India’s central bank staff to strike

India’s central bank staff to strike

By James Lamont in New Delhi

Published: October 17 2008 15:54 | Last updated: October 17 2008 18:22

The timing is unusual to say the least. Buffeted by the worst global financial crisis in generations and with local banks thirsting for cash, the staff at India’s central bank are going on strike.

On Tuesday, a day of mass action will bring the Reserve Bank of India and large parts of the country’s financial system to a halt. For the day, the quick-fire launch of emergency measures to inject liquidity, avoid bank runs and support stressed mutual funds will cease.

The strike, described as a “day of casual leave”, will affect most of the RBI’s 21,000 staff, bank officials said on Friday. Employees are up in arms about their pensions. The United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers and Employees wants staff pensions to be updated alongside five-yearly pay reviews.

Nonetheless, RBI pensions may be faring better than many across the world, as its pension fund is barred from investing in equity markets, which have recorded big losses in the past weeks.

The strike would be the first at the bank for 13 years.

Industrial action at central banks is rare even in calmer times.

The Bank of Greece was disrupted by strike action this year. In March 2007, about 800 workers at the central Bank of Israel went on strike following a wages dispute.

Duvvuri Subbarao, the newly appointed RBI governor, was on Friday meeting union officials to try to resolve the dispute. The RBI has given assurances that the strike will not create difficulties for the payments system. One bank official said commercial banks had received notice of the strike and would make provision for the lost day’s borrowings ahead of time.

Local bankers view the strike as a commonplace difficulty besetting the country’s public sector. “[The timing] is a little funny. But it’s not the operator going on strike, it’s the clerks striking,” said Aditya Narain, head of research at Citigroup’s India operations.

“It’s just the mass of people working there, who are really on government salaries, who are going on strike . . . it’s like Air India people or a government company’s staff going on strike.”

India’s regulators have had little time for pause this month. This week they launched measures to tackle the liquidity squeeze, including the second cut in the cash reserve ratio, one of the central bank’s main levers of monetary control, in less than a week.

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Hedge funds’ panic hits Tokyo ‘floaters’

By James Mackintosh in London and Lindsay Whipp in Tokyo

Published: October 17 2008 19:04 | Last updated: October 17 2008 19:04

Panic selling by hedge funds has hit the Y44,000bn ($432bn) Japanese floating-rate government bond market. Some issues are trading at levels usually seen in countries at risk of default.

The plunging value of so-called “floaters” could hurt Japanese banks, which are estimated to hold at least Y10,000bn to Y15,000bn of the bonds. They may have to take mark-to-market losses on them, on top of big losses on their equity holdings.

All such bonds are trading well below their par value, say analysts, in some cases as cheap as 88 per cent of par, as hedge funds and other highly-geared investors dump holdings to repay debt.

The banks were encouraged to buy floaters earlier this decade, analysts and hedge funds say, because this was said to lower the riskiness of their portfolios.

“There’s no subprime mortgages in Japan, but the government basically made subprime for their own banks,” said one large London hedge fund.

The market for floaters, which pay interest based on the market yield of 10-year fixed-rate bonds, minus a spread, had problems two years ago when banks began selling, but stabilised thanks to buying by hedge funds. It took another hit in March, when problems at several funds, including the collapse of London’s Peloton Partners and big losses at Endeavour, spilled over into fixed-income markets.

“After the Lehman shock [last month] the situation started getting more serious,” said Koji Shimamoto, chief fixed-income strategist at BNP Paribas in Tokyo. “Liquidity is miserable as there are almost no buyers.”

The Ministry of Finance in August halved planned annual issuance to Y1,200bn. It plans to raise substantially the amount it buys back to Y1,400bn.

But Mr Shimamoto points out the speed of the market deterioration is faster than the increase in the buy-back operation. Privately, some foreign investors say buy-backs would need to be about $100bn to make up for the flight of hedge fund capital.

The government is considering adopting temporary measures to help banks by easing mark-to-market accounting rules. This would take pressure off banks holding floaters and could stimulate demand in the market, Royal Bank of Scotland analysts said.

“If they have to mark-to-market the [floater] bonds, it will be bad for banks, but it isn’t going to take them down,” said Stefan Liiceanu, a senior fixed-income strategist at Barclays Capital. “It certainly won’t hurt them as much as the decline in the Nikkei, which virtually wiped out trillions of yen worth of unrealised gains on equities included in Tier 2 capital.”

The falling prices of the bonds means that the yields are rising, forcing the government to pay more to issue new floaters.

“If the market remains broken, it increases the cost of financing,” said Mr Shimamoto. “If the market normalises, they can finance at a lower interest rate.”

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Buffett throws his lot in with stocks

By Justin Baer in New York

Published: October 18 2008 04:26 | Last updated: October 18 2008 04:26

Warren Buffett has stepped up his campaign to instil confidence in the markets, proclaiming in a newspaper that he is shifting his personal wealth into US stocks.

“I’ll follow the lead of a restaurant that opened in an empty bank building and then advertised: ‘Put your mouth where your money was’,” the billionaire investor wrote in Friday’s New York Times. “Today my money and my mouth say equities.”

The column by Mr Buffett echoes pep talks that he has delivered in television interviews and his recent investments in Goldman Sachs and General Electric.

“Equities will almost certainly outperform cash over the next decade, probably by a substantial degree,” said Mr Buffett, who has committed his shares in Berkshire Hathaway, his holding company, to charity.

He said he was adding stocks to his personal investment account, which typically holds hundreds of millions of dollars and, until recently, contained only US government bonds. If prices remain cheap, he wrote, “my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 per cent in United States equities”.

He also chided those who had piled their investments into cash, a “terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value”.

Mr Buffett, the world’s richest man, has also emerged as an advocate for US capitalism. In recent US presidential debates, he won praise from Barack Obama and John McCain.

Alice Schroeder, author of The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, said: “He’s always seen himself as a teacher, and increasingly the world has come to embrace that view. He doesn’t do it with the intent of changing the course of markets.

“He’s trying to tell those who are open and receptive what they need to know to act upon it.”

She said Mr Buffett’s latest lesson is similar to one he wrote for Forbes magazine more than 30 years ago, when many investors had fled stocks.

“A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful,” Mr Buffett wrote. “And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has lost 36 per cent of its value in 2008, while the Dow Jones has dropped below 10,000 for the first time in four years, as the credit crisis shattered confidence on Wall Street and throughout corporate America.

“It doesn’t mean he’s going to win next week,” said Andrew Kilpatrick, author of Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett.

“But the odds are in his favour over time. This is classic Buffett.”

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Meltdown fear for debt-laden nations

By David Oakley, Capital Markets Correspondent

Published: October 18 2008 03:00 | Last updated: October 18 2008 03:00

As the credit crisis deepened this week, a clearer picture emerged of which countries are most at risk from the financial turmoil that saw markets around the world swing violently.

Following the virtual seizing up of the Icelandic economy, countries such as Hungary, Argentina and Pakistan look vulnerable as they struggle to pay their bills.

These countries took on large amounts of debt in the good times, when credit was cheap, and are now running out of money to pay them off because banks and investors refuse to lend to them.

Nigel Rendell, senior emerging markets strategist at RBC Capital Markets, said: "Iceland has in effect defaulted as its banking system has collapsed and business can't transfer money. Banks and investors fear other countries could default too, so they won't lend to them. These countries are from the developing or emerging world. They are often small economies, which don't have the resources to pay back loans.

"The G7 nations may be suffering, but the US or the UK will always be able to raise money in the debt markets."

Iceland is a typical example of a small economy that took on large amounts of loans before the credit crisis to fuel domestic expansion, making it the most indebted country in the world as it ran up debts of more than 10 times its gross domestic product.

The eastern European countries Hungary and Ukraine, along with the Baltic economies of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, are now in real danger of following Iceland into financial meltdown.

Ukraine and Hungary were forced this week to turn to the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank to help them deal with their difficulties in repaying foreign credits as the global crisis took a turn for the worse.

These countries have, like Iceland, borrowed heavily to fuel property and consumer spending booms and are now at the mercy of volatile equity markets that saw swings this week not seen for 20 years.

