Russia successfully test-launches new ballistic missile
28.11.2008, 19.57
MOSCOW, November 28 (Itar-Tass) -- The Dmitry Donskoy missile carrying submarine successfully test-launched a Bulava ballistic missile on Friday, Navy Assistant Commander Capt. 1st Class Igor Dygalo said.
“The missile was test-launched from a submerged position under the state testing program. The multiple warhead successfully hit targets at the Kura training range in Kamchatka,” he said.
Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky thanked members of the state testing commission and the crew of the Dmitry Donskoy.
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RF to have 3 missile armies, 12 missile divisions in 2009
28.11.2008, 14.00
MOSCOW, November 28 (Itar-Tass) -- The Russian Strategic Missile Troops will have three missile armies and 12 missile divisions on combat duty as of January 1, 2009, Commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Troops Colonel-General Nikolai Solovtsov told reporters on Friday.
“Logistic support units are the following: the 4th state central multi-service firing ground, the 4th Central Research Institute of the Defence Ministry, the 43rd scientific and experimental station, three arms depots and five maintenance works. The Military Academy, three military institutes and four educational centres will educate officers and junior specialists for the Russian Strategic Missile Troops,” he added.
“The Russian Strategic Missile Troops are planning to have two missile armies and nine missile divisions on combat duty as of January 1, 2016. The number of logistic support military units and military educational establishments will reduce,” the commander said. “The 4th central multi-service firing ground, the 4th Central Research Institute of the Defence Ministry, the 43rd scientific and experimental station, two arms depots, several higher educational establishments and three educational centres will remain,” Solovtsov said.
“Next year’s cadre-organizational measures are to preserve the combat potential of the Strategic Missile Troops, further upgrade personnel structures in military units and organisations and fulfil the Defence Ministry decisions, taken at its board meeting on October 14, 2008,” he said.
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Russia tries to smack Washington in the eye. Hit or miss?
28.11.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/106765-russia_washington-0
The military exercise of Russian and Venezuelan navies attracted a lot of media attention in the West. The majority of respectable Western newspapers wrote about the event with derision claiming that it could not pose a threat to the United States. Others drew a parallel with the Cold War and the Caribbean crisis of 1962. ‘The Russians return to the Western Hemisphere,’ ‘Moscow challenges the West’ – these were typical headlines about the joint naval exercise.
Expert Johanna Mendelson Forman said that the exercise posed no danger to the security of the United States whatsoever. Many German newspapers share the same opinion. Germany’s Handelsblatt, for example, published the statement from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who said that the exercise was not meant to provoke or intimidate anyone. He also said that Venezuela was not going to become a new cold war base in the Caribbean Sea.
British journalists believe that the exercise was held as a response to Washington-led policies in Georgia. They also reminded that Caracas used to hold such maneuvers with the USA before.
Britain’s The Times wrote that the first-ever visit of a Russian leader to Venezuela and the beginning of the joint exercise was not a mere coincidence. Le Temps of Switzerland wrote that it was the most contradictory aspect in Medvedev’s Latin American tour.
To put it in a nutshell, the Western media believe that Moscow and Caracas attempt to challenge the US influence. Many newspapers wrote that the Russian navy arrived in the Caribbean Sea with a political goal to demonstrate the Russian military power to the USA and warn the US administration against unreasoned actions as far as Georgia, Ukraine and the missile defense in Eastern Europe are concerned. They believe that the Russian bear is using Chavez to give Washington to understand that it could crawl into its backyard otherwise.
The majority of experts believe that Washington should be more concerned about Moscow’s nuclear and economic cooperation with the oil-rich region.
The Washington Post wrote that Venezuela was not dangerous for the USA. However, Chavez, the newspaper wrote, may become Obama’s biggest problem in the region with his crusade against the US influence and Russia ’s support in the background.
The Christian Science Monitor wrote that many Venezuelans oppose the increasing presence of Russia in the region, claiming that their nation could become even a bigger outlaw than it was before as a result of such cooperation with Moscow.
US publications believe that the United States can not continue the isolation of Chavez ignoring Russia. They believe that it must make Obama give his own response to the matter: to improve relations with Russia and retrieve the US influence in the Latin American region. An expert of Reuters wrote that Venezuela became a good opportunity for Russia to hit Washington in the eye.
Moscow was not paying much attention to Hugo Chavez in spite of the fact that Venezuela signed a number of billion-dollar deals to purchase Russian arms. However, Moscow changed its attitude to Venezuela after the recent military conflict in South Ossetia.
The Weekly Standard wrote that the naval exercise was simply a nonrecurring event held with a symbolic goal to tease the United States. It will take years, the newspaper wrote before Russia could hold such events on a regular basis. A military exercise like that is a very expensive undertaking, whereas Russia has too many home problems to deal with as far as its defense industry is concerned.
The Los Angeles Times openly laughed at Russia’s efforts in the Caribbean Sea. The newspaper wrote that the Russian Navy was posing a threat to its own servicemen. The publication referred to a statement from the Commander of the Russian Navy who said in 2004 that the Pyotr Veliki cruiser (Peter the Great), which took part in the joint naval exercise, was in a poor condition and could explode at any moment.
Stratfor’s George Friedman believes that the USA was looking at Russia through the prism of the 1900s when the Russian defense industry was ruined and the entire state was paralyzed as a result of the political and economic collapse. It is worthy of note that the Pyotr Veliki nuclear cruiser was launched only ten years ago and will thus operate normally for another decade.
Italy’s Corriere Della Sera wrote that the Russians need to work a lot to remove the gap between the national and the foreign navies. When Moscow sent its battleships to Venezuela, many foreign experts wondered if they were ever going to reach their destination.
Indeed, the West is perfectly aware of the deplorable state of the Russian navy – that is why it is difficult for Russia to impress the West at sea.
Sergei Balmasov
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Let the ruble fall
27.11.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/economics/106757-ruble-0
I am about to propose something that in the modern world of economics seems to be an insanity of the highest order. As nations spend the combined fortunes of multiple generations to keep their fiat, artificial currencies high against each other, especially in what is now clearly the early stage of a world wide Depression II, I say: let the ruble fall.
Many here will remember the pain and suffering of 1998 when the ruble fell and fell hard. But it was the results of that fall that finally saved Russia. Two things happened in 1998, first, the American economic "experts" who flooded Russia and helped force unsustainable "reforms", that is, who helped rape her of over $500 Billion in assets, were finally and fully discredited. They fled Russia shortly after.
The second thing that happened and the more important one: US and European and Japanese goods also fled as the falling dollar made the foreign goods to expensive for the already poor Russian. However, demand for these goods remained and as so often happens in economics, the demand was filled with local companies who hired local Russians who than earned money and spent money and thus a new economic boom was born, even without the great boost that oil later gave. When foreigners returned, they started producing in Russia for the local market.
However, Russia did catch some of the credit craze and a population with rising incomes, started importing more and more manufactured goods from the US, Europe and Asia.
Along comes the new Depression.
Several things have happened in the past several months, key amongst them is a severe depressionary drive on all commodities, just now starting to make its way into finished goods.
This has set Russian manufacturing off against cheaper Chinese and Indian firms, at a time when demand is falling quickly.
It is time to set things right. Russia is in a unique situation, a position shared with a bare few nations, where she is effectively resources self sufficient. There is no real resources that Russia absolutely needs to import to survive day to day. The only one she needs to grow quickly is the human resources, first in her diaspora and than in talented immigrants of other races and nations. As such, she alone can survive and prosper without a hard currency.
So, since this is not 1998 and the government of the RF has wisely, under Putin and Medvedev, removed almost all international debt, a devaluation of the Russian currency will be a positive thing.
The first thing that will happen is once again the imported goods of foreign nations will flee, but Russian companies will take their place, employing more Russians and upholding a self sufficient economy. The second thing that will happen is those companies, such as the oil/gas companies and other manufacturers, will be much more prompted to go to Russia to get their parts since their currency will buy more goods. This will again employ more Russians and continue to support the internal economy.
True, many Russians will to be traveling to Europe to vacation, but many Europeans (at least those with any disposable monies left) will be traveling to Russia to spend a lot more tourist euros. Who knows, the more talented ones might actually stay.
Stanislav Mishin
The article has been reprinted with the kind permission from Stanislav Mishin and can be found on his blog Mat Rodina
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Over 1,000 casinos shut in Moscow under new law
19:02 | 28/ 11/ 2008
MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti) - More than 1,000 casinos have been closed down in Moscow in the past 18 months under a law passed last year to move gambling from large cities to far-flung regions, a Moscow government official said on Friday.
Under the law designed to curb Russians' growing addiction to gambling, approved by parliament and signed by then-president Vladimir Putin, casinos in the capital and other cities are to disappear completely by next July.
"In the past year and a half, more than 1,000 stores, art galleries, libraries, children's organizations, and clinics have opened in the city as a result of the closures of casinos," the official told RIA Novosti.
Casinos will only be allowed in designated areas of the Altai Territory, Siberia, the Far Eastern Primoriye region, the Baltic exclave Kaliningrad, and in southern Russia, all of which are low-income regions.
Authors said this will fight gambling addiction in major cities and boost economic development in the poorer regions.
Critics have said city budgets will lose billions of dollars in tax revenues, and predicted a rise in illegal gambling.
Investment in projects to build gambling sites in the designated regions has been slow, with the financial crisis tightening its grip on local governments and businesses.
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裁判員制度、第一歩 候補者に名簿記載通知を発送 (1/2ページ)
2008.11.28 10:32
このニュースのトピックス：迫る裁判員制度
発送される裁判員名簿記載通知＝２８日午前、東京都中央区銀座８丁目（代表撮影） 発送される裁判員名簿記載通知＝２８日午前、東京都中央区銀座８丁目（代表撮影）
裁判員制度、事実上の第一歩－。最高裁は２８日、来年５月スタートの裁判員制度で、裁判員候補者の名簿に記載されたことを知らせる通知を発送した。通知は名簿に載った全国約２９万５０００人に封筒で届けられる。今回通知が届かなければ、原則として来年中は裁判員に選ばれない。通知は２９日から届きはじめ、１２月１日にはほとんどの地域に配達される見込み。
裁判員候補者名簿は、市区町村の選挙管理委員会が選挙人名簿からくじで選んだ「候補者リスト」をもとに各地方裁判所が作成。
この日発送された通知書は、この名簿に載り、裁判員に選ばれる可能性があることを知らせることが目的。封筒には、裁判員になれない職業に就いていないかなどを尋ねる「調査票」と回答するためのマークシート、裁判員制度を紹介する漫画の小冊子、パンフレットが同封されている。
通知を受け取った段階ではまだ裁判員になると決まったわけではなく、あくまでも「候補者」。しかし、個人を特定できるかたちで候補者になったことを不特定多数に向けて公にしてはならないなど、守秘義務は課せられる。
通知に同封された調査票では、自衛官や警察職員といった裁判員になれない職業に就いていないか、また、７０歳以上や学生、病気やケガといった理由で辞退を申し立てるかどうかを尋ねるもの。仕事の都合や出産、介護のため、裁判員になることが難しい特定の月がある場合も申告できる。回答の期限は１２月半ば。裁判員を務めるのに差し支えがなければ回答する必要はない。
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【裁判員制度】裁判員になれない、辞退できる主な職業は？
2008.11.28 23:52
このニュースのトピックス：迫る裁判員制度
■対象となる主な事件
殺人、強盗致死傷、現住建造物等放火、傷害致死、強姦致死傷、危険運転致死、身代金目的誘拐、保護責任者遺棄致死
■裁判員になれない主な職業
自衛官、警察職員、国会議員や国務大臣、都道府県知事や市町村長、裁判官・検察官・弁護士（元職も含む）、弁理士、司法書士、大学や大学院の法律学教授
■辞退できる職業など
７０歳以上、学生
■辞退できるやむを得ない理由
重い病気やけが、親族や配偶者などの通院・入退院への付き添いや介護・養育、妊娠中や産後、出産への立ち会い、親族の結婚式出席、仕事などを休むことで重大な損害が生じる、現住所や居所が裁判所の管轄区域外の遠隔地で裁判所に通うのが困難
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【裁判員制度】候補者に通知、問い合わせ殺到 半数が辞退の質問 (1/3ページ)
2008.11.29 21:48
このニュースのトピックス：迫る裁判員制度
裁判員候補者への通知が届き始め、対応に追われる専用コールセンターのオペレーター＝２９日午後、東京都港区（代表撮影）裁判員候補者への通知が届き始め、対応に追われる専用コールセンターのオペレーター＝２９日午後、東京都港区（代表撮影）
来年５月の裁判員制度開始に向け、全国約２９万５０００人の裁判員候補者に通知が届き始めた２９日、最高裁は問い合わせに答える候補者専用のコールセンターを開設した。来年１月３１日まで、全国からの電話に対応する。この日は午後６時の締め切りまで、ほぼ絶え間なく計約８７０件の問い合わせが殺到したが、ざっと半数が「辞退」に関する質問。最高裁は「制度の意義を説明し、協力と理解を求めたい」と話すが、まだ国民の理解は十分とはいえそうにない。
この日、東京・赤坂のセンターでは午前９時から、オペレーターが候補者からの連絡に備えた。最初の電話は午前１０時２０分ごろ、裁判員制度の趣旨を尋ねる北九州市の女性からだった。午後に入って電話は増え、約５０人のオペレーターが対応に追われた。
問い合わせは「どのような場合に辞退できるか」が全体の約２５％を占めた。これに「辞退できる重い病気やけがとは」「辞退できる７０歳以上とはいつの時点か」など、「辞退」に絡んだ質問をあわせると全体の半数近くにのぼった。ほかには制度の趣旨や裁判員の選ばれ方、調査票への回答方法などが多かったが、「裁判員を務めたくない」「候補者名簿から削ってほしい」などの苦情も約４０件あり、３０分ほど粘るケースもあったという。制度をほめる電話は１件だった。
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裁判員の参加する刑事裁判に関する法律
裁判員制度（最高裁）
よろしく裁判員（法務省）
裁判員制度（日弁連）
裁判員制度はいらない
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【対馬が危ない！！】防衛相、外相ともに危機感表明 「政府で検討」対応前進 (1/2ページ)
2008.11.29 18:57
このニュースのトピックス：麻生内閣
韓国資本による長崎県対馬市の一部不動産買い占め問題をめぐり、浜田靖一防衛相は、２７日の衆院安全保障委員会で、「重く受け止め、問題意識をもって検討していきたい」と答弁、政府内で積極的に対応を検討する意向を示した。対馬問題については、麻生太郎首相ら政府首脳はこれまで、“経済行為”として静観の構えを見せてきたが、委員会で、外国人の土地購入を制限する外国人土地法の活用や国境新法の制定を求める意見も出され、問題解決に向け大きく踏み出した。（宮本雅史、池田証志）
衆院安保委では同日、民主党の長島昭久、神風英男両議員が相次いで質問。対馬問題への政府の取り組みについて、浜田防衛相は「私もどうかと思っている。政府で検討すべき問題。政府内で問題提起する」と答弁。中曽根弘文外相も「わが国の領土を守るのは国家の最重要課題」と答え、危機感を表明した。
また、「土地は合法的に買われている」などとする麻生発言について、浜田防衛相は「経済行為に立ち入るのは難しい。だが、安全保障の分野からみてどうなのか総合的に考えていかなければならない。重く受け止めて対応したい」と答弁、中曽根外相も「最重要課題で、基本的にはしっかり対応しなければならない」とし、首相の見解に対し含みを持たせた。
長島議員はまた、外国人による土地保有を国防上の理由で制限できる外国人土地法を引用、その活用をただしたのに対し、浜田防衛相は「憲法の財産権の保証もあり、慎重に検討しなければならない。関係省庁と連携して対応していきたい」とした。
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中川秀直氏が「反麻生」で議連旗揚げへ
2008.11.29 17:43
このニュースのトピックス：麻生内閣
自民党の中川秀直元幹事長は２９日、大阪市での講演で、社会保障に関する議員連盟を１２月５日に旗揚げすることを明らかにした。麻生太郎首相の政策や政権運営に批判的な小池百合子元防衛相、渡辺喜美元行政改革担当相ら約２０人が参加する見通し。政策提言が主眼だが、関係者は「次の総裁選でポスト麻生の母体になる」としており、「反麻生」の動きが活発化する可能性もありそうだ。
中川氏は講演で、国民が医療や年金を確実に受けられるようにするため、すべての社会保障の保険料や税を一元的に管理する銀行口座が必要だと主張。「『暮らしの安心基盤口座』の構築を目指す議連を発足させる」との考えを示した。
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秘書自殺に会社倒産…不幸ふりまく元大阪府議「脱税弁護士」 １２月上旬にも強制送還か (1/3ページ)
2008.11.30 22:15
このニュースのトピックス：衝撃事件の核心
約２億５０００万円の脱税容疑で大阪地検特捜部が逮捕状を取って行方を追っていた弁護士で元大阪府議の小川真澄容疑者（６４）が、１２月上旬にも日本に強制送還される見通しとなった。フィリピンに逃亡していたが、潜伏先から日本の知人らに電話して「逃亡資金が尽きたから帰る」と話していた矢先、不法入国の疑いでフィリピン当局に身柄を拘束。その間にも私設秘書が自殺、逃亡を手助けしたＩＴ会社の社長ら４人は犯人隠避容疑で逮捕され、その会社自体も破産した。周囲の人々を不幸のどん底に陥れた小川容疑者は、どんな顔をして日本に戻るのだろうか。
フィリピン逃亡
「なんでいないんだ？」
１１月１１日早朝、小川容疑者の自宅がある大阪市内の高層マンションに踏み込んだ特捜部の係官たちは、怪訝（けげん）そうな顔で部屋を見回した。
任意同行の写真を押さえようと集まった報道陣は、カメラを構えたまま５時間以上も放置された。
小川容疑者は平成１８年、日本料理店「多幸梅」の本社ビル（大阪市北区）の土地・建物の売買にかかわり、約７億円の報酬を得たにもかかわらず所得申告をせず、約２億５０００万円を脱税した疑いが持たれている。
すでに国税当局から任意の聴取を受けていたこともあり、逮捕を察知していたのだろう。小川容疑者は強制捜査が入る前日の１０日夜、創業時の株を持っていた東京のＩＴ会社の社長（３１）らと大阪市内のホテルで会い、「逮捕される。フィリピンに逃げるから協力してくれ」と依頼。渡された１５０万円と自分の１００万円の計２５０万円の逃亡資金を持ち、１１日未明、中部国際空港からマニラへ逃亡した。
「逮捕状を取った弁護士はよく逃げるんだよ。往生際が悪い。ある程度逃亡は予想していたが、今回は周りに迷惑をかけすぎだ。どういう神経をしているのか」。特捜部経験の長い検察幹部は嘆いた。
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新規国債発行、30兆円超えへ 09年度予算
2009年度予算編成で、国の一般会計の歳入不足を補う新規国債発行額が2年連続で30兆円を超える見通しとなった。法人税収が大幅に下振れし、税収全体の見積もりが40兆円台後半に落ち込むためだ。政府は金融危機と景気低迷への対応を優先しており、赤字国債の増発もやむを得ないとみている。
当初予算ベースで新規国債発行額が30兆円を超えるのは3年ぶり。08年度は当初段階で25兆円超に抑えていたが、補正後ベースでさらに拡大。実際には08年度から2年連続で30兆円を突破する公算が大きくなった。(11:11)
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携帯リサイクル義務化、希少金属確保 経産・環境省が09年にも
経済産業省と環境省は消費者が廃棄した携帯電話などの小型家電について、回収・リサイクル体制を整備する。携帯電話のサービスを提供する通信事業者に対し、2009年中にも機器の回収を義務づける方針だ。市町村がデジタルカメラなどの回収を試行的に始めることも検討する。金や希少金属（レアメタル）を多く含む小型家電は「都市鉱山」と呼ばれており、貴重な金属資源の再利用を促すべきだと判断した。
テレビなどの大型家電や自動車については、リサイクルの方法を定めた法律がある。だが小型家電のリサイクルには明確な規制がない。携帯電話の通信事業者は自主的に機器を回収してきたが、07年度の回収台数は644万台と7年前の半分以下に落ち込んだ（電気通信事業者協会調べ）。資源価格の上昇で金属資源の確保が大きな課題となり、経産・環境両省が体制整備に動く。(07:00)
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公共料金上げ拡大、下水道は自治体の２割に 日経調査
全国の地方自治体で水道などの公共料金引き上げが相次いでいる。日本経済新聞が全国の市と東京23区を対象に調査したところ、2007年4月以降で約2 割の市が下水道料金を引き上げ（今年度中の予定含む）、水道料金も約1割の市が引き上げ（同）ていた。地方財政の硬直化が背景だが、景気後退が深刻になるなかでの負担増は、住民生活に大きな影響を与えそうだ。
調査は行政サービスの水準を調べる目的で806市区を対象に実施。93％にあたる746市区から回答を得た。下水道料金は124市が07年度以降に引き上げを実施、19市が今年度中の引き上げを予定していた。水道料金は同じく61市が引き上げ、11市が予定していた。北海道美唄市は今年4月に下水道料金を平均15％引き上げた。1990年代の大規模な施設整備で、借金の返済負担が膨らんでいるのが理由で、月24立方メートル使用した場合の料金は6025 円と夕張市を抜いて全国一高くなった。
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証拠金半額の株先物口座 ひまわり証券
先物取引などを主力とするひまわり証券は12月15日から、日経平均先物の取引時に投資家が預け入れる証拠金を従来の約半分にした新口座を提供する。午後3時10分までの日中取引が対象で、決済を翌日に持ち越さないことを条件とする。取引できる枚数制限も緩和し、デイトレーダーなど短期投資家の利用を見込む。日経平均先物の必要証拠金は、株価変動率の上昇で10月半ば以降大幅に上がっていた。(07:00)
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高級ホテルに泊まり人間ドック受診 ＪＴＢ、富裕層取り込み
ＪＴＢは12月から、人間ドック受診と高級ホテルでの宿泊・食事を組み合わせた旅行商品を販売する。2日間かけて血液、心電図、超音波などの検査を受け、健康に配慮した高級特別食を味わう趣向。医療に関する専門組織も立ち上げ、富裕層の取り込みを狙う。
虎の門病院（東京・港）と提携し、昼間に各種検査を実施。夜は「ザ・プリンス パークタワー東京」（東京・港）に宿泊し、フカヒレや京野菜などを使った健康食を味わってもらう。価格は人間ドックと宿泊代などで1人14万4750円（2人1室の場合）。人間ドックを受けない同行者は2万8000円で宿泊できる。09年3月までに40人の参加を見込む。(11:46)
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ＦＲＢのＣＰ買い取り策 三井物産、日本勢初の申請
米金融安定化策の一環として米連邦準備理事会（ＦＲＢ）が創設したコマーシャルペーパー（ＣＰ）買い取り制度について、三井物産が同制度の利用を申請していたことが29日までに明らかになった。日本企業で申請が明らかになったのは初めて。三井物産は米国の資金繰りに問題はないものの、市場の混乱でドルの調達コストが膨らむ懸念があり、低利で安定的に運転資金の確保を狙う。ほかの有力企業が追随する可能性もある。
同社は子会社の米国三井物産を通じ年間5億ドル（約500億円）前後のＣＰを発行、運転資金を調達してきた。だが、米国の信用収縮で平均的なＣＰ金利が 9月に2％程度上昇するなど市場環境が急速に悪化。通常通り発行すると不利な条件を強いられる恐れがあった。(07:00)
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ＮＨＫが1日から番組をネット配信 過去の番組1200本、新作を1週間
ＮＨＫは12月1日から、テレビ番組をインターネットを通じて有料配信するサービス「ＮＨＫオンデマンド」を開始する。新作ドラマやニュースなどを放送直後から約1週間配信するほか、過去の有名番組も約1200本提供する。これまで放送局は著作権処理の問題などから番組のネット配信に慎重だった。ＮＨＫのネット配信開始で、放送と通信の融合が本格始動する。
新サービスは、新作ドラマなどを放送翌日から約1週間にわたってネット配信する「見逃し番組」と、名作ドキュメンタリーなど過去の番組を視聴できる「特選ライブラリー」の2本立て。年明けから始まる大河ドラマ「天地人」も放送直後から、ネットで好きな時間に見ることができる。(07:00)
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内閣支持率31％に急落 日経世論調査
日本経済新聞社とテレビ東京が11月28―30日に共同で実施した世論調査で、麻生内閣の支持率は31％となり、10月末の前回調査に比べて17ポイント低下した。不支持率は19ポイント上昇し62％となり、初めて支持と不支持が逆転した。追加経済対策の裏付けとなる2008年度第2次補正予算案の提出先送りについては「支持しない」が56％で「支持する」の28％を引き離した。
政党支持率は自民党が前回から2ポイント低下し39％、民主が1ポイント低下し30％となり両党ともほぼ横ばいだった。自民支持率は6月以来、民主を上回っている。
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自民「コスタリカ」全廃断念 解消３区のみ、分裂選挙に危機感
自民党は次期衆院選に向けた選挙区調整のうち、2候補が小選挙区と比例代表に交互に出馬する「コスタリカ方式」の調整を終えた。選挙基盤が強化できないとして全国8選挙区で同方式を廃止する方針を掲げていたが、解消できた選挙区は3つにとどまった。候補者本人に加え、地元県連や所属派閥の抵抗を抑えきれず、方針転換を余儀なくされた。
コスタリカが解消されたのは福島１区・５区、神奈川12区の3選挙区。福島は現役議員の今期限りでの引退表明や、空白区へのくら替えによるもの。神奈川 12区は県連会長の菅義偉選挙対策副委員長が世論調査結果に基づき江崎洋一郎氏に引退を迫り、解消に踏み切った。(07:00)
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小泉容疑者、宅配伝票を複数社から 勤務経験から発想か
元厚生事務次官ら連続殺傷事件で、無職の小泉毅容疑者（46）＝銃刀法違反容疑で逮捕＝が警視庁の調べに「複数の大手宅配会社から事件に使う配達伝票を集めた」と供述していることが29日、分かった。「配達物を確認されても怪しまれないように本物の伝票を用意した」とも供述しており、警視庁などは配達伝票を入手した経緯について調べている。
小泉容疑者は以前、宅配業者のアルバイトをしていたという。警視庁と埼玉県警は同容疑者がアルバイト経験から宅配業者を装って襲撃する手口を思いつき、配達伝票などを集めた可能性が高いとみている。(07:00)
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東大農場農薬問題：基準を上回る水銀 土壌から検出せず
東京大大学院農学生命科学研究科付属農場（西東京市）で水銀系農薬が使用されていた問題で、東大は３０日、農場内で保管していた使用禁止農薬２３種類を公表した。元職員などから聞き取り調査をした結果、問題となった「酢酸フェニル水銀」を含む農薬以外は「少なくとも最近２０年間は使用されていない」と判断。また土壌の調査では、いずれの場所も基準を上回る水銀は検出されず、住民から提供を受けた米からも水銀は検出されなかった。
公表された農薬は、毒物が殺虫剤の「ＤＤＴ」や「エンドリン」、水銀系農薬９種類の計１１種類で、劇物は９種類。残り３種類は届け出が必要な特定毒物「パラチオン」などだった。また、使用状況などの記録が不十分として、保健所から指導を受けたことも明らかにした。【中村牧生】
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ムダ・ゼロ会議：３５００億円削減可能 公益法人への支出
行政の無駄を０９年度予算から削るため政府の「行政支出総点検会議」（座長・茂木友三郎キッコーマン会長）がまとめた提言案の全容が判明した。国などから公益法人への支出を０６年度比で３７％（約３５００億円）削減可能と指摘。公共事業と政府開発援助（ＯＤＡ）も、０８年度からの５年間で０７年度比１５％のコスト削減を求めている。ただ、景気の悪化を受けて政府・与党内で歳出圧力が高まっており、提言がどこまで予算編成に反映されるか、不透明な部分もある。
１２月１日の会議で正式に決定し、茂木座長が麻生太郎首相に提出する。
提言は公益法人に関し（１）事業を廃止・縮小する（２）競争性ある契約方式へ移行する－－ことなどを明記。それらの実施で０９年度は、０６年度から約４１００億円の支出減は可能と試算し、新規事業分があっても約３５００億円削減できるとした。
「居酒屋タクシー」が問題化した各府省のタクシー代は０８年度比で２５％以上削減し、深夜帰宅のタクシー利用は午前０時半以降に限定する。広報経費・委託調査費も同年度比２５％以上減らし、公務員のレクリエーション費も原則廃止する。
行政の無駄がなくならない背景を「職員一人一人のコスト意識が乏しい」と指摘し、各府省に０９年１月末までにプロジェクトチーム設置を求める。
特別会計では「依然、不要不急の事業が行われている」とし必要な剰余金や積立金の基準額を国民に説明するよう促す。５兆４０００億円の積立金が見込まれる労働保険特別会計の失業等給付は「国費投入を行わないことを含め、見直すべきだ」とした。
地方自治体も「問題意識を共有すべきだ」と強調し▽福利厚生事業や補助金の見直し▽地域の民間給与水準を公務員給与に一層反映させる－－などを総務省が地方自治体に働きかけるよう促す。
同会議は０８年７月、福田康夫首相（当時）が「ムダ・ゼロ政府」を掲げ、行政と関係の深い公益法人への政府支出の３割削減を表明したのを受けて発足。東国原英夫・宮崎県知事やジャーナリストの嶌信彦氏らがメンバーとなった。行政の無駄を削ることで消費税引き上げに向け国民の理解を得る狙いもあった。【坂口裕彦】
◇行政支出総点検会議の指摘事項要旨
１ はじめに（略）
２ 公益法人への支出
（１）事務事業の廃止・縮小（２）競争性ある契約方式への移行（３）公益法人への委託等の見直し－－で、０６年度支出額約９４００億円を０９年度見込み額約５９００億円に約３７％削減
各府省は０９年度の支出実績をホームページ等で公表
３ 特別会計の支出
労働保険特会の失業等給付に国費投入を行わないことを含め、見直し
独立行政法人雇用・能力開発機構の「私のしごと館」は業務廃止。施設は売却先を検討
剰余金・積立金は、処分のあり方や必要な水準の根拠を示した定量的資料を公表
４ 行政コスト節減
【公共事業・ＯＤＡ】０８年度から５年間で０７年度比１５％の総合コスト縮減【防衛装備品】１１年度までに１５％のコスト縮減【広報経費・委託調査費、タクシー代】０８年度比２５％以上削減【レクリエーション経費】０８年度の執行凍結、０９年度原則廃止【随意契約】競争性の高い契約方式に移行
５ 政策の棚卸し等（略）
６ 各府省の自律的取り組み体制の確立
各府省に０９年１月末までにプロジェクトチーム設置
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日本・エジプト科学技術大：設立式典 日本が支援、教員など派遣
中東での科学技術教育や研究活動促進のため、日本が支援する日本・エジプト科学技術大学の設立式典が２５日、エジプト北部アレクサンドリアで行われた。式典には柴山昌彦外務政務官、国際協力機構（ＪＩＣＡ）の上田善久理事、ヒラル高等教育相らが出席した。
