買代金が約2兆5000億円にとどまったほか、個人投資家の取引縮小などにより、売買代金が下期に回復するのも難しい情勢となっている。(10:07)

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三井住友銀、カタールＬＮＧ船向け協調融資15億ドル

　【ロンドン＝吉田ありさ】三井住友銀行はカタールの大型液化天然ガス（ＬＮＧ）輸送船9隻の建造や用船資金として総額15億ドルの協調融資（シンジケートローン）を単独で取りまとめた。世界的な金融市場の混乱が始まった昨夏以降、船舶融資としては最大規模。欧米銀が与信を圧縮するなかで大型調達案件を成功させてカタールとの関係を強化し、今後の資源プロジェクト融資拡大を目指す。

　借り手はカタール政府系ガス輸送会社の100％子会社ナキラット社。融資団は三井住友銀のほかＢＮＰパリバ、大手スペイン銀ＢＢＶＡなど国内外の12の金融機関が参加する。三井住友銀は2年前にも同社のＬＮＧ船向け協調融資を取りまとめており、2案件で総額57億6500万ドルの協調融資となる。 (07:00)

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厚労省、医薬品卸の販売対象を統一

　厚生労働省は来年6月から、医薬品卸の販売先の規定を統一する。現在は都道府県ごとに販売できる業種が一部異なっている。改正薬事法の施行にあわせて販売先の業種を省令で定め、全国の基準を一本化する。

　新たに規定する販売先は、国や地方自治体、助産所、救急用自動車、歯科技工所、航空運送事業者、船舶所有者など14業種。これまでは薬局や病院などの主要販売先を除く販売先については都道府県の判断に任せていた。(07:00)

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日テレ、地上波ドラマを翌日ネット配信　11月に参入

　日本テレビ放送網は芸能プロダクションのアミューズと連携し、地上波テレビで流したドラマをインターネットで配信する。アミューズ所属のサザンオールスターズの楽曲をテーマにドラマを制作し、出演俳優もアミューズを中心とすることで、ネット配信の権利を処理しやすくした。日テレは番組コンテンツの多重活用でＣＭ収入の落ち込みを補うことを狙う。

　11月1―9日にサザンの楽曲をテーマにした約10分の短編ドラマ「ｔｈｅ　波乗りレストラン」33作品を地上波で放送する。このうち約10作品を放送翌日から携帯電話の日テレのサイトなどで11月中旬まで有料配信する。地上波ドラマのネット配信は、ＮＨＫも12月に連続ドラマなどを翌日にネット配信するサービスを開始する。(10:08)

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トヨタ、中国で減産　販売減速、新興国に波及

　トヨタ自動車は中国で減産に乗り出した。広東省の主力工場で中小型車の生産を1割程度減らす。米国に次ぐ自動車市場の中国では世界景気減速の影響で需要に急ブレーキがかかり、マツダも減産に入った。インドでも販売が減少に転じ、最大手のスズキの生産が落ち込んでいる。日米欧の不振を補ってきた新興国に需要減速が波及すれば、自動車各社の業績にマイナスとなり、部品や素材など幅広い産業に影響が及ぶのは必至だ。

　トヨタは今月、広州汽車集団（広東省）と折半出資する広州トヨタ（同）でラインの速度を落とし、小型車「ヤリス」などの生産調整に入った。少なくとも数カ月は続くもよう。広州はトヨタの中国主力拠点（能力年20万台）で、生産調整は初めてという。(07:00)

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新日石と出光興産、ベトナムで原油生産　国内需要減、海外に活路

　【ホーチミン＝西岡貴司】新日本石油はベトナム南西部の海域に位置する新たな油田で原油の生産を始めた。同社の権益分の生産量は約2割増えることになる。出光興産も同国で初の生産を始める。石油元売りの主力事業であるガソリンなどの国内は市場縮小が加速。一方で原油価格は足元では乱高下しているものの、高い水準にあることから、原油の開発・生産事業の強化を急ぐ。

　新日石はベトナム国営石油会社、ペトロベトナムと共同で新油田「フンドン油田」を開発した。すでに新日石がペトロベトナムなどと共同生産しているランドン油田の北側に位置する。現在の生産量は日量1万2000バレル。09年には日量1万5000バレルに増やし、新日石の権益分は日量約5000バレルとなる。(07:00)

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日航、ＮＹ貨物便を全廃　需要急減や燃料高で

　日本航空は来年1月に北米路線の貨物便を大幅に減らす。シカゴ経由を含めて週7便ある成田―ニューヨーク線を全廃するほか、成田―ロサンゼルス線を減便し週19便を週10便にする。米国景気の減速で輸送需要が急激に縮小している。また燃料価格は引き続き高い水準にあり、燃費がかさむ長距離路線では採算に合わないと判断した。

　来年1月から日航の北米貨物便はロサンゼルスとシカゴの2路線だけになる。同事業はバブル崩壊後に一時縮小したが、その後は一貫して拡大し、2007年末には8路線21便になった。今年に入って縮小の方針を打ち出し、アトランタやサンフランシスコ線を1月に廃止していた。(07:00)