In Latin America, Argentina and Venezuela are facing growing difficulties as their debts mount and commodities prices, which both nations have relied on to pay bills in the past, fall. Argentina must service debts of $8bn (€5.95bn, £4.62bn) over the next year, which may prove to be extremely difficult if the debt markets remain closed.

In Asia, the crisis has enveloped Pakistan, which is haemorrhaging foreign exchange reserves to prop up its currency, amid a background of political instability that has undermined its economy.

Indonesia and South Korea are also exposed because of their reliance on foreign debt, while in South Africa a current account deficit of 8 per cent looks increasingly unsustainable.

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It’s Super Gordon!

Published: October 17 2008 20:45 | Last updated: October 17 2008 20:45

Has Gordon Brown saved the world? The prime minister who only weeks ago was perilously close to being repudiated by his own party, who was derided by his Conservative opponents as a bottler and a bungler, is now enjoying international adulation. The European press, which he had ignored for more than a decade, is suggesting with its tongue not wholly in its cheek that he is a new superhero: not just Gordon but Flash Gordon. Has the tide turned for Mr Brown?

Unquestionably, the prime minister judged correctly the gravity of the freeze in the credit markets and acted decisively to end it with a plan going beyond the provision of liquidity and debt guarantees to the recapitalisation of the banks. This was a bold and courageous step that has now been imitated in Europe and in the US. No one can gainsay Mr Brown this triumph, assuming, of course, that the plan works.

The prime minister, after a wretched year in which he has come across as ever more robotic and tightly wound, now appears in his element: fluent, relaxed, in control. He looks like he is enjoying himself. The man who struggled in vain to communicate any vision for the country, despite struggling so single-mindedly to reach the pinnacle of power, has found a purpose.

Not the least of the ironies in this situation is that Mr Brown, who had hitherto shown little more than smug condescension towards the European Union, has emerged this week as the admiral of the EU convoy, without Britain even being part of the eurozone. His predecessor Tony Blair, by contrast, though instinctively pro-European and given to episodic Europhile rhetoric, never managed to put Britain in a real leadership position in the EU.

Whether this moment in the sun will enable Mr Brown to regain the initiative and close the still appreciable gap in the polls with the Tories is altogether another question.

He may rightly say he has been arguing for a new financial architecture, a Bretton Woods for the age of globalisation, for more than a decade. His opponents will point to other things: his exaggerated claims to have ended cycles of boom and bust; his unstinting admiration for Alan Greenspan and his indulgent attitudes towards derivatives and asset bubbles; his triumphalist claims for light-touch regulation.

With winter coming and a recession in prospect, British voters may soon forget his part in staving off a crisis few people in any case understood. Job losses, high fuel bills, and difficult public spending choices, by contrast, are readily understandable. They may expect a prime minister who has significantly enhanced the powers of the state, and whose currently energised persona emphasises the indispensability of the state, to provide results well beyond the government’s capabilities. Saving the world may turn out to be a lot easier than saving his premiership.

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Long View: Hedge funds poised for harsh phase of evolution

By John Authers, Investment Editor

Published: October 17 2008 19:16 | Last updated: October 17 2008 19:16

Hedge funds are the Galapagos islands of the financial services industry. So at least says Andrew Lo, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist who has pioneered the application of evolutionary biology to markets.

According to Mr Lo and many of his acolytes, markets are not efficient, as had been assumed by academics for the past generation, but rather they are adaptive, with participants following Darwinian rules. After periods of relative stability they will undergo periods of intense change as participants evolve to take account of new realities.

Hence hedge funds are markets’ Galapagos, the islands whose unique eco-system allowed Darwin to work out his theory of evolution, because evolution there happens so fast. Lightly regulated, hedge funds offer the closest we have an experimental laboratory for testing which ideas for making money will prove to be the fittest.

For much of this decade, hedge funds had appeared to evolve far more nimbly than their lumbering cousins in the regulated financial industry. At the beginning of this decade, as the conventional “long-only” equity funds that dominate the retirement saving industry were suffering severe losses in the wake of the bursting of the internet bubble, hedge funds avoided losses.

That spurred huge new investments by wealthy individuals. If, during the 1990s, the “marginal investor” in equities was a mutual fund manager, in this decade that title moved to hedge fund managers. They dominate trading volumes and, in the short term, move markets.

What let them survive and flourish? Apart from being small, nimble and, in some cases, smart, they had three key advantages.

Unlike most conventional funds, they can sell stocks or commodities short, to profit from declines in price. They can borrow; a trade that makes not even 1 per cent is worth doing if you borrow enough money to make the same trade 10 times. And they can limit withdrawals by investors, allowing them more flexibility than funds that must be prepared for redemptions every day.

For the first year of the credit crisis that began last July, they remained at least one evolutionary step ahead of the herd. Judged as a sector (which covers a multitude of species), they continued to make money as equity funds lost badly.

Meanwhile, equity returns were themselves baffling. In early September, a day after the giant US mortgage agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, had been nationalised, the credit crisis was more than a year old and the MSCI World equity index was down only about 22.9 per cent from its peak – far less damaged than the credit markets.

But something happened to disrupt the delicate ecology of the Galapagos. Hedge fund indices differ widely but they agree that hedge funds started to lose money in July – and lost it in a big way last month.

Why? This must be guesswork, but a popular hedge fund strategy involved selling short the stocks of banks while betting on energy prices to increase. The argument was that lower rates to combat the credit crisis would feed through into inflation and cause funds to flow into oil.

In the year to mid-July, this trade netted 345 per cent. But then the oil bubble burst. Since then, the “long oil short banks” trade has lost 57 per cent.

The end of September gave hedge fund investors one of their periodic opportunities to remove money. It appears many took it. According to Hedge Fund Research, $31bn was yanked from the sector in the third quarter, while investment losses reduced their assets by $210bn. TrimTabs estimates that withdrawals were even higher, at $43bn in September alone. Meanwhile, the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in mid-September prompted a sudden increase in the price of leverage as investment banks on whom hedge funds rely for their short-term funding applied much tighter restrictions.

Then came the ban on shorting financial stocks. All hedge funds’ critical evolutionary advantages had been removed. Once hedge funds cracked, equity markets also cracked, with the MSCI World index falling more than 30 per cent since early September. The “crash” of last week was followed by the most volatile week in history, with huge and utterly illogical swings as funds struggled to reconcile their positions, particularly in the energy sector. On Thursday afternoon alone, while oil prices fell, the S&P energy index rose 14 per cent, raising its market value by about $140bn. Hedge funds were the marginal investor.

Leverage, it appears, was vital to the eco-system of the Galapagos. As the chart shows, hedge funds’ great outperformance dates from a period when leverage (proxied by the three-month Libor interbank lending rate) was historically cheap. While markets stayed stable, that leverage made hedge funds look much nimbler than the rest.

The removal of leverage may not administer the same shock to hedge funds as the asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs but they now face a new phase of evolution – in a far more hostile environment.

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Kazakh copper producer’s talks fail

By Carola Hoyos in London

Published: October 17 2008 09:06 | Last updated: October 17 2008 18:16

The mining sector rout has claimed another victim, with Kazakhmys, the UK-listed Kazakh copper producer, on Friday ending talks with Metalloinvest, the Russian iron ore and steel group.

The mining sector has been hit hard by the collapse of base metal prices in the past six months, scotching dealmaking.

Lonmin, the platinum producer, and Xstrata, the Anglo-Swiss mining group, recently called off talks about a possible £5bn deal and earlier this week Vedanta refused to comment on reports that it was shelving its planned $2.6bn (£1.5bn) acquisition of Asarco, the bankrupt US copper miner, because of the change in market conditions.

The collapse in commodity prices raises further questions about the likelihood of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto being able to pull off their deal.

Kazakhmys and Metallo-invest could have created a $40bn metals group. That estimate was made when the two first began to hold early-stage talks in mid-July.

However, since then Kazakmys’s shares have fallen dramatically and valuations have become so difficult that a deal became impossible, industry insiders said.

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Carlyle sues Novolipetsk over merger

By Julie MacIntosh in New York

Published: October 18 2008 00:34 | Last updated: October 18 2008 00:34

Carlyle Group sued Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk this week for trying to back out of a $3.53bn merger agreement – landing another potentially failed buy-out deal in court, but this time with the parties’ more common roles reversed.