大学はアレクサンドリア西郊のボルグエルアラブに８４万平方メートルの敷地を確保。建物は数年内に完成予定で、当面は同敷地内の別の研究施設を利用する。工学部内に電気通信学科など３学科を設け、来秋からの授業開始を目指す。最終的に大学・大学院でアラブ諸国の学生計７００人を受け入れる。大学はエジプト政府が運営し、日本からは教員などを派遣する。【共同】
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イラン：国産ロケットを打ち上げ
国営イラン放送は２６日、イランが国産ロケット「カブシュ（探検者）２」を打ち上げたと報じた。打ち上げ時間や場所などの詳細は明らかにされていない。
打ち上げはエンジン部の分離や通信機能などの確認が目的で、積み荷の一部を４０分後に地上で回収したという。
イランは８月にも国産人工衛星打ち上げ用の国産ロケット「サフィール」を打ち上げ、弾道ミサイルにも応用可能なロケット技術の進展を強調している。
今年２月にイランが初打ち上げを行った国産宇宙ロケットが「カブシュ１」とされており、今回のロケットと技術的な関連がある可能性もある。【共同】
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Russia lets rouble drop twice in one week
Russia lets rouble drop twice in one week
By Peter Garnham
Published: November 28 2008 11:09 | Last updated: November 28 2008 11:09
The Central Bank of Russia let the rouble weaken by 1 per cent against its euro/dollar basket on Friday, the third time it has allowed the currency to depreciate this month.
The rouble is tightly managed against a basket of 55 per cent dollars and 45 per cent euros by the Russian authorities.
Up until August, the rouble had been steadily appreciating, as rising commodity prices boosted mineral-rich Russia’s current account and fiscal surpluses.
However, since then the rouble has come under intense pressure as falling oil prices threaten to wipe out the country’s current account surplus and turmoil on financial markets has prompted investors to flee emerging markets.
The Russian authorities have been forced to use the country’s foreign exchange stockpile to defend the rouble from speculative attack.
This has seen its currency stockpiles shrink by $150bn, although they still stand at about $450bn according to the latest figures.
On November 11, the Russian central bank allowed the rouble to weaken by one per cent, taking it down to 30.71 against its basket.
A similar move on Monday allowed the rouble to drop to 31.01, while on Friday the authorities allowed the currency to fall to 31.28.
The Russian central bank has stated that the rouble will be allowed to depreciate, but only gradually.
Tatiana Orlova at ING Financial Markets said the small devaluation moves are happening quicker than she expected.
One reason for this could be the recent weakness of the dollar against the euro, which could mask the rouble devaluation from ordinary Russians, she said.
“This is indeed good timing as due to the relative dollar weakness. Dollar/rouble rates in exchange offices are not rising and thus the population may overlook the move.”
Also, she said the Russian authorities were likely to have been alarmed by the release of October trade data, which showed a collapse in exports that halved the monthly trade surplus.
“The current account must be rapidly approaching the red, and the central bank is rushing to weaken the real rouble exchange rate to prompt a correction in imports,” said Ms Orlova.
Analysts said the small, incremental moves in the exchange rate were doing more harm than good.
Instead of settling the market, the policy was giving rise to rampant speculation about the size and timing of the central bank’s next move.
Lutz Karpowitz at Commerzbank Bank said a significant slide in the rouble could no longer be avoided.
“Had the central bank decided on a substantially bigger downward step, there would have been at least the chance that the market would accept the new level,” he said.
“All the signs now are that the central bank will have to keep pumping vast amounts of currency reserves into the market to defend the new level.”
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Icelanders collapse in laughter
By David Ibison in Stockholm
Published: November 28 2008 18:28 | Last updated: November 28 2008 18:56
With a its banking system in crisis, violent demonstrations in Reykjavik, a punishing recession on the way and soaring inflation, there may not seem much to laugh about in Iceland.
But Icelanders take pride in their darkly ironic sense of humour. The latest example is The Crisis Game, a board game that takes a grimly comical swipe at the financial crisis that has devastated the economy.
Jonas Antonsson, the chief executive of Gogogic, the company developing the game, says these are the kinds of harsh circumstance in which Icelanders show their resilience.
“If we are going to get out of this, then it is humour that is going to get us there,” he said.
The Crisis Game was developed, appropriately enough, by an Icelander who had himself been sacked as a result of the downturn and, “instead of sitting around, doing nothing”, suggested the idea to Mr Antonsson.
It is a fairly standard board game that involves throwing dice and picking up cards that take players on a giddy boom-and-bust journey that will see them buy a private jet and obtain a foreign loan before being brought back to earth with a bump.
Gogogic asked Icelanders to make suggestions via the internet for the content of cards. The contributions open a window on Icelandic attitudes to the crisis, providing real-time satirical commentary on the extraordinary events of the past couple of months.
Players can pick up a card that reads: “Go to demonstrate at parliament, stop to buy some eggs to throw, only to realise that prices have gone up so much you can’t afford them.”
Despite the humour, the game does convey a serious message, argues Mr Antonsson. “Things can’t continue like they were.”
As Icelanders are suffering, he will try to keep the cost of the game as low as possible, although, in true Icelandic style, he hopes to make a profit. As for Gogogic, it is in no danger of becoming an irony-loaded question in its own game. “We didn’t take any foreign loans,” Mr Antonsson says.
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Houses in London rich spots lose more
By Sharlene Goff
Published: November 29 2008 03:44 | Last updated: November 29 2008 03:44
Houses in the most exclusive parts of London are now depreciating in value at a faster rate than flats, according to data from Knight Frank, the estate agent.
Property prices in prime central London, which covers areas such as Mayfair, Kensington, Notting Hill and Chelsea, fell by 3.6 per cent in November, slightly lower than the previous month’s decline but still the second-largest fall on record.
Prices have fallen 9.3 per cent in the past three months and are now 14.1 per cent lower than this time last year, according to Saturday’s Knight Frank data.
The agent said all parts of prime central London and all types of property had suffered falls in prices. Houses saw a sharper price reduction than flats in November.
“Prices for prime central London property have now been falling for eight consecutive months,” said Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank.
“In previous months we noted that super-prime properties had remained immune from the downturn and that houses were performing better than flats.
“Neither of these trends has continued into the final quarter of the year.”
Houses in prime areas fell by 4.1 per cent in November, compared with a decline of 3.2 per cent for flats. Mr Bailey said values of “super-prime” property – houses worth £10m ($15.3m) or more – had suffered three months of consecutive falls and were now 7.5 per cent lower than the peak in August.
Estate agents have reported sharp cuts in asking prices as vendors grow more realistic about the market. Robert Bartlett, managing director of Chesterton, said some properties were selling for about 25 per cent less than their 2007 value. The latest poll from Chesterton put Islington, Kensington and Chelsea and Wandsworth among the worst performing parts of London.
Meanwhile, Land Registry figures, released on Friday, showed a 10.1 per cent annual house price fall across the UK. The monthly fall in October was 1.5 per cent, taking prices back to the levels of summer 2006.
The Land Registry said sales volumes in England and Wales remained low.
There were an average of 54,488 recorded property transactions each month between May and August this year, compared with 118,165 in the same months last year. Properties sold in London for over £1m fell by 63 per cent between August 2007 and August 2008.
Agents have, however, seen an uplift in buyer interest in recent weeks, particularly from foreign buyers who will benefit from the weakening of the pound.
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Mood sours at Moscow’s millionaires’ fair
By Charles Clover in Moscow
Published: November 29 2008 02:06 | Last updated: November 29 2008 02:06
Moscow’s annual “Millionaires’ fair” has become an institution of sorts – a celebration of ostentatious consumption for its own sake, as well as a convenient one-stop shop for helicopters, private tropical islands, Swiss watches, motor yachts and designer statues among other must-haves.
For three days every year, all the trappings of the leisure class that a busy oligarch needs are to be found in one tidy pavilion just outside Moscow’s ring road.
But this year, as financial crisis takes the lustre off the economy, there were fewer clients, and more journalists than in other years, the former there to look rather than buy, the latter there to document with ill-disguised schadenfreude the bonfire of Russia’s vanities.
“You are the 1,001th person today to ask me how the financial crisis has affected business,” said Aleksei Belkov of Chromov, a company that restores 1950 and 1960s Jaguars and Mercedes. “The answer is not at all. We have a four-year pipeline of orders, and so maybe we’ll see this affect things four years from now. But today we’re doing fine.”
Not everyone was so sanguine though: “Is business down? Of course it is,” said Shazad Ali, who sells Salvatore Ferragamo branded luxury apartments in Dubai starting at $8m (€6.3bn, £5.2bn) apiece.
“Most of our customers are in the $100m net worth range, and even if you’ve lost half of that, you’re still living comfortably. But mostly they are waiting for the next few months, to see how bad things can get.”
Russia’s stock market has fallen 75 per cent since May on the back of global economic turmoil and the war in Georgia in August, and Bloomberg has estimated Russia’s oligarchs lost more than $230bn in holdings.
This has put a dent in luxury brands for whom Russian consumers have accounted for much of recent sales growth. Richard Orme, managing director of Large Yacht Solutions, which had a display stand at the fair, estimates that Russians now make up to 20 per cent of the company’s clients, up from almost none five years ago, and for that reason he bought a booth at this year’s fair for the first time.
But a 50ft motor yacht costs about $26m, and the credit to buy one has dried up. “It has definitely put a dent in business, anything that requires credit has been hit,” said Mr Orme.
Many retailers like Russian clients not just for their huge disposable incomes, but also for being a select but not a very selective crowd. Irina Parizhkaya, a rep for Italian fur coat designer Wonderfur, said: “Russian customers generally don’t ask very many questions about what they are buying.
“They either like it or they don’t. They come with their wife or girlfriend, she points at something, the man buys it, no questions, it is easy.”
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Anger at ‘heavy-handed’ arrest of MP
By Jean Eaglesham, Alex Barker and Sue Cameron
Published: November 28 2008 21:37 | Last updated: November 28 2008 21:37
MPs from all parties on Friday expressed outrage at the “tinpot dictatorship” treatment of Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, as speculation raged about who had ordered his arrest under terror laws.
Mr Green spent nine hours in police custody on Thursday night in connection with the leaking of sensitive Home Office documents to newspapers.
He was released without charge after a day of extraordinary police action that is likely to have significant repercussions for how parliament and Whitehall are run.
David Cameron, the Tory leader, warned that ministers, as well as the police, had “questions to answer” after the unprecedented and “heavy-handed” action against Mr Green. “Ministers must explain what they were told and, if they weren’t told, why not,” he said.
The scale of the police operation provoked Tory comparisons with a police state, Zimbabwe and – from Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader – a “tinpot dictatorship, not a modern democracy”. About 20 police – including counterterrorism officers – were involved in the operation to raid and search two of Mr Green’s homes and his constituency and Commons offices.
The wider use of anti-terrorist powers
Regulation Investigating Powers Act
Poole council used the act to follow a family and check whether they had been cheating the school catchments system. Another council used the powers to clamp down on dog fouling
Aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office
The common-law offence under which Damian Green was arrested. Yesterday a prosecution of a local newspaper journalist for the same offence collapsed after police bugging evidence was declared inadmissible
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act
The Treasury deployed the act to seize assets of a collapsed Icelandic bank in October. It was the first time the sweeping discretion the law offers to combat “action to the detriment of the UK’s economy” was used in a non-terrorist case
Public Order Act
Civil rights group Liberty is concerned over the use of public order powers in cases of legitimate protests. A protester with a placard reading, “Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult”, got a summons on the basis it was “threatening, abusive or insulting”
Section 44 of the Terrorism Act
Police were given the right to search suspects if it was deemed “expedient for the prevention of acts of terrorism”. These powers have been used against protesters, including an 82-year-old heckler at a Labour party conference
Alex Barker
Mr Green’s wife, who was present when the officers arrived at their west London home, told friends that “her blood ran cold” when they entered carrying search warrants. Mr Green’s teenage daughter “burst into tears”.
Nine officers wearing purple rubber gloves combed through Mr Green’s files in the conservatory, his computer and papers in the office.
The search lasted for more than six hours. Mr Green’s BlackBerry, mobile phone and dozens of documents were seized as evidence, with his parliamentary e-mail disabled during Thursday.
The police action followed an investigation into a series of leaks from the Home Office, including a letter from Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, to the prime minister, warning that the recession might lead to an increase in crime. This mole hunt led to a junior official being arrested and suspended from the Home Office on November 19, and subsequently to Mr Green’s arrest.
The Tories adamantly denied any wrongdoing by the shadow minister, rejecting any suggestion he had encouraged the leaking by offering the official cash or “any other inducement”. Party insiders said the mole had approached Mr Green for a job some time ago and had been turned down.
The focus of political attention was on Friday on who had authorised and known about the police investigation into the leaks. Sir David Normington, the Home Office permanent secretary, said “ministers were not involved in the decision to seek police assistance or in the subsequent investigation and were only told of the arrest after it had occurred”.
The investigation was authorised by Sir Gus O’Donnell, the country’s top civil servant, it emerged. Officials told the FT that both Gordon Brown and Ms Smith were informed that the police had been asked to investigate, although they were not told a shadow minister was involved.
Sir Gus was asked to call in the police by Sir David. Ministers have denied that they knew of the arrest in advance but last night Whitehall insiders were incredulous at the idea that Sir Gus and Sir David did not immediately inform ministers once they were told what the police were about to do. As one Home Office figure put it: “There is only one rule – no surprises.”
Before conducting the raids the police informed Boris Johnson, the London mayor who has an oversight role over the Metropolitan police, Sir David, and the sergeant at arms, the leading official in the House of Commons. Michael Martin, the Speaker, has declined to comment on what warning he was given or whether he permitted the police to enter the premises.
Mr Brown said: “I had no knowledge, the home secretary had no prior knowledge.” But the Tories said they were “not satisfied with the answers we’ve been given so far” about ministers’ involvement.
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Hedge funds hit by fresh wave of withdrawals
By James Mackintosh
Published: November 29 2008 01:03 | Last updated: November 29 2008 01:03
Hedge funds have been hit by a fresh wave of withdrawals as investors search for cash, prompting more funds to impose emergency measures to block repayments.
London Diversified Fund Management, one of Britain’s best-known fixed-income managers, on Friday suspended both its hedge funds as trading conditions in the derivatives markets created valuation difficulties ahead of redemptions.
LDFM, founded by former JPMorgan bankers David Gorton and Rob Standing, manages close to $3bn (£1.9bn), down from a peak of $8bn after its main fund fell 23 per cent this year and investors pulled out. LDFM is joining a roster of hundreds of hedge funds in restricting withdrawals, with investors and prime brokers estimating as many as a fifth have suspended or limited what investors can get back as they have their worst year on record.
This week CQS, a London convertible bond specialist run by former Credit Suisse banker Michael Hintze, began canvassing investors on whether it should change the terms of its main fund to allow it to restrict withdrawals if markets worsen next year.
Morgan Stanley said there has been a sharp rise in redemption requests by hedge fund investors as the year-end repayment date approaches. The bank, the biggest prime broker, estimates year-end redemptions for funds that require 45 days’ notice for withdrawals of money, are running at 18 per cent, against 9 per cent for funds which required 90 days’ notice.
Huw van Steenis, analyst at Morgan Stanley, said industry assets could shrink 35-45 per cent from June’s $1,930bn by the first quarter of next year, as heavy redemptions added to the pain of poor performance.
On his “bear” scenario, the industry could plunge to $900bn by the end of next year. He said European and Asian hedge funds were being hit hardest, with 25-30 per cent withdrawals in the second half of this year, against 15-20 per cent in the US.
“We think redemptions in the States will play catch-me-up in the first quarter [of 2009],” he said.
Some funds of hedge funds are being hit hard as the hedge funds in which they invest restrict withdrawals.
Two Bank of New York Mellon funds of hedge funds told investors this week they planned to restructure because almost a third of the funds in which they invest had limited redemptions. The Sanctuary I and II funds will split into continuing and wind-down classes, with pay-outs of about a third of the wind-down class expected early next year.
On Friday, London’s $4.3bn Atlas Capital, owned by New York-based Sciens Capital Management, suspended withdrawals from a dozen funds of hedge funds, while Crédit Agricole and Grenfell PAI each suspended a fund of funds as underlying hedge funds restricted withdrawals.
“We have seen really accelerating redemptions around the 30 per cent level,” said Derek Stewart, a director of Mellon Global Alternative Investments, which manages the Sanctuary I and II funds. “The reason for doing this [restructuring] is purely to protect the interest of investors.”
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Saudi king says 75 dollar oil price 'fair'
5 hours 18 mins ago
AFP
* Print Story
King Abdullah of OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia said in an interview published on Saturday that oil prices of 75 dollars a barrel would be "fair". Skip related content
His comments appeared in a Kuwaiti newspaper on the day OPEC was meeting in Cairo to review the turmoil in the world oil market and decide whether another crude output cut is needed to stop prices tumbling lower.
"We think that a fair price of oil is 75 dollars a barrel," the Saudi monarch told As-Sieysah newspaper.
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Bank of China opens private bank business in Geneva
Yesterday, 06:05 pm
AFP
Bank of China on Friday said it has opened a private bank and institutional asset management arm in Switzerland, marking the group's first step in the private banking business abroad.
Kenneth Ge, who chairs Bank of China (Suisse) SA, told reporters in Geneva that BOC had only begun offering private banking services in China last year, but the group was now already looking at expanding abroad.
"We are considering starting offices in other areas. Switzerland is just a start. Switzerland is the first but it will not be the last," he said.
BOC Suisse would not reveal its business targets, but the bank's chief executive officer Jacques Mechelany said it was hoping to attract wealthy Chinese who may be seeking to park their assets offshore.
Chinese law allows residents to move up to 50,000 dollars out of the country annually, but the regulation could in future be revised.
"Our plan is to start from a non-existant situation to get to a recognised solution in private banking and institutional management," said Mechelany.
The current financial turmoil was both good and bad news for the new operations, Mechelany said.
On the one hand, clients that have lost money in the turmoil may be more reluctant to move their assets, but on the other hand, others are seeking to change banks for the same reason.
BOC had also been able to have a good pick of talent thanks to the turmoil, he said.
BOC in October posted 26.3 billion yuan (3.8 billion dollars) in potential losses on assets for the third quarter, partially related to US subprime mortgage-backed securities.
China's largest foreign exchange bank also reported a net profit of 17.8 billion yuan in the third quarter, up 11.5 percent from a year earlier.
