Short View: Impossible markets
By John Authers
Published: December 10 2008 18:33 | Last updated: December 10 2008 18:33
Markets have two more supposed impossibilities to deal with: investors are paying the US government to look after their money; and Chinese exports are declining.
The yield on three-month Treasury bills went negative for a few hours on Tuesday, showing investors valued safety so much that they were prepared to pay for it. This shows extreme risk aversion.
Meanwhile, Chinese exports were down year-on-year last month, the first time that has happened since 2001.
Export data for South Korea, available a few days earlier, suggest that China’s problems are down to falling demand in the west, not any slip in competitiveness.
As Chinese exports dropped 2.15 per cent last month compared with a year earlier, Korean exports were down 18.3 per cent. This was despite a huge devaluation of the Korean won, which has shed about 25 per cent against the dollar and the Chinese renminbi this year, and 46 per cent against the yen.
This suggests that China would not help itself much by devaluing its currency. But it also shows unambiguously that demand for these economies’ exports is collapsing.
This leads to a third imponderable. Despite the fall in global demand, which is now clearly affecting emerging markets, and the renewed extreme pessimism in money markets, the MSCI emerging markets index has now rallied by more than a third since it hit bottom last month.
China’s Shanghai Composite and Korea’s Kospi index are both up more than 20 per cent, and Brazil’s Bovespa is up more than a third since their recent troughs. In all cases, their trend is upwards. These indices probably overshot on the way down, so they may be due for a rebound, but such strong performance suggests unwonted confidence that the downturn in demand will be brief.
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Pound plumbs new low against euro
By Esther Bintliff
Published: December 10 2008 11:52 | Last updated: December 10 2008 18:47
Sterling plumbed a fresh low against the euro on Wednesday, as the outlook for a sharply deteriorating UK economy sent investors scrambling from the currency.
The pound extended two sessions of losses against the euro to slide 0.5 per cent to £0.8801, its lowest level since the single currency was created in 1999.
The pound also hit a historic low against a wider basket of currencies, with sterling’s trade-weighted exchange rate index sinking to 79.7, its lowest level since records began in 1981.
Sterling has declined almost 20 per cent against the euro since the start of this year, with weakness in recent economic data reinforcing speculation that the Bank of England will implement more cuts in interest rates.
Simon Derrick, at BNY Mellon, said: “The data from the retail, housing and manufacturing sectors, as well as the savage discounting being seen on the high street ahead of Christmas, only serve to underline the message that the Bank Of England will likely take ‘further measures’ on monetary policy in the months ahead.”
An improvement in risk appetite on hopes that a bail-out for the US carmakers sector was close to being approved led to some dollar weakness. Sterling rose 0.6 per cent against the greenback to $1.4834.
High-yielding currencies also benefited from the bail-out optimism, regaining ground against the safe haven Japanese yen.
The Australian dollar added 1 per cent to Y61.35, while the euro climbed 1.4 per cent to Y120.91. The Canadian dollar pared the previous session’s losses to rise 1.3 per cent to Y73.86.
The yen fell against the US dollar, down 0.8 per cent at Y92.89, and slipped 1.3 per cent against the euro at Y120.76.
Japan’s central bank said it was monitoring the effect of currency moves on the economy and flagged up the option of intervention if movements became excessive.
But Meg Browne, at Brown Brothers Harriman, said the comment was “a statement of fact to lawmakers rather than a hint that intervention is imminent”.
The New Zealand dollar outperformed, after the central bank played down the prospect of dramatic rate cuts. Alan Bollard, governor, warned: “Inflation rates in New Zealand remain very high.” The kiwi strengthened 2.1 per cent against the yen to Y50.87, and 1.3 per cent against the US dollar, at $0.5474.
The South Korean won surged 2.5 per cent against the dollar to Won1393.70, breaking the 1400-level for the first time since November 17.
The won, which has plummeted 35 per cent since the start of the year, was lifted by a four-day stock market rally which saw the benchmark Kospi index hit its highest level in four weeks.
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Sterling faces possibility of euro parity
By Neil Dennis, Esther Bintliff and Chris Flood
Published: December 10 2008 18:24 | Last updated: December 10 2008 18:24
Fears that sterling could be heading for an exchange rate crisis mounted on Wednesday as the pound sank to a record low against the euro, prompting talk that the two currencies could reach parity.
“The problem is the UK economy doesn’t have a leg to stand on,” said Peter Spencer, economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club. “It’s very hard to know where the floor for sterling might be when there’s nothing to support it.”
As the global recession has deepened, most analysts have noted that the UK economy, which is primarily services based and imports many of its durable goods and machinery, has weakened more sharply than that of the eurozone.
UK house prices fell again in November, while consumer confidence and retail sales have been eroded by rising unemployment.
Purchasing managers reported last month that activity in both the industrial and services sectors had hit new lows, while manufacturing output, reported on Tuesday, fell at its sharpest pace in six years.
“The UK economy may shrink by 2 per cent next year and interest rates are likely to be cut towards zero. This could push the pound towards parity with the euro, which is particularly worrying for a country so reliant on imports,” said Glenn Uniacke, at currency specialist Moneycorp.
With inflation dropping sharply, the Bank of England has cut the base rate to 2 per cent, lopping off 300 basis points in just three moves since October. But in contrast, the European Central Bank has been more cautious, cutting its main policy rate by 100 basis points to 2.5 per cent.