Private equity firms have tried to back out of a range of takeover deals since the credit crunch began last year and have met with mixed success.

Apollo Management most recently had its feet held to the fire by a Delaware court after it tried to scuttle a deal to buy Huntsman, a chemicals company, by arguing that Huntsman’s financial condition had deteriorated. Nearly all of the broken buy-out deals litigated over the past year have involved private equity firms as buyers. But in Carlyle’s case, it has agreed to sell steel-tubing maker John Maneely to Novolipetsk, which would generate returns for Carlyle at a time when the buy-out industry is struggling to execute transactions.

Carlyle said in its suit that, while it fulfilled the conditions of its merger agreement, Novolipetsk breached its obligations to close the deal. The Russian company said after it failed to complete the deal by the agreed date of September 29 that it would close the deal by October 15, but then lobbied to pay a lower purchase price, Carlyle claimed.

Novolipetsk told Carlyle, through meetings and phone calls between October 2 and October 15, that “changed financial market conditions warranted a reduction in the purchase price or a significant restructuring of the merger transaction”, Carlyle said in its lawsuit.

The Washington, DC-based private equity firm still hoped to complete the deal and believed its merger agreement remained in effect, one person close to the situation said.

Novolipetsk could not be reached for comment.

In many cases that have landed in court, including the buy-outs of BCE and Clear Channel, deals’ prices or the terms by which they were financed have been renegotiated.

Apollo agreed to put up more equity in order to buy Huntsman.

Carlyle said that while Novolipetsk’s lenders entered into a binding agreement to finance the deal, the company refused to draw upon that financing to consummate the deal.

Novolipetsk is controlled by Vladimir Lisin, who owns about 85 per cent of its shares, according to the lawsuit. Carlyle claimed that Mr Lisin “caused the board to prevent” the company from closing the acquisition.

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Russia promises state aid for crisis-hit companies

1 hour 5 mins ago
AFP

The government will also expand a credit programme for small businesses from 341 million to 1.1 billion dollars (253 to 817 million euros), Russian news agencies reported, citing an official from the Kremlin's press office.

Property developers will receive credit through state banks to build more houses, while energy companies will get state help in paying back external loans and their existing credit will be refinanced, the reports said.

Under the measures, which were agreed at a government meeting on Thursday, state banks will also give additional credit for agricultural projects and the defence industry will get extra state credit guarantees.

The reports did not give any figures on the extent of financing.

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Castro Oil: Cuba Sits On Fortune

Yesterday, 02:35 pm
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Cuba could be sitting on as much as 20 million barrels of recoverable oil in offshore fields, according to officials. Skip related content

The figure is more than twice the maximum estimate of the US Geological Survey.

Such a large find could make Cuba an oil exporter and bring prosperity to the communist-run island that currently imports half its energy.

Officials said they hoped to drill the first production wells next year.

The estimate unveiled by Cubapetroleo, or Cupet, is sharply higher than the maximum of 9 billion barrels the US Geological Survey has said may lie beneath Cuban waters.

Cupet exploration manager Rafael Tenreyro Perez said Cuba's estimate was higher because the it had better information about offshore geology.

"We have more data. I'm almost certain that if they (US Geological Survey) ask for all the data we have, (their estimate) is going to grow considerably."

The US agency has also said the Caribbean island could have as much as 21 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Mr Tenreyro was unable to confirm or deny the estimate, saying offshore gas reserves were too difficult to figure out.

Cuba's oil estimates are based mostly on comparisons to how much oil is being produced from similar geological structures off the coasts of Mexico and the US.

Mr Tenreyro said its surrounding undersea geology "very similar" to that in Mexico's giant Cantarell oil field in the Bay of Campeche.

He expected the first production well to be drilled in mid-2009 and that several more wells could be started before the end of next year.

Cuba currently produces about 60,000 barrels of oil and 20,000 barrels equivalent of natural gas daily from onshore wells scattered mostly along its northern coast.

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新興国など外貨準備が一転減少　金融危機でマネー流出

　新興国などの外貨準備高が今年前半までの増加基調から一転して減少している。世界の残高上位10カ国・地域のうち、ロシアが今年8月のピークに比べて 11％減ったほか、韓国やブラジル、日本など8カ国・地域が減少に転じた。米国発の金融危機で新興国から投資マネーが流出、自国通貨防衛のため自国通貨買い・ドル売りの為替介入をしたことが主因だ。これらの国の外貨準備はなお潤沢だが、アイスランドが介入資金の不足で、為替介入を断念するなど自国通貨の下落への対応に苦慮する国も出始めた。

　国際通貨基金（ＩＭＦ）や各国の中央銀行によると、外貨準備上位10カ国・地域のなかで、減少率が最大だったのはロシア。10月10日時点の残高は5300億ドル（約53兆円）とピークの8月8日から、約670億ドル減った。(07:00)

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インドに円借款4500億円　単一事業で最大、貨物鉄道を建設

　政府はインドの首都ニューデリーと商業都市ムンバイを結ぶ貨物専用鉄道の建設計画に、約4500億円の円借款を供与する方針を固めた。日本がこれまで供与してきた円借款で、単一事業への支援としては過去最大。22日に開く麻生太郎首相とインドのシン首相との首脳会談で合意する見通しだ。鉄道インフラを整備することで、人口11億人を抱える大市場への日本企業の進出を後押しする狙いがある。

　インドは2015年の開業を目指し、ニューデリー―ムンバイ間（1468キロメートル）の貨物専用鉄道の建設を計画中。円借款の対象とするのは、ニューデリー郊外のレワリからムンバイの北約300キロメートルのバドダラまでの約918キロメートル。(07:00)

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トヨタが最低賃金協定　他労使に影響も

　トヨタ自動車が今春に労働組合との間で企業内最低賃金協定を結んでいたことが18日、分かった。締結額は時給860円。従来、トヨタ労使は最低賃金について協定を明文化していなかったが、最低限の生活保障を求める動きが強まっているのに応じ、今年に入り締結に向けた協議を進めていた。

　今年5月に協定を結んだ。トヨタの現時点の平均賃金は締結額860円を大きく上回っているため、今回の締結は同労使間で最低限の賃金水準を改めて取り決める内容となる。

　860円は、トヨタが本社を置く愛知県の自動車産業の最低賃金（820円）を上回る水準。トヨタが協定を結べば、同県内の自動車関連業界の労使を中心に協定締結の動きが加速し、中小企業の締結額引き上げにもつながる可能性がある。

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サントリー、ビール事業が初の黒字へ　参入46年目

　サントリーのビール事業が2008年12月期に、1963年の事業参入以来46年目にして初めて黒字になる見通しだ。毎年数十億円の営業損失を出してきたが、今期は10億円前後の営業利益を確保する。ビールの値上げが相次ぐなか、同社は9月まで缶ビールの価格を据え置いた。これが奏功して初の黒字化につながった。

　ビール事業の売上高は2400億円と前期比7％伸びる見通し。他のビール大手が4月までに全商品を値上げしたのに対し、同社は缶商品の値上げを9月に先送りした。この結果、ビール系飲料の販売数量は1―9月で前年同期比12％増と急伸。粗利益額を大幅に押し上げた。(08:22)

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低品質鉄鉱石で製鉄、神鋼がベトナムに新型施設

　神戸製鋼所は品質が低い原料を利用し、生産コストを従来の4分の1程度に抑制できる製鉄プラントをベトナムに建設する。ベトナム資源大手と組み、鉄鋼製品になる前の鉄の塊を生産・販売する。鉄鋼の世界需要は長期的には拡大するとみられており、新プラントは新興国などでの潜在需要が大きいと判断した。低品位の原料を多く埋蔵するベトナムで導入実績をつくり、海外でのプラント拡販につなげる。

　2010年にも着工し、11年の稼働を目指す。投資額は2億ドル（約200億円）となる見込み。ベトナム国営石炭・資源公社（ビナコミン）などと連携し、神鋼はその一部を負担する。将来的に4―5基を建設する計画。高炉に比べ建設費が安く、原料も割安のため、生産コストは高炉の4分の1程度になると神鋼では見ている。(07:00)