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Government takes 58 percent stake in RBS
Reuters Steve Slater
The government bought a majority stake in one of the country's biggest banks and Germany's Commerzbank accelerated its takeover of a rival as the shake-up of European banks gathered pace with help from taxpayers and shareholders.
Britain's move was the latest attempt by countries around the world to shore up ailing banks amid a global credit crisis and give them a more solid footing for looming recession.
Shareholders in Royal Bank of Scotland shunned its share offer, leaving the government to take a 58 percent stake for 15 billion pounds.
In contrast, Spain's Santander said investors had signed up for all of its 7.2 billion euro (6 billion pound) rights issue, which will beef up its capital ratios.
Commerzbank, which has taken 8.2 billion euros from the German government to prop up its flagging finances, cheered investors by saying its purchase price of Dresdner Bank would be 4.7 billion euros less than first envisaged in August and is speeding up the deal.
Insurer Allianz , which is selling Dresdner and will get an 18 percent stake in the enlarged Commerzbank, said the takeover could go ahead six to nine months ahead of plan.
"In the current situation on the financial markets, an accelerated takeover of Dresdner by Commerzbank is to the advantage of all parties," said Allianz Chief Executive Michael Diekmann. [nLR119230]
Commerzbank shares surged by as much as 19 percent on the news and ended up 4.9 percent and Allianz jumped 9 percent.
The DJ Stoxx Europe bank sector ended up 1.2 percent to 169.07 points.
The index has tumbled over 60 percent this year and investors in many banks have suffered big dilution from fundraisings, but those banks that raised cash should now be well positioned for the downturn, some investors said.
"The dilution has happened and now the banks are well capitalised, they can cope with the bad debts that are inevitably coming, and now people can look at the underlying businesses," said Alan Beaney at Principal Investment Management, which holds shares in most UK banks.
In the United States, shares of Citigroup rallied for fourth straight session, more than doubling their price in the week, as investors expressed relief that the second-largest U.S. bank by assets won a government bailout last weekend.
Shares of rival JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp , which had not been as badly bruised as Citigroup shares, rose a respective 39.3 percent and 41.7 percent this week, as the plan reassured investors that the U.S. government would not let another big bank fail.
IRISH PRESSURE
RBS, one of Europe's biggest banks until losses on risky U.S. assets and last year's purchase of parts of Dutch bank ABN AMRO overwhelmed its balance sheet, said investors took just 0.2 percent of its 15 billion pound share offer.
A low take-up had been expected due to RBS's depressed share price and left the government to pick up almost all the shares.
Ireland's banks were under pressure as speculation grew that the sector needs to be recapitalised or consolidated, and shares in Anglo Irish Bank tumbled 19 percent.
Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan is working "very hard" to find a solution for the sector, the chairman of one of the banks said following talks.
Other banks showed the impact of strains from the crisis.
Profits at Austrian cooperative bank Raiffeisen Zentralbank will be hurt by writedowns on its exposure to Lehman Brothers and its Icelandic debt assets, but it expects to turn a profit for 2008, its chief executive said.
Dutch group ING said it plans to repay its 10 billion euro state injection when profits normalise or when its stock price goes back up.
But Chinese insurer Ping An is asking China to help seek compensation from Belgium over its losses in Dutch-Belgian financial group Fortis after it was nationalised, a government source said on Friday.
Ping An booked a $2.3 billion (1.5 billion pounds) loss on its investment in Fortis after marking down the value of its 5 percent stake.
The source familiar with the situation told Reuters Ping An believes the Belgian government's role in carving up Fortis along national lines last month is tantamount to confiscation and it wants to pursue compensation.
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Recent German banking sector mergers
Reuters
(Reuters) - Commerzbank AG's deal to buy Dresdner Bank is the latest acquisition in the consolidating German bank sector. Following is a summary of a dozen major mergers of recent years:
April 2001 - Allianz buys Dresdner Bank for 24 billion euros (19.9 billion pounds).
June 2005 - Italy's No. 1 lender, UniCredit , pays nearly 20 billion euros to take over Munich-based HVB.
October 2005 - Deutsche Postbank buys mortgage lender BHW for 1.8 billion euros.
November 2005 - Commerzbank pays 4.5 billion euros to take over property financier Eurohypo, in which it held a one-third stake, by buying out the other two large shareholders, Dresdner Bank and Deutsche Bank .
December 2005 - U.S. private equity investor Lone Star buys troubled Allgemeine Hypothekenbank Rheinboden (known today as Corealcredit), whose bad debts and interest rate speculation had threatened to make it Germany's biggest bank failure in 30 years.
June 2006 - Germany's biggest bank Deutsche Bank buys Berliner Bank for 680 million euros and a few weeks later buys 98 Norisbank branches for 420 million euros.
June 2007 - Around 450 savings banks claim victory in a months-long battle to buy Landesbank Berlin (LBB) , paying more than 5 billion euros to keep the regional state-sector lender from falling into private-sector hands.
July 2007 - Property investment bank Hypo Real Estate unveils a 5.5 billion takeover of Depfa Bank, a lender to governments.
December 2007 - Germany's biggest regional state-backed lender, LBBW , takes over fellow landesbank SachsenLB in an emergency rescue.
July 2008 - France's Credit Mutuel pays around 5 billion euros for Citigroup's retail banking operations in Germany.
August 2008 - U.S. private equity outfit Lone Star pays over 100 million euros for IKB , a troubled lender to medium-sized companies, from state development bank KfW after a series of state-led bailouts costing some 8.5 billion euros.
November 2008 - Commerzbank seals its takeover of Dresdner Bank months ahead of schedule.
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元厚生次官宅連続襲撃事件ーーやはり出て来た小泉毅容疑野と闇社会関係との接点
カテゴリ: 医療・健康 :
執筆者: Yamaoka (6:20 pm)
本紙はこの事件に関し、先日、小泉毅容疑者と暴力団などの闇社会との間に何らかの接点があるのではないかとの一部の見方を紹介した。
そうしたところ、まったく別の筋から、具体的な組織名が出て来た。また、その世界に詳しい関係者に聞いたところ、小泉容疑者がその組織に出入りしていたことを認めたため、以下、ひとつの問題提起として紹介する。
具体的に出ている組織名は２つ。
80年代半ば、小泉容疑者が東京近辺のコンピュータ関連会社などに務めていた時分に出入りしていたとされる
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ゴルフ会員権、バブル後最安値 中小企業・個人、換金売り
ゴルフ会員権の取引価格が急落し、バブル崩壊後の最安値を5年半ぶりに更新した。株安や年末を控えた資金対策などで、一部の名門コースを除き個人や中小企業の換金売りが増えている。個人の消費・投資マインドの冷え込みの深刻さを示しているといえそうだ。
会員権仲介最大手の住地ゴルフ（東京・中央）によると、11月下旬の取引価格は全国平均が177万円。2003年6月につけた187万円を下回り、バブル後の最安値となった。最近の高値である07年5月の264万円から33％値下がりした。関東地区平均も180万円、関西も161万円とともに最安値を下回った。(16:00)
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基礎収支11年度黒字化、「努力」目標に後退 諮問会議
政府の経済財政諮問会議は28日、2009年度予算編成の基本方針を了承した。国と地方を合わせた基礎的財政収支を11年度までに黒字化する財政再建目標については「達成すべく努力する」との表現にとどまり「確実に達成する」とした昨年度から後退した。3年をめどに当面は景気対策を優先する姿勢を明確にする一方、消費税を含む税制抜本改革を10年代半ばまでに段階的に実行することも明記した。
政府は与党との調整を経て、来週にも閣議決定する方針だ。
基礎収支の黒字化は小泉政権下で策定した「骨太方針06」が掲げる財政再建の大目標。今回の基本方針ではそれを努力目標として維持しつつも「国民生活と日本経済を守ることを最優先する」と強調。雇用安定化策や減税措置など景気回復策を強化する姿勢を鮮明にした。(07:00)
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日本郵政、純利益2200億円 9月中間、金融危機で貯金回帰
日本郵政が28日発表した2008年9月中間決算は、純利益が2224億円と当初の通期利益予想（4400億円）の5割を超えた。金融危機の広がりで個人のお金が貯金に戻り始め、国債中心の運用で安定的に収益を上げた。ただ、効率化や新規事業の拡大といった「民営化の果実」はまだ見えず、改革加速が課題になる。
ゆうちょ銀行の純利益は1501億円でグループ全体の3分の2を稼ぎ出した。約200兆円の運用資産のうち、国債が156兆円を占める。株価の下落で 364億円を減損処理したが、国債一辺倒のいわば「周回遅れの運用」（日本郵政関係者）が金融危機の影響を最小限に食い止めた。
半期で5兆円の規模で続いていた貯金の流出にも歯止めが掛かり始めた。9月末は半年前に比べて約3兆円減と減少幅が縮小。新規の預け入れも増えているという。金融危機による「投資から貯蓄へ」の動きが追い風だ。(07:00)
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定額給付金、国が説明会 実例乏しく自治体困惑
総務省は28日、都道府県と政令市の担当者を対象に、定額給付金事業の説明会を開いた。「基本形」として所得制限は設けないとしたほか、郵送申請を活用して窓口に出向く住民を少なくするなど、自治体の負担を減らす手法を示した。ただ、生年月日の基準日や外国人の扱いなどでは未定事項も多く、すでに住民から多くの問い合わせを受ける自治体側の不安はくすぶったままだ。
「この内容じゃぁ、市町村に説明できないなぁ……」。説明会の後、栃木県の担当者は具体案の乏しさに不満を述べた。説明会に集まった担当者は今後、今回の内容を地元の市区町村に説明する。来週に地元で説明会を開く神奈川県も「本人確認の仕組みなど、実例が少なく説明が難しい」と困惑顔だ。(07:00)
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地震保険の保険料、ツーバイフォーは半額 09年秋から
地震保険の保険料が来秋から、建物の種類によって上がったり下がったりすることになった。ツーバイフォー工法の建物などは保険料が5割前後下がる一方、外壁が軽量気泡コンクリート（ＡＬＣ）の木造建物は30％上がる。
地震保険は地域や建物の耐震性によって保険料が違う。建物は耐震性が高い構造（イ構造）と低い構造（ロ構造）の2種類がある。地震保険料を決める損害保険料率算出機構が、どちらの建物に区分するかの判定方法を見直すことに伴い、一部の建物で保険料が変わる。料率機構によると、契約者全体の8％で保険料が下がり、1％で上がる。残りの約9割の人はそのままだ。
地震保険は火災保険とセットでしか加入できないので、来秋以降に火災保険を更新する際に新しい地震保険料を適用する。長期の火災保険に加入している人は、当面は影響がないことになる。
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ＵＣＣ上島珈琲の４―９月、最終利益79％増 増収増益
ＵＣＣ上島珈琲の2008年4―9月期の連結最終利益は前年同期比79.0％増の10億9400万円、売上高も同16.2％増の1628億2000万円と増収増益だった。北海道の食品卸を完全子会社にしたことが寄与した。ただコーヒー生豆相場が高くなる一方、製品価格の引き上げは進まず、単独最終利益は同44.7％減の1億3900万円だった。(20:33)
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石油元売り減産拡大 ガソリン低迷や輸出環境悪化
石油元売り各社が相次ぎ減産を拡大する。新日本石油は石油製品を生産するための原油処理量を11―12月で前年同期比21％減らし、出光興産も 10―12月で15％減に減産幅を広げる。原油相場の急落を受けガソリン店頭価格が下落しているが、販売量は低迷したまま。世界景気低迷で輸出環境も悪化しており、製油所の稼働率の維持が難しくなってきた。
新日石は従来、11月の原油処理量を前年同月比15％減と計画していたが、25％減に拡大。12月も同18％減らす。来年1月以後も需要が回復しなければ減産を継続する方針だ。(08:59)
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リチウムイオン電池の負極材 三菱化学、生産能力７割増強
三菱化学は2009年秋までに10億円を投じ、リチウムイオン二次電池の主要材料である負極材の生産能力を約7割増強する。携帯電話販売の不振などで足元の電池需要は伸び悩んでいるが、10年以降の需要回復と車載向け電池の成長を見込み、増産に踏み切る。
坂出事業所（香川県坂出市）に3つ目のラインを新設し、年産能力を現在の3000トンから5000トンに引き上げる。10年度にはさらに6000トンへの増強を検討する。同社の負極材の世界シェアは現在約15％で2位グループ。増産で首位の日立化成工業を追い上げる。(07:00)
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両陛下、元皇族らとカモ猟
天皇、皇后両陛下は29日、千葉県市川市の新浜鴨場を訪れ、皇族や元皇族らでつくる「菊栄親睦（しんぼく）会」の会員とカモ猟や昼食を共にされた。
鴨場でのカモ猟は、野生のカモを手持ちの網で無傷のまま捕獲し、標識をつけて放鳥するのが目的。宮内庁によると、両陛下がカモ猟をされるのは皇太子ご夫妻時代の1983年以来。(20:32)
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ブログで文科省幹部殺害予告 脅迫容疑で東大卒の男逮捕
「文部科学省の局長らを自宅で刺殺する」などとインターネットのブログに書き込んだとして、警視庁捜査1課は29日、東京都文京区、無職、前田記宏容疑者（25）を脅迫の疑いで逮捕した。調べに対し「自分1人でやった」と容疑を認めている。
同課によると、前田容疑者は東大を卒業し、その後は職につかなかった。調べに「理想を持って勉強してきたが、教科書の内容と違う現実があるのを知り、文科省に詐欺をされたと感じた」と供述しているという。
インターネットの掲示板などには今月上旬以降、文科省の幹部や東大教授に対する殺害予告の書き込みが相次いでおり、同課は余罪があるとみて調べを進めている。(19:12)
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脅迫：ブログに文科省幹部殺害予告 東大ＯＢ逮捕
自身のブログに文部科学省の幹部１０人の殺害予告を書き込んだとして、警視庁捜査１課は２９日、東京都文京区本駒込１、無職、前田記宏（ふみひろ）容疑者（２５）を脅迫容疑で逮捕した。前田容疑者は東京大卒で「理想を持って勉強してきたが、教科書の内容と違う現実があると知り、文科省に詐欺をされたと思い脅迫した」と供述している。
調べでは、前田容疑者は今月２０日午前８時～午後０時５０分ごろ、自宅のパソコンを使い、文科省の初等中等教育局長ら幹部１０人の名前を列記して「１週間以内に自宅で刺殺する」などとブログに書き込んだ疑い。
文科省は別のネット掲示板に同様の内容の書き込みがあったためホームページから１９日に幹部名簿を削除しており、この書き込みにも前田容疑者が関与したとみて追及する。
前田容疑者は他にも今月２日ごろから東大教授の殺害予告をブログに書き込んでいたとみられ、調べを進める。
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韓国、純債務国に転落…８年ぶり、市場介入響く
韓国銀行（中央銀行）が２８日発表した９月末の国際投資対照表によると、対外債権から対外債務を差し引いた対外純債務は２５１億ドル（約２兆４０００億円）となり、約８年ぶりに純債務国に転落した。
通貨当局が、ウォン買い支えのための市場介入で、保有するドル資産を売却したことが大きく影響した。
対外債権が３９９９億９０００万ドルと６月末に比べ２２３億５０００万ドルも減少した一方、対外債務は４４億４０００万ドル増の４２５０億９０００万ドルだった。（共同）
ZAKZAK 2008/11/29
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伊、「ポルノ税」導入…金融危機で、税額２５％
ＡＮＳＡ通信によると、イタリア政府は２８日、金融危機による税収減対策や景気刺激策に必要な財源確保のため、ＤＶＤや雑誌などポルノ関連商品の販売から得られる２００８年度以降の所得に２５％の税を課す「ポルノ税」の導入を決めた。
一時下院議員に転身したチチョリーナさんらのスターを輩出した同国ポルノ産業の総売り上げは、年間約１０億ユーロ（約１２１０億円）に上るとの統計もあり、政府にとっては大きな歳入源となる。
対象は有料テレビやネット上での映像、画像を含むあらゆるポルノ関連商品で、具体的に何がポルノに当たるかについては文化省が検討、２カ月以内に公表する。
ポルノ税は少子化対策に伴う歳入不足から、０５年にも導入が決定されたが「特定の産業だけへの課税」などの批判を受け結局、実施が見送られた経緯がある。（共同）
ZAKZAK 2008/11/29
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羽賀研二、無罪判決も「もうタレント復活の目はない」
無罪判決で、笑みを浮かべる羽賀研二。芸能界復帰できるのか（クリックで拡大）
無罪判決で、笑みを浮かべる羽賀研二。芸能界復帰できるのか（クリックで拡大）
法廷に響き渡る嗚咽－。無罪判決に法廷で号泣したタレント、羽賀研二（４７）。未公開株をめぐる３億７０００万円の詐欺と恐喝未遂の罪に問われ、懲役８年を求刑されていた。２８日、大阪地裁で無罪となった羽賀の今後はどうなるか。
「僕は当初から不当逮捕だと思っていた」と力を込めるのはベテラン芸能リポーターの梨元勝氏。「羽賀の逮捕は捜査側の“目玉”にされた。もともと事件当時、東京にいた羽賀が当事者になりようがない。否認すると８カ月間、接見禁止にされた。国家権力の怖さを再確認した」と続けた。
公判で収入が断たれた中、弱気になった羽賀を支えたのは、２年前に結婚した元テレビ制作会社勤務の妻だったという。
愛車を売り、時計も売り、マンションも売りに出し、自ら介護の仕事をしながら羽賀を支えてきた。
さらにその妻を支えた人物がいる。「羽賀が前に所属していた事務所の社長夫人です。社長は昨年秋に亡くなりましたが、この社長夫人が羽賀の新妻を支えたから頑張れたんです」
梨元氏は、そう秘話を明かした。
一方、「もうタレント復活の目はない」と厳しい見方をするのは芸能評論家の肥留間正明氏。
「テレビがバラエティーで起用するかもしれないが、それをやったら世間から総スカンを食う。控訴審もあり、うかつに羽賀を起用するメディアはないでしょう。どんな小さなイベントでもコツコツと積み重ねて人間としての“誠意”を見せ続けるしかない」
無罪となっても検察側が控訴するのは確実。そもそもこの事件では、羽賀の共犯として逮捕された暴力団関係者に懲役３年６月（求刑懲役５年）の実刑判決が言い渡されている。この判決の整合性を取るためにも控訴は不可避とみられ、決着が付くのはまだまだ先になりそうだ。
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ヒ素：お茶に混入 飲んだ女性軽症－－兵庫・理研
兵庫県佐用町の独立行政法人「理化学研究所・播磨研究所」は２８日、所内でペットボトルのお茶を飲んだ放射光科学総合研究センターの研究系女性職員が体調を崩し、県警の分析の結果、お茶から微量のヒ素系化合物を検出したと発表した。職員は軽症。たつの署が傷害事件として調べている。最初に飲んだ際には異常はなかったといい、所内で混入した可能性が高いとみている。【丸井康充】
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金賢姫元死刑囚：「田口八重子さん、泣いてる姿目に浮かぶ」 韓国で手紙公開
【ソウル西脇真一】８７年に起きた大韓航空機爆破事件の実行犯、金賢姫（キムヒョンヒ）元死刑囚の手紙が韓国で公開された。金元死刑囚は、自分の日本語教育係で拉致被害者の田口八重子さん（行方不明時２２歳）について「『幼い２人の子に会いたい』と泣きながら、拉致されて来た自分の身の上を嘆いていた姿が目に浮かぶ」などとつづっている。
北朝鮮の民主化を求める団体の代表が１０月末、金元死刑囚の夫から手紙と写真を受け取り、韓国誌「月刊朝鮮」元編集長、趙甲済（チョガプチェ）氏が主宰するインターネットサイトで公開した。
手紙は便せんに７３枚。田口さんの長男の飯塚耕一郎さん（３１）を韓国でテレビで見て「大きい目がお母さんの面影を残している」「（耕一郎さんが）『お母さんの話を聞きたい』と言ったが、そうできないのが切なかった」と記している。
耕一郎さんは０４年２月、初めて長男であることを公にし、外務省を通じ金元死刑囚に情報提供を求める手紙を出していた。金元死刑囚は家族とともにソウルを離れ、ひっそり暮らしているという。
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認知症予防：頭と体の「運動」が効果 老人総合研など調査
有酸素運動と知的活動を続けるとお年寄りの脳機能がアップすることが、東京都世田谷区と都が所管する「老人総合研究所」（板橋区）の共同研究で確認された。認知症予防のため、国内で初めて長期的な追跡研究をしたという。
調査は０５～０７年度の３年間、区内の高齢者１３４人（平均年齢７２歳）を対象に実施した。研究所が用意した予防プログラムを続けてもらった後、脳の認知機能を調べる検査をし、プログラムに参加しなかった高齢者２５４人と比較した。
プログラムは、認知症の原因とされるたんぱく質を脳内にためないようにすることなどを目的に、１日３０分程度有酸素運動のウオーキングを続ける。同時に、パソコンを使ってミニコミ誌を作ったり、自ら料理メニューを考案して調理するなどの知的活動を週１回、続けてもらい、認知症で低下しがちな脳の機能を刺激した。
その結果を３年前と比べたところ、記憶機能はプログラムに参加しなかった高齢者が１３％の改善だったのに対し、参加者は２２％も良くなった。集中力などの注意機能は、非参加者で３％低下したが、参加者は７％良くなった。言語機能は非参加者の９％に対し参加者は１６％、思考機能は同じく０．２％に対して、４％良くなっていた。不参加でも改善するのは、同じ問題を複数回解くからで、参加者の向上が大きかった。
同研究所の矢冨直美主任研究員は「認知症予防には、知的活動と運動を習慣化し、長期間続けることが必要」と分析しており、区は今回のプログラムの内容を冊子にまとめ、地域での認知症予防に役立てる方針だ。【前谷宏】
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シティ：傘下の日興シティ信託銀売却へ
経営が悪化している米金融大手シティグループが、傘下の日興シティ信託銀行を売却する方針を固めたことが２９日、分かった。週明けにも売却先を決める入札が行われる見通しで、複数の大手信託銀行などが名乗りを上げるとみられる。米国発の金融危機の影響が、米シティの日本での業務にも波及した。
日興シティ信託銀は、日本で資産運用会社から受託した資産管理業務などを行っている。米シティと、その１００％子会社の日興シティホールディングス（ＨＤ）が折半出資し、資本金２００億円。０８年３月期の経常利益９億円。従業員１３６人（９月末）。
米シティは、総額４５０億ドル（約４兆３００００億円）の公的資金による資本注入を受け入れ、日本でも一部事業の見直しを迫られたとみられる。日興シティＨＤ傘下にはほか、個人向けの日興コーディアル証券、法人向けの日興シティグループ証券、資産運用会社の日興アセットマネジメントなどがある。
日興シティＨＤは「日本は重要な拠点の一つ」（幹部）と説明しているが、米シティが一層のリストラが必要と判断すれば、主要な傘下企業の売却を検討する可能性もありそうだ。【野原大輔】
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鯨肉：１７年ぶり輸入 政府承認、アイスランドから
【ロンドン共同】日本政府が９月、アイスランドからの鯨肉輸入を承認、９１年以来１７年ぶりに鯨肉輸入を再開したことが２９日、分かった。関係当局は「一部は通関を終え国内に出回った」と話している。アイスランドは０６年、商業捕鯨を２０年ぶりに再開。同じく再開を模索する日本は、鯨肉貿易を通じて国内外の捕鯨や関連産業を支える狙いとみられる。捕鯨や鯨肉貿易に反対する欧米諸国や環境保護団体などが対日批判を強めそうだ。
経済産業省、水産庁とも受け入れたクジラの種類や数量など詳細は「答えられない」としている。
鯨肉貿易は絶滅の危機にひんしている野生動物の国際取引を規制するワシントン条約に抵触するが、一部のクジラ種の捕獲について条約の規制に留保を付けている日本、アイスランド両国間の取引は違反ではないというのが日本の立場だ。
アイスランドは９１～０２年に国際捕鯨委員会（ＩＷＣ）を脱退。この間、加盟国の日本などと鯨肉取引ができなかった。０６年に商業捕鯨を再開したが国内需要が伸び悩み、０７年にいったん中断。０８年は計画枠いっぱいのミンククジラ４０頭を捕獲、輸出拡大を目指している。
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日韓歴史共同研究：半年延長、０９年１２月に報告書
【ソウル西脇真一】日韓両国の学識経験者による第２期「日韓歴史共同研究」の第４回全体会合が２９日、ソウルのホテルであった。終了後、日本側座長の鳥海靖・東大名誉教授と韓国側座長の趙●（チョ・グァン）高麗大教授が会見し、研究期間を当初目標より半年延長して０９年１２月に報告書をまとめることを明らかにした。また来月、東京で研究発表のシンポジウムを開催する。
●は王に光
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元若ノ鵬：「八百長告白はうそ、力士に謝りたい」…会見で
大相撲の八百長を週刊現代で告発後、一転して記事を否定する陳述書を東京地裁に提出した元幕内力士、若ノ鵬（２０）が２８日、東京都内で会見し、「八百長があったと言えば相撲に戻れるとだまされた。（記事で名指しした）力士に謝りたい」と謝罪した。
羽織はかま姿で会見した元若ノ鵬によると、取材を仲介した日本人男性から「八百長があったと言えば１週間で相撲に戻れる」と言われ虚偽の話をしたという。報じられた八百長の具体的なやり取りは、この男性が創作したといい、「取材後に男性から約２５０万円を受け取った」と話した。男性の身元は「家族に危険が及ぶので言えない」とした。
元若ノ鵬は「お母さんに本当のことを話しなさいと言われた。最低の男になっちゃった。自分の心はぐちゃぐちゃ」とうなだれて涙を流し、「相撲が大好き。相撲を取る気持ち、すごくあります」と相撲への未練を語った。ロシア帰国について代理人は「第三者の判断を仰ぎ、潔く受け止める」と語った。
元若ノ鵬は、大麻所持事件で日本相撲協会からの解雇を不服として、力士としての地位確認を求める訴訟を東京地裁に起こし、今月２０日と２５日に八百長を否定する陳述書を提出していた。
週刊現代編集部は「会見での主張は支離滅裂で、到底事実とは考えられない」とのコメントを出した。【銭場裕司】
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「私はウソをついた」…元若ノ鵬、記者会見開き謝罪
八百長問題で記者会見し、深々と頭を下げる元若ノ鵬＝竹田津敦史撮影
記者会見で、涙をぬぐう元若ノ鵬＝竹田津敦史撮影
大麻事件で日本相撲協会から解雇された後、「週刊現代」で大相撲の八百長疑惑を告発したロシア出身の元若ノ鵬（本名＝ガグロエフ・ソスラン）（２０）が２８日、東京・霞が関の司法記者クラブで記者会見し、「私はウソをついた。相撲協会や力士たちに迷惑をかけてすみません」と謝罪した。
元若ノ鵬は会見で、「ある仲介者から、告発すれば１～２週間で相撲界に戻れると言われた」と語り、仲介者から報酬として２５０万円を受け取ったことも明らかにした。千代大海や琴欧洲らを相手に八百長相撲を取ったという告発内容については、「仲介者が作った話」と述べた。
元若ノ鵬は２５日、同協会に力士としての地位確認を求めた訴訟の中で、八百長告発はウソだったとする陳述書を東京地裁に提出していた。
週刊現代編集部の話「元若ノ鵬の主張は支離滅裂で、到底事実とは考えられない。相撲協会に戻りたいあまり、１度は明かした八百長相撲を、今になって否定することは理解しがたい」
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元若ノ鵬「取材後２５０万円もらった」八百長告発めぐり
2008年11月28日20時40分
印刷
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写真弁護人らと記者会見にのぞんだ元若ノ鵬（中央）＝２８日午後、東京・霞が関、筋野健太撮影
写真記者会見する元若ノ鵬＝２８日午後、東京・霞が関、筋野健太撮影