Many economists and interest rate strategists believe the rate differential could widen further, enhancing the yield attraction of t euro-based assets compared with sterling assets.
The euro started 2008 at £0.7340 and has since rallied nearly 20 per cent, hitting a fresh record on Wednesday at £0.8801. Since the pound’s most recent peak at £0.66 back in January 2007, it has lost a third of its value against the euro. Over the same period sterling has lost a quarter of its value against the dollar.
Not all analysts believe the euro is likely to reach parity any time soon. David Bloom, currency strategist at HSBC, said the pound was already beginning to look oversold and that parity was a long way off.
“The situation is dire in the UK but so is the outlook for the eurozone,” Mr Bloom said. He added: “We need lower interest rates, fiscal stimulus and currency weakness to achieve a sustained recovery but this is not a UK problem, it’s a global issue.”
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House approves $14bn Detroit rescue bill
By Daniel Dombey in Washington
Published: December 10 2008 19:15 | Last updated: December 11 2008 08:06
The fate of the US auto sector hung in the balance on Wednesday as President George W. Bush faced growing resistance within the ranks of his own Republican party to a White House deal with Congressional Democrats to provide $14bn in emergency loans to Detroit carmakers.
The loan was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday night by 237 votes to 170, but the bill faces particularly stiff opposition in the Senate, where an increasing number of Republicans – including the party’s leadership in the chamber – indicated their reservations about the measure.
“Republicans will not allow taxpayers to subsidise failure,” said Mitch McConnell, Senate minority leader, making clear that he would oppose an immediate vote. “We will not let taxpayers spend their hard-earned money on ailing carmakers unless these companies are forced to reform their bad habits – either inside or outside of bankruptcy.” However, later he cautioned he had made no “final decision” on the aid.
A series of other Republican senators spelled out their hostility in tougher terms, making clear their willingness to filibuster the legislation to hold up or prevent its passage.
Richard Shelby of Alabama, one of the Senate’s staunchest opponents of bail-outs, called the legislation a “travesty”. Flanked by four other dissenting Republican senators, he added: “This is the instalment on a huge bail-out that will come later.
“I think I’ll be joined by a number of senators that will at least debate this bill for a while to explain…that this will not make the cars competitive and it’s probably a road to nowhere.”
Calling for the groups to declare a “pre-structured bankruptcy”, he added: “We need to know where we can get rid of most of the management and probably downsize a lot of the workers to save these companies.”
The bill to authorise the $14bn loan was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday night after an amendment pushing banks to increase lending was attached to it – a strategy to increase support for the legislation.
Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, said the legislation to approve the aid set Detroit “on a new path to viability”. She added: “It is a test...There has to be retooling of the plants. There has to be renegotiating of the contracts. There may have to be reconsideration of the management of the companies if they do not live up to the standards of this legislation.”
But the Senate represents a far bigger hurdle to approving a loan
Because President-elect Barack Obama has resigned as a senator and vice-president Joe Biden is unlikely to return, the Democrats have only 50 votes in the Senate, compared with the 60 they need to push legislation through.
On Wednesday, the White House said Mr Bush would try to win over Senate Republicans, in a move that will test the departing presidency’s authority in his final weeks in office.
“I expect you’ll see the president talk to various members as he thinks it’s necessary,” said Joel Kaplan, the top White House aide working on the Detroit rescue package. “This is an important measure, and we’re going to try to get it passed.”
He added that Josh Bolten, Mr Bush’s chief of staff, was travelling to Capitol Hill to seek to persuade Congressional Republicans.
The depth of Republican anger at continuing government bail-outs, and the president’s unpopularity and lame duck status, are set to make convincing Republican senators a tough task – although the Democrats and the White House are hoping for support from a clutch of “moderate” Republicans and senators from the Midwest, such as George Voinovich of Ohio.
Carlos Gutierrez, the Bush administration’s commerce secretary, told CNN the Congressional Republicans’ stance was “very disappointing”. He added: “These companies need money over the next couple of weeks. If they don’t get the money, they collapse.”
At the White House’s insistence, Democrats have increased the level of transactions that would need to be authorised by a “car tsar” overseeing the industry, while making clear that any demands for carmakers to drop lawsuits against state carbon emissions rules would not have its support.
Mr Kaplan hinted Mr Bush might consult Mr Obama over appointing the “car tsar“. “We expect to work closely with the president-elect’s team in figuring out... what the most effective means possible is of implementing this legislation,” he said.
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Hope over US foreign policy shift
By Harvey Morris at the United Nations and Daniel Dombey in Washington
Published: December 10 2008 20:17 | Last updated: December 10 2008 20:17
The imminent change of guard in Washington has raised high hopes of a new direction in foreign policy, with the United Nations senior human rights official predicting this week that the arrival of the Obama administration could mark the return of the US to “the international family”.
Speaking on the eve of Wednesday’s 60th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights, Navi Pillay, UN human rights commissioner, said the record of the Bush administration had been disappointing. “This is why there are great expectations pinned on the forthcoming presidency of Barack Obama.”
Mr Obama has pledged greater co-operation with the UN and other international agencies, although the pace of policy change is likely to be determined by Hillary Clinton, his choice as secretary of state.
She will not be lacking for advice. The incoming administration was this week urged to make the prevention of genocide a central plank of its foreign policy and to prepare the US military to deploy abroad if necessary to protect civilians against their own repressive governments.
The recommendations came in an independent report authored by Madeleine Albright, secretary of state in the Clinton administration, and a team that included other former senior US officials.