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ツガミ、中国工場を増強　小型旋盤増産へ

　工作機械中堅のツガミは中国で主力の小型旋盤の月産能力を2倍の140台に引き上げる。小型旋盤の需要は落ち込んでいるものの、中長期的には新興国を中心に需要は拡大すると判断した。

　生産子会社の津上精密机床（浙江省）に延べ床面積7000平方メートルの新棟を増設しており、11月に完成する。順次、切削機械などの生産設備を導入する。ツガミの小型旋盤は主にハードディスク駆動装置（ＨＤＤ）モーターや半導体検査用プローブなど精密部品加工に使われる。(07:00)

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エンジャパン、今期単独税引き益26％減

　求人サイト大手のエン・ジャパンは26日、2008年12月期の単独税引き利益が前期比26％減の31億円になりそうだと発表した。従来予想は8％増の45億円としており、一転して減益となる。国内景気の減速で求人広告の需要が減る。

　売上高は3％減の221億円（従来予想は261億円）の見通し。主力の社会人向け転職情報サイトで、金融や不動産業界などから求人広告の受注が減少。単価も下落傾向にある。転職支援事業が堅調だが、落ち込みを補えない。

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京成ホテル、09年５月解散　京成電鉄が資産取得

　京成電鉄は26日、子会社の京成ホテル（東京・墨田）が所有するホテルを買収し、京成ホテルを解散すると発表した。ホテルの運営は別の子会社が担当する。借入金の金利負担が重荷になっていた京成ホテルの資産を京成電鉄に移すことで、財務体質を改善する狙いがある。

　京成ホテルが所有する犬吠埼京成ホテル（千葉県銚子市）とミラマーレ水戸京成ホテル（茨城県水戸市）の土地建物など計52億円の資産を京成電鉄が取得する。12月にホテルの運営部門は京成電鉄の完全子会社に事業譲渡し、京成ホテルは2009年5月に解散・清算する。ホテルの従業員は新しい運営会社に異動する。

　京成ホテルは約40億円の借入金の金利負担などで業績が悪化し、08年3月期まで経常損益は3期連続、最終損益は4期連続の赤字に陥っていた。

　京成電鉄は資産の取得に伴い、09年3月期連結業績予想を下方修正した。取得する京成ホテルの資産の時価が約21億円のため、差額約31億円を特別損失として計上。107億円を見込んでいた最終利益は11億円減の96億円に減少する。

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桂宮さまが入院、敗血症の疑い

　宮内庁は28日、三笠宮さまの次男、桂宮さま（60）が敗血症の疑いで同日午前に東大病院（東京・文京）に入院されたと発表した。桂宮さまは国体出席のため28日から大分県入りされる予定だったが、27日に発熱があり取りやめていた。

　桂宮さまは天皇陛下のいとこにあたる。(19:47)

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劇団四季が入場料初の値下げ　平均15％、Ｓ席1万円切る

　劇団四季は11月30日から人気ミュージカル「ライオンキング」「ウィキッド」など全公演の入場料を平均15％値下げする。入場料を下げるのは初めて。Ｓ席のチケット料金を1万円以下に抑え、値ごろ感を打ち出し、客離れを防ぐ。演劇最大手の値下げは他の興行にも影響しそうだ。

　来年2月公演分の「キャッツ」の一般Ｓ席（従来は1万1550円）を約15％安い9800円とするなど全席を1万円以下にする。対象は東京都内の「四季劇場」をはじめ、大阪、名古屋など9カ所の常設劇場と地方公演。

　一部の席種は子供料金も新設。同社は値下げによる減益分は2008年3月期の経常利益の約4割に相当する年間約10億円になると見込む。(18:26)

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政府、スーダンＰＫＯへ自衛官派遣　10月中下旬に

　政府はスーダン南部で展開している国連平和維持活動（ＰＫＯ）の国連スーダン派遣団（ＵＮＭＩＳ）司令部に10月中下旬に陸上自衛官2人を派遣する方針を決めた。国連平和維持活動協力法に基づき、実施計画などを10月3日にも閣議決定する。(07:01)

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三浦元社長弁護側、ロス移送容認を検討　徹底抗戦姿勢崩さず

　【サイパン（米自治領）27日共同】1981年の米ロサンゼルス銃撃事件で、サイパンで拘置中の元会社社長三浦和義容疑者（61）＝日本では無罪確定＝に対する殺人の共謀容疑の逮捕状にロス郡地裁が有効性を認めたことを受け、サイパンの弁護団は27日、三浦元社長の無罪を勝ち取るため徹底抗戦の姿勢を示す一方、移送は認める選択肢の検討も始めた。

　移送された場合、カリフォルニア州で刑事訴追の手続きが始まることになる。弁護側は移送に同意する場合、共謀容疑での訴追に対して徹底的に争い、元社長の釈放と無罪を目指す戦略に軸足を移すとみられる。(07:00)