「相撲に簡単に戻れると言われ信じた」――。大麻問題で日本相撲協会を解雇された元幕内力士の若ノ鵬（２０）が２８日、東京都内で記者会見し、「週刊現代」（講談社）での虚偽の八百長告発を謝罪した上で、取材後に計２５０万円を受け取ったことを明らかにした。週刊現代編集部は「会見の内容は極めて不可解」としている。
元若ノ鵬は力士としての地位確認を求めた訴訟で、八百長告発の内容を否定する陳述書を２５日付で東京地裁に提出している。
この日の会見で元若ノ鵬は、取材に応じた経緯について、ある親方の代理を名乗る仲介者から、八百長を告発すれば親方衆が問題視され、相撲協会も変わり、解雇が取り消されると示唆された、などと説明した。「本当に相撲に戻りたかった。力士や相撲協会に謝りたい。週刊現代は悪くない。私の口から出た話」と謝罪を繰り返した。
虚偽告発の内容については「（仲介者が）ストーリーとか全部考えた」と述べた。事前の打ち合わせで、モンゴル人力士や横綱の名前を３、４人挙げるよう求められ、取材の際には常に仲介者も同席したという。
２５０万円は、仲介者から受け取ったという。最初に約１００万円を受け取り、受け取った一部をロシアに送金したという。元若ノ鵬は「生活費に困っていた」と話した。
週刊現代編集部は「『虚偽の話をした』という主張は到底事実とは考えられない。八百長相撲をいまになって否定することは理解しがたい」との談話を出した。
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若ノ鵬、涙の謝罪…八百長告発ウソだった
大粒の涙を流した元若ノ鵬＝東京・霞が関の司法記者会
大麻所持で日本相撲協会を解雇された元幕内若ノ鵬（２０）＝本名ガグロエフ・ソスラン＝が同協会に解雇撤回を求めた訴訟で、２８日、週刊現代誌上での八百長告白が「うそだった」とする会見を東京・霞が関の司法記者会で開いた。２０日と２５日に裁判所に提出した陳述書に基づき、元若ノ鵬は「八百長はなかった」と弁明。実名を挙げた大関千代大海、魁皇、琴欧洲らに謝罪をするとともに、涙を流して角界復帰への思いを口にした。
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代理人の宮田眞弁護士に伴われた元若ノ鵬は目を伏したまま席に着いた。同弁護士に促されると、うそをついたことへの謝罪を始めた。「協会に謝りたい。大関千代大海、大関魁皇、大関琴欧洲すいませんでした。いいかげんなこと言った」と、たどたどしい言葉で週刊誌上で実名を挙げた力士についてわびた。
陳述書には、元若ノ鵬に「（八百長を告発すれば）ヒーローになれる。（相撲界に）戻れる」と、うその告白をするよう命じた日本人男性「Ｘ」が登場する。週刊現代には金銭授受の場面など詳細にわたって八百長告発記事が掲載されたが、元若ノ鵬はＸと打ち合わせて千代大海、魁皇らとの八百長の話を作り上げたと明かした。Ｘが理事同士の対立など角界の裏事情に詳しかったため、Ｘを信用したという。
Ｘの名前は「自身や家族に危険が及ぶ」との理由で「言えない」と明かさなかった。宮田弁護士はＸの名字しか知らず、会ったこともないとした。元若ノ鵬には報酬２５０万円がＸから支払われたが、金の出元について、元若ノ鵬は「知らない」とした。
解雇無効を求める訴訟は取り下げない方針。元若ノ鵬も日本滞在を希望しているが、在留資格や生活費の問題でいつまで滞在できるか見通しは不透明だ。「ロシアに帰る気はないのか」と問われると「自分の心はぐちゃぐちゃ。相撲は取りたいし…」と言葉を詰まらせ、大粒の涙を流した。元若ノ鵬側と週刊現代側とで言い分が対立しており、真実は闇の中だ。
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元若ノ鵬謝罪、250万円で八百長うそ告発
記者会見で涙をこらえ、顔をしかめる元若ノ鵬（撮影・神戸崇利）
記者会見で涙をこらえ、顔をしかめる元若ノ鵬（撮影・神戸崇利）
大麻問題で８月に日本相撲協会を解雇され、週刊現代（講談社）で現役力士の八百長を告発した元若ノ鵬（２０＝本名ガグロエフ・ソスラン）が、２８日に都内で会見。あらためて告発の内容はうそだったと主張した。「ある親方の代理」と名乗る男に促されての告発で、男から２５０万円を受け取ったことも明かした。元若ノ鵬は、既に地位保全を求める抗告手続きで提出した陳述書の中で、うその告発をしたことを示し、男を「Ｘ」として正体を明かさなかった。
羽織はかま姿の元若ノ鵬は、一連の八百長告発について謝罪した。八百長について「ない。はっきり言えます」と断言し、告発した４人の現役力士の名前を１人１人挙げて、「謝りたい」と涙した。
陳述書によると、「相撲界を正したい」と考える親方３人に頼まれた男「Ｘ」から電話を受け、八百長告発を促されたという。この日は「（告発すれば）１、２週間で相撲界に戻れると言われ、信じてしまった」と説明。告発記事の内容は「Ｘ」がつくったもので、週刊現代の取材後には「Ｘ」から「現金で２５０万円もらった」とも明かした。だが、相撲界に復帰できる兆しが見えず、不信感が募ったという。
席上、「だまされた」という言葉を繰り返した。「Ｘ」は現在連絡がつかず、名前については「家族の身の危険を感じるから」と口を閉ざした。陳述書には、「Ｘ」がロシアマフィアとのつながりを誇示していた旨が記載されている。
２７日に、既に「八百長記事はうそだった」とする陳述書を提出していることが判明した。それを受けて、週刊現代が「元若ノ鵬は２７日の面談で『そんな陳述していない』と話した」とコメントを出したが、会見で元若ノ鵬は「言ってない」と否定。整合性のない不透明な部分は、まだ残っている。
「相撲界に戻れると思うのか」との質問に、元若ノ鵬は「戻れるかは分からない。でも、相撲大好きです」と答えた。代理人の宮田真弁護士は「第三者（裁判所）の判定を受ける権利はあると思う。だが生活の問題もある」と力なく話した。収入もなく、現在の住居も週刊現代を通して借りている厳しい状態という。【今井恵太】
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週刊現代は「30時間以上も話聞いた」
元若ノ鵬が八百長記事を否定したことに対して、週刊現代側は２７日、本人と直接会って事実関係の確認をしたとした上で、「（元若ノ鵬は）『全く知らない。そんな陳述は一切していない』と否定した。３０時間以上もインタビューして記事を執筆している」とした。さらに「宮田弁護士が発言内容を撤回するよう元若ノ鵬を説得していると耳にした。どういうやりとりがあったのか、強い関心を持っている」と書面でコメントした。
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週刊現代「録音記録存在、極めて不可解」
元若ノ鵬の会見を受け、週刊現代編集部は以下のようなコメントを出した。
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記者会見での若ノ鵬と宮田真弁護士の主張は支離滅裂という印象を受けた。「Ｘ氏なる人物の立てた筋書きで週刊現代に虚偽の話をした」という主張は、到底事実とは考えられない。若ノ鵬は昨日（２７日）の本誌の面談取材に対し、週刊現代にこれまで告白した内容は八百長も含め真実である旨話しており、その録音記録も存在する。相撲協会に戻りたいあまり１度は明かした八百長相撲を、今になって否定するのは理解しがたい。会見の内容は極めて不可解なものであり、若ノ鵬がこうした主張をしなければならない背景になにがあるのか、強い関心を持っている。この問題についての本誌の見解と若ノ鵬が昨日の取材で語った内容を、次号（１２月１日発売）に掲載する。
［2008年11月29日9時48分 紙面から］
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元若ノ鵬 週刊現代での「八百長告発はウソ」の怪
11月29日 14時24分
大麻所持で日本相撲協会を解雇され、その後「週刊現代」で大相撲の八百長を現役力士の実名を挙げて告発した元若ノ鵬（20）が、28日に会見を行い、週刊現代に語った内容が虚偽だったと話した。元若ノ鵬は「八百長があったと言えば相撲の世界に戻れる」とインタビューを仲介した人物から言われたため、虚偽の内容をその人物と協議の上週刊現代に語ったという。
今回の件についてベテラン雑誌記者は「こんな無茶苦茶な例は滅多にないですよ！」と驚く。というのも、通常記事でモメるのは「あんなことは言ってない」と取材された側から編集部にクレームが来た時であり、取材された側が「あれはウソでした」と告白することは滅多にないからだ。
また、週刊現代関係者も「何が何やらわからないですよ。こっちも寝耳に水で、困惑しています！」と語った。
弁護士の指示により、憔悴しきったイメージづくりのためにボサボサの髪、不精ヒゲで会見を行ったり、日本相撲協会に対し「不当解雇」と訴えを起こしたり「策士」ぶりが目立っていた元若ノ鵬。今回もなんらかの「策」があるのか？
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露鵬＆白露山 仮処分申請で稽古や給与要求
大麻問題で日本相撲協会を解雇されたロシア出身の元露鵬と元白露山の兄弟が、処分保留を求めた仮処分申請で、相撲部屋での稽古や給与の支払いなどを求めていることが２７日、分かった。東京地裁で仮処分申請の第１回審尋（意見や主張を裁判所に提出）が行われ、会見した塩谷安男弁護士が明らかにした。
２人は角界への復帰に備えてマゲを切らず、ウエートトレなどを行っているが、相撲の稽古のために“古巣”に戻って稽古することを希望。元露鵬は大嶽親方（元関脇・貴闘力）、元白露山は北の湖親方（元横綱）に連絡をとったという。塩谷弁護士は「彼らの話では“仮処分申請が認められたら仕方ないだろう”と師匠から言われたようです」と説明したが、本紙の取材に対し、大嶽親方は「意味がよく分からない」と困惑した。
兄弟は家賃３０万円の都内のマンションで、両親と妹の５人で貯金を取り崩しながら生活。大麻問題で解雇されたロシア出身の元若ノ鵬は、八百長報道で協会と係争中の週刊現代で八百長を告発したが、塩谷弁護士は「２人にも話があったが、必要がないのでノーコメントで通した」と話した。
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元露鵬と元白露山が仮処分でけいこ参加要求
日本相撲協会を不当解雇で提訴している元露鵬（２８）、元白露山（２６）の仮処分申請への第１回審尋が２７日、東京地裁で行われた。裁判官と双方の弁護士が出席し、約１０分で終了。第１回口頭弁論が１２月１日に開かれる。
露鵬側の塩谷安男弁護士によると、２人は仮処分申請で、本訴の結果が出るまでの給料の支払い保証に加え、部屋でのけいこ参加を要求。九州場所前には、仮処分が認められた場合のけいこ参加の是非を、在籍していた大嶽部屋と北の湖部屋の師匠に打診。「２人が言うには、両親方とも裁判所が認めれば断れない、と答えたと聞きました」と塩谷弁護士。仮処分申請の結果は早ければ年内に出るが、協会が解雇した力士が部屋のけいこに参加するという前代未聞の事態が起きる可能性が浮上した。
２人は現在も日本に滞在し、まげも落とさず筋力トレーニングを続けている。出版社から告白本執筆、週刊現代からは告発を依頼されたが断ったという。「協会に戻りたいわけですから波風は立てません」同弁護士は２人の心中を代弁していた。
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元露鵬＆元白露山の仮処分申し立て審尋開始
大麻の尿検査で陽性反応が出たことから９月に日本相撲協会を解雇されたロシア出身の元露鵬（２８）と元白露山（２６）の兄弟が、力士としての地位保全を求めた仮処分申し立ての第１回審尋が２７日、東京地裁で行われた。
代理人の塩谷安男弁護士によると土俵復帰の意思は変わらず、マゲも切らずにトレーニングしているという。仮処分申請が認められた場合「前向きに検討すると聞いている」（同弁護士）という北の湖部屋に、けいこに出向く可能性もあるとした。
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元露鵬と元白露山はトレーニング中
大麻問題で９月に日本相撲協会を解雇された元幕内露鵬（２８）と元十両白露山（２６）の力士としての地位保全を求める仮処分の審尋手続きが２７日、東京地裁で行われた。２人は姿を見せなかったが、代理人の塩谷安男弁護士は「１日も早く（相撲界に）戻りたい、けいこをしたいという思いが強くなっている」と代弁。現在、２人は復帰を信じてトレーニングに励んでいるという。また、在留期間について同弁護士は「入国管理局に事情を説明したところ、興行ビザの更新期日の来年６月までは日本に滞在できるとのことだった」と話した。
By Peter Garnham
Published: November 28 2008 11:09 | Last updated: November 28 2008 11:09
The Central Bank of Russia let the rouble weaken by 1 per cent against its euro/dollar basket on Friday, the third time it has allowed the currency to depreciate this month.
The rouble is tightly managed against a basket of 55 per cent dollars and 45 per cent euros by the Russian authorities.
Up until August, the rouble had been steadily appreciating, as rising commodity prices boosted mineral-rich Russia’s current account and fiscal surpluses.
However, since then the rouble has come under intense pressure as falling oil prices threaten to wipe out the country’s current account surplus and turmoil on financial markets has prompted investors to flee emerging markets.
The Russian authorities have been forced to use the country’s foreign exchange stockpile to defend the rouble from speculative attack.
This has seen its currency stockpiles shrink by $150bn, although they still stand at about $450bn according to the latest figures.
On November 11, the Russian central bank allowed the rouble to weaken by one per cent, taking it down to 30.71 against its basket.
A similar move on Monday allowed the rouble to drop to 31.01, while on Friday the authorities allowed the currency to fall to 31.28.
The Russian central bank has stated that the rouble will be allowed to depreciate, but only gradually.
Tatiana Orlova at ING Financial Markets said the small devaluation moves are happening quicker than she expected.
One reason for this could be the recent weakness of the dollar against the euro, which could mask the rouble devaluation from ordinary Russians, she said.
“This is indeed good timing as due to the relative dollar weakness. Dollar/rouble rates in exchange offices are not rising and thus the population may overlook the move.”
Also, she said the Russian authorities were likely to have been alarmed by the release of October trade data, which showed a collapse in exports that halved the monthly trade surplus.
“The current account must be rapidly approaching the red, and the central bank is rushing to weaken the real rouble exchange rate to prompt a correction in imports,” said Ms Orlova.
Analysts said the small, incremental moves in the exchange rate were doing more harm than good.
Instead of settling the market, the policy was giving rise to rampant speculation about the size and timing of the central bank’s next move.
Lutz Karpowitz at Commerzbank Bank said a significant slide in the rouble could no longer be avoided.
“Had the central bank decided on a substantially bigger downward step, there would have been at least the chance that the market would accept the new level,” he said.
“All the signs now are that the central bank will have to keep pumping vast amounts of currency reserves into the market to defend the new level.”
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Icelanders collapse in laughter
By David Ibison in Stockholm
Published: November 28 2008 18:28 | Last updated: November 28 2008 18:56
With a its banking system in crisis, violent demonstrations in Reykjavik, a punishing recession on the way and soaring inflation, there may not seem much to laugh about in Iceland.
But Icelanders take pride in their darkly ironic sense of humour. The latest example is The Crisis Game, a board game that takes a grimly comical swipe at the financial crisis that has devastated the economy.
Jonas Antonsson, the chief executive of Gogogic, the company developing the game, says these are the kinds of harsh circumstance in which Icelanders show their resilience.
“If we are going to get out of this, then it is humour that is going to get us there,” he said.
The Crisis Game was developed, appropriately enough, by an Icelander who had himself been sacked as a result of the downturn and, “instead of sitting around, doing nothing”, suggested the idea to Mr Antonsson.
It is a fairly standard board game that involves throwing dice and picking up cards that take players on a giddy boom-and-bust journey that will see them buy a private jet and obtain a foreign loan before being brought back to earth with a bump.
Gogogic asked Icelanders to make suggestions via the internet for the content of cards. The contributions open a window on Icelandic attitudes to the crisis, providing real-time satirical commentary on the extraordinary events of the past couple of months.
Players can pick up a card that reads: “Go to demonstrate at parliament, stop to buy some eggs to throw, only to realise that prices have gone up so much you can’t afford them.”
Despite the humour, the game does convey a serious message, argues Mr Antonsson. “Things can’t continue like they were.”
As Icelanders are suffering, he will try to keep the cost of the game as low as possible, although, in true Icelandic style, he hopes to make a profit. As for Gogogic, it is in no danger of becoming an irony-loaded question in its own game. “We didn’t take any foreign loans,” Mr Antonsson says.
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Houses in London rich spots lose more
By Sharlene Goff
Published: November 29 2008 03:44 | Last updated: November 29 2008 03:44
Houses in the most exclusive parts of London are now depreciating in value at a faster rate than flats, according to data from Knight Frank, the estate agent.
Property prices in prime central London, which covers areas such as Mayfair, Kensington, Notting Hill and Chelsea, fell by 3.6 per cent in November, slightly lower than the previous month’s decline but still the second-largest fall on record.
Prices have fallen 9.3 per cent in the past three months and are now 14.1 per cent lower than this time last year, according to Saturday’s Knight Frank data.
The agent said all parts of prime central London and all types of property had suffered falls in prices. Houses saw a sharper price reduction than flats in November.
“Prices for prime central London property have now been falling for eight consecutive months,” said Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank.
“In previous months we noted that super-prime properties had remained immune from the downturn and that houses were performing better than flats.
“Neither of these trends has continued into the final quarter of the year.”
Houses in prime areas fell by 4.1 per cent in November, compared with a decline of 3.2 per cent for flats. Mr Bailey said values of “super-prime” property – houses worth £10m ($15.3m) or more – had suffered three months of consecutive falls and were now 7.5 per cent lower than the peak in August.
Estate agents have reported sharp cuts in asking prices as vendors grow more realistic about the market. Robert Bartlett, managing director of Chesterton, said some properties were selling for about 25 per cent less than their 2007 value. The latest poll from Chesterton put Islington, Kensington and Chelsea and Wandsworth among the worst performing parts of London.
Meanwhile, Land Registry figures, released on Friday, showed a 10.1 per cent annual house price fall across the UK. The monthly fall in October was 1.5 per cent, taking prices back to the levels of summer 2006.
The Land Registry said sales volumes in England and Wales remained low.
There were an average of 54,488 recorded property transactions each month between May and August this year, compared with 118,165 in the same months last year. Properties sold in London for over £1m fell by 63 per cent between August 2007 and August 2008.
Agents have, however, seen an uplift in buyer interest in recent weeks, particularly from foreign buyers who will benefit from the weakening of the pound.
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Mood sours at Moscow’s millionaires’ fair
By Charles Clover in Moscow
Published: November 29 2008 02:06 | Last updated: November 29 2008 02:06
Moscow’s annual “Millionaires’ fair” has become an institution of sorts – a celebration of ostentatious consumption for its own sake, as well as a convenient one-stop shop for helicopters, private tropical islands, Swiss watches, motor yachts and designer statues among other must-haves.
For three days every year, all the trappings of the leisure class that a busy oligarch needs are to be found in one tidy pavilion just outside Moscow’s ring road.
But this year, as financial crisis takes the lustre off the economy, there were fewer clients, and more journalists than in other years, the former there to look rather than buy, the latter there to document with ill-disguised schadenfreude the bonfire of Russia’s vanities.
“You are the 1,001th person today to ask me how the financial crisis has affected business,” said Aleksei Belkov of Chromov, a company that restores 1950 and 1960s Jaguars and Mercedes. “The answer is not at all. We have a four-year pipeline of orders, and so maybe we’ll see this affect things four years from now. But today we’re doing fine.”
Not everyone was so sanguine though: “Is business down? Of course it is,” said Shazad Ali, who sells Salvatore Ferragamo branded luxury apartments in Dubai starting at $8m (€6.3bn, £5.2bn) apiece.
“Most of our customers are in the $100m net worth range, and even if you’ve lost half of that, you’re still living comfortably. But mostly they are waiting for the next few months, to see how bad things can get.”
Russia’s stock market has fallen 75 per cent since May on the back of global economic turmoil and the war in Georgia in August, and Bloomberg has estimated Russia’s oligarchs lost more than $230bn in holdings.
This has put a dent in luxury brands for whom Russian consumers have accounted for much of recent sales growth. Richard Orme, managing director of Large Yacht Solutions, which had a display stand at the fair, estimates that Russians now make up to 20 per cent of the company’s clients, up from almost none five years ago, and for that reason he bought a booth at this year’s fair for the first time.
But a 50ft motor yacht costs about $26m, and the credit to buy one has dried up. “It has definitely put a dent in business, anything that requires credit has been hit,” said Mr Orme.
Many retailers like Russian clients not just for their huge disposable incomes, but also for being a select but not a very selective crowd. Irina Parizhkaya, a rep for Italian fur coat designer Wonderfur, said: “Russian customers generally don’t ask very many questions about what they are buying.
“They either like it or they don’t. They come with their wife or girlfriend, she points at something, the man buys it, no questions, it is easy.”
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Anger at ‘heavy-handed’ arrest of MP
By Jean Eaglesham, Alex Barker and Sue Cameron
Published: November 28 2008 21:37 | Last updated: November 28 2008 21:37
MPs from all parties on Friday expressed outrage at the “tinpot dictatorship” treatment of Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, as speculation raged about who had ordered his arrest under terror laws.
Mr Green spent nine hours in police custody on Thursday night in connection with the leaking of sensitive Home Office documents to newspapers.
He was released without charge after a day of extraordinary police action that is likely to have significant repercussions for how parliament and Whitehall are run.