Genocide action groups hope Mr Obama will adopt a more interventionist approach than his predecessors in defending threatened populations around the world in co-operation with US allies.
They have been encouraged by the nomination of Susan Rice, a former assistant secretary of state and a protêgé of Ms Albright, as the new US ambassador at the UN. Ms Rice, who Mr Obama also plans to appoint to his cabinet, has in the past called for military action to prevent Sudan carrying out genocide in its province of Darfur.
Ms Albright said at the UN: “I couldn’t be happier than to have Susan Rice come up to the United Nations. I’ve known her since she was four years old.” Of the Obama transition team as a whole, she said: “We already have a sense . . . that they are great supporters of early-warning prevention.”
“It’s really good news,” said Jerry Fowler of the Save Darfur Coalition, commenting on Ms Rice’s nomination.
Such optimism might be tempered, however, by a string of pressing foreign policy issues the Obama administration will inherit, including Iraq, Afghanistan and terrorism, the latter highlighted by the recent Mumbai attacks.
That agenda might limit the administration’s scope for action in various arenas in which genocide is a threat. The Genocide Prevention Project action group, which this week urged the UN to put more effort into preventing genocide through diplomacy, maintains a watch list that includes Sudan, Myanmar, Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
During the election campaign, Ms Rice was seen as a representative of a more idealistic school of foreign policy thinking, together with Anthony Lake, Mr Obama’s other chief foreign policy adviser.
During the Democratic primary campaign Ms Rice was also at the forefront of attacks on Mrs Clinton’s foreign policy record.
The difference in emphasis between the two was highlighted in Ms Rice and Mrs Clinton’s respective comments at their formal nomination last week. Ms Rice spoke of the president-elect’s “visionary agenda”, his commitment to “change” and his promises, among other things, to “tackle climate change, end genocide [and] fight poverty and disease”.
Mrs Clinton struck a notably more pragmatic note, committing herself to “vigorous diplomacy using all the tools we can muster to build a future with more partners and fewer adversaries”.
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UAE in rare move against human traffickers
By Simeon Kerr in Dubai
Published: December 5 2008 02:00 | Last updated: December 5 2008 02:00
Police in the United Arab Emirates have arrested eight nationals allegedly connected to prostitution and bootlegging, a rare move against human trafficking made as the Arab state yesterday defended its human rights record at the United Nations.
The authorities said the young UAE nationals, some of whom had been working for the police's undercover criminal investigation department, had been taking money from brothels and illegal bars run by Asian immigrants.
The accused had confessed to the crime, the official news agency reported, without identifying in which city the arrests had taken place.
The announcement provides a rare admission that some official elements have been involved in the UAE's prostitution business, which is blatantly open in some notorious bars and nightclubs, especially in Dubai.
The sex industry drives human trafficking trade from the former Soviet Union, Asia and Africa. Prostitution, while widespread in parts of this conservative Muslim country, remains illegal, dissuading victims of trafficking coming forward.
In Geneva yesterday, Anwar Gargash, the UAE's foreign affairs minister, highlighted efforts to clamp down on human trafficking.
"We have to see where the offending parties are working and then get prosecutions through our human trafficking law," he told the Financial Times after his presentation to a meeting for the UN's periodic review on human rights.
Rights groups have welcomed the UAE's 2006 anti-human trafficking law, as well as the formation of a committee to co-ordinate its implementation across government, but have called for immediate implementation and "concrete actions".
The UAE prosecuted 10 people under the law in 2007, leading to five convictions, said Mr Gargash. There have been about five prosecutions this year. He said the UAE would launch a media campaign to raise awareness of the issue nationally, including publicity at the UAE's entry points to educate workers about their rights.
Mr Gargash said the government was working to improve the conditions for the 3.1m foreign workers in the UAE, a large proportion of whom are South Asian labourers.
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UK Iraq pull-out set for March
By James Blitz in London and Andrew England in Abu Dhabi
Published: December 10 2008 09:40 | Last updated: December 10 2008 13:24
Britain’s 4,100 troops in Iraq will begin withdrawing in about March in a process that should lead to their full departure by the second half of 2009, Ministry of Defence sources said on Tuesday.
Britain is looking to sign a status of forces agreement with the Iraqi government this month that would give UK forces a legal basis to stay in the country into 2009. MoD sources said they were confident a new agreement would be signed.
The role of British soldiers has reduced markedly since Basra province was formally handed over to Iraqi authorities last year, which paved the way for the anticipated troop reduction. The transition marked the last handing over of the four southern provinces UK forces had controlled since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
After initially being welcomed by the south’s predominantly Shia population, which had suffered heavily under Saddam Hussein, British forces’ relationship with Iraqis deteriorated rapidly as Iraqis complained of poor services, such as water and electricity, and Shia Islamist movements rose to the fore.
British troops withdrew from their bases in downtown Basra in September 2007, after coming under a constant barrage of attacks from militias, causing critics to describe the move as an embarrassing retreat.
Since then, the activities of British troops, who are based at the international airport outside the city, have mainly been confined to mentoring and training their Iraqi counterparts.
British officials, meanwhile, have sought to shift their focus to encouraging investment and development in Basra, Iraq’s second largest city and commercial capital, in the hope of promoting long term stability.
Security in the province has improved since March, when Iraqi forces, supported by US and British troops, launched Charge of the Knights, an operation which targeted Islamist militia groups controlling the province, particularly fighters of the Mahdi army, which is nominally loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the firebrand Shia cleric.