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アサヒ、インドに進出　ビール大手で初

　アサヒビールはインド市場に進出する。中国産「スーパードライ」の輸出を始めたほか、月内に「余市」など国産ウイスキーも発売する。ビール大手は中国やロシアで現地生産や委託生産しているが、インドへの進出は初めて。高級ホテルでの販売などでブランドイメージを確立し、成長著しいインド市場を開拓する。

　ビールは中国の合弁会社で製造するスーパードライの小瓶（330ミリリットル）を輸出する。インドのワイン2位、スラワイン（ムンバイ市）が取り扱う。価格は1本100ルピー（約210円）と平均的な現地ビールの3―4倍とし、高級ホテルなどで販売する。(07:00)

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荒川区が条例案公表、悪質餌やり禁止に波紋

　東京都荒川区が制定を目指している「良好な生活環境の確保に関する条例」案が、地域に波紋を広げている。猫を含めた動物への悪質な餌やりを規制し、違反者に罰金を科す内容を公表したところ、反対、賛成の鋭い意見対立が起きたためだ。屋外の猫がもたらす生活被害は、首都圏の自治体を悩ませる都市問題の1 つ。区が条例案をまとめた背景を追った。

　「愛護動物の猫を規制するのはおかしい」。10月上旬、区役所会議室で開かれた住民説明会。前列に並ぶ区担当者を参加者が非難すると、賛同する住民らから拍手がわいた。一方で「被害現場を見てない人の意見には憤慨する」と、反論する声も。会場にはぴりぴりした空気が漂った。

　条例案では飼っていない動物への餌やりで生じる鳴き声やフン、においなどの生活被害を禁止する。猫やカラスなど動物全般が含まれ、被害が周辺住民の共通認識であることが条件。立ち入り調査の拒否や改善命令に違反すれば、10万円以下、または5万円以下の罰金が科される。

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中国で邦人男児がメラミン被害　日本人の被害判明は初

　【北京＝尾崎実】中国で有害物質メラミンに汚染された粉ミルクを飲んだ乳幼児が腎臓結石などになった事件で、中国山東省在住の日本人の男児（２）が、多数の被害を出した三鹿集団（河北省石家荘市）製の粉ミルクを飲み、腎臓結石にかかっていたことが18日、関係者の話で分かった。汚染粉ミルク問題で日本人の被害が判明したのは初めて。

　関係者によると、男児の症状は重くなく、入院などはしていない。同社製の粉ミルクをめぐる健康被害問題の報道を受けて、男児の両親が約1カ月前、中国の病院で診察を受けさせたところ、腎臓結石と診断され、北京の日本大使館に被害を届け出た。

　男児は生後間もなくから継続して同社製の粉ミルクを飲用。現在、医師の指導で水を飲んで結石を取り除く治療を継続しているという。(20:30)

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中国製「あん」からトルエン　三重、山梨で５人体調不良

　三重、山梨両県内で販売された中国製あんから、有害物質トルエンと酢酸エチルが検出され、三重で3人、山梨で2人が一時体調不良を訴えたことが17日分かった。いずれも「マルワ食品」（静岡県磐田市）が輸入したもので、名古屋市のスーパーで購入して食べた男性が目まいなどを訴えたものと同種。

　三重県四日市市によると、9月末から今月7日にかけ、同市のスーパーで販売されたあんを食べた同市内の80代の男性と60代と50代の夫婦の計3人が目まいや腹の不調などを訴えたが、現在はほぼ回復しているという。三重県保健環境研究所が食べ残しの「つぶあん」を検査したところ、最大で0.029PPM のトルエンと0.51PPMの酢酸エチルを検出。80代の男性宅に未開封で保存されていたマルワ食品輸入の「こしあん」からも0.016PPMのトルエンが検出された。〔共同〕

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北、在外公館職員に“禁足令”…外交官亡命ラッシュで

　北朝鮮の在外公館を異常事態が襲っている。北がヨーロッパなどすべての在外公館職員に禁足令を発布したのだ。金正日総書記重病と前後し、北の外交官による亡命申請が続出したために非常手段に出たとみられる。“亡命ラッシュ”といえる異常さで、沈む船からネズミが逃げるかのように北はもはや政権末期の様相を呈している。

　日本の対北当局は最近、「北朝鮮が全在外公館に禁足令を出した」との情報をつかんだ。全職員が公館から一歩も外に出られない事態となると、死亡を含め、下半身不随に陥っている金総書記の病状急変が真っ先に考えられるため、関係者に緊張が走った。

　ところが米韓情報当局でも病状急変の事実は確認されず、北国内の軍にも異常な動きはなく、とりあえずは胸をなで下ろした。だが、北国外では“異変”が確かに進行していた。在外公館の全職員に遠出を一切禁じる禁足令自体は事実、発令されていたのだ。

　出張など外交官の本来業務にかかわる動きまで禁じる極めて異常な措置なだけに日米韓当局は北の重大異変を含め、背景分析を進めているが、いまだ理由を測りかねている。

　これに対して、北の内情に詳しい関西大の李英和教授は「外交官の亡命申請が相次いだことが理由ではないか」と推測する。

　今年に入ってヨーロッパなど北の在外公館員がひそかに韓国など海外の当局者に接触し、亡命を申し出る事態が立て続きに起きた。金総書記の重病報道が世界を駆けめぐった９月以降は亡命熱に拍車が掛かり、出張に出たまま行方をくらます外交官まで現れた。

　だが、「情報漏洩を嫌って一般の在外職員は全く機密情報を持たされていない」（李教授）状況で、「総書記が死亡した」との重大機密に見せかけたガセネタをちらつかせ高額な報酬を求める職員も。亡命受け入れのリスクを負っても成果は期待できず、亡命希望者のあまりの多さに韓国はのべつ幕なく亡命を受け入れない方針を打ち出したほどだ。

　北国内でも総書記重病説の蔓延ぶりに北は個人宅の電話を回収したり、中国製携帯電話を使えば即逮捕する強硬策を取っている。これに連動した形で在外公館の禁足令も出されたとみられる。李教授は「金総書記重病報道に洪水のように接する外交官にとって不安が日増しに高まっている。沈む船からネズミが逃げ出す動きが国外の人間から真っ先に出たとみるべきだろう」と指摘している。

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当たり屋の男を逮捕…全国行脚で２００件か

　富山県警高岡署は１７日、同県内で当たり屋として交通事故を装い現金１０万円をだまし取ったとして詐欺容疑で逮捕した男（３６）が、ほかに全国で２００件の当たり屋行為を繰り返し、総額２００万円をだまし取ったと自供していると発表した。逃げられるなどして、金を取れないケースもあったが、逃げられた場合には自ら１１０番していたという。

　同署によると、男は住所不定、無職＝詐欺罪で起訴＝で、昨年１１月下旬から３３都府県で、高齢者の運転する車を選び自転車で接触、時にはカッターナイフで自らを傷つけてけがを装い、運転者から現金をだまし取っていたという。

　男はこれまでに２３台の折り畳み自転車を購入、電車で持ち運び各地で犯行を繰り返していたという。

　調べでは、男は、９月１５日、富山県高岡市内の交差点で、男性（７２）の乗用車に自転車でぶつかり現金１０万円をだまし取った疑い。

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カリブ海諸島：イスラエル企業社員の人質無事解放

　イスラエル放送によると、金融危機で頓挫したカリブ海の英領タークスカイコス諸島のリゾート開発地で、中国人労働者が未払いの賃金などを求めてイスラエル企業の社員を人質にしていた事件は１８日、企業側が支払いに応じることで合意、社員は無事解放された。労働者は社員が島から出ないよう港をふさいでいたが、武装はしていなかったという。【エルサレム支局】

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国際振り込め詐欺：日本企業の被害急増　架空商談で送金

　人づてに貴社の評判を聞いたなどとして、面識のない外国人が突然、電子メールで架空の商談を持ち掛け、貿易手続きなどの前渡し金を海外口座に送金させだまし取る－－。「国際的振り込め詐欺」の被害に遭う日本企業が増えている。日本人が仲介して信用させる手口も出ており、巧妙・多様化する事件に、外務省は注意を呼び掛けている。【大谷麻由美】