David Cameron, the Tory leader, warned that ministers, as well as the police, had “questions to answer” after the unprecedented and “heavy-handed” action against Mr Green. “Ministers must explain what they were told and, if they weren’t told, why not,” he said.
The scale of the police operation provoked Tory comparisons with a police state, Zimbabwe and – from Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader – a “tinpot dictatorship, not a modern democracy”. About 20 police – including counterterrorism officers – were involved in the operation to raid and search two of Mr Green’s homes and his constituency and Commons offices.
The wider use of anti-terrorist powers
Regulation Investigating Powers Act
Poole council used the act to follow a family and check whether they had been cheating the school catchments system. Another council used the powers to clamp down on dog fouling
Aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office
The common-law offence under which Damian Green was arrested. Yesterday a prosecution of a local newspaper journalist for the same offence collapsed after police bugging evidence was declared inadmissible
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act
The Treasury deployed the act to seize assets of a collapsed Icelandic bank in October. It was the first time the sweeping discretion the law offers to combat “action to the detriment of the UK’s economy” was used in a non-terrorist case
Public Order Act
Civil rights group Liberty is concerned over the use of public order powers in cases of legitimate protests. A protester with a placard reading, “Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult”, got a summons on the basis it was “threatening, abusive or insulting”
Section 44 of the Terrorism Act
Police were given the right to search suspects if it was deemed “expedient for the prevention of acts of terrorism”. These powers have been used against protesters, including an 82-year-old heckler at a Labour party conference
Alex Barker
Mr Green’s wife, who was present when the officers arrived at their west London home, told friends that “her blood ran cold” when they entered carrying search warrants. Mr Green’s teenage daughter “burst into tears”.
Nine officers wearing purple rubber gloves combed through Mr Green’s files in the conservatory, his computer and papers in the office.
The search lasted for more than six hours. Mr Green’s BlackBerry, mobile phone and dozens of documents were seized as evidence, with his parliamentary e-mail disabled during Thursday.
The police action followed an investigation into a series of leaks from the Home Office, including a letter from Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, to the prime minister, warning that the recession might lead to an increase in crime. This mole hunt led to a junior official being arrested and suspended from the Home Office on November 19, and subsequently to Mr Green’s arrest.
The Tories adamantly denied any wrongdoing by the shadow minister, rejecting any suggestion he had encouraged the leaking by offering the official cash or “any other inducement”. Party insiders said the mole had approached Mr Green for a job some time ago and had been turned down.
The focus of political attention was on Friday on who had authorised and known about the police investigation into the leaks. Sir David Normington, the Home Office permanent secretary, said “ministers were not involved in the decision to seek police assistance or in the subsequent investigation and were only told of the arrest after it had occurred”.
The investigation was authorised by Sir Gus O’Donnell, the country’s top civil servant, it emerged. Officials told the FT that both Gordon Brown and Ms Smith were informed that the police had been asked to investigate, although they were not told a shadow minister was involved.
Sir Gus was asked to call in the police by Sir David. Ministers have denied that they knew of the arrest in advance but last night Whitehall insiders were incredulous at the idea that Sir Gus and Sir David did not immediately inform ministers once they were told what the police were about to do. As one Home Office figure put it: “There is only one rule – no surprises.”
Before conducting the raids the police informed Boris Johnson, the London mayor who has an oversight role over the Metropolitan police, Sir David, and the sergeant at arms, the leading official in the House of Commons. Michael Martin, the Speaker, has declined to comment on what warning he was given or whether he permitted the police to enter the premises.
Mr Brown said: “I had no knowledge, the home secretary had no prior knowledge.” But the Tories said they were “not satisfied with the answers we’ve been given so far” about ministers’ involvement.
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Hedge funds hit by fresh wave of withdrawals
By James Mackintosh
Published: November 29 2008 01:03 | Last updated: November 29 2008 01:03
Hedge funds have been hit by a fresh wave of withdrawals as investors search for cash, prompting more funds to impose emergency measures to block repayments.
London Diversified Fund Management, one of Britain’s best-known fixed-income managers, on Friday suspended both its hedge funds as trading conditions in the derivatives markets created valuation difficulties ahead of redemptions.
LDFM, founded by former JPMorgan bankers David Gorton and Rob Standing, manages close to $3bn (£1.9bn), down from a peak of $8bn after its main fund fell 23 per cent this year and investors pulled out. LDFM is joining a roster of hundreds of hedge funds in restricting withdrawals, with investors and prime brokers estimating as many as a fifth have suspended or limited what investors can get back as they have their worst year on record.
This week CQS, a London convertible bond specialist run by former Credit Suisse banker Michael Hintze, began canvassing investors on whether it should change the terms of its main fund to allow it to restrict withdrawals if markets worsen next year.
Morgan Stanley said there has been a sharp rise in redemption requests by hedge fund investors as the year-end repayment date approaches. The bank, the biggest prime broker, estimates year-end redemptions for funds that require 45 days’ notice for withdrawals of money, are running at 18 per cent, against 9 per cent for funds which required 90 days’ notice.
Huw van Steenis, analyst at Morgan Stanley, said industry assets could shrink 35-45 per cent from June’s $1,930bn by the first quarter of next year, as heavy redemptions added to the pain of poor performance.
On his “bear” scenario, the industry could plunge to $900bn by the end of next year. He said European and Asian hedge funds were being hit hardest, with 25-30 per cent withdrawals in the second half of this year, against 15-20 per cent in the US.
“We think redemptions in the States will play catch-me-up in the first quarter [of 2009],” he said.
Some funds of hedge funds are being hit hard as the hedge funds in which they invest restrict withdrawals.
Two Bank of New York Mellon funds of hedge funds told investors this week they planned to restructure because almost a third of the funds in which they invest had limited redemptions. The Sanctuary I and II funds will split into continuing and wind-down classes, with pay-outs of about a third of the wind-down class expected early next year.
On Friday, London’s $4.3bn Atlas Capital, owned by New York-based Sciens Capital Management, suspended withdrawals from a dozen funds of hedge funds, while Crédit Agricole and Grenfell PAI each suspended a fund of funds as underlying hedge funds restricted withdrawals.
“We have seen really accelerating redemptions around the 30 per cent level,” said Derek Stewart, a director of Mellon Global Alternative Investments, which manages the Sanctuary I and II funds. “The reason for doing this [restructuring] is purely to protect the interest of investors.”
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Saudi king says 75 dollar oil price 'fair'
5 hours 18 mins ago
AFP
* Print Story
King Abdullah of OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia said in an interview published on Saturday that oil prices of 75 dollars a barrel would be "fair". Skip related content
His comments appeared in a Kuwaiti newspaper on the day OPEC was meeting in Cairo to review the turmoil in the world oil market and decide whether another crude output cut is needed to stop prices tumbling lower.
"We think that a fair price of oil is 75 dollars a barrel," the Saudi monarch told As-Sieysah newspaper.
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Bank of China opens private bank business in Geneva
Yesterday, 06:05 pm
AFP
Bank of China on Friday said it has opened a private bank and institutional asset management arm in Switzerland, marking the group's first step in the private banking business abroad.
Kenneth Ge, who chairs Bank of China (Suisse) SA, told reporters in Geneva that BOC had only begun offering private banking services in China last year, but the group was now already looking at expanding abroad.
"We are considering starting offices in other areas. Switzerland is just a start. Switzerland is the first but it will not be the last," he said.
BOC Suisse would not reveal its business targets, but the bank's chief executive officer Jacques Mechelany said it was hoping to attract wealthy Chinese who may be seeking to park their assets offshore.
Chinese law allows residents to move up to 50,000 dollars out of the country annually, but the regulation could in future be revised.
"Our plan is to start from a non-existant situation to get to a recognised solution in private banking and institutional management," said Mechelany.
The current financial turmoil was both good and bad news for the new operations, Mechelany said.
On the one hand, clients that have lost money in the turmoil may be more reluctant to move their assets, but on the other hand, others are seeking to change banks for the same reason.
BOC had also been able to have a good pick of talent thanks to the turmoil, he said.
BOC in October posted 26.3 billion yuan (3.8 billion dollars) in potential losses on assets for the third quarter, partially related to US subprime mortgage-backed securities.
China's largest foreign exchange bank also reported a net profit of 17.8 billion yuan in the third quarter, up 11.5 percent from a year earlier.
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Government takes 58 percent stake in RBS
Reuters Steve Slater
The government bought a majority stake in one of the country's biggest banks and Germany's Commerzbank accelerated its takeover of a rival as the shake-up of European banks gathered pace with help from taxpayers and shareholders.
Britain's move was the latest attempt by countries around the world to shore up ailing banks amid a global credit crisis and give them a more solid footing for looming recession.
Shareholders in Royal Bank of Scotland shunned its share offer, leaving the government to take a 58 percent stake for 15 billion pounds.
In contrast, Spain's Santander said investors had signed up for all of its 7.2 billion euro (6 billion pound) rights issue, which will beef up its capital ratios.
Commerzbank, which has taken 8.2 billion euros from the German government to prop up its flagging finances, cheered investors by saying its purchase price of Dresdner Bank would be 4.7 billion euros less than first envisaged in August and is speeding up the deal.
Insurer Allianz , which is selling Dresdner and will get an 18 percent stake in the enlarged Commerzbank, said the takeover could go ahead six to nine months ahead of plan.
"In the current situation on the financial markets, an accelerated takeover of Dresdner by Commerzbank is to the advantage of all parties," said Allianz Chief Executive Michael Diekmann. [nLR119230]
Commerzbank shares surged by as much as 19 percent on the news and ended up 4.9 percent and Allianz jumped 9 percent.
The DJ Stoxx Europe bank sector ended up 1.2 percent to 169.07 points.
The index has tumbled over 60 percent this year and investors in many banks have suffered big dilution from fundraisings, but those banks that raised cash should now be well positioned for the downturn, some investors said.
"The dilution has happened and now the banks are well capitalised, they can cope with the bad debts that are inevitably coming, and now people can look at the underlying businesses," said Alan Beaney at Principal Investment Management, which holds shares in most UK banks.
In the United States, shares of Citigroup rallied for fourth straight session, more than doubling their price in the week, as investors expressed relief that the second-largest U.S. bank by assets won a government bailout last weekend.
Shares of rival JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp , which had not been as badly bruised as Citigroup shares, rose a respective 39.3 percent and 41.7 percent this week, as the plan reassured investors that the U.S. government would not let another big bank fail.
IRISH PRESSURE
RBS, one of Europe's biggest banks until losses on risky U.S. assets and last year's purchase of parts of Dutch bank ABN AMRO overwhelmed its balance sheet, said investors took just 0.2 percent of its 15 billion pound share offer.
A low take-up had been expected due to RBS's depressed share price and left the government to pick up almost all the shares.
Ireland's banks were under pressure as speculation grew that the sector needs to be recapitalised or consolidated, and shares in Anglo Irish Bank tumbled 19 percent.
Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan is working "very hard" to find a solution for the sector, the chairman of one of the banks said following talks.
Other banks showed the impact of strains from the crisis.
Profits at Austrian cooperative bank Raiffeisen Zentralbank will be hurt by writedowns on its exposure to Lehman Brothers and its Icelandic debt assets, but it expects to turn a profit for 2008, its chief executive said.
Dutch group ING said it plans to repay its 10 billion euro state injection when profits normalise or when its stock price goes back up.
But Chinese insurer Ping An is asking China to help seek compensation from Belgium over its losses in Dutch-Belgian financial group Fortis after it was nationalised, a government source said on Friday.
Ping An booked a $2.3 billion (1.5 billion pounds) loss on its investment in Fortis after marking down the value of its 5 percent stake.
The source familiar with the situation told Reuters Ping An believes the Belgian government's role in carving up Fortis along national lines last month is tantamount to confiscation and it wants to pursue compensation.
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Recent German banking sector mergers
Reuters
(Reuters) - Commerzbank AG's deal to buy Dresdner Bank is the latest acquisition in the consolidating German bank sector. Following is a summary of a dozen major mergers of recent years:
April 2001 - Allianz buys Dresdner Bank for 24 billion euros (19.9 billion pounds).
June 2005 - Italy's No. 1 lender, UniCredit , pays nearly 20 billion euros to take over Munich-based HVB.
October 2005 - Deutsche Postbank buys mortgage lender BHW for 1.8 billion euros.
November 2005 - Commerzbank pays 4.5 billion euros to take over property financier Eurohypo, in which it held a one-third stake, by buying out the other two large shareholders, Dresdner Bank and Deutsche Bank .
December 2005 - U.S. private equity investor Lone Star buys troubled Allgemeine Hypothekenbank Rheinboden (known today as Corealcredit), whose bad debts and interest rate speculation had threatened to make it Germany's biggest bank failure in 30 years.
June 2006 - Germany's biggest bank Deutsche Bank buys Berliner Bank for 680 million euros and a few weeks later buys 98 Norisbank branches for 420 million euros.
June 2007 - Around 450 savings banks claim victory in a months-long battle to buy Landesbank Berlin (LBB) , paying more than 5 billion euros to keep the regional state-sector lender from falling into private-sector hands.
July 2007 - Property investment bank Hypo Real Estate unveils a 5.5 billion takeover of Depfa Bank, a lender to governments.
December 2007 - Germany's biggest regional state-backed lender, LBBW , takes over fellow landesbank SachsenLB in an emergency rescue.
July 2008 - France's Credit Mutuel pays around 5 billion euros for Citigroup's retail banking operations in Germany.
August 2008 - U.S. private equity outfit Lone Star pays over 100 million euros for IKB , a troubled lender to medium-sized companies, from state development bank KfW after a series of state-led bailouts costing some 8.5 billion euros.
November 2008 - Commerzbank seals its takeover of Dresdner Bank months ahead of schedule.
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元厚生次官宅連続襲撃事件ーーやはり出て来た小泉毅容疑野と闇社会関係との接点
カテゴリ: 医療・健康 :
執筆者: Yamaoka (6:20 pm)
本紙はこの事件に関し、先日、小泉毅容疑者と暴力団などの闇社会との間に何らかの接点があるのではないかとの一部の見方を紹介した。