After initial failures some 20,000 Iraqi army troops took control of the city. But in spite of the security gains, Basrawis still complain about the lack of basic services and jobs, and some express concerns that the militias could return.
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Intelsat to launch $250m Africa satellite
By Andrew EdgecliffeJohnson in New York
Published: December 11 2008 02:00 | Last updated: December 11 2008 02:00
Intelsat, the private equity-owned satellite operator, has struck a financing deal to launch a $250m satellite for Africa. It is a sign of the continued confidence in the rocket-launching division of the media and telecoms industry.
The Bermuda-based group, for which BC Partners bid $16.5bn last June, weeks before the credit markets ground to a halt, has secured non-recourse financing from two South African financial institutions, Nedbank Capital and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa.
The special purpose vehicle structure, which has not been seen before in the satellite industry, will keep Intelsat's investment to just $25m and improve its exposure to one of the fastest-growing regions for video, voice and data traffic.
"We're looking at a lot of constructs to be more creative. It's not an easy model but potentially we could do another," David McGlade, Intelsat's chief executive, told the Financial Times.
More than half of the satellite's capacity has been booked, 2½ years before it will be in service, with pre-orders worth more than $350m to provide cellular connections to Vodacom, video to Gilat Satcom and corporate network support to Gateway Communications Africa.
The initiative, which Mr McGlade said would provide "a good lift" to Intelsat's growth, comes a month after it reported a record $8.7bn contract backlog, 10 per cent revenue growth and an 11 per cent rise in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the third quarter.
Although the capital spending cycle last peaked at the turn of the century, Intelsat was "spending more than we envisioned because we see growth opportunities, especially in markets like Africa," Mr McGlade said.
The long-range planning for satellites, which can take three years to build and remain in operation for 18 years, made the satellite sector "relatively recessionresistant", he said.
Shares in SES and Eutelsat, Intelsat's closest rivals, have suffered far smaller falls in the last year than most media and telecoms stocks. "For big customers, we're often that crucial element for them to keep going," he added: "I've been in media and telecoms all my life and I've never seen anything like this."
He admitted, however, that delays to broadcasters' plans to upgrade to highdefinition channels could slow Intelsat's growth, and he said he was "a little worried" that growth would slow in central and eastern Europe.
Discussions with customers elsewhere were "still very similar to what they were", he said, with North American demand stable, Latin America continuing to grow and Asian markets still fragmented and affected by over-capacity.
Demand in the Middle East remained greater than supply, thanks largely to the US military's requirements for bandwidth-hungry unmanned aerial vehicles over Iraq and Afghanistan.
Intelsat has been lobbying the US Defence Department to contract for longer periods, arguing that the cost of buying for one year at a time in the spot market has risen sharply.
Mr McGlade said the dialogue with Washington had improved markedly in the past two years.
Intelsat, whose predecessor companies were owned at one point by 200 different countries, drew down partially on its bank facilities in late September "to be prudent" and now had $600m of cash, Mr McGlade said.
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Mobile money transfer service grows
By Rob Minto in London and Barney Jopson in Nairobi
Published: December 8 2008 23:42 | Last updated: December 8 2008 23:42
The rise of the mobile phone as a bank account substitute in Africa was reinforced on Monday as Vodafone announced the launch of a cross-border mobile money transfer service between the UK and Kenya.
The service will allow remittances to be sent from selected Western Union branches in the UK to Safaricom subscribers in Kenya, who can then redeem the money or send it on to another mobile user. The maximum amount that can be transferred internationally is £200 ($296).
The service follows the success of M-PESA, a mobile money transfer service in Kenya offered by Vodafone and Safaricom which has signed up over 4m customers since its launch in March 2007, and has been extended to Tanzania and Afghanistan.
M-PESA allows poor people without bank accounts to deposit, transfer and withdraw cash with their mobile phones. The service is often used by men who live and work in cities and send money to their wives and children in their home villages.
Remittances represent over 5 per cent of Kenyan gross domestic product, having grown from $538m in 2003 to an estimated $1.6bn in 2008, according to the World Bank, making them Kenya’s biggest source of foreign currency ahead of tourism.
Kenya is one of several countries in sub-Saharan Africa where remittances from members of the diaspora living in Europe, the Middle East and the US form a crucial source of foreign currency.
In a number of African countries remittances have come close to, if not surpassed, aid as a source of overseas cash.
Officially recorded remittance transfers to developing countries are expected to reach $283bn in 2008, but the level is predicted to fall in 2009.
As the rest of the world plunges into an economic downturn, there is already evidence of remittance flows falling, but many Africans living overseas are expected to reduce the amount they send home rather than cut off the funds entirely.
Money is commonly sent via unlicensed money traders or carried back in hand luggage on annual trips home, but the new service is likely to provide a more secure and convenient alternative.
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Berlin hits out at ‘crass’ UK strategy
By George Parker in London and Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Published: December 10 2008 20:43 | Last updated: December 10 2008 21:41
Germany’s finance minister has launched a stinging attack on the “crass Keynesianism” pursued by Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, fuelling tensions on the eve of European economic crisis talks in Brussels.
Peer Steinbrück accuses Mr Brown in a magazine interview of “tossing around billions” and saddling a whole generation with a bill for paying off British debt.
His comments come as the European Union’s 27 leaders meet in Brussels to debate a proposed €200bn fiscal stimulus package, designed to stop a protracted economic slump.