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三浦元社長：白石さん事件も再捜査　殺人容疑で米ロス当局

　【ロサンゼルス吉富裕倫】８１年のロス銃撃事件で今年２月に米自治領サイパンで逮捕された元輸入雑貨販売会社社長、三浦和義容疑者（６１）について、米ロサンゼルスの捜査当局が、７９年に変死体で発見された白石千鶴子さん（当時３４歳）事件についても殺人容疑で再捜査していることが分かった。捜査関係者が「元社長をめぐる事件全体を再捜査する中で、白石さんの事件についても捜査している」と明らかにした。

　白石さんは７９年に渡米後、行方不明になった。この年ロサンゼルス郊外で女性の変死体が発見されたが、８４年、歯型鑑定から白石さんと確認された。三浦元社長は、当時白石さんと交際中だったとされ、死後に白石さんの口座から４２６万円を引き出していたことが判明している。三浦元社長は、白石さんと重なる時期に渡米していたが、事件への関与は否定し、日米いずれの捜査当局からも立件されなかった。

　日本の刑法では殺人罪の公訴時効（当時１５年）が成立しているが、カリフォルニア州に殺人罪の時効はない。ただ、捜査関係者は、新証拠の有無や訴追の可能性については明らかにしなかった。

　三浦元社長は、ロス銃撃事件の逮捕状無効の申し立てをロサンゼルス郡地裁に起こしていたが、２６日（現地時間）、同地裁は殺人容疑の逮捕状を無効、殺人の共謀罪での訴追を有効とする決定を出した。このため、元社長は、現在拘置されているサイパンからロサンゼルスへ移送される見通しが強まっている。

　【ことば】白石千鶴子さん変死事件　三浦和義元社長の元交際相手だった白石千鶴子さん（当時３４歳）が７９年３月、米国・ロサンゼルス入りした直後から行方不明になり、母親が捜索願を提出した８３年に捜査が始まった。ロス市警は８４年、歯型のＸ線写真から７９年５月にロス市中心部から北西約３５キロの荒れ地で発見された変死体を千鶴子さんと断定した。「ロス疑惑」の一つとして日米当局が捜査したが立件できなかった。

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猪木、解雇ロシア元力士ＩＧＦ入り“容認”

　３人まとめて面倒みてやる！アントニオ猪木が２６日、拠点とする米ニューヨークへの出発を前に都内で会見し、大麻問題で相撲協会を解雇された元露鵬、元白露山、元若ノ鵬のＩＧＦ入りを容認する考えを明かした。

　猪木は７１年、自身が日本プロレスを追放された経験から「（相撲協会は）ちゃんと教育していたのか。１回のミスでかわいそうだ。彼らの心情が分かる」とロシアの元３力士に同情的だった。

　旧ソ連時代にハシミコフ（８９年にＩＷＧＰ王座獲得）らを発掘し、ボクシング界には元ＷＢＣ世界フライ級王者・勇利アルバチャコフらを来日させる橋渡し役となった猪木。今回の大麻問題でもロシア大使館関係者から相談を受けた経緯を明かし、パイプがあるというプーチン前大統領の名を挙げて「お願いされたら受けてやる」と明言した。

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元若ノ鵬、八百長問題告発へ ２９日に会見、裁判でも証言

　大相撲の八百長疑惑記事をめぐり、日本相撲協会と名誉棄損の民事訴訟で係争中の「週刊現代」（講談社）は２８日、大麻所持容疑で逮捕され、日本相撲協会を解雇された元幕内若ノ鵬のガグロエフ・ソスラン元力士（２０）が、八百長問題について告発し、法廷で証言する意向であることを明らかにした。ガグロエフ元力士は２９日に東京都内で記者会見する。

　同誌の八百長疑惑記事に関する訴訟は現在、３つが係争中。１０月３日には力士が原告に加わった訴訟で、横綱朝青龍が東京地裁に出廷する予定。

　ガグロエフ元力士は解雇が厳しすぎるとして処分の無効を訴え、地位確認を求めて東京地裁に提訴している。

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High-speed railroad traffic between Helsinki, St Petersburg to start in 2010

26.09.2008, 21.09

HELSINKI, September 26 (Itar-Tass) -- High-speed railroad traffic between Helsinki and St. Petersburg will become available in 2010, Finnish Transport Minister Anu Vehvilainen said in comments on the Friday meeting with Russian counterpart Igor Levitin.

The Russian government decided several days ago to assign $1 billion for the high-speed railroad project, and another $1.5 billion would come from Russian Railroads, Levitin said. Four trains of seven cars capable of traveling at 220 kilometers per hour have been ordered to Alstrom Transport, he said. Thus, the traveling time will reduce from current five hours to 3.5 hours.

Russia and Finland will test the pilot project of simpler border and customs procedures onboard the new train, he said. A new technology allows to pass the formalities onboard a moving train, he noted.