そうしたところ、まったく別の筋から、具体的な組織名が出て来た。また、その世界に詳しい関係者に聞いたところ、小泉容疑者がその組織に出入りしていたことを認めたため、以下、ひとつの問題提起として紹介する。
具体的に出ている組織名は２つ。
80年代半ば、小泉容疑者が東京近辺のコンピュータ関連会社などに務めていた時分に出入りしていたとされる
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ゴルフ会員権、バブル後最安値 中小企業・個人、換金売り
ゴルフ会員権の取引価格が急落し、バブル崩壊後の最安値を5年半ぶりに更新した。株安や年末を控えた資金対策などで、一部の名門コースを除き個人や中小企業の換金売りが増えている。個人の消費・投資マインドの冷え込みの深刻さを示しているといえそうだ。
会員権仲介最大手の住地ゴルフ（東京・中央）によると、11月下旬の取引価格は全国平均が177万円。2003年6月につけた187万円を下回り、バブル後の最安値となった。最近の高値である07年5月の264万円から33％値下がりした。関東地区平均も180万円、関西も161万円とともに最安値を下回った。(16:00)
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基礎収支11年度黒字化、「努力」目標に後退 諮問会議
政府の経済財政諮問会議は28日、2009年度予算編成の基本方針を了承した。国と地方を合わせた基礎的財政収支を11年度までに黒字化する財政再建目標については「達成すべく努力する」との表現にとどまり「確実に達成する」とした昨年度から後退した。3年をめどに当面は景気対策を優先する姿勢を明確にする一方、消費税を含む税制抜本改革を10年代半ばまでに段階的に実行することも明記した。
政府は与党との調整を経て、来週にも閣議決定する方針だ。
基礎収支の黒字化は小泉政権下で策定した「骨太方針06」が掲げる財政再建の大目標。今回の基本方針ではそれを努力目標として維持しつつも「国民生活と日本経済を守ることを最優先する」と強調。雇用安定化策や減税措置など景気回復策を強化する姿勢を鮮明にした。(07:00)
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日本郵政、純利益2200億円 9月中間、金融危機で貯金回帰
日本郵政が28日発表した2008年9月中間決算は、純利益が2224億円と当初の通期利益予想（4400億円）の5割を超えた。金融危機の広がりで個人のお金が貯金に戻り始め、国債中心の運用で安定的に収益を上げた。ただ、効率化や新規事業の拡大といった「民営化の果実」はまだ見えず、改革加速が課題になる。
ゆうちょ銀行の純利益は1501億円でグループ全体の3分の2を稼ぎ出した。約200兆円の運用資産のうち、国債が156兆円を占める。株価の下落で 364億円を減損処理したが、国債一辺倒のいわば「周回遅れの運用」（日本郵政関係者）が金融危機の影響を最小限に食い止めた。
半期で5兆円の規模で続いていた貯金の流出にも歯止めが掛かり始めた。9月末は半年前に比べて約3兆円減と減少幅が縮小。新規の預け入れも増えているという。金融危機による「投資から貯蓄へ」の動きが追い風だ。(07:00)
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定額給付金、国が説明会 実例乏しく自治体困惑
総務省は28日、都道府県と政令市の担当者を対象に、定額給付金事業の説明会を開いた。「基本形」として所得制限は設けないとしたほか、郵送申請を活用して窓口に出向く住民を少なくするなど、自治体の負担を減らす手法を示した。ただ、生年月日の基準日や外国人の扱いなどでは未定事項も多く、すでに住民から多くの問い合わせを受ける自治体側の不安はくすぶったままだ。
「この内容じゃぁ、市町村に説明できないなぁ……」。説明会の後、栃木県の担当者は具体案の乏しさに不満を述べた。説明会に集まった担当者は今後、今回の内容を地元の市区町村に説明する。来週に地元で説明会を開く神奈川県も「本人確認の仕組みなど、実例が少なく説明が難しい」と困惑顔だ。(07:00)
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地震保険の保険料、ツーバイフォーは半額 09年秋から
地震保険の保険料が来秋から、建物の種類によって上がったり下がったりすることになった。ツーバイフォー工法の建物などは保険料が5割前後下がる一方、外壁が軽量気泡コンクリート（ＡＬＣ）の木造建物は30％上がる。
地震保険は地域や建物の耐震性によって保険料が違う。建物は耐震性が高い構造（イ構造）と低い構造（ロ構造）の2種類がある。地震保険料を決める損害保険料率算出機構が、どちらの建物に区分するかの判定方法を見直すことに伴い、一部の建物で保険料が変わる。料率機構によると、契約者全体の8％で保険料が下がり、1％で上がる。残りの約9割の人はそのままだ。
地震保険は火災保険とセットでしか加入できないので、来秋以降に火災保険を更新する際に新しい地震保険料を適用する。長期の火災保険に加入している人は、当面は影響がないことになる。
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ＵＣＣ上島珈琲の４―９月、最終利益79％増 増収増益
ＵＣＣ上島珈琲の2008年4―9月期の連結最終利益は前年同期比79.0％増の10億9400万円、売上高も同16.2％増の1628億2000万円と増収増益だった。北海道の食品卸を完全子会社にしたことが寄与した。ただコーヒー生豆相場が高くなる一方、製品価格の引き上げは進まず、単独最終利益は同44.7％減の1億3900万円だった。(20:33)
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石油元売り減産拡大 ガソリン低迷や輸出環境悪化
石油元売り各社が相次ぎ減産を拡大する。新日本石油は石油製品を生産するための原油処理量を11―12月で前年同期比21％減らし、出光興産も 10―12月で15％減に減産幅を広げる。原油相場の急落を受けガソリン店頭価格が下落しているが、販売量は低迷したまま。世界景気低迷で輸出環境も悪化しており、製油所の稼働率の維持が難しくなってきた。
新日石は従来、11月の原油処理量を前年同月比15％減と計画していたが、25％減に拡大。12月も同18％減らす。来年1月以後も需要が回復しなければ減産を継続する方針だ。(08:59)
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リチウムイオン電池の負極材 三菱化学、生産能力７割増強
三菱化学は2009年秋までに10億円を投じ、リチウムイオン二次電池の主要材料である負極材の生産能力を約7割増強する。携帯電話販売の不振などで足元の電池需要は伸び悩んでいるが、10年以降の需要回復と車載向け電池の成長を見込み、増産に踏み切る。
坂出事業所（香川県坂出市）に3つ目のラインを新設し、年産能力を現在の3000トンから5000トンに引き上げる。10年度にはさらに6000トンへの増強を検討する。同社の負極材の世界シェアは現在約15％で2位グループ。増産で首位の日立化成工業を追い上げる。(07:00)
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両陛下、元皇族らとカモ猟
天皇、皇后両陛下は29日、千葉県市川市の新浜鴨場を訪れ、皇族や元皇族らでつくる「菊栄親睦（しんぼく）会」の会員とカモ猟や昼食を共にされた。
鴨場でのカモ猟は、野生のカモを手持ちの網で無傷のまま捕獲し、標識をつけて放鳥するのが目的。宮内庁によると、両陛下がカモ猟をされるのは皇太子ご夫妻時代の1983年以来。(20:32)
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ブログで文科省幹部殺害予告 脅迫容疑で東大卒の男逮捕
「文部科学省の局長らを自宅で刺殺する」などとインターネットのブログに書き込んだとして、警視庁捜査1課は29日、東京都文京区、無職、前田記宏容疑者（25）を脅迫の疑いで逮捕した。調べに対し「自分1人でやった」と容疑を認めている。
同課によると、前田容疑者は東大を卒業し、その後は職につかなかった。調べに「理想を持って勉強してきたが、教科書の内容と違う現実があるのを知り、文科省に詐欺をされたと感じた」と供述しているという。
インターネットの掲示板などには今月上旬以降、文科省の幹部や東大教授に対する殺害予告の書き込みが相次いでおり、同課は余罪があるとみて調べを進めている。(19:12)
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脅迫：ブログに文科省幹部殺害予告 東大ＯＢ逮捕
自身のブログに文部科学省の幹部１０人の殺害予告を書き込んだとして、警視庁捜査１課は２９日、東京都文京区本駒込１、無職、前田記宏（ふみひろ）容疑者（２５）を脅迫容疑で逮捕した。前田容疑者は東京大卒で「理想を持って勉強してきたが、教科書の内容と違う現実があると知り、文科省に詐欺をされたと思い脅迫した」と供述している。
調べでは、前田容疑者は今月２０日午前８時～午後０時５０分ごろ、自宅のパソコンを使い、文科省の初等中等教育局長ら幹部１０人の名前を列記して「１週間以内に自宅で刺殺する」などとブログに書き込んだ疑い。
文科省は別のネット掲示板に同様の内容の書き込みがあったためホームページから１９日に幹部名簿を削除しており、この書き込みにも前田容疑者が関与したとみて追及する。
前田容疑者は他にも今月２日ごろから東大教授の殺害予告をブログに書き込んでいたとみられ、調べを進める。
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韓国、純債務国に転落…８年ぶり、市場介入響く
韓国銀行（中央銀行）が２８日発表した９月末の国際投資対照表によると、対外債権から対外債務を差し引いた対外純債務は２５１億ドル（約２兆４０００億円）となり、約８年ぶりに純債務国に転落した。
通貨当局が、ウォン買い支えのための市場介入で、保有するドル資産を売却したことが大きく影響した。
対外債権が３９９９億９０００万ドルと６月末に比べ２２３億５０００万ドルも減少した一方、対外債務は４４億４０００万ドル増の４２５０億９０００万ドルだった。（共同）
ZAKZAK 2008/11/29
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伊、「ポルノ税」導入…金融危機で、税額２５％
ＡＮＳＡ通信によると、イタリア政府は２８日、金融危機による税収減対策や景気刺激策に必要な財源確保のため、ＤＶＤや雑誌などポルノ関連商品の販売から得られる２００８年度以降の所得に２５％の税を課す「ポルノ税」の導入を決めた。
一時下院議員に転身したチチョリーナさんらのスターを輩出した同国ポルノ産業の総売り上げは、年間約１０億ユーロ（約１２１０億円）に上るとの統計もあり、政府にとっては大きな歳入源となる。
対象は有料テレビやネット上での映像、画像を含むあらゆるポルノ関連商品で、具体的に何がポルノに当たるかについては文化省が検討、２カ月以内に公表する。
ポルノ税は少子化対策に伴う歳入不足から、０５年にも導入が決定されたが「特定の産業だけへの課税」などの批判を受け結局、実施が見送られた経緯がある。（共同）
ZAKZAK 2008/11/29
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羽賀研二、無罪判決も「もうタレント復活の目はない」
無罪判決で、笑みを浮かべる羽賀研二。芸能界復帰できるのか（クリックで拡大）
無罪判決で、笑みを浮かべる羽賀研二。芸能界復帰できるのか（クリックで拡大）
法廷に響き渡る嗚咽－。無罪判決に法廷で号泣したタレント、羽賀研二（４７）。未公開株をめぐる３億７０００万円の詐欺と恐喝未遂の罪に問われ、懲役８年を求刑されていた。２８日、大阪地裁で無罪となった羽賀の今後はどうなるか。
「僕は当初から不当逮捕だと思っていた」と力を込めるのはベテラン芸能リポーターの梨元勝氏。「羽賀の逮捕は捜査側の“目玉”にされた。もともと事件当時、東京にいた羽賀が当事者になりようがない。否認すると８カ月間、接見禁止にされた。国家権力の怖さを再確認した」と続けた。
公判で収入が断たれた中、弱気になった羽賀を支えたのは、２年前に結婚した元テレビ制作会社勤務の妻だったという。
愛車を売り、時計も売り、マンションも売りに出し、自ら介護の仕事をしながら羽賀を支えてきた。
さらにその妻を支えた人物がいる。「羽賀が前に所属していた事務所の社長夫人です。社長は昨年秋に亡くなりましたが、この社長夫人が羽賀の新妻を支えたから頑張れたんです」
梨元氏は、そう秘話を明かした。
一方、「もうタレント復活の目はない」と厳しい見方をするのは芸能評論家の肥留間正明氏。
「テレビがバラエティーで起用するかもしれないが、それをやったら世間から総スカンを食う。控訴審もあり、うかつに羽賀を起用するメディアはないでしょう。どんな小さなイベントでもコツコツと積み重ねて人間としての“誠意”を見せ続けるしかない」
無罪となっても検察側が控訴するのは確実。そもそもこの事件では、羽賀の共犯として逮捕された暴力団関係者に懲役３年６月（求刑懲役５年）の実刑判決が言い渡されている。この判決の整合性を取るためにも控訴は不可避とみられ、決着が付くのはまだまだ先になりそうだ。
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ヒ素：お茶に混入 飲んだ女性軽症－－兵庫・理研
兵庫県佐用町の独立行政法人「理化学研究所・播磨研究所」は２８日、所内でペットボトルのお茶を飲んだ放射光科学総合研究センターの研究系女性職員が体調を崩し、県警の分析の結果、お茶から微量のヒ素系化合物を検出したと発表した。職員は軽症。たつの署が傷害事件として調べている。最初に飲んだ際には異常はなかったといい、所内で混入した可能性が高いとみている。【丸井康充】
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金賢姫元死刑囚：「田口八重子さん、泣いてる姿目に浮かぶ」 韓国で手紙公開
【ソウル西脇真一】８７年に起きた大韓航空機爆破事件の実行犯、金賢姫（キムヒョンヒ）元死刑囚の手紙が韓国で公開された。金元死刑囚は、自分の日本語教育係で拉致被害者の田口八重子さん（行方不明時２２歳）について「『幼い２人の子に会いたい』と泣きながら、拉致されて来た自分の身の上を嘆いていた姿が目に浮かぶ」などとつづっている。
北朝鮮の民主化を求める団体の代表が１０月末、金元死刑囚の夫から手紙と写真を受け取り、韓国誌「月刊朝鮮」元編集長、趙甲済（チョガプチェ）氏が主宰するインターネットサイトで公開した。
手紙は便せんに７３枚。田口さんの長男の飯塚耕一郎さん（３１）を韓国でテレビで見て「大きい目がお母さんの面影を残している」「（耕一郎さんが）『お母さんの話を聞きたい』と言ったが、そうできないのが切なかった」と記している。
耕一郎さんは０４年２月、初めて長男であることを公にし、外務省を通じ金元死刑囚に情報提供を求める手紙を出していた。金元死刑囚は家族とともにソウルを離れ、ひっそり暮らしているという。
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認知症予防：頭と体の「運動」が効果 老人総合研など調査
有酸素運動と知的活動を続けるとお年寄りの脳機能がアップすることが、東京都世田谷区と都が所管する「老人総合研究所」（板橋区）の共同研究で確認された。認知症予防のため、国内で初めて長期的な追跡研究をしたという。
調査は０５～０７年度の３年間、区内の高齢者１３４人（平均年齢７２歳）を対象に実施した。研究所が用意した予防プログラムを続けてもらった後、脳の認知機能を調べる検査をし、プログラムに参加しなかった高齢者２５４人と比較した。
プログラムは、認知症の原因とされるたんぱく質を脳内にためないようにすることなどを目的に、１日３０分程度有酸素運動のウオーキングを続ける。同時に、パソコンを使ってミニコミ誌を作ったり、自ら料理メニューを考案して調理するなどの知的活動を週１回、続けてもらい、認知症で低下しがちな脳の機能を刺激した。
その結果を３年前と比べたところ、記憶機能はプログラムに参加しなかった高齢者が１３％の改善だったのに対し、参加者は２２％も良くなった。集中力などの注意機能は、非参加者で３％低下したが、参加者は７％良くなった。言語機能は非参加者の９％に対し参加者は１６％、思考機能は同じく０．２％に対して、４％良くなっていた。不参加でも改善するのは、同じ問題を複数回解くからで、参加者の向上が大きかった。
同研究所の矢冨直美主任研究員は「認知症予防には、知的活動と運動を習慣化し、長期間続けることが必要」と分析しており、区は今回のプログラムの内容を冊子にまとめ、地域での認知症予防に役立てる方針だ。【前谷宏】
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シティ：傘下の日興シティ信託銀売却へ
経営が悪化している米金融大手シティグループが、傘下の日興シティ信託銀行を売却する方針を固めたことが２９日、分かった。週明けにも売却先を決める入札が行われる見通しで、複数の大手信託銀行などが名乗りを上げるとみられる。米国発の金融危機の影響が、米シティの日本での業務にも波及した。
日興シティ信託銀は、日本で資産運用会社から受託した資産管理業務などを行っている。米シティと、その１００％子会社の日興シティホールディングス（ＨＤ）が折半出資し、資本金２００億円。０８年３月期の経常利益９億円。従業員１３６人（９月末）。
米シティは、総額４５０億ドル（約４兆３００００億円）の公的資金による資本注入を受け入れ、日本でも一部事業の見直しを迫られたとみられる。日興シティＨＤ傘下にはほか、個人向けの日興コーディアル証券、法人向けの日興シティグループ証券、資産運用会社の日興アセットマネジメントなどがある。
日興シティＨＤは「日本は重要な拠点の一つ」（幹部）と説明しているが、米シティが一層のリストラが必要と判断すれば、主要な傘下企業の売却を検討する可能性もありそうだ。【野原大輔】
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鯨肉：１７年ぶり輸入 政府承認、アイスランドから
【ロンドン共同】日本政府が９月、アイスランドからの鯨肉輸入を承認、９１年以来１７年ぶりに鯨肉輸入を再開したことが２９日、分かった。関係当局は「一部は通関を終え国内に出回った」と話している。アイスランドは０６年、商業捕鯨を２０年ぶりに再開。同じく再開を模索する日本は、鯨肉貿易を通じて国内外の捕鯨や関連産業を支える狙いとみられる。捕鯨や鯨肉貿易に反対する欧米諸国や環境保護団体などが対日批判を強めそうだ。
経済産業省、水産庁とも受け入れたクジラの種類や数量など詳細は「答えられない」としている。
鯨肉貿易は絶滅の危機にひんしている野生動物の国際取引を規制するワシントン条約に抵触するが、一部のクジラ種の捕獲について条約の規制に留保を付けている日本、アイスランド両国間の取引は違反ではないというのが日本の立場だ。
アイスランドは９１～０２年に国際捕鯨委員会（ＩＷＣ）を脱退。この間、加盟国の日本などと鯨肉取引ができなかった。０６年に商業捕鯨を再開したが国内需要が伸び悩み、０７年にいったん中断。０８年は計画枠いっぱいのミンククジラ４０頭を捕獲、輸出拡大を目指している。
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日韓歴史共同研究：半年延長、０９年１２月に報告書
【ソウル西脇真一】日韓両国の学識経験者による第２期「日韓歴史共同研究」の第４回全体会合が２９日、ソウルのホテルであった。終了後、日本側座長の鳥海靖・東大名誉教授と韓国側座長の趙●（チョ・グァン）高麗大教授が会見し、研究期間を当初目標より半年延長して０９年１２月に報告書をまとめることを明らかにした。また来月、東京で研究発表のシンポジウムを開催する。
●は王に光
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元若ノ鵬：「八百長告白はうそ、力士に謝りたい」…会見で
大相撲の八百長を週刊現代で告発後、一転して記事を否定する陳述書を東京地裁に提出した元幕内力士、若ノ鵬（２０）が２８日、東京都内で会見し、「八百長があったと言えば相撲に戻れるとだまされた。（記事で名指しした）力士に謝りたい」と謝罪した。
羽織はかま姿で会見した元若ノ鵬によると、取材を仲介した日本人男性から「八百長があったと言えば１週間で相撲に戻れる」と言われ虚偽の話をしたという。報じられた八百長の具体的なやり取りは、この男性が創作したといい、「取材後に男性から約２５０万円を受け取った」と話した。男性の身元は「家族に危険が及ぶので言えない」とした。
元若ノ鵬は「お母さんに本当のことを話しなさいと言われた。最低の男になっちゃった。自分の心はぐちゃぐちゃ」とうなだれて涙を流し、「相撲が大好き。相撲を取る気持ち、すごくあります」と相撲への未練を語った。ロシア帰国について代理人は「第三者の判断を仰ぎ、潔く受け止める」と語った。
元若ノ鵬は、大麻所持事件で日本相撲協会からの解雇を不服として、力士としての地位確認を求める訴訟を東京地裁に起こし、今月２０日と２５日に八百長を否定する陳述書を提出していた。
週刊現代編集部は「会見での主張は支離滅裂で、到底事実とは考えられない」とのコメントを出した。【銭場裕司】
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「私はウソをついた」…元若ノ鵬、記者会見開き謝罪
八百長問題で記者会見し、深々と頭を下げる元若ノ鵬＝竹田津敦史撮影
記者会見で、涙をぬぐう元若ノ鵬＝竹田津敦史撮影
大麻事件で日本相撲協会から解雇された後、「週刊現代」で大相撲の八百長疑惑を告発したロシア出身の元若ノ鵬（本名＝ガグロエフ・ソスラン）（２０）が２８日、東京・霞が関の司法記者クラブで記者会見し、「私はウソをついた。相撲協会や力士たちに迷惑をかけてすみません」と謝罪した。
元若ノ鵬は会見で、「ある仲介者から、告発すれば１～２週間で相撲界に戻れると言われた」と語り、仲介者から報酬として２５０万円を受け取ったことも明らかにした。千代大海や琴欧洲らを相手に八百長相撲を取ったという告発内容については、「仲介者が作った話」と述べた。
元若ノ鵬は２５日、同協会に力士としての地位確認を求めた訴訟の中で、八百長告発はウソだったとする陳述書を東京地裁に提出していた。
週刊現代編集部の話「元若ノ鵬の主張は支離滅裂で、到底事実とは考えられない。相撲協会に戻りたいあまり、１度は明かした八百長相撲を、今になって否定することは理解しがたい」
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元若ノ鵬「取材後２５０万円もらった」八百長告発めぐり
2008年11月28日20時40分
印刷
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写真弁護人らと記者会見にのぞんだ元若ノ鵬（中央）＝２８日午後、東京・霞が関、筋野健太撮影
写真記者会見する元若ノ鵬＝２８日午後、東京・霞が関、筋野健太撮影
「相撲に簡単に戻れると言われ信じた」――。大麻問題で日本相撲協会を解雇された元幕内力士の若ノ鵬（２０）が２８日、東京都内で記者会見し、「週刊現代」（講談社）での虚偽の八百長告発を謝罪した上で、取材後に計２５０万円を受け取ったことを明らかにした。週刊現代編集部は「会見の内容は極めて不可解」としている。
元若ノ鵬は力士としての地位確認を求めた訴訟で、八百長告発の内容を否定する陳述書を２５日付で東京地裁に提出している。
この日の会見で元若ノ鵬は、取材に応じた経緯について、ある親方の代理を名乗る仲介者から、八百長を告発すれば親方衆が問題視され、相撲協会も変わり、解雇が取り消されると示唆された、などと説明した。「本当に相撲に戻りたかった。力士や相撲協会に謝りたい。週刊現代は悪くない。私の口から出た話」と謝罪を繰り返した。
虚偽告発の内容については「（仲介者が）ストーリーとか全部考えた」と述べた。事前の打ち合わせで、モンゴル人力士や横綱の名前を３、４人挙げるよう求められ、取材の際には常に仲介者も同席したという。
２５０万円は、仲介者から受け取ったという。最初に約１００万円を受け取り、受け取った一部をロシアに送金したという。元若ノ鵬は「生活費に困っていた」と話した。
週刊現代編集部は「『虚偽の話をした』という主張は到底事実とは考えられない。八百長相撲をいまになって否定することは理解しがたい」との談話を出した。
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若ノ鵬、涙の謝罪…八百長告発ウソだった
大粒の涙を流した元若ノ鵬＝東京・霞が関の司法記者会
大麻所持で日本相撲協会を解雇された元幕内若ノ鵬（２０）＝本名ガグロエフ・ソスラン＝が同協会に解雇撤回を求めた訴訟で、２８日、週刊現代誌上での八百長告白が「うそだった」とする会見を東京・霞が関の司法記者会で開いた。２０日と２５日に裁判所に提出した陳述書に基づき、元若ノ鵬は「八百長はなかった」と弁明。実名を挙げた大関千代大海、魁皇、琴欧洲らに謝罪をするとともに、涙を流して角界復帰への思いを口にした。
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代理人の宮田眞弁護士に伴われた元若ノ鵬は目を伏したまま席に着いた。同弁護士に促されると、うそをついたことへの謝罪を始めた。「協会に謝りたい。大関千代大海、大関魁皇、大関琴欧洲すいませんでした。いいかげんなこと言った」と、たどたどしい言葉で週刊誌上で実名を挙げた力士についてわびた。
陳述書には、元若ノ鵬に「（八百長を告発すれば）ヒーローになれる。（相撲界に）戻れる」と、うその告白をするよう命じた日本人男性「Ｘ」が登場する。週刊現代には金銭授受の場面など詳細にわたって八百長告発記事が掲載されたが、元若ノ鵬はＸと打ち合わせて千代大海、魁皇らとの八百長の話を作り上げたと明かした。Ｘが理事同士の対立など角界の裏事情に詳しかったため、Ｘを信用したという。
Ｘの名前は「自身や家族に危険が及ぶ」との理由で「言えない」と明かさなかった。宮田弁護士はＸの名字しか知らず、会ったこともないとした。元若ノ鵬には報酬２５０万円がＸから支払われたが、金の出元について、元若ノ鵬は「知らない」とした。
解雇無効を求める訴訟は取り下げない方針。元若ノ鵬も日本滞在を希望しているが、在留資格や生活費の問題でいつまで滞在できるか見通しは不透明だ。「ロシアに帰る気はないのか」と問われると「自分の心はぐちゃぐちゃ。相撲は取りたいし…」と言葉を詰まらせ、大粒の涙を流した。元若ノ鵬側と週刊現代側とで言い分が対立しており、真実は闇の中だ。
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元若ノ鵬謝罪、250万円で八百長うそ告発
記者会見で涙をこらえ、顔をしかめる元若ノ鵬（撮影・神戸崇利）
記者会見で涙をこらえ、顔をしかめる元若ノ鵬（撮影・神戸崇利）
大麻問題で８月に日本相撲協会を解雇され、週刊現代（講談社）で現役力士の八百長を告発した元若ノ鵬（２０＝本名ガグロエフ・ソスラン）が、２８日に都内で会見。あらためて告発の内容はうそだったと主張した。「ある親方の代理」と名乗る男に促されての告発で、男から２５０万円を受け取ったことも明かした。元若ノ鵬は、既に地位保全を求める抗告手続きで提出した陳述書の中で、うその告発をしたことを示し、男を「Ｘ」として正体を明かさなかった。
羽織はかま姿の元若ノ鵬は、一連の八百長告発について謝罪した。八百長について「ない。はっきり言えます」と断言し、告発した４人の現役力士の名前を１人１人挙げて、「謝りたい」と涙した。
陳述書によると、「相撲界を正したい」と考える親方３人に頼まれた男「Ｘ」から電話を受け、八百長告発を促されたという。この日は「（告発すれば）１、２週間で相撲界に戻れると言われ、信じてしまった」と説明。告発記事の内容は「Ｘ」がつくったもので、週刊現代の取材後には「Ｘ」から「現金で２５０万円もらった」とも明かした。だが、相撲界に復帰できる兆しが見えず、不信感が募ったという。
席上、「だまされた」という言葉を繰り返した。「Ｘ」は現在連絡がつかず、名前については「家族の身の危険を感じるから」と口を閉ざした。陳述書には、「Ｘ」がロシアマフィアとのつながりを誇示していた旨が記載されている。
２７日に、既に「八百長記事はうそだった」とする陳述書を提出していることが判明した。それを受けて、週刊現代が「元若ノ鵬は２７日の面談で『そんな陳述していない』と話した」とコメントを出したが、会見で元若ノ鵬は「言ってない」と否定。整合性のない不透明な部分は、まだ残っている。
「相撲界に戻れると思うのか」との質問に、元若ノ鵬は「戻れるかは分からない。でも、相撲大好きです」と答えた。代理人の宮田真弁護士は「第三者（裁判所）の判定を受ける権利はあると思う。だが生活の問題もある」と力なく話した。収入もなく、現在の住居も週刊現代を通して借りている厳しい状態という。【今井恵太】
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週刊現代は「30時間以上も話聞いた」
元若ノ鵬が八百長記事を否定したことに対して、週刊現代側は２７日、本人と直接会って事実関係の確認をしたとした上で、「（元若ノ鵬は）『全く知らない。そんな陳述は一切していない』と否定した。３０時間以上もインタビューして記事を執筆している」とした。さらに「宮田弁護士が発言内容を撤回するよう元若ノ鵬を説得していると耳にした。どういうやりとりがあったのか、強い関心を持っている」と書面でコメントした。
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週刊現代「録音記録存在、極めて不可解」
元若ノ鵬の会見を受け、週刊現代編集部は以下のようなコメントを出した。
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記者会見での若ノ鵬と宮田真弁護士の主張は支離滅裂という印象を受けた。「Ｘ氏なる人物の立てた筋書きで週刊現代に虚偽の話をした」という主張は、到底事実とは考えられない。若ノ鵬は昨日（２７日）の本誌の面談取材に対し、週刊現代にこれまで告白した内容は八百長も含め真実である旨話しており、その録音記録も存在する。相撲協会に戻りたいあまり１度は明かした八百長相撲を、今になって否定するのは理解しがたい。会見の内容は極めて不可解なものであり、若ノ鵬がこうした主張をしなければならない背景になにがあるのか、強い関心を持っている。この問題についての本誌の見解と若ノ鵬が昨日の取材で語った内容を、次号（１２月１日発売）に掲載する。
［2008年11月29日9時48分 紙面から］
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元若ノ鵬 週刊現代での「八百長告発はウソ」の怪
11月29日 14時24分
大麻所持で日本相撲協会を解雇され、その後「週刊現代」で大相撲の八百長を現役力士の実名を挙げて告発した元若ノ鵬（20）が、28日に会見を行い、週刊現代に語った内容が虚偽だったと話した。元若ノ鵬は「八百長があったと言えば相撲の世界に戻れる」とインタビューを仲介した人物から言われたため、虚偽の内容をその人物と協議の上週刊現代に語ったという。
今回の件についてベテラン雑誌記者は「こんな無茶苦茶な例は滅多にないですよ！」と驚く。というのも、通常記事でモメるのは「あんなことは言ってない」と取材された側から編集部にクレームが来た時であり、取材された側が「あれはウソでした」と告白することは滅多にないからだ。
また、週刊現代関係者も「何が何やらわからないですよ。こっちも寝耳に水で、困惑しています！」と語った。
弁護士の指示により、憔悴しきったイメージづくりのためにボサボサの髪、不精ヒゲで会見を行ったり、日本相撲協会に対し「不当解雇」と訴えを起こしたり「策士」ぶりが目立っていた元若ノ鵬。今回もなんらかの「策」があるのか？
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露鵬＆白露山 仮処分申請で稽古や給与要求
大麻問題で日本相撲協会を解雇されたロシア出身の元露鵬と元白露山の兄弟が、処分保留を求めた仮処分申請で、相撲部屋での稽古や給与の支払いなどを求めていることが２７日、分かった。東京地裁で仮処分申請の第１回審尋（意見や主張を裁判所に提出）が行われ、会見した塩谷安男弁護士が明らかにした。
２人は角界への復帰に備えてマゲを切らず、ウエートトレなどを行っているが、相撲の稽古のために“古巣”に戻って稽古することを希望。元露鵬は大嶽親方（元関脇・貴闘力）、元白露山は北の湖親方（元横綱）に連絡をとったという。塩谷弁護士は「彼らの話では“仮処分申請が認められたら仕方ないだろう”と師匠から言われたようです」と説明したが、本紙の取材に対し、大嶽親方は「意味がよく分からない」と困惑した。
兄弟は家賃３０万円の都内のマンションで、両親と妹の５人で貯金を取り崩しながら生活。大麻問題で解雇されたロシア出身の元若ノ鵬は、八百長報道で協会と係争中の週刊現代で八百長を告発したが、塩谷弁護士は「２人にも話があったが、必要がないのでノーコメントで通した」と話した。
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元露鵬と元白露山が仮処分でけいこ参加要求
日本相撲協会を不当解雇で提訴している元露鵬（２８）、元白露山（２６）の仮処分申請への第１回審尋が２７日、東京地裁で行われた。裁判官と双方の弁護士が出席し、約１０分で終了。第１回口頭弁論が１２月１日に開かれる。
露鵬側の塩谷安男弁護士によると、２人は仮処分申請で、本訴の結果が出るまでの給料の支払い保証に加え、部屋でのけいこ参加を要求。九州場所前には、仮処分が認められた場合のけいこ参加の是非を、在籍していた大嶽部屋と北の湖部屋の師匠に打診。「２人が言うには、両親方とも裁判所が認めれば断れない、と答えたと聞きました」と塩谷弁護士。仮処分申請の結果は早ければ年内に出るが、協会が解雇した力士が部屋のけいこに参加するという前代未聞の事態が起きる可能性が浮上した。
２人は現在も日本に滞在し、まげも落とさず筋力トレーニングを続けている。出版社から告白本執筆、週刊現代からは告発を依頼されたが断ったという。「協会に戻りたいわけですから波風は立てません」同弁護士は２人の心中を代弁していた。
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元露鵬＆元白露山の仮処分申し立て審尋開始
大麻の尿検査で陽性反応が出たことから９月に日本相撲協会を解雇されたロシア出身の元露鵬（２８）と元白露山（２６）の兄弟が、力士としての地位保全を求めた仮処分申し立ての第１回審尋が２７日、東京地裁で行われた。
代理人の塩谷安男弁護士によると土俵復帰の意思は変わらず、マゲも切らずにトレーニングしているという。仮処分申請が認められた場合「前向きに検討すると聞いている」（同弁護士）という北の湖部屋に、けいこに出向く可能性もあるとした。
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元露鵬と元白露山はトレーニング中
大麻問題で９月に日本相撲協会を解雇された元幕内露鵬（２８）と元十両白露山（２６）の力士としての地位保全を求める仮処分の審尋手続きが２７日、東京地裁で行われた。２人は姿を見せなかったが、代理人の塩谷安男弁護士は「１日も早く（相撲界に）戻りたい、けいこをしたいという思いが強くなっている」と代弁。現在、２人は復帰を信じてトレーニングに励んでいるという。また、在留期間について同弁護士は「入国管理局に事情を説明したところ、興行ビザの更新期日の来年６月までは日本に滞在できるとのことだった」と話した。
Friday, November 28, 2008
Satellite halts client withdrawals from 3 hedge funds: report
Satellite halts client withdrawals from 3 hedge funds: report
Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:44am EST
Nov 27 (Reuters) - Satellite Asset Management, founded by former employees of billionaire George Soros, stopped client withdrawals from its three largest hedge funds, Bloomberg reported.
The company also eliminated more than 30 jobs, after losses reduced the firm's assets to about $4 billion this year, according to the report.
Satellite Overseas Fund Ltd, Satellite Fund II LP and Satellite Credit Opportunities Ltd have declined as much as 35 percent in 2008, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with knowledge of the funds' performance.
The firm is retaining teams that trade bonds and loans and invest in companies going through events such as takeovers, Bloomberg said, citing the unnamed source. (Reporting by Ramya Dilip in Bangalore; Editing by Mike Nesbit)
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EU pressed for Congo force, Kinshasa vetoes Indians
Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:09am EST
By Joe Bavier
KINSHASA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Europe heard growing appeals on Thursday to rush a military force to east Congo until the arrival of U.N. reinforcements, from which diplomats said Kinshasa wants to exclude Indian troops.