Mr Steinbrück, a Social Democrat in chancellor Angela Merkel’s grand coalition, has previously accused other European leaders of acting like “lemmings”, borrowing billions to fund tax cuts or higher spending.
His irritation has been heightened by efforts by Mr Brown to construct a coalition to put pressure on Germany to follow suit.
On Monday the UK prime minister hosted an economic summit with Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, and José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, at which all three called for a concerted fiscal stimulus.
Mr Steinbrück’s comments were seen in London and Brussels as being intended partly for domestic consumption.
One British official said the German finance minister took a much harder line on fiscal stimulus than Ms Merkel, a Christian Democrat, who will represent her country at a two-day EU summit starting in Brussels on Thursday.
Germany has insisted the summit communique, while endorsing a €200bn stimulus package, should include the need to maintain fiscal discipline. A draft statement says the goal of long-term budgetary sustainability “implies a swift return to the reduction of deficits which have been temporarily increased”.
Mr Steinbrück, speaking to Newsweek, questions whether Mr Brown’s £12.5bn (€14.2bn) cut in value-added tax will work. “All this will do is raise Britain’s debt to a level that will take a whole generation to work off,” he said.
He added: “The switch from decades of supply-side politics all the way to a crass Keynesianism is breathtaking.”
He said British policy would simply repeat mistakes of previous years in fuelling credit-financed growth.
His comments were seized on by Britain’s opposition Conservatives who said it revealed Mr Brown’s claim to have worldwide support for his fiscal stimulus plan was “an illusion”.
Mr Brown’s claim to be setting the global economic agenda was translated into what the Conservatives claimed was a Freudian slip on Wednesday, when Mr Brown told the House of Commons: “We not only saved the world. . . ”
For a minute MPs were convulsed in laughter, before Mr Brown corrected himself and said the government had saved banks.
German officials said last week that Ms Merkel had discussed the VAT cut with Mr Brown and was convinced it was the right step to support the UK economy.
But Ms Merkel continues to reject such a cut in Germany, where consumption has held up relatively well in recent months.
Downing Street refused to comment on Mr Steinbrück’s comments. Mr Brown has argued that the stimulus was widely accepted, notably by Barack Obama, US president-elect.
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Car dealers in currency and confidence trap
By Simeon Kerr in Dubai
Published: December 10 2008 19:03 | Last updated: December 10 2008 19:03
For Nazmul Huda, owner of Fuji Sawa Motors, the past year has been a harsh lesson in the vagaries of global trade.
Wedged inside a prefabricated office on the dusty industrial fringes of Dubai, Mr Huda relates how the automotive re-export market in the United Arab Emirates is hurting from a confluence of global economic trends.
His yard is overflowing with $3m (€2.3m, £2m) worth of Japanese second-hand vehicles destined for resellers across Africa, where demand for reasonably priced right-hand drive cars and trucks has been strong.
But the rising value of the yen has collided with a worldwide slump in consumer confidence to wrench the bottom out of the market for car dealers, who have formed a central plank in Dubai’s trade-focused business model.
This is likely to be a concern for local policymakers, who are already dealing with the economic fallout of a real estate correction and retrenchment in the financial sector.
Long before Dubai moved into media, real estate and finance, trade drove the emirate’s economic growth. Dubai’s exports and re-exports jumped 25 per cent in the third quarter over the same period last year, official figures show. Auto spare parts are in the top 10 items of re-exported goods from Dubai, but statistics on car units are hard to come by.
“The yen is killing us,” says Mr Huda, a Bangladeshi national, who, he says, is losing Dh400,000 ($109,000) a day because of currency moves. “But when one avenue closes, another opens up so, inshallah, it will be OK. And let’s face it, I couldn’t run this business at home.”
Fuji Sawa is one of the largest re-exporting businesses operating in the Dubai Customs Automotive Zone (Ducamz), a tax-free zone dedicated to the re-export of vehicles.
Japanese regulations easing exports of its second hand vehicles, allow Mr Huda and the 400 other businesses operating at Ducamz to act as middlemen to the trade.
While most vehicles move on to Africa, other destinations include former Soviet Union states and south Asian countries, such as India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Ducamz opened in 2000, persuading many businesses specialising in re-exporting in neighbouring Sharjah to relocate to Dubai.
Another leasing re-exporter at Ducamz says as many as half of the retailers at the export zone have downsized their businesses over the past few years as bureaucratic fees and fines eat into retailers’ margins.
“The government has to intervene,” says the re-export trader, who declined to give his name for fear of punitive sanctions.
“The recession is hurting us, but the government’s fees are the nail in the coffin.”
The trader says some resellers are relocating to Africa, cutting in half the cost of transporting vehicles from Japan to Africa.
But security and logistics problems in Africa, as well as bureaucratic logjams in Sharjah, where government fees are half those of Dubai’s, continue to militate against a wholesale departure from Ducamz.
Ducamz, which was not available for comment, forms one part of Dubai’s portfolio of re-export facilities including the gigantic Jebel Ali Free Zone, which ratings agencies estimate accounts for a quarter of Dubai’s gross domestic product.
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Moscow hints at reduction in oil output
By Carola Hoyos in London
Published: December 11 2008 04:38 | Last updated: December 11 2008 04:38
Moscow plans to announce an oil output cut within a week, Russia’s energy minister said on Wednesday, the country’s state news agency reported.
The statement by Sergei Shmatko that Russia would announce proposals for a cut before the next meeting of the Opec oil cartel suggested the world’s second largest oil producer was moving closer to co-ordinating efforts to boost oil prices with Opec, which controls about 40 per cent of the world’s supplies.