　日本貿易振興機構（ＪＥＴＲＯ）によると、こうした被害の相談は０２年に約２０件だったが、０７年は１７７件、今年は９月末までで２６４件と激増している。振り込み要求額は２００万～３００万円が主流。被害に遭っているのは多くが中小企業で、景気が悪くなると被害件数が増える傾向にあり、経営難から甘い誘いに乗ってしまう構図がうかがえる。

　オランダの調査団体の資料によると、世界での被害総額は０７年で４３億ドル（約４３００億円）に上る。日本の被害額は、米国、英国に次いで第３位。

　この種の詐欺は８０年代にナイジェリアで始まり、アフリカを中心に世界に拡大した。ナイジェリアの刑法条項に基づき「４１９詐欺事件」と呼ばれる。

　０７年３月ごろには、東京都内の貿易会社がアフリカのガーナの企業から帽子を注文する大量のメールを受け取った。契約寸前に「入札参加費」を要求されたため不審に思い、駐日ガーナ大使館に問い合わせて詐欺と分かり、被害を免れた。

　手口としては、外国の政府高官を装って入札などへの参加を勧誘し、入札手数料を振り込ませる「政府調達型」▽「革命資金を預かってほしい」などと秘密資金の海外送金話を持ち掛け、手数料の振り込みを求める「マネーロンダリング型」－－などもある。

　最近は、現地に呼び出して拉致・監禁に及ぶケースもあり、９月には、日本の仲介者に南アフリカの企業を紹介された東京都内の貿易会社の男性社員が中古レールの買い付けのためヨハネスブルクの空港に到着した直後に誘拐された。犯人グループは身代金５０万ドル（約５０００万円）を要求、振込先の銀行口座を指定した。男性は無事救出された。

　【ことば】４１９詐欺

　先進国の企業・人を主なターゲットに、前渡し金や商品をだまし取る国際的詐欺の一種。アフリカ西部のナイジェリアで８０年代に始まり、８０年代後半には日本でも被害が確認された。当初は手紙やファクスが主な手段だったが、近年は電子メールが中心となっている。「４１９」は詐欺行為を罰するナイジェリア刑法第４１９条に由来する。

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自殺：農水省課長が死亡　事故米改革チームの一員

　農林水産省に入った連絡によると、１７日午後、同省の植物防疫課長（４８）が東京都新宿区の自宅で首をつって死亡しているのが見つかった。遺書が見つかり、警視庁は自殺とみている。

　事故米問題の直接の担当者ではないが、省内につくった改革チームのメンバーの一人だった。同省幹部は「自殺との関係は不明」と話した。

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事故米食用転売：汚染米混入のスープを販売－－専門チェーン

　殺虫剤メタミドホスに汚染された事故米の転売問題で農林水産省は１７日、「浅井」（名古屋市）の出荷した事故米が、スープ専門チェーン「スープストックトーキョー」を展開する「スマイルズ」（東京都目黒区）と業務委託先「キスコフーズ」（豊島区）に流通していたと発表した。キスコ社が「東京参鶏湯（サンゲタン）」を製造する際に事故米が混入。０７年５月～同７月、東京、千葉、愛知など１都５県の４１店舗で約３万１２００杯分販売された。被害の報告はないという。【奥山智己】

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海自格闘死亡：同じ経験した元同僚が証言　「意識飛んだ」

　広島県江田島市にある海上自衛隊第１術科学校入校中の３等海曹（２５）が１５人相手の格闘訓練中に倒れ死亡した問題に絡み、事故の３カ月前に同様の訓練を経験してけがをした元同僚隊員（２５）が毎日新聞の取材に、「意識を失うような厳しい訓練だったことをもっと訴えるべきだった」と話した。教官が「手を抜くなよ、こいつのためにならんぞ」と声をかけたとも証言。一方で「去っていく私に真剣に付き合ってくれてうれしかった」と複雑な心境も吐露した。

　元同僚隊員は５月末、海自の特殊部隊「特別警備隊」の養成課程を辞退したが、その２日前、残りの養成課程学生１６人と格闘訓練した。今回死亡した３曹も含まれていた。

　「前日に教官から突然、『やってみるか』と言われ、どんな訓練かも分からず始まった」という。１６人が円形になって取り囲み、次々かかってきた。２、３人目以降記憶はあまりないが、３、４人目に前歯が欠け、唇を切り足首も痛めたらしい。「意識が飛んだ状態で立って組み手をしていた」という。

　元同僚隊員は少し空手の経験があったため、意識が飛んでいても防御ができたのだろうと推測する。だが「彼（死亡した３曹）にはあまり武道経験がなかった。ふらふらになった状態で打撃を受け、防御が甘くなったのだと思う」と気遣った。

　一方で「集団暴行・リンチ」などと報道されていることに違和感があるという。「部隊の特性上、課程を終えた同期生たちは日々、『死』を覚悟して生きていくことになる。一般の人には分かってもらえないかもしれないが、同期生らが去っていく私に真剣に付き合ってくれてうれしかった」と話した。訓練終了後、正座してみんなにあいさつした時泣きじゃくり、同期生たちも泣いていたという。

　格闘訓練の継続については「私自身やめたほうがいいと強くいうつもりはない。でも、また同じことを繰り返すという心配もある」と語った。

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外務省：独・ボンで契約のホテル、賃料年１３００万円　利用は２割「ムダ遣い」批判も

　政府は１７日、在ドイツ日本大使館（ベルリン）が０２年度から同国西部のボンで借り上げているホテルの一室の賃料が年間１３００万円（０７年度）に上るにもかかわらず、利用率は２０％台にとどまっていることを同日閣議決定した政府答弁書で明らかにした。近く借り上げはやめるというが、毎年１０００万円を超す賃料を払っていた。外務省は「他の国の状況は調べていない」と言う。【坂口裕彦】

　あまり使わない部屋に１カ月１００万円以上費やしている計算で、「税金の無駄遣い」との批判が出そうだ。

　鈴木宗男衆院議員（新党大地）の質問主意書に対する答弁。ホテルの部屋は、ドイツの首都がボンから、約４７０キロ離れたベルリンに移転した後も、ボンに残った省庁などとの連絡業務に使うとして、０２年７月に借りた。広さは約８８平方メートル。事務所として使えるほか、宿泊もできる。

　利用が最も多かったのは０３年度で、１５０日。以降、０６年度８８日（利用率２４％）、０７年度９９日（同２７％）と低迷していた。「業務を効果的・効率的に行う観点から見直しを行った結果」、借り上げを中止するという。

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

　■ことば
　◇質問主意書

　国会法７４条、７５条に基づき、国会議員が政府に対し説明を求める文書。衆参それぞれ所属する院の議長に提出し、議長が承認すれば政府に送られる。政府は、質問主意書を受け取った日から原則７日以内に答弁しなければならない。

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14:57 GMT, Wednesday, 15 October 2008 15:57 UK
More Iraqi Christians flee Mosul

At least 1,300 Christian families have fled the Iraqi city of Mosul after an upsurge of violence against them by Muslim extremists, the authorities say.

Thousands of people have sought refuge in outlying villages since last week after a dozen Christians were murdered, said local official Jawdat Ismail.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has vowed to protect the community.

About a third of Iraq's estimated 800,000 Christians are believed to have fled abroad since the invasion of 2003.

Mr Ismail, head of Mosul's bureau of displaced people, said food and other aid is being distributed to those who have recently left the city.

More than 8,300 people have fled the violence, blamed on Sunni militants, this month, according to the Associated Press news agency.

In a statement on Tuesday, the US condemned the violence against Iraq's Christians.

"The US embassy in Baghdad condemns the recent attacks against Iraqis in cities such as Baghdad and Nineveh, including those attacks targeting Christian communities in Mosul," it said.

Police have set up checkpoints at churches in Mosul's four largely Christian areas and are patrolling the streets on foot, a correspondent for the AFP news agency has reported.

A major operation by the security forces aimed at displacing insurgents has been under way for months in Mosul, which is considered by US and Iraqi commanders as the last urban stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

But the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says that, unlike similar campaigns in the Iraqi capital and Basra, the situation in Mosul seems to be getting worse.