Congolese President Joseph Kabila's government told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week it did not want Indian soldiers to be part of the 3,000 extra U.N. peacekeeping troops and police destined for east Congo, diplomats in Kinshasa said.
In a letter and verbal messages to Ban and U.N. officials, Democratic Republic of Congo's government said it was unhappy with Indian U.N. troops in North Kivu province, where they have been criticised for failing to stop rebel attacks and killings.
In an embarrassment for the U.N. mission in Congo (MONUC), the Indians have also been investigated for sexual misconduct and illicit gold and arms trading, and have faced accusations of showing support for Tutsi anti-government rebels led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda.
Congo's objections to Indian troops emerged as prominent world figures appealed to the European Union to help provide security for east Congo, where rebel advances since August have driven around a quarter of a million civilians from their homes.
The dignitaries, including former presidents of the Czech Republic, Ireland and South Africa, said an EU rapid reaction force should be deployed immediately.
"While the U.N. has authorised an additional 3,000 troops it will likely take between three and six months to deploy them. The Congolese people cannot wait," they said in a letter.
It said the EU could send one of its standing battle groups to help protect civilians which the U.N. says have suffered massacres, executions, rapes and torture by both sides.
Evoking previous massacres in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, the figures, among them Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu and billionaire investor George Soros, said world leaders had vowed never to let such atrocities happen again.
"It needs your personal political leadership to make sure this happens and ensure 'never again' really means never again," the letter addressed to European leaders said.
STRETCHED U.N. FORCE
Belgium said on Wednesday it could contribute to a possible European force in its former colony, where there are fears the latest conflict could escalate into a repeat of a devastating 1998-2003 war that sucked in neighbouring states.
But there have been doubts about the idea of a European force for Congo among some EU members, a number of whom already have military commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Nothing is off the table, but our main priority is to strengthen MONUC," said Nick Kay, British ambassador to Congo.
The U.N. force in Congo, at 17,000-strong the largest peacekeeping mission in the world, has said it cannot provide total security in North Kivu, stretched as it already is over a country the size of Western Europe, where armed groups abound.
In their objections to the Indian peacekeepers, Congolese officials described them as "an instrument of destabilisation" but have sought to minimise the diplomatic sensitivity of their move by trying not to mention India in public statements.
"They mean the Indians, it's well known," another western diplomat told Reuters.
Humanitarian agencies say they cannot work without more protection.
Rebel chief Nkunda has pledged to respect a ceasefire, but hundreds of Congolese civilians fled east into Uganda on Wednesday to escape Tutsi rebel operations against their traditional Rwandan Hutu militia enemies in the province.
MONUC said these actions violated the ceasefire.
Nkunda cites the presence of the Rwandan Hutu FDLR militia as the justification for a rebellion he says aims to defend Tutsis. The FDLR includes perpetrators of Rwanda's 1994 genocide that slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis.
A U.N. special envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, is due to return to Congo on Friday on a mission to try to set up peace talks between Nkunda and the government. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/) (Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
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Finns Fume as Exhaust-Spewing Trucks Jam Border Roads to Russia
By Kati Pohjanpalo
Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Marjatta Oksanen recalls how fresh the leaves used to smell when she strolled through her forest in southeastern Finland, along the Russian border.
Now, the aroma around Oksanen’s cottage and surrounding woodland is more like that of a loading dock as thousands of Russia-bound trucks line up on a nearby road with their motors idling.
“It’s not fun,” said the 69-year-old pensioner, whose retreat is just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the southernmost border crossing. Her village “is really suffering.”
The quiet of Finland’s clear, rocky lakes and untouched pine forests along the 1,300-kilometer demarcation between Russia and Finland is pierced these days by the whirr of an unending stream of truck traffic.
The road-gouging freight from Finnish ports to Russian consumers has become a political issue between the two nations: The Finnish government plans to introduce fees on Russian trucks, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised during a Nov. 25 visit to the region to simplify customs procedures and upgrade facilities at checkpoints.
“The roads of southern Finland are a giant storage area,” said Tommi Kivilaakso, who heads the customs office in the city of Lappeenranta, near the second-busiest crossing. “Few countries plan their road networks to be used as parking lots for neighboring countries.”
Russia needs Finland’s ports and roads to feed its demand for autos, electronics and mobile phones from Western Europe. Seven in 10 trucks headed east serve the transit trade that provides Finland with little else than highway potholes. The traffic generates only 3,000 jobs in this Nordic country of 5.3 million, according the transport ministry.
Stacks of Tires
In the forests her father loved, Oksanen’s wild blueberry patches are now covered with stacks of tires left by Russian truckers. Food wrappers and cigarette butts litter the roadsides. As truck traffic on the icy and narrow highways increases, so does the chance of accidents. This time of year is the worst as Russian retailers stock up for the holiday season.
Last year at Christmas, lines at the Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka border crossing, which feeds a steady flow of trucks to St. Petersburg, stretched to a record 63 kilometers. On an average day, the lines are about 20 kilometers, said Kivilaakso, the customs official.
Kivilaakso says the backup is caused in part by the antiquated Russian system to process the goods. Customs clerks enter details of the trucks’ cargo manually into their computers, which is too slow for the amount of traffic, he said.
The Finnish government said earlier this month that the fees it plans to introduce will be used to pay for new parking areas and road safety improvements.
New Potholes
Only one of the nine road improvement projects planned in the area is under way. In the meantime, the trucks -- especially those carrying autos, the heaviest -- are creating potholes. The weight of hundreds of trucks lining up on the side of the road sometimes makes road shoulders collapse as well.
Last year, Russia imported 679,000 cars through Finland, more than triple the number in 2004. Although the slowing economy and tightening credit markets are now curbing demand, by mid-October of this year trucks had already carried 760,000 vehicles.
“The heavy traffic is burdening the highways,” said Kari Halme, a Finnish Road Administration traffic engineer. “We have to pave them more often.”
In his visit, Putin viewed the Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka crossing, near Oksanen’s residence, and acknowledged that conditions at the busiest entry point had not improved.
“Traffic lines remain standard practice,” Putin said.
Trading Partner
Russia, 50 times larger in land mass and 27 times larger in population, became Finland’s biggest trading partner this year for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
While 20 percent of Russian imports travel through Finland, most of the goods are recorded as transit trade, leaving Finland only about 360 million euros ($462 million), the transport ministry estimates.
Railways provide little relief: Only 3 percent of the cars Russia imports travel by rail because of a scarcity of terminals, said Kivilaakso at the customs office.
The Finnish government is considering building a parking lot at the Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka crossing that would hold 1,000 trucks. Currently, the lots there hold only 160 trucks. The project, spanning 65 hectares and estimated to cost 24 million euros, is on hold pending planning approvals.
For now, the roar of engines and wisps of blue gasoline fumes mark where the Toyotas, Audis and Volkswagens are ferried off to Russian consumers. Oksanen, whose family has owned property in the area since the 16th century, said she’s a bit fearful to venture out onto the roads: “The accidents are so close.”
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China tests home-made commercial airliner: state media
AFP
China successfully tested its first home-made commercial airliner Friday, with the pilots praising the handling of the regional jet, state press reported.
The one-hour maiden flight of the ARJ21 -- which stands for Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century -- took place in Shanghai where the plane is manufactured, the China News Service said.
"The plane flew normally and it handled well," the report quoted pilot Zhao Peng as saying.
The maiden flight, which did not rise above 900 metres (2,970 feet) in altitude, had been expected earlier this year, the report said.
So far only six of the jets have been produced, it added.
The flight comes after the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (CACC) announced the sale of five of the jets to US-based General Electric earlier this month at southern China's Zhuhai Airshow. Delivery is expected in 2013.
General Electric makes the engines for the Chinese-made aircraft which is designed to carry between 70 to 90 passengers on short-haul flights.
The plane and other jets to be produced by CACC are widely seen as part of a Chinese plan to eventually rival the dominance of aviation giants Airbus and Boeing.
The aircraft leasing arm of General Electric also signed an option to buy an additional 20 planes, in a deal that could be worth 735 million dollars.
The ARJ21 has not yet been approved by Chinese or American aviation regulators.
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Volvo not interested in buying Ford-owned Volvo Cars: report
AFP
Swedish industrial group Volvo is ready to help its former car unit Volvo Cars if current owner Ford goes bankrupt but is not interested in buying it back, Volvo's chairman told a newspaper Thursday.
"We would gladly finance joint projects, such as sponsor projects or research projects, and could consider being part of various consortiums without becoming the main owner," Volvo chairman of the board Finn Johnsson told Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri.
"We absolutely do not want to buy Volvo Cars," he stressed.
The Volvo group, which includes heavy truckmaker Volvo Trucks, sold Volvo Cars to Ford in 1999. The US automaker is now in severe financial difficulty in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Johnsson said he was opposed to calls for the Swedish state to acquire Volvo Cars.
"The state knows nothing about the car industry and Volvo needs an owner that can increase sales and cooperate with suppliers on components and development," he said, suggesting French carmaker Renault as a good owner for the Swedish company.
Ford launched a major restructuring plan in 2006 to boost productivity and gradually transform its product portfolio to increase the share of compact and energy-efficient models.
Ford, which lost 129 million dollars in the third quarter of this year, has along with General Motors and Chrysler pleaded with US lawmakers for a multi-billion dollar rescue for their crippled industry.
The Democrats have put off a vote until at least December and told them to come up with a new restructuring plan.
Volvo Cars has been hit by Ford's weakness and the slowing market.
The Swedish automaker, which employed 24,400 people at the end of 2007, has announced a total of 6,000 job cuts worldwide since June, including 3,900 in Sweden.
Volvo Cars manufactured about 467,300 cars in 2007, including about 213,000 in Sweden, according to Swedish agency TT.
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厚労省所管の公益法人、外国人研修生受け入れで虚偽報告（1/2ページ）
2008年11月28日18時13分
厚生労働省所管の社団法人「国際労働運動研究協会」（東京都中央区）が、外国人研修生受け入れ事業で、名古屋入国管理局に虚偽報告をしたとして、法務省から３年間の受け入れ停止処分を受けていたことがわかった。同協会は定款にない「支部」を各地に設け、受け入れ企業を集めていたといい、厚労省が実態調査を始めた。
外国人研修・技能実習制度では、企業が社団法人などの団体を通じて研修生を受け入れる場合、団体が研修を指導・監督し、定期的に入管に報告する義務がある。不正があったとして社団法人が重い処分を受けるのは異例。
同協会によると、受け入れ企業だった愛知県内の家具製造会社２社が合併し、定員を上回る研修生がいる状態になったのに、従来通り２社に研修生がいると報告していたという。同協会は「合併したことを知らなかった」と説明している。昨夏に研修・実習制度を支援する「国際研修協力機構」の調査で発覚し、３月に処分を受けていた。しかし、所管する厚労省労政担当参事官室には今月に入るまで報告がなかったという。
処分時点で研修や技能実習中のベトナム人ら５９５人について、同協会は、受け入れ団体を探しており、４４９人の移籍が決まった。ただ、１１６人は帰国済みか帰国予定で、失跡した人も２３人いるという。
一方、同協会をめぐっては今月になって、定款にない「支部」を全国９カ所に開設していたことも発覚。同協会によると、契約を結んだ社会保険労務士らを支部長とし、研修生らの受け入れ先になる企業を集める営業活動や、企業を定期的に回って研修生の様子を見る管理活動などを委任していた。報酬は研修生ら１人につき月約２万円で、労働者派遣業を営む企業グループのトップもいたという。
公益法人について定めた民法の規定によると、社団法人の事務所の所在地は定款の記載事項とされている。また、社団法人でない者が、社団法人や誤認させるような名前を名乗ることは禁じられており、罰則もある。厚労省は「問題があれば厳正な処分を考える」としている。
同協会は７１年５月の設立で、研修生受け入れ事業は９７年度に始めた。決算報告書によると、０７年度の収入は約７億３千万円で、９割以上を同事業が占める。元協会職員の岩井進一氏が会長で、労働組合幹部らが理事に名を連ねている。
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Business fears over Chinese-French rift
By Ben Hall in Paris and Geoff Dyer in Beijing
Published: November 26 2008 19:49 | Last updated: November 27 2008 19:57
Business leaders expressed concern on Thursday that French commercial interests in China could be harmed in the wake of the cancellation of a summit between Beijing and the European Union, but said there was no sign of immediate repercussions.
Laurence Parisot, head of Medef, the French employers’ body, said she was “concerned” at the Chinese government’s decision to call off next Monday’s summit in protest at President Nicolas Sarkozy’s planned meeting with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader.
Ms Parisot also expressed her irritation with Beijing. “I don’t see why Nicolas Sarkozy shouldn’t meet the Dalai Lama. I need explanation,” she said
The latest tensions come only months after protests in Paris against the Beijing Olympics triggered a nationalist backlash in China and a boycott of French products and businesses – especially Carrefour supermarkets.
Beijing defended its decision to cancel the summit, suggesting that French interests were at stake. “As France has major interests in China, and the French government and leaders have repeatedly said they are an important partner of China, why they should do this is precisely what the Chinese people do not understand,” said Qin Gang, a foreign ministry spokesman.
China is the EU’s second biggest trade partner after the US and its biggest source of imports. The EU imported €231bn ($300bn, £195bn) of Chinese goods last year and exported only €72bn, according to EU data.
This enormous trade deficit is creating political pressures inside Europe to defend the EU against supposedly unfair Chinese trade practices. These pressures may translate next year into action such as “carbon tariffs” on Chinese goods – protectionist measures dressed up as sanctions on China for not applying the EU’s self-proclaimed rigorous environmental policies.
Diplomats in France, which holds the EU presidency, suggested it suited China to call off the summit because of differences with Europe over subjects including exchange rates, trade, intellectual property and climate change.
The EU is hoping to persuade China to take a constructive approach in the run-up to the Copenhagen UN world climate change summit in December 2009.
It is also an unwelcome setback for Brussels because it chills EU-Chinese relations just as the EU is having difficulties with Russia over the fall-out from the Georgia crisis in August.
The EU Chamber of Commerce in China hoped the spat “will not lead to the rise of economic nationalism in terms of antagonistic and protectionist actions”.
Fridolin Strack, managing director of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German business, was confident the Chinese would differentiate between the actions of Mr Sarkozy and the aims of German business. “The Chinese are sending a clear signal to President Sarkozy, one that shouldn’t be dramatic for us,” he said.
Anne-Marie Idrac, French trade minister, played down the possibility of retaliation against French business interests, which are mainly involved in long-term projects necessary for China to modernise its infrastructure and boost its economy.
Projects by French companies include aircraft construction, construction and design of two nuclear reactors, railway and public transport systems.
“They are subjects [projects] that are very deep and very long-term, have been in preparation for a very long time and which stretch way into the future,” she told the FT.
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Uruguay confident of weathering financial crisis
By Jude Webber in Montevideo
Published: November 27 2008 14:40 | Last updated: November 27 2008 14:40
There are few safe havens in the global financial crisis but with investor interest still alive, record exports and a healthy financial system, tiny Uruguay is confident it can weather the storm, even if another crisis erupts in neighbouring Argentina.
Uruguay’s financial system toppled in a domino-effect in 2002 after Argentina’s $95bn default and devaluation sparked a run on Argentine deposits in Uruguayan banks. New fears that South America’s second biggest economy could be heading for another debt crisis have sent shivers down Uruguay’s spine, especially as the world lurches towards recession and prices for Uruguay’s valuable commodities exports fall.
But officials say Uruguay has slashed dependence on its larger neighbour, courted investors, bounced back with six years of growth that will hit a record this year and prefinanced its debt until 2010. It even overtook Argentina in one of its most emblematic exports, beef.
“The situation is completely different to 2002,” Economy Minister Alvaro García told the FT, noting that Uruguay now has manageable debt and a floating peso as well as less than half the exposure to Argentina in terms of trade and foreign currency deposits as it did then.
Overall, “Uruguay is far better prepared and less vulnerable than a few years ago and we’re optimistic that we face this [international financial] crisis with much lower costs than before,” said Mario Bergara, Uruguay’s newly-appointed central bank president.
Ernesto Talvi, an economist at Montevideo-based think-tank Ceres agreed Uruguay has a very liquid banking system with low credit risks, and has stuck to orthodox policies despite having a leftist government.
But he sees recession in major world economies, a painful slowdown among Uruguay’s regional trading partners, lower commodities prices and the combination of costlier and less available credit spelling “strong recessionary pressures in 2009-10” for Uruguay.
Uruguay posted first-half growth of 13.1 per cent and expects to raise its 9.5 per cent full-year forecast, amid expectations by private economists of 2008 growth of around 11 per cent, Mr García said. For 2009, the official estimate is 4.5 per cent, against market expectations of 3.5 to 4 per cent, and the government is likely to trim its forecast in a revision next month, he added.
“I think the government’s growth forecasts are optimistic,” said Mr Talvi, who sees 2 to 2.5 per cent growth next year, a presidential election year, falling to zero in 2010. He reckoned the government should seek a $2bn contingency loan from multilateral lenders for 2009-10 ”to be relaxed”.
Mr García says no IMF package will be necessary and says Uruguay has credit lines with the Andean Development Corporation, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank ”which we probably won’t have to use”.
Officials see maintaining output as their main challenge. Uruguay is also a large exporter of rice, wheat, soy, corn and dairy produce, and an increasing mecca for forestry and pulp producing companies. Sweden’s Botnia invested $1.2bn – Uruguay’s biggest investment ever - in a pulp plant which started up last year, and Mr García said the government had recently received confirmation of another three similar projects worth five times that amount in total.
Portugal’s Portucel Soporcel confirmed it had signed a memorandum of understanding for forestry projects and a 1.3m tonne-a-year pulp mill. The company declined to give financial details but Mr Garcia said that project was worth about $3.5bn. He said Finland’s Stora Enso and Spain’s Ence had also confirmed investments. ”There’s $5bn to $6bn in these three projects alone,” he said.
An Ence source said the company has lined up bank financing but declined to discuss figures, while a spokeswomen for Stora Enso said a final investment decision had not been taken and the company was weighing Uruguay, Brazil and China as options.
“Maybe the rate of investment will slow or projects will be delayed, and that could affect growth,” said Mr Bergara. “But this is in the context of growth at rates we’ve never seen before … I’d be quite optimistic. I think things are going to settle down quite quickly.”
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Iran about-turn
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
Published: November 28 2008 02:00 | Last updated: November 28 2008 02:00
The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad has been unusually silent about the Iraqi government's approval of the security pact with the US, writes Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran .
But that may be because it has been loath to publicise its dramatic change of attitude towards the agreement.
People close to the government in Tehran say that after initially opposing it, and asking its Shia allies in the Baghdad government to resist it, Iran has been relatively satisfied with the last-minute changes demanded and won by Iraq.
Analysts see an additional reason for the about-turn: the election of Barack Obama as US president.
The National Iranian American Council says the shift after the election suggests that Tehran "sees the future of US policy in a new light and seeks to co-operate with Washington, if its interests are also recognised through mutual diplomacy".
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Tajikistan turns on Rusal after Talco deal
By Megan Murphy, Law Courts Correspondent
Published: November 28 2008 01:26 | Last updated: November 28 2008 01:26
The government of Tajikistan will turn its sights on Rusal, the aluminium group controlled by billionaire oligarch Oleg Deripaska, after settling one of the most expensive lawsuits contested in the UK.
The high-profile High Court trial over alleged corruption and bribery at Talco, the state-owned aluminium smelter that is Tajikistan’s most important industrial asset, prompted unwelcome headlines for a government that is struggling to bring investment to one of central Asia’s poorest countries.
The news that Talco now intends to focus its efforts on related legal proceedings against Rusal in the British Virgin islands may outrage aid groups who have criticised the government’s decision to spend tens of millions on legal fees abroad while the country faces crippling shortages of food, heat and electricity this winter.
The long-running legal battles centre on Talco’s allegations that the smelter’s former manager, Abdukadir Ermatov, and its main supplier, Avaz Nazarov, conspired to divert more than $500m (£325m) in profits between 1996 and 2004, stashing the money in a complex web of offshore companies.
Talco claims that Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium company, and Mr Deripaska were knowing co-conspirators in the alleged fraud, and are pressing ahead with efforts to recover damages through proceedings in the BVI.
Thursday’s settlement ends the company’s litigation against Mr Nazarov and Mr Ermatov, which both sides have acknowledged was never likely to recover substantial sums.
Both men denied allegations and were pursuing a $150m counter-claim against the smelter. Neither has admitted liability as part of the settlement, which was reached on confidential terms.
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Nations aim to hammer out Azeri gas deal
By Guy Dinmore in Rome and Isabel Gorst in Moscow
Published: November 27 2008 22:55 | Last updated: November 27 2008 22:55
The governments of Italy, Greece, Turkey and Azerbaijan will meet in the coming weeks to try to hammer out an agreement on the export of Azeri gas to Europe via a planned pipeline across the Adriatic, official and industry sources said in Rome on Thursday.
Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, met Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister, in Rome following talks in Milan with Umberto Quadrino, chief executive of Edison, an Italian-French utility.
Edison is seeking final approval from all four governments on the supply of 8bn cubic metres of gas a year from Azerbaijan. Pipelines already exist to take the gas through Turkey and Greece and Edison intends to construct the missing link, known as ITGI, between Greece and Italy.
Edison quoted Mr Aliyev as saying that he considered the project as the “most realistic” of various proposed ventures, a reference to the Nabucco consortium that would take up to 31bn cubic metres of Caspian gas a year via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to a hub in Austria.
Mr Aliyev is also being courted by Russia’s Gazprom to sell Azerbaijan’s surplus gas to Russia. Washington is pressing him to look towards Europe instead.
Turkey is cited by analysts in all four countries involved as being the main stumbling block to an accord, despite a recent visit by Mr Berlusconi. Turkey wants the option to increase the amount of gas it consumes from Azerbaijan to make up for expiring Russian contracts, and is asking for special transit terms.
The EU, keen to diversify its sources of gas away from Russia, says Turkey has no right to demand special transit terms.
Industry sources said the four governments would meet at a senior level, possibly prime ministers, in Turkey. An Italian government source said the level and venue were to be decided.
Mr Berlusconi, who wants to maintain Italy’s close business relationship with Russia, says the ITGI project is “complementary and not alternative to others”. Eni, the part state-owned Italian energy company, has a joint venture with Russia’s Gazprom to build a deep sea pipeline to take Russian gas across the Black Sea to Europe.
The original ITGI plan assigned 8bn cubic metres of gas a year to Italy and 1.5bn each for Turkey and Greece. The Azeri gas is intended to come from the second phase of the Shah Deniz field.
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Enel to offload gas network
By Guy Dinmore in Rome
Published: November 27 2008 19:24 | Last updated: November 27 2008 19:24
Enel, Italy’s largest power utility, will launch next week a tender offer for its gas distribution network, valued at €1.6bn, and has chosen Morgan Stanley and Banca IMI as advisers, people close to the industry said on Thursday.
Enel needs to sell what it regards as non-core businesses to reduce its debt burden following its purchase last year of Spain’s Endesa.
The network, Enel Rete Gas, has 12 per cent of the Italian market. It provides some 3.5bn cubic metres of gas a year to 2m customers in 1,200 municipalities.
Enel is looking for a fund or funds to take a stake of 70 to 80 per cent. It was reported last month that Enel was in talks with F2i, an infrastructure investment fund.
Enel is also in talks with Terna, a leading grid operator, to sell its 19,000 km high-voltage network.
Flavio Cattaneo, Terna chief executive, said Enel was in a hurry to sell but Terna was not in a hurry to buy.
Terna would not pay a premium above similar opportunities outside Italy, he told the FT. “The price must be right,” he said.
Enel is committed to lowering its debt to below €50bn by the end of the year, from €51.4bn at the end of September. People close to the industry said Enel hoped to receive expressions of interest for its gas network before the end of the year.
Separately, Enel announced yesterday a joint venture with Japan’s Sharp Corp to build solar energy plants in Italy with a total capacity of 189 megawatts – enough to power a medium-sized city – with an investment of about €720m.
Sharp and Enel also plan to build a solar panel-production factory in Italy using Sharp’s thin-film solar technology with an investment of about €660m.
Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:44am EST
Nov 27 (Reuters) - Satellite Asset Management, founded by former employees of billionaire George Soros, stopped client withdrawals from its three largest hedge funds, Bloomberg reported.
The company also eliminated more than 30 jobs, after losses reduced the firm's assets to about $4 billion this year, according to the report.