Mr Shmatko also said he had been told by Opec’s president that the group was planning “significant” production cuts when it met in Oran, Algeria on December 17.
Analysts expect the cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, to announce as much as a 3m barrel a day cut, bringing its total pledged reduction to 5m barrels. Many ministers have said Opec will have to act decisively in Oran, but the group is far from making up its mind about the exact magnitude of the cut.
Russia has inched closer to Opec in recent months, announcing in September it wanted to work more closely with the cartel, of which it is an observer member.
However, analysts say Russia’s production is falling because of years of under investment, in large part due to the Kremlin’s prohibitive tax regime.
Some within the industry dismiss Russia’s talk of closer co-operation with Opec as political chatter, rather then a concrete resolve to boost prices by voluntarily sacrificing production and the revenue that comes with it.
Russia has cut production in co-ordination with Opec before.
It was part of a troika of non-Opec members, including Norway and Mexico, which joined Opec production cuts following the collapse to less than $10 a barrel of oil prices in the late 1990s after the Asian financial crisis sapped demand for fuel.
This time, however, oil prices are still well above that level, leading industry analysts to speculate that Opec will get less help because producers can still make good profits at the current $40-$50 oil price. In fact, Norway has already said it will not cut output.
In London, January Brent crude increased 77 cents to settle at $42.20 on the ICE futures exchange.
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Corus unions offer pay cut
By Jim Pickard, Peter Marsh and John Thornhill
Published: December 10 2008 23:06 | Last updated: December 10 2008 23:06
Unions representing steelworkers have offered to take a 10 per cent pay cut across Corus’s entire UK workforce of 25,000 in a desperate attempt to save a large factory in south Wales from closure.
The negotiations, prompted by the acute downturn in the global steel market, have much wider implications for other British and European workers as companies seek cost cuts.
The Corus move is part of a growing trend as companies such as Irish stockbroker Davy, French broker CLSA and UK engineer JCB seek innovative ways to cut costs without firing people, at a time of low inflation.
Several thousand workers at JCB, the construction equipment group, have agreed to a pay cut in return for avoiding redundancies, a deal that ministers believe could be copied widely during the downturn.
With retail price index inflation expected to turn negative in 2009, many other companies have imposed pay freezes.
The three unions representing Corus workers have discussed with the company the option of cutting wages by 10 per cent for six months. “Representatives would accept a 10 per cent decrease for everybody, from the bottom to the top of the company,” said one senior official.
Unions fear that management wishes to press ahead with an alternative solution that could include the closure of Llanwern, Newport, one of the last remaining steel factories in the UK.
The steelmaking part of Llanwern was shut in 2001 with 1,300 redundancies but the site still makes steel sheets and employs more than 1,000 people.
India’s Tata Group, which bought the Anglo-Dutch company last year, has said it wants to cut costs by £350m in both the UK and the Netherlands as it cuts production by 30 per cent.
Workers have already agreed cuts in overtime and bonuses but management is pushing for more. A “no job cuts” agreement between the two sides expires in December. Corus has temporarily shut some blast furnaces in Port Talbot, Scunthorpe, and Ijmuiden in the Netherlands.
Union officials still hope that the mothballing or closure of Llanwern could be avoided in return for the pay cut. Talks between the unions take place on Thursday and they are expected to meet Corus for more discussions in the next fortnight.
Corus said it had discussed with its unions a number of proposals related to cost savings. But “at this stage no recommendations have been finalised”.
Job cuts announced this week include 16,000 worldwide by Sony and 14,000 by Rio Tinto while 32,000 workers are under threat from the collapse of Woolworths.
Malcolm Barr, chief economist at JPMorgan, said that flexible working agreements had helped the private sector emerge intact from the 2001 “mini-recession”.
He warned such deals could not stave off job cuts indefinitely. “The problem we face is there are some shocks just too big to be absorbed through that channel. There is only so much change which you can absorb by flexibility in terms of pay.”
John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, told the Financial Times on Wednesday that the economic crisis should prompt a turning point in industrial relations, with unions and managers working more closely together.
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Contractor quits defence academy deal
By Daniel Thomas and Sylvia Pfeifer
Published: December 10 2008 22:46 | Last updated: December 10 2008 22:46
The £12bn plan to centralise the UK military’s training programme has suffered another setback following the withdrawal of the property company Land Securities from the consortium picked to take forward the project at the beginning of last year.
The Defence Training Review (DTR), the UK’s largest private finance initiative, will centralise all non-military technical training for army, navy and air force personnel in one academy at St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan.
The government awarded the contract to build and run the new defence academy to the Metrix consortium, a joint venture between Qinetiq and Land Securities’ outsourcing arm, Trillium.
On Wednesday, Qinetiq told the government that Land Securities had withdrawn from the process. Land Securities has spent about £20m so far and is reluctant to keep funding the project in the face of significantly increased costs over the next 18 months.
Qinetiq, the defence research group that is the lead contractor on the programme, is already in talks with alternative partners, although the move comes at a difficult time for the property market. There may also be reluctance to take on additional short-term costs just as property and construction companies struggle with a sharp fall in asset values over the past year.
The news is the latest blow to the controversial programme. There have already been concerns about the viability of the 25-year project after it emerged costs had risen by nearly 10 per cent since the beginning of last year.
The consortium had also been forced abandon its original plan to raise up to £1bn through a bond issue because of the difficulties in the financial markets.