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09:31 GMT, Friday, 17 October 2008 10:31 UK
Farmers bring foot-and-mouth case
By Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News

Foot-and-mouth sign (Image: PA)

The two laboratories at the centre of last year's foot-and-mouth outbreak and the government are to be sued for damages, the BBC has learned.

If the High Court case brought by 14 farmers is successful, the labs and the government could face further claims that could total more than £100m.

The outbreak occurred in Normandy in Surrey at the beginning of August 2007.

Both labs have consistently denied any failure in their duty of care, and the government has denied any negligence.

The losses being claimed are principally due to the export ban imposed on the UK, movement restrictions put in place during the outbreak and lost turnover due to the disruption of farming businesses. See what areas were affected by the 2007 foot-and-mouth outbreak

Two official investigations into the outbreak concluded that the most likely sources of the foot-and-mouth virus were two nearby laboratories at Pirbright which stocked samples of the same form of virus that had infected local animals.

"Merial strongly denies it is responsible for last summer's outbreak and will vigorously defend any claims"
Philip Connolly, spokesman for Merial Animal Health Limited

These were the Institute for Animal Health, which is a publicly-funded research organisation, and Merial Animal Health Limited, a privately run vaccine production company.

The investigators concluded the virus had escaped from the broken drainage system which served both laboratories; but they were unable to pinpoint which of the two facilities as responsible for the leak.

The inquiries also criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) which is responsible for running the Pirbright site.

It emerged that Defra knew the two laboratories considered the old effluent drains ought to be renewed. Defra was at the time responsible for inspecting the laboratories.

The 14 farmers are alleging that the Laboratories and Defra are jointly and severally responsible for the losses they incurred as a result of the outbreak which total about £1.5m.

'New start'

The laboratories are alleged to have breached their duty of care in handling the foot-and-mouth virus and Defra is alleged to have been negligent in its running of the site.

The solicitors Thring Townsend Lee & Pembertons are representing the farmers.

The firm's Peter Cusick told BBC News: "The case against the government relates to their role as a regulator of the site. They had a duty to perform that role properly and failed to do that in a number of respects.

"They knew, for example, live virus was getting into the effluent system. They also knew about the state of the drains and how both laboratories wanted those drains renewed."

One of the farmers suing the government is John Emerson of Hunts Hill Farm in Normandy.

All his 362 calves, pigs, cattle, and sheep had to be slaughtered as some of his animals were thought to have been in contact with infected animals. It turned out that none of them had been infected - but they were killed by government vets as a precaution.

He had to buy and rear new stock. "It's a fresh start," he explained. "We started this business 14 years ago and it's basically turned the clock right back and starting from fresh again."

Union support

Mr Emerson said that the compensation he received for the animals did not make up for his losses which he estimated to be in excess of £100,000.

"It's been quite devastating," he said. "It's been quite hard - it's a lot harder work than it has been previously. We're having to work longer hours."

The case is being backed by the National Farmers' Union which is angry that thousands of its members did not receive any compensation at all for the export ban and movement restrictions that were introduced to control the spread of the infection.

The NFU's President Peter Kendall estimates that these losses are in excess of £100m.

"There are other countries around the world who look at their agriculture in a much more supportive way. And particularly if the government have been involved in the damage that's been incurred, you'd expect a much more sympathetic and helpful response," he told BBC News.

Consistent position

According to Mr Kendall, if the test case is successful the government will have to consider compensating all those affected, or risk further legal action. But he said that money was not the only motivation for bringing the case.

"What's absolutely critical is that we make sure that anyone that can be responsible for damaging the industry, to the degree that foot-and-mouth damaged farming last year, must know that someone must challenge them if it happens again.

"I want compensation for those impacted farmers; but I also want the Institute for Animal Health, also Merial, and the Secretary of State (for Defra) who licenses Pirbright, to know that they are responsible and the courts will hold them responsible."

Both the Institute for Animal Health and Merial have consistently denied that they failed in their duty of care in handling the foot-and-mouth virus.

Merial spokesman Philip Connolly said: "Merial strongly denies it is responsible for last summer's outbreak and will vigorously defend any claims."

The Institute for Animal Health also issued a statement in response to the farmers' legal action.

"We confirm that proceedings have been issued against the Institute for Animal Health by various persons seeking damages arising from the outbreak of FMD in 2007," the institute stated.

"The claim, which appears to us to be speculative, will be defended. We will issue further statements when we have something additional to say."

Defra has also consistently denied that it was negligent in regulating and inspecting the Pirbright site.

"The government recognises the strain on the farming industry that resulted from the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak last year and we have made every effort to help the industry return to normal," the department said in a statement.

"Statutory compensation has been paid where animals were slaughtered. However, while we cannot comment on the detail of this specific case, Defra will deny liability in this action." Map of foot-and-mouth restriction and surveillance zones

-----------------------------
09:50 GMT, Friday, 17 October 2008 10:50 UK
Fraudsters' website shut in swoop

A website used by criminals to buy and sell credit card details and bank log-ins has been shut down after a police operation, the BBC has learned.

International forum Darkmarket ran for three years and led to fraud totalling millions of pounds.

Nearly 60 people connected with the site have been arrested in cities including London and Manchester as well as in Germany, Turkey and the US.

The FBI spent two years gathering evidence after infiltrating the site.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), which has been leading the UK investigation, said it was "a one-stop shop" for criminals.

The arrests were made after computer experts, including some former hackers, followed electronic trails left by site users.

A total of 11 people were arrested in the UK. As well as London and Manchester, raids took place in Leicester, Humberside and South Yorkshire.

Corporate cards

Darkmarket was strictly invitation-only and gave criminals access to a wide range of valuable personal information.

The data held on the magnetic strip of an ordinary credit card was available to buy for as little as one pound.

Most prized were corporate credit cards belonging to frequent business travellers.

"These aren't geeks. These are serious and organised criminals"
Sharon Lemon,
Serious Organised Crime Agency

Police stalking cyber fraudsters

Soca deputy director Sharon Lemon said these were highly sought after because they could be used by criminals all over the world to spend large sums without arousing suspicion.

"Darkmarket is a one-stop shop for the online criminal," she said.

"You can go to the forum and engage in criminal activity quite freely. You can buy any product you want, you can sell any product you want."

She stressed that online fraud of this kind was not a "victimless crime" and involved criminals of all levels of sophistication.

"They are taking someone else's money," she said.

"These aren't geeks we're talking about. These are serious and organised criminals.

"And they can vary. You can be the beginner who can go onto the site, get a tutorial and start your life of crime.

"Or you can get people who are fed up. [They think] Actually, Class A drugs are a bit hands-on, why do that when I can make hundreds of thousands online?"

She said there were 2,000 users registered on Darkmarket, but many of those were not unique because one individual could go by a number of online aliases.

'Invitation only'

Underground forums, such as this one, where hi-tech criminals buy and sell valuable data such as credit card numbers and bank logins can be hard places to find and infiltrate.

While many can be found just be searching on the internet, the publicly-accessible ones tend to be full of conmen looking for victims or people to carry out crimes on their behalf.

BBC News website technology reporter Mark Ward said: "The most serious underground markets operate on an invitation-only basis.

"Getting invited involves building up and maintaining a reputation as an honest criminal on other public places."

He said the information the police and FBI would gather as a result of the raid on Darkmarket would probably lead them to many more underground forums.

The FBI infiltrated Darkmarket in a similar way to a previous sting, known as Operation Firewall, that was carried out against a group known as the ShadowCrew.

It was able to access the group when an administrator who looked after the ShadowCrew's forums was arrested on an unrelated crime.

Following a series of raids, the FBI initially arrested 28 members of the group. Further investigation led to more arrests around the world, including some in the UK.

Mrs Lemon told the BBC that one individual had spent £250,000 on personal data in just six weeks.

"Had he realised the full potential of the information he had, he could have obtained up to £10m," she said.