Satellite Overseas Fund Ltd, Satellite Fund II LP and Satellite Credit Opportunities Ltd have declined as much as 35 percent in 2008, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with knowledge of the funds' performance.
The firm is retaining teams that trade bonds and loans and invest in companies going through events such as takeovers, Bloomberg said, citing the unnamed source. (Reporting by Ramya Dilip in Bangalore; Editing by Mike Nesbit)
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EU pressed for Congo force, Kinshasa vetoes Indians
Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:09am EST
By Joe Bavier
KINSHASA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Europe heard growing appeals on Thursday to rush a military force to east Congo until the arrival of U.N. reinforcements, from which diplomats said Kinshasa wants to exclude Indian troops.
Congolese President Joseph Kabila's government told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week it did not want Indian soldiers to be part of the 3,000 extra U.N. peacekeeping troops and police destined for east Congo, diplomats in Kinshasa said.
In a letter and verbal messages to Ban and U.N. officials, Democratic Republic of Congo's government said it was unhappy with Indian U.N. troops in North Kivu province, where they have been criticised for failing to stop rebel attacks and killings.
In an embarrassment for the U.N. mission in Congo (MONUC), the Indians have also been investigated for sexual misconduct and illicit gold and arms trading, and have faced accusations of showing support for Tutsi anti-government rebels led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda.
Congo's objections to Indian troops emerged as prominent world figures appealed to the European Union to help provide security for east Congo, where rebel advances since August have driven around a quarter of a million civilians from their homes.
The dignitaries, including former presidents of the Czech Republic, Ireland and South Africa, said an EU rapid reaction force should be deployed immediately.
"While the U.N. has authorised an additional 3,000 troops it will likely take between three and six months to deploy them. The Congolese people cannot wait," they said in a letter.
It said the EU could send one of its standing battle groups to help protect civilians which the U.N. says have suffered massacres, executions, rapes and torture by both sides.
Evoking previous massacres in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, the figures, among them Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu and billionaire investor George Soros, said world leaders had vowed never to let such atrocities happen again.
"It needs your personal political leadership to make sure this happens and ensure 'never again' really means never again," the letter addressed to European leaders said.
STRETCHED U.N. FORCE
Belgium said on Wednesday it could contribute to a possible European force in its former colony, where there are fears the latest conflict could escalate into a repeat of a devastating 1998-2003 war that sucked in neighbouring states.
But there have been doubts about the idea of a European force for Congo among some EU members, a number of whom already have military commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Nothing is off the table, but our main priority is to strengthen MONUC," said Nick Kay, British ambassador to Congo.
The U.N. force in Congo, at 17,000-strong the largest peacekeeping mission in the world, has said it cannot provide total security in North Kivu, stretched as it already is over a country the size of Western Europe, where armed groups abound.
In their objections to the Indian peacekeepers, Congolese officials described them as "an instrument of destabilisation" but have sought to minimise the diplomatic sensitivity of their move by trying not to mention India in public statements.
"They mean the Indians, it's well known," another western diplomat told Reuters.
Humanitarian agencies say they cannot work without more protection.
Rebel chief Nkunda has pledged to respect a ceasefire, but hundreds of Congolese civilians fled east into Uganda on Wednesday to escape Tutsi rebel operations against their traditional Rwandan Hutu militia enemies in the province.
MONUC said these actions violated the ceasefire.
Nkunda cites the presence of the Rwandan Hutu FDLR militia as the justification for a rebellion he says aims to defend Tutsis. The FDLR includes perpetrators of Rwanda's 1994 genocide that slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis.
A U.N. special envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, is due to return to Congo on Friday on a mission to try to set up peace talks between Nkunda and the government. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/) (Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
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Finns Fume as Exhaust-Spewing Trucks Jam Border Roads to Russia
By Kati Pohjanpalo
Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Marjatta Oksanen recalls how fresh the leaves used to smell when she strolled through her forest in southeastern Finland, along the Russian border.
Now, the aroma around Oksanen’s cottage and surrounding woodland is more like that of a loading dock as thousands of Russia-bound trucks line up on a nearby road with their motors idling.
“It’s not fun,” said the 69-year-old pensioner, whose retreat is just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the southernmost border crossing. Her village “is really suffering.”
The quiet of Finland’s clear, rocky lakes and untouched pine forests along the 1,300-kilometer demarcation between Russia and Finland is pierced these days by the whirr of an unending stream of truck traffic.
The road-gouging freight from Finnish ports to Russian consumers has become a political issue between the two nations: The Finnish government plans to introduce fees on Russian trucks, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised during a Nov. 25 visit to the region to simplify customs procedures and upgrade facilities at checkpoints.
“The roads of southern Finland are a giant storage area,” said Tommi Kivilaakso, who heads the customs office in the city of Lappeenranta, near the second-busiest crossing. “Few countries plan their road networks to be used as parking lots for neighboring countries.”
Russia needs Finland’s ports and roads to feed its demand for autos, electronics and mobile phones from Western Europe. Seven in 10 trucks headed east serve the transit trade that provides Finland with little else than highway potholes. The traffic generates only 3,000 jobs in this Nordic country of 5.3 million, according the transport ministry.
Stacks of Tires
In the forests her father loved, Oksanen’s wild blueberry patches are now covered with stacks of tires left by Russian truckers. Food wrappers and cigarette butts litter the roadsides. As truck traffic on the icy and narrow highways increases, so does the chance of accidents. This time of year is the worst as Russian retailers stock up for the holiday season.
Last year at Christmas, lines at the Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka border crossing, which feeds a steady flow of trucks to St. Petersburg, stretched to a record 63 kilometers. On an average day, the lines are about 20 kilometers, said Kivilaakso, the customs official.
Kivilaakso says the backup is caused in part by the antiquated Russian system to process the goods. Customs clerks enter details of the trucks’ cargo manually into their computers, which is too slow for the amount of traffic, he said.
The Finnish government said earlier this month that the fees it plans to introduce will be used to pay for new parking areas and road safety improvements.
New Potholes
Only one of the nine road improvement projects planned in the area is under way. In the meantime, the trucks -- especially those carrying autos, the heaviest -- are creating potholes. The weight of hundreds of trucks lining up on the side of the road sometimes makes road shoulders collapse as well.
Last year, Russia imported 679,000 cars through Finland, more than triple the number in 2004. Although the slowing economy and tightening credit markets are now curbing demand, by mid-October of this year trucks had already carried 760,000 vehicles.
“The heavy traffic is burdening the highways,” said Kari Halme, a Finnish Road Administration traffic engineer. “We have to pave them more often.”
In his visit, Putin viewed the Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka crossing, near Oksanen’s residence, and acknowledged that conditions at the busiest entry point had not improved.
“Traffic lines remain standard practice,” Putin said.
Trading Partner
Russia, 50 times larger in land mass and 27 times larger in population, became Finland’s biggest trading partner this year for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
While 20 percent of Russian imports travel through Finland, most of the goods are recorded as transit trade, leaving Finland only about 360 million euros ($462 million), the transport ministry estimates.
Railways provide little relief: Only 3 percent of the cars Russia imports travel by rail because of a scarcity of terminals, said Kivilaakso at the customs office.
The Finnish government is considering building a parking lot at the Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka crossing that would hold 1,000 trucks. Currently, the lots there hold only 160 trucks. The project, spanning 65 hectares and estimated to cost 24 million euros, is on hold pending planning approvals.
For now, the roar of engines and wisps of blue gasoline fumes mark where the Toyotas, Audis and Volkswagens are ferried off to Russian consumers. Oksanen, whose family has owned property in the area since the 16th century, said she’s a bit fearful to venture out onto the roads: “The accidents are so close.”
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China tests home-made commercial airliner: state media
AFP
China successfully tested its first home-made commercial airliner Friday, with the pilots praising the handling of the regional jet, state press reported.
The one-hour maiden flight of the ARJ21 -- which stands for Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century -- took place in Shanghai where the plane is manufactured, the China News Service said.
"The plane flew normally and it handled well," the report quoted pilot Zhao Peng as saying.
The maiden flight, which did not rise above 900 metres (2,970 feet) in altitude, had been expected earlier this year, the report said.
So far only six of the jets have been produced, it added.
The flight comes after the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (CACC) announced the sale of five of the jets to US-based General Electric earlier this month at southern China's Zhuhai Airshow. Delivery is expected in 2013.
General Electric makes the engines for the Chinese-made aircraft which is designed to carry between 70 to 90 passengers on short-haul flights.
The plane and other jets to be produced by CACC are widely seen as part of a Chinese plan to eventually rival the dominance of aviation giants Airbus and Boeing.
The aircraft leasing arm of General Electric also signed an option to buy an additional 20 planes, in a deal that could be worth 735 million dollars.
The ARJ21 has not yet been approved by Chinese or American aviation regulators.
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Volvo not interested in buying Ford-owned Volvo Cars: report
AFP
Swedish industrial group Volvo is ready to help its former car unit Volvo Cars if current owner Ford goes bankrupt but is not interested in buying it back, Volvo's chairman told a newspaper Thursday.
"We would gladly finance joint projects, such as sponsor projects or research projects, and could consider being part of various consortiums without becoming the main owner," Volvo chairman of the board Finn Johnsson told Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri.
"We absolutely do not want to buy Volvo Cars," he stressed.
The Volvo group, which includes heavy truckmaker Volvo Trucks, sold Volvo Cars to Ford in 1999. The US automaker is now in severe financial difficulty in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Johnsson said he was opposed to calls for the Swedish state to acquire Volvo Cars.
"The state knows nothing about the car industry and Volvo needs an owner that can increase sales and cooperate with suppliers on components and development," he said, suggesting French carmaker Renault as a good owner for the Swedish company.
Ford launched a major restructuring plan in 2006 to boost productivity and gradually transform its product portfolio to increase the share of compact and energy-efficient models.
Ford, which lost 129 million dollars in the third quarter of this year, has along with General Motors and Chrysler pleaded with US lawmakers for a multi-billion dollar rescue for their crippled industry.
The Democrats have put off a vote until at least December and told them to come up with a new restructuring plan.
Volvo Cars has been hit by Ford's weakness and the slowing market.
The Swedish automaker, which employed 24,400 people at the end of 2007, has announced a total of 6,000 job cuts worldwide since June, including 3,900 in Sweden.
Volvo Cars manufactured about 467,300 cars in 2007, including about 213,000 in Sweden, according to Swedish agency TT.
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厚労省所管の公益法人、外国人研修生受け入れで虚偽報告（1/2ページ）
2008年11月28日18時13分
厚生労働省所管の社団法人「国際労働運動研究協会」（東京都中央区）が、外国人研修生受け入れ事業で、名古屋入国管理局に虚偽報告をしたとして、法務省から３年間の受け入れ停止処分を受けていたことがわかった。同協会は定款にない「支部」を各地に設け、受け入れ企業を集めていたといい、厚労省が実態調査を始めた。
外国人研修・技能実習制度では、企業が社団法人などの団体を通じて研修生を受け入れる場合、団体が研修を指導・監督し、定期的に入管に報告する義務がある。不正があったとして社団法人が重い処分を受けるのは異例。
同協会によると、受け入れ企業だった愛知県内の家具製造会社２社が合併し、定員を上回る研修生がいる状態になったのに、従来通り２社に研修生がいると報告していたという。同協会は「合併したことを知らなかった」と説明している。昨夏に研修・実習制度を支援する「国際研修協力機構」の調査で発覚し、３月に処分を受けていた。しかし、所管する厚労省労政担当参事官室には今月に入るまで報告がなかったという。
処分時点で研修や技能実習中のベトナム人ら５９５人について、同協会は、受け入れ団体を探しており、４４９人の移籍が決まった。ただ、１１６人は帰国済みか帰国予定で、失跡した人も２３人いるという。
一方、同協会をめぐっては今月になって、定款にない「支部」を全国９カ所に開設していたことも発覚。同協会によると、契約を結んだ社会保険労務士らを支部長とし、研修生らの受け入れ先になる企業を集める営業活動や、企業を定期的に回って研修生の様子を見る管理活動などを委任していた。報酬は研修生ら１人につき月約２万円で、労働者派遣業を営む企業グループのトップもいたという。
公益法人について定めた民法の規定によると、社団法人の事務所の所在地は定款の記載事項とされている。また、社団法人でない者が、社団法人や誤認させるような名前を名乗ることは禁じられており、罰則もある。厚労省は「問題があれば厳正な処分を考える」としている。
同協会は７１年５月の設立で、研修生受け入れ事業は９７年度に始めた。決算報告書によると、０７年度の収入は約７億３千万円で、９割以上を同事業が占める。元協会職員の岩井進一氏が会長で、労働組合幹部らが理事に名を連ねている。
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Business fears over Chinese-French rift
By Ben Hall in Paris and Geoff Dyer in Beijing
Published: November 26 2008 19:49 | Last updated: November 27 2008 19:57
Business leaders expressed concern on Thursday that French commercial interests in China could be harmed in the wake of the cancellation of a summit between Beijing and the European Union, but said there was no sign of immediate repercussions.
Laurence Parisot, head of Medef, the French employers’ body, said she was “concerned” at the Chinese government’s decision to call off next Monday’s summit in protest at President Nicolas Sarkozy’s planned meeting with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader.
Ms Parisot also expressed her irritation with Beijing. “I don’t see why Nicolas Sarkozy shouldn’t meet the Dalai Lama. I need explanation,” she said
The latest tensions come only months after protests in Paris against the Beijing Olympics triggered a nationalist backlash in China and a boycott of French products and businesses – especially Carrefour supermarkets.
Beijing defended its decision to cancel the summit, suggesting that French interests were at stake. “As France has major interests in China, and the French government and leaders have repeatedly said they are an important partner of China, why they should do this is precisely what the Chinese people do not understand,” said Qin Gang, a foreign ministry spokesman.
China is the EU’s second biggest trade partner after the US and its biggest source of imports. The EU imported €231bn ($300bn, £195bn) of Chinese goods last year and exported only €72bn, according to EU data.
This enormous trade deficit is creating political pressures inside Europe to defend the EU against supposedly unfair Chinese trade practices. These pressures may translate next year into action such as “carbon tariffs” on Chinese goods – protectionist measures dressed up as sanctions on China for not applying the EU’s self-proclaimed rigorous environmental policies.
Diplomats in France, which holds the EU presidency, suggested it suited China to call off the summit because of differences with Europe over subjects including exchange rates, trade, intellectual property and climate change.
The EU is hoping to persuade China to take a constructive approach in the run-up to the Copenhagen UN world climate change summit in December 2009.
It is also an unwelcome setback for Brussels because it chills EU-Chinese relations just as the EU is having difficulties with Russia over the fall-out from the Georgia crisis in August.
The EU Chamber of Commerce in China hoped the spat “will not lead to the rise of economic nationalism in terms of antagonistic and protectionist actions”.
Fridolin Strack, managing director of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German business, was confident the Chinese would differentiate between the actions of Mr Sarkozy and the aims of German business. “The Chinese are sending a clear signal to President Sarkozy, one that shouldn’t be dramatic for us,” he said.
Anne-Marie Idrac, French trade minister, played down the possibility of retaliation against French business interests, which are mainly involved in long-term projects necessary for China to modernise its infrastructure and boost its economy.
Projects by French companies include aircraft construction, construction and design of two nuclear reactors, railway and public transport systems.
“They are subjects [projects] that are very deep and very long-term, have been in preparation for a very long time and which stretch way into the future,” she told the FT.
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Uruguay confident of weathering financial crisis
By Jude Webber in Montevideo
Published: November 27 2008 14:40 | Last updated: November 27 2008 14:40
There are few safe havens in the global financial crisis but with investor interest still alive, record exports and a healthy financial system, tiny Uruguay is confident it can weather the storm, even if another crisis erupts in neighbouring Argentina.
Uruguay’s financial system toppled in a domino-effect in 2002 after Argentina’s $95bn default and devaluation sparked a run on Argentine deposits in Uruguayan banks. New fears that South America’s second biggest economy could be heading for another debt crisis have sent shivers down Uruguay’s spine, especially as the world lurches towards recession and prices for Uruguay’s valuable commodities exports fall.
But officials say Uruguay has slashed dependence on its larger neighbour, courted investors, bounced back with six years of growth that will hit a record this year and prefinanced its debt until 2010. It even overtook Argentina in one of its most emblematic exports, beef.
“The situation is completely different to 2002,” Economy Minister Alvaro García told the FT, noting that Uruguay now has manageable debt and a floating peso as well as less than half the exposure to Argentina in terms of trade and foreign currency deposits as it did then.
Overall, “Uruguay is far better prepared and less vulnerable than a few years ago and we’re optimistic that we face this [international financial] crisis with much lower costs than before,” said Mario Bergara, Uruguay’s newly-appointed central bank president.
Ernesto Talvi, an economist at Montevideo-based think-tank Ceres agreed Uruguay has a very liquid banking system with low credit risks, and has stuck to orthodox policies despite having a leftist government.
But he sees recession in major world economies, a painful slowdown among Uruguay’s regional trading partners, lower commodities prices and the combination of costlier and less available credit spelling “strong recessionary pressures in 2009-10” for Uruguay.
Uruguay posted first-half growth of 13.1 per cent and expects to raise its 9.5 per cent full-year forecast, amid expectations by private economists of 2008 growth of around 11 per cent, Mr García said. For 2009, the official estimate is 4.5 per cent, against market expectations of 3.5 to 4 per cent, and the government is likely to trim its forecast in a revision next month, he added.
“I think the government’s growth forecasts are optimistic,” said Mr Talvi, who sees 2 to 2.5 per cent growth next year, a presidential election year, falling to zero in 2010. He reckoned the government should seek a $2bn contingency loan from multilateral lenders for 2009-10 ”to be relaxed”.
Mr García says no IMF package will be necessary and says Uruguay has credit lines with the Andean Development Corporation, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank ”which we probably won’t have to use”.
Officials see maintaining output as their main challenge. Uruguay is also a large exporter of rice, wheat, soy, corn and dairy produce, and an increasing mecca for forestry and pulp producing companies. Sweden’s Botnia invested $1.2bn – Uruguay’s biggest investment ever - in a pulp plant which started up last year, and Mr García said the government had recently received confirmation of another three similar projects worth five times that amount in total.
Portugal’s Portucel Soporcel confirmed it had signed a memorandum of understanding for forestry projects and a 1.3m tonne-a-year pulp mill. The company declined to give financial details but Mr Garcia said that project was worth about $3.5bn. He said Finland’s Stora Enso and Spain’s Ence had also confirmed investments. ”There’s $5bn to $6bn in these three projects alone,” he said.
An Ence source said the company has lined up bank financing but declined to discuss figures, while a spokeswomen for Stora Enso said a final investment decision had not been taken and the company was weighing Uruguay, Brazil and China as options.
“Maybe the rate of investment will slow or projects will be delayed, and that could affect growth,” said Mr Bergara. “But this is in the context of growth at rates we’ve never seen before … I’d be quite optimistic. I think things are going to settle down quite quickly.”
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Iran about-turn
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
Published: November 28 2008 02:00 | Last updated: November 28 2008 02:00
The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad has been unusually silent about the Iraqi government's approval of the security pact with the US, writes Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran .
But that may be because it has been loath to publicise its dramatic change of attitude towards the agreement.
People close to the government in Tehran say that after initially opposing it, and asking its Shia allies in the Baghdad government to resist it, Iran has been relatively satisfied with the last-minute changes demanded and won by Iraq.
Analysts see an additional reason for the about-turn: the election of Barack Obama as US president.
The National Iranian American Council says the shift after the election suggests that Tehran "sees the future of US policy in a new light and seeks to co-operate with Washington, if its interests are also recognised through mutual diplomacy".
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Tajikistan turns on Rusal after Talco deal
By Megan Murphy, Law Courts Correspondent
Published: November 28 2008 01:26 | Last updated: November 28 2008 01:26
The government of Tajikistan will turn its sights on Rusal, the aluminium group controlled by billionaire oligarch Oleg Deripaska, after settling one of the most expensive lawsuits contested in the UK.
The high-profile High Court trial over alleged corruption and bribery at Talco, the state-owned aluminium smelter that is Tajikistan’s most important industrial asset, prompted unwelcome headlines for a government that is struggling to bring investment to one of central Asia’s poorest countries.
The news that Talco now intends to focus its efforts on related legal proceedings against Rusal in the British Virgin islands may outrage aid groups who have criticised the government’s decision to spend tens of millions on legal fees abroad while the country faces crippling shortages of food, heat and electricity this winter.
The long-running legal battles centre on Talco’s allegations that the smelter’s former manager, Abdukadir Ermatov, and its main supplier, Avaz Nazarov, conspired to divert more than $500m (£325m) in profits between 1996 and 2004, stashing the money in a complex web of offshore companies.
Talco claims that Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium company, and Mr Deripaska were knowing co-conspirators in the alleged fraud, and are pressing ahead with efforts to recover damages through proceedings in the BVI.
Thursday’s settlement ends the company’s litigation against Mr Nazarov and Mr Ermatov, which both sides have acknowledged was never likely to recover substantial sums.
Both men denied allegations and were pursuing a $150m counter-claim against the smelter. Neither has admitted liability as part of the settlement, which was reached on confidential terms.
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Nations aim to hammer out Azeri gas deal
By Guy Dinmore in Rome and Isabel Gorst in Moscow
Published: November 27 2008 22:55 | Last updated: November 27 2008 22:55
The governments of Italy, Greece, Turkey and Azerbaijan will meet in the coming weeks to try to hammer out an agreement on the export of Azeri gas to Europe via a planned pipeline across the Adriatic, official and industry sources said in Rome on Thursday.
Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, met Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister, in Rome following talks in Milan with Umberto Quadrino, chief executive of Edison, an Italian-French utility.
Edison is seeking final approval from all four governments on the supply of 8bn cubic metres of gas a year from Azerbaijan. Pipelines already exist to take the gas through Turkey and Greece and Edison intends to construct the missing link, known as ITGI, between Greece and Italy.
Edison quoted Mr Aliyev as saying that he considered the project as the “most realistic” of various proposed ventures, a reference to the Nabucco consortium that would take up to 31bn cubic metres of Caspian gas a year via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to a hub in Austria.
Mr Aliyev is also being courted by Russia’s Gazprom to sell Azerbaijan’s surplus gas to Russia. Washington is pressing him to look towards Europe instead.
Turkey is cited by analysts in all four countries involved as being the main stumbling block to an accord, despite a recent visit by Mr Berlusconi. Turkey wants the option to increase the amount of gas it consumes from Azerbaijan to make up for expiring Russian contracts, and is asking for special transit terms.
The EU, keen to diversify its sources of gas away from Russia, says Turkey has no right to demand special transit terms.
Industry sources said the four governments would meet at a senior level, possibly prime ministers, in Turkey. An Italian government source said the level and venue were to be decided.
Mr Berlusconi, who wants to maintain Italy’s close business relationship with Russia, says the ITGI project is “complementary and not alternative to others”. Eni, the part state-owned Italian energy company, has a joint venture with Russia’s Gazprom to build a deep sea pipeline to take Russian gas across the Black Sea to Europe.
The original ITGI plan assigned 8bn cubic metres of gas a year to Italy and 1.5bn each for Turkey and Greece. The Azeri gas is intended to come from the second phase of the Shah Deniz field.
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Enel to offload gas network
By Guy Dinmore in Rome
Published: November 27 2008 19:24 | Last updated: November 27 2008 19:24
Enel, Italy’s largest power utility, will launch next week a tender offer for its gas distribution network, valued at €1.6bn, and has chosen Morgan Stanley and Banca IMI as advisers, people close to the industry said on Thursday.
Enel needs to sell what it regards as non-core businesses to reduce its debt burden following its purchase last year of Spain’s Endesa.
The network, Enel Rete Gas, has 12 per cent of the Italian market. It provides some 3.5bn cubic metres of gas a year to 2m customers in 1,200 municipalities.
Enel is looking for a fund or funds to take a stake of 70 to 80 per cent. It was reported last month that Enel was in talks with F2i, an infrastructure investment fund.
Enel is also in talks with Terna, a leading grid operator, to sell its 19,000 km high-voltage network.
Flavio Cattaneo, Terna chief executive, said Enel was in a hurry to sell but Terna was not in a hurry to buy.
Terna would not pay a premium above similar opportunities outside Italy, he told the FT. “The price must be right,” he said.
Enel is committed to lowering its debt to below €50bn by the end of the year, from €51.4bn at the end of September. People close to the industry said Enel hoped to receive expressions of interest for its gas network before the end of the year.
Separately, Enel announced yesterday a joint venture with Japan’s Sharp Corp to build solar energy plants in Italy with a total capacity of 189 megawatts – enough to power a medium-sized city – with an investment of about €720m.
Sharp and Enel also plan to build a solar panel-production factory in Italy using Sharp’s thin-film solar technology with an investment of about €660m.
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