On Wednesday night, Charles Barrington, the chairman of Metrix, said the consortium and the Ministry of Defence had been able to cut costs. That had been achieved in part by reducing the number of courses that will be offered.
He added that changes in a consortium’s structure were not unusual as “circumstances and priorities change”.
“Land Securities Trillium has taken this decision for strategic reasons and not because the DTR proposition is flawed,” he added.
A Land Securities spokesman said its Trillium arm was withdrawing “in the light of the significantly increased bid costs, carried at risk by the bidders, required as the project moves into detailed design work”.
The construction programme is valued at an estimated £1bn and will create 1500 jobs. Financial close on the deal is now expected in 2010.
Land Securities remains in talks to sell Trillium to a rival outsourcing company, Telereal, although the continuing discussions are not thought to have prompted its withdrawal from the training programme.
Trillium was providing land acquisition, management and development advice to the consortium.
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Data reveal deepening slide into red
By Chris Giles, Economics Editor
Published: December 10 2008 22:37 | Last updated: December 10 2008 22:37
The economy is deteriorating even faster than the Treasury forecast as recently as two weeks ago, a Financial Times analysis shows, prompting fears the public finances will slide even deeper into the red in the coming years. The outlook is so worrying that the Treasury has joined the Bank of England in considering how to operate both monetary and fiscal policy, should the Bank’s benchmark rate fall to zero. Treasury officials stressed that any work was at an early stage.
The Treasury also believes the reintroduction of 17.5 per cent value added tax at the start of 2010 will hit the economy hard just before the expected date of the general election – a sober forecast that was not clear from the bulk of the pre-Budget report documents.
In the pre-Budget report, the Treasury said it expected the economy to shrink for four quarters, before recovering in the second half of 2009.
But it avoided outlining its precise forecast for the path of the economy for fear of looking spuriously precise.
In a website-only publication, however, the Treasury did publish its precise estimates of the output gap – the difference between its forecast for the economy and its estimate of underlying economic potential – for every quarter between the third quarter of 2008 and the end of 2013.
From these figures, the official growth forecasts can be calculated. They show the Treasury expects the economy to shrink by 0.8 per cent in the fourth quarter – an estimate that looks optimistic.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said on Tuesday: “There is every reason to believe that the output decline in the fourth calendar quarter of the year will be larger than 1 per cent in magnitude.”
Questioned on his view of NIESR’s forecast at the Treasury committee, Alistair Darling, chancellor, said: “We do expect the fourth quarter of 2008 to show that the economy is slowing and has slowed.”
The difference, unless it is subsequently rectified by higher growth, would reduce gross domestic product by at least £4.5bn this financial year and increase borrowing by another £2bn to £3bn.
The Treasury also expects the economy to slow abruptly in the first quarter of 2010, when 17.5 per cent VAT is reimposed. The growth rate will fall from about 0.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to just 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2010, according to the detailed forecast.
That would give Labour a troubling backdrop to an expected spring 2010 election.
On Wednesday night, the Treasury played down the significance of its officials’ work into the operation of monetary policy if interest rates fell to zero. An official said it was much better to be prepared for an eventuality, however unlikely.
Speaking to the Treasury committee on Wednesday, Mr Darling said such action was still far off.
“Interest rates are at 2 per cent. They have some way to fall. It’s not something people should get too excited about,” he said.
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Financial groups’ problem assets hit $610bn
By Aline van Duyn and Francesco Guerrera in New York
Published: December 10 2008 23:32 | Last updated: December 10 2008 23:32
The biggest US financial institutions reported a sharp increase to $610bn in so-called hard-to-value assets during the third quarter, raising concerns about the hidden dangers on balance sheets.
So-called level-three assets, classified as hard to value and hard to sell, rose 15.5 per cent from the second quarter, according to analysis by the Market, Credit and Risk Strategies group of Standard & Poor’s.
Level-three assets have risen all year for most banks as they have found it virtually impossible to sell mortgage-backed securities and collateralised debt obligations.
“A lot of banks are saying: ‘I am going to move securities to level-three assets because I have more control over, and confidence in, the model used for their valuations’,” said Gregg Berman, head of the risk management unit at Risk Metrics.
The study is based on regulatory filings by the biggest underwriters and traders of mortgage-backed securities and CDOs. These asset classes have plunged in value amid a wave of house price falls and foreclosures and are at the centre of the crisis.
Next week, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will be the first banks to report fourth quarter results, which are likely to be scrutinised for information about their holdings of opaque assets.
Michael Thompson, managing director of MCRS, said he would be “surprised if we did not see writedowns of these level-three assets” in the fourth quarter.
Already, level-three assets are many times bigger than the market cap of the banks. The US Treasury had planned to buy these using the $700bn troubled asset relief programme but changed tack and has used some funds for capital injections.
Mr Thompson said it was hard to imagine banks would not have to take further writedowns.
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Goldman set to toughen retirement rules
By Greg Farrell and Francesco Guererra in New York
Published: December 11 2008 00:13 | Last updated: December 11 2008 00:13
Goldman Sachs is to change its retirement rules, giving long-serving employees an incentive to leave before the end of the year, in a move that could add to the 3,000-plus redundancies already announced by the Wall Street bank.
Goldman, which last month said it would cull 10 per cent of its 32,500 workforce, says that as of 2009, it will take longer for Goldman’s employees to qualify for the firm’s full retirement package.
Goldman will scrap its policy of allowing employees whose combination of age and years of service exceeds 55 to collect all of their restricted stock upon departure. Instead, the programme – which is known around the firm as the “rule of 55” – will be replaced with a “rule of 60”.
According to the bank, the change is designed to bring Goldman’s retirement programme into closer conformity with that of its competitors, who generally make employees work longer before qualifying for similar treatment. It’s also a way of encouraging employees to stay longer.
For many Goldman employees, starting with partners, a large chunk of their annual bonus compensation is in the form of restricted stock. The restricted stock units vest over a three-year period. Employees who quit the firm for a competitor, or otherwise leave under a cloud, forfeit their unvested stock.
Those who decide to leave get to keep their restricted stock awards, but unless they qualify under the “rule of 55’, they have to wait for the required time to elapse before actually receiving their stock.
As for those being laid off this year, their vesting schedules will remain in place, unless they qualify for “55” treatment. As for those who are laid off but who haven’t reached the magic 55 number, they will continue to receive their restricted stock even if they find jobs at one of Goldman’s competitors.
Goldman’s decision to tighten its retirement rules comes at a time when the firm has hit a bad patch. For the first time in its 9-year history as a public company, Goldman Sachs is expected to report a quarterly loss on Tuesday. Some analysts have predicted the bank will lose more than $2bn.
With the backdrop of this quarterly loss, Goldman’s current layoffs have sparked speculation that the staff reduction is in excess of the 10 per cent previously reported. The firm denies this.
----------------------------
BP targets significant expansion in China
By Ed Crooks in London
Published: December 10 2008 23:27 | Last updated: December 10 2008 23:27
BP wants to expand its investment in China “by several times”, its chief executive has said, setting out his ambitions to grow in the country expected to undergo the world’s biggest increase in demand for oil over the next two decades.
Tony Hayward, who took over as BP’s chief executive last year, said in a speech in Beijing that the company could “help China in its endeavour of energy security by energy diversity”.
BP, which is Europe’s second-biggest oil group, has invested $4.6bn in China, but like other western oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil and Total has made only limited progress.
Mr Hayward’s comments, made at the end of last month, but posted on BP’s China website this week, show he is aiming for a much greater presence in China, “over the medium term”.
The company said he was setting out an “aspiration”, rather than a firm investment programme.
In 2005 the Financial Times reported that BP was seeking a deal with Sinopec, the listed arm of China’s second-biggest oil company, which could have transformed its presence in the country.
The talks failed to reach agreement on such a bold strategic move, however, and the following year Sinopec ruled out the possibility of BP taking a substantial minority stake.
In spite of that setback, BP’s investment in China has continued to grow.
The company’s biggest single project is the Secco plastics plant in Shanghai, a joint-venture with Sinopec and the Shanghai Petrochemical Company.
BP also has other petrochemicals facilities, retail joint ventures with Sinopec and PetroChina, the biggest listed Chinese oil company, factories for solar panels and a 30 per cent stake in a terminal for receiving liquefied natural gas. It even has a stake in an upstream project producing gas to sell in Hong Kong.
The Chinese government bought a stake of almost 1 per cent in BP, it emerged in April.
BP has also collaborated with China on research and development, last month launching a new $70m R&D centre with the Chinese Academy of Science: the occasion for Mr Hayward’s visit. The new centre will focus on commercialising less-polluting ways to use China’s vast coal reserves, including power stations that capture and store their carbon dioxide emissions and processes to transform coal into liquid fuels or substitutes for oil products.
However, all of these operations are still relatively modest on the scale of BP, which is worth about $140bn, and on the scale of China’s market of 1.33bn people.
The International Energy Agency, the developed countries’ watchdog, has forecast that China will soon overtake the US as the world’s biggest consumer of energy. By 2030, the IEA believes, China will have more cars than North America and, unless there is a change in its energy policies, its oil consumption will be almost as high as the US.
On the same “business as usual” basis, more than 40 per cent of all the forecast global increase in oil demand by 2030 will come from China.
Those facts make it impossible for any big international oil and gas group to ignore China.
However, progress has so far been undramatic.
Highly-regulated markets – even after recent reforms – and assertive national companies with international ambitions of their own make China a very difficult country in which to operate.
Mr Hayward last month pitched joint-ventures with BP to China, saying “these partnerships are based on one of the great motivating forces in human affairs: genuine mutual advantage.”
The advantage for western companies is clear.
Mr Hayward will have to use all his powers of persuasion to make China believe that the advantage is mutual.
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S Korea exchange closer to state control
By Christian Oliver and Song Jung-a in Seoul
Published: December 10 2008 23:00 | Last updated: December 10 2008 23:00
South Korea is one step away from bringing the country’s stock exchange under state control, a move that could sit uncomfortably with Seoul’s ambition to cast itself as a financial hub.
The National Board of Audit and Inspection in September recommended that it should supervise the accounting and management of Korea Exchange (KRX).
It argued the bourse was a monopoly and complained a long-promised initial public offering had never materialised. Korea Stock Exchange, Korea Futures Exchange and Kosdaq merged to form KRX in 2005.
On Wednesday, the Financial Services Commission, the regulator, told the Financial Times that it agreed with this proposal. It said: “We have passed our view to the ministry of finance, that we concurred with the audit board. Monopolistic revenues exceed 50 per cent of total revenue”.
Under Korean antitrust law, a company is considered a monopoly if its revenues exceed 50 per cent of the total industry.
The finance ministry, which