-----------------------------
歯治療の「補てつ物」、輸入急増　厚労省が実態調査へ（1/2ページ）

2008年10月18日19時29分

　歯の治療で使われる「補てつ物」に、中国や東南アジアからの輸入品が増えている。補てつ物の使用には規制がなく、外国製の輸入状況も不明で、歯科医らの間では材料の安全性や品質に対する不安の声が広がっている。厚生労働省は６千人を超える全国の歯科医に近くアンケートし、使用実態を調べる。

　補てつ物は、金属やセラミックが原料の、歯にかぶせる冠や入れ歯。歯科医や歯科技工士が製作してきた。だが、全国保険医団体連合会によると、近年は外国製が目立って増えてきた。

　外国製は国内製の半値ほどで、歯科医が個人的に輸入したり、歯科技工所が中国などの技工所に製作を委託したりするようになったという。

　こうした実情を把握するため、厚労省は近くアンケートを始めることになった。日本歯科医師会の約６万５千人の会員から、約１割の歯科医を無作為に抽出し、アンケートを配布。年末までの回収を目指す。

　調査項目は（１）海外に補てつ物を委託した数（２）委託した内容（３）委託して不都合はあったか――など。専門家６人を加えて、アンケート結果を検討する。

　歯科医が補てつ物を輸入し使用することは治療の一環とされ、法的な規制はない。また、「世界的に問題が生じたという報告はない」（厚労省歯科保健課）という。

　それでも、多くの歯科医が「健康被害が出てからでは遅い」と、外国製の補てつ物調査を求めてきた。

　厚労省が調査に取り組むのは、現場の不安の声に押されたためだ。それでも補てつ物の中身の分析に踏み込まない調査のため、どこまで実態が解明できるか不透明だ。

　歯科医でもある同連合会の成田博之理事は「中国製だから問題というのではなく、今のままでは安全性を確保できないことが問題だ。製作者の資格、材料や施設の基準、輸入時の安全検査が必要だ」と話している。（山本奈朱香）

■国内外とも調査を

　厚労省の研究班メンバーの阿部智歯科医の話　中国には、２千人規模の補てつ物工場もあり、一大供給地になってきている。中国製だから不安、日本製だから安心ということではなく、国内、海外どちらの製品も分析調査をすべきだ。厚労省研究とは別に調査したいと考えている。

------------------------------
パキスタン、中国の援助で原発２基新設へ　米印に対抗

2008年10月18日20時57分

　【イスラマバード＝四倉幹木】パキスタン政府は１８日、中国の援助で原発２基を新設するなどとした、両国間で合意した経済協力の内容を明らかにした。米国とインドが今月初め、原子力協力協定を結んだことに対抗する動きだが、パキスタンはインド同様、核不拡散条約（ＮＰＴ）に加わっておらず、条約の枠外で核協力が進む懸念が、また広がった形だ。

　パキスタンのザルダリ大統領が１７日までの４日間、原子力分野での協力を求めて初訪中し、胡錦濤（フー・チンタオ）国家主席らと関係強化を確認した。

　クレシ外相は会見で、中国の援助で新たに２基の原発を建設し、６８０メガワットの発電能力を得ると説明。パキスタンはすでに、パンジャブ州北部に中国の支援で原発１基を稼働させ、もう１基を建設中で、新たな２基は既存施設に増設される見込みだ。

　ただ中国は０４年に、ＮＰＴ加盟国以外への核技術や資材の供給を規制する原子力供給国グループ（ＮＳＧ）に参加しており、パキスタンへの核協力はＮＳＧの承認が必要。だが、両国とも具体的な方策は示していない。

　また、パキスタン初となる通信衛星の打ち上げを中国に発注、エネルギーや鉱物資源分野での協力も強化する。ザルダリ大統領が今後、３カ月に１度は中国を訪問することでも一致したという。

----------------------------
Investors withdraw 33 bln dlrs from Russia in Aug-Sept

17.10.2008, 12.45

MOSCOW, October 17 (Itar-Tass) -- Investors withdrew 33 billion dollars from Russian markets in August-September 2008, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said in the State Duma during the debates on the second reading of the federal budget on Friday.

According to him, the withdrawal of these funds required relevant compensations that resulted in 861 billion roubles of state reserves placed on the deposits of the leading banks with a due insurance procedure of bank credits.

The minister acknowledged that the current risks in world and Russian economies are growing, and the markets will continue this falling tendency. “A volatile market is the weakness of our financial system,” Kudrin said.

He emphasized that Russian economy mainly depends from the exports of oil, raw materials and mineral resources, the demand on which is going down in the world. “As a result the capitalization of Russian enterprises will be getting lower as well,” the finance minister said.

----------------------------
Negotiations on Russian loan to Iceland begin in Moscow

14.10.2008, 18.21

MOSCOW, October 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Negotiations on a Russian loan to Iceland have begun in Moscow, a source close to the negotiations told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

The negotiations are between the Russian Central Bank, the Russian Finance Ministry and a delegation from Iceland.

It is the question of four million euros. If the loan is Okayed, Russia will grant its first-ever financial aid to a NATO member country. Western allies have denied aid to Iceland.

Russia is inclined to meet the loan request of Iceland, Vice-Premier and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said earlier. “Iceland is known for strict budgetary discipline and high rating. We feel positive about this request,” he said.

Iceland Central Bank Director David Oddsson told the Bloomberg news agency last Thursday that his country was very enthusiastic about the Russian decision to start the negotiations. He said Iceland had failed to gain support of its very good friends in the western hemisphere.

Iceland had to seek financial aid after the government had taken control over the three largest banks against the world financial crisis backdrop.

The World Bank (WB) welcomes the Russian possible allocation of a loan to Iceland. WB Vice-President for Europe and Central Asia Shigeo Katsu said that the possible allocation of a four-billion-euro loan to Iceland would help that country and improve the world economic situation.

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Syria, Russia sign contract to build gas pipeline

14.10.2008, 15.50

BEIRUT, October 14 (Itar-Tass) - Syria and Russia signed a contract to build a gas pipeline from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo to the Turkish coast.

The Syrian gas company and the Russian Stroytransgaz company signed a contract worth 71 million dollars, the SANA news agency reported on Tuesday.

A 62-kilometer gas pipeline will be laid down for 18 months.

--------------------------
Military reform to change army structure. What about its substance?
00:00 | 17/ 10/ 2008

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - The Russian army is changing. In addition to troop-size reduction, yet another reform is aimed at fundamentally changing personnel composition and structure, especially within the Ground Forces.

Until now, despite all recent reforms and cutbacks, the Russian Armed Forces largely remained a scaled-down version of the Soviet army, which was supposed to lead a full-scale war preceded by general mobilization. Under present circumstances, however, the probability of such a war is relatively low. In the case of a nuclear conflict, there will be no time for general mobilization, while a local conflict can be won without resorting to such measures. So what will the Russian military look like after reform?

The main change will be a move from the current vertical chain of command of the Armed Forces, a military district-army-division-regiment structure, to a military district-operative command-brigade regime, in order to increase efficiency by abolishing redundant elements. Mobile permanent readiness brigades, consisting of battalions, will be capable of operating tactical maneuver groups, either independently or together with other brigades under joint command.

In addition, each military district will establish rapid response brigades, which will most likely be formed out of airborne units.

Other important news is the plan to change the personnel composition of the Armed Forces, including reducing the commissioned officers' (CO) numbers from the current more than 400,000 (over 30% of the current 1,200,000 servicemen) to around 150,000 (15% of the future 1,000,000). The cutback will mostly affect logistics and staff COs and Generals, while the number of First and Second Lieutenants will increase from 50,000 to 60,000.

A reduction in CO numbers will be accompanied by a boost in the size of the sergeant corps. The sergeant corps will play a much larger role in the future Russian Army. Well-trained and experienced professional sergeants will ensure fast and effective training of privates, both contract soldiers and conscripts.

Although the new military reform is to be finished by 2012, some unofficial sources say the main reduction will take place within the next year. If this is true, a significant number of discharged officers will have to face the problem of civil readjustment. Official sources report, however, that the reduction will be done by attrition, by retiring COs who have exceeded their term of required service. This is difficult to believe, however.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

--------------------------
The Bank Panic of 2008 and the Death of NATO
17.10.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/106584-bank_panic_death_nato-0

NATO, an organization not only out dated but without official purpose has not only out lived its enemy, the Warsaw Pact, not only out lived its purpose in defending Western Europe from the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact but like a ravenous blob, has, instead of dieing a dignified death, gone on an eating spree swallowing up one nation after another in it's "pact of peace and defense" while launching three wars of aggression.

NATO was originally designed to keep Germany down, America in Europe and the Soviets out. With no Soviet Union, NATO's purpose, like that of all good bureaucracies, has mutated. It has reneged on its promises to Russia not to expand eastward and has expanded eastward into some rather questionable regimes, particularly in the Baltics. All the same, as it was declaring Russia a useful partner, though a minor one not worthy of ever inviting in, it sought out a new purpose.

The purpose was found on first the battle fields of Bosnia and than later in the air over Serbian cities, where civilians were massacred to the back pats of "job well done" from NATO. Of course, this was all done with major arm twisting by the Americans of a reluctant European NATO. It would seem that defending and militarily supporting Islamic jihadists was something that Dhimmi Washington was much more apt for than the Europeans. However, the USD won hands down and Europe went along, just like it went along to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan was and is the first real NATO fighting war. No longer is this primarily NATO bombers dropping bombs, often on civilians targets, from 3,500 meters, no this is a fighting war with a jihadist guerrilla force, trained by the very same NATO experts. Afghanistan as a whole has already shown NATO to be an empty shell. Many of the members have opted out of contributing anything to the conflict and quite a few that have sent soldiers have sent them with such strict rules of engagement (ROE)s that they are all but useless.

To the Anglo-American Neocons, this of course was a disaster. Their grip on power over Europe and thus the EU in general, was cracking. Add to this the economic knots tied by Russia to several key members, using the very real ropes of energy and business investments, and NATO was opting to be nothing more than a sewing circle.

The Anglo-American Neocons had to take bold action, something that would cause the member states of NATO to recoil back under the Neocon umbrella and unify against a common enemy. But whom? The Muslims showed little ability to project military power into Europe, they do much better with immigrants. The Chinese were out of the question a general rule, way to much elite money at risk for that kind of nonsense. Thus there was only one clear choice: Russia. But how to resurrect the Soviet Union, or at least it's shadow?

Enter stage right, a small time Georgian dictator and one not to bright but very egotistical. The perfect dupe: Saakashvili.

Apparently convincing Saakashvili that exterminating an autonomous province full of a minority that was at once not only protected by Russians but who were 90% Russian citizens, was not a difficult concept, even though he must have known that there was a very large chance that things would turn out just how they turned out. How much and what kind of aid was promised to the Georgian leadership will always be a mystery. What is known, from this writer's first hand knowledge, is that the Georgians have been expecting America to fight a war with Russia for them, since 2001, from the times of Shevardnadze.

Of course, the over stretched US and UK had no plans to ever start a war for Georgia but Georgia was central to their plans to start a war for them. Start a war it did, however not only did the Russians react but they reacted with lightening speed, destroying the Georgian war machine in 2 days and absolutely routing the Georgian forces into a full retreat. In small nations there is precious little space to retreat to.

The Anglo-American Neocons won the over all PR war, making their sociopathic puppet look the part of the victim. However, past rhetoric, the desired reaction did not happen. Germany, France and Italy did not move to the side of the Anglo-American military industrial complex. Instead they negotiated a settlement, the last thing the Neocons planned on or wanted. Furthermore, rifts appeared in various other NATO countries, even Estonia, where groups of MPs decided enough was enough and they were not going to suffer for the Georgian stupidity by loosing business with Russia. Even Brussels said "No" and all flatly said no MAPs (Membership Action Plans) for Ukraine and Georgia.

These were all severe blows to the Anglo-American Trotskyites, no less severe as not coming themselves to the defense of their puppet. This was equally a powerful message. The failure in Afghanistan only adding insult to injury.

Still, all this in itself, may not be enough to finally finish off NATO and end the 100 years of Ideological Warfare, for yes, dear reader, we have yet to leave that period. Russia is no longer the Soviet Union, no longer the Stalinist Marxists, but Economic Trotskyite Marxism (fascism) is alive and well, having infected the West flowing from the decayed corpse of Military Trotskyite Marxism (Nazism). NATO is the final guard against the return of the traditional world, where nations sought economic advantage for themselves not in the name of some mutant form of Internationalism. It is the final guard against nationalistic states that sought the betterment of their people first and foremost and not that of some hypothetical global village or for the internationalistic elite.

The Bank Panic of 2008 may be, however the final stone to knock down this aged and staggering Goliath. The Anglo-American Trotskyites who created this mess are in short, bankrupt. Their ability to project power grows weaker every day with a new DOW low. At the same time, nations such as Iceland, once one of their key military posts, are seeking aid not from their so called allies but from Russia itself. Bound together by economic or cultural or religious or historical ties, or all of the above, nations such as Iceland, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Czech, Slovakia and others will naturally pull away from the now bankrupt alliance. Historical ties that were supposed to have died along with history, as proclaimed by one of the fathers of Trotskyite Neoconism: Fukuyama, will now return the globe to an equilibrium long not seen and one that promises more stability than the Internationalist regimes of the past 100 years.

Stanislav Mishin

The article reprinted with the kind permission from Stanislav Mishin and can be found on his personal blog Mat Rodina

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Putin personally defeats the West
17.10.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/economics/106582-putin_west-0

American politicians believe that the ability of the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to establish a personal contact with partners guarantees success at the talks on the shipments of energy resources from Central Asia. Republican Senator in the US Congress, Richard Lugar, is one of those who share this opinion.

“Prime Minister Putin visits Central Asia several times a year, and his personal diplomacy is highly important for Russia’s success. NATO and EU leaders did not find time, energy and the political capital that the West needed to establish its relations with the region,” the senator said during his appearance at the National Defense University in Washington.

Lugar urged the US president to personally visit the countries of Central Asia in the nearest future. “The US president needs to visit Central Asia and to describe the highly important strategic arguments. I would welcome such a visit of President Bush during his latest months in the office. His successor must definitely make a visit to Central Asia an event of high priority in the beginning of his presidency,” the senator said.

Lugar is concerned about Russia’s energy monopoly. Russia signed several agreements to build Nord Stream and South Stream pipelines to strengthen its predominance in the energy industry, the politician believes. In addition, Russia signed a deal to deliver energy carriers to Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary. Russia also ensures the deliveries of the African natural gas to Europe.

The US senator said that Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan could be used as a source to struggle against the Russian energy monopoly. The two countries possess extensive energy resources, which, as the politician believes, may play the key role in Europe’s diversification efforts.

Lugar said that he had met the leaders of the two countries in the beginning of the year. The prime ministers of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan told Lugar that they wanted to expand the dialogue with the West. Nevertheless, both Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan signed large deals with Moscow to sell oil and gas to Russia for their subsequent transportation to European markets. The deals were signed as a reaction to the inability of the West to provide an alternative, Richard Lugar said.

“The readiness of the governments of Central Asian states to discuss trans-Caspian alternatives will not be turned into an investment without the coordinated cooperation on the top level,” the senator said. Europe will become even more dependent on Russia’s Gazprom as a result of the Nord Stream and South Stream deals, he believes.

The West has not been successful yet in its efforts to build the Nabucco gas pipeline due to the lack of unity among the Western countries, the senator said. He emphasized that NATO and the European Union do not have the joint energy policy, which jeopardizes USA’s political interests in Europe.

----------------------------
US turns back on GM, claims Soil Association

A report published by the Soil Association suggests that American consumers are turning against genetically modified food.

The Soil Association report implies that the GM industry has kept back the truth from US consumers about the food they have been eating for more than a decade, by lobbying the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state governments to guarantee that foods are not legally required to be labelled as genetically modified.

The Soil Association claims there is evidence that US plant breeders are rejecting GM technology in favour of more reliable and effective breeding methods, such as marker-assisted selection. US farmers and regulatory authorities have joined forces with US citizens, said the Soil Association.

A Non-GMO project is to be launched in 2009, according to the report. This verification scheme will provide consumers with a recognisable non-GMO label on products, will be managed by a group of the biggest companies in the US natural and organic industry.

The Soil Association reported that GM products from the US are also failing to make headway in European markets, aside from the UK. The body said: “Major European farming countries such as the previously pro-GM French and German governments are less than keen, and more than 175 regions and over 4,500 municipalities and local areas in Europe have declared themselves GMO-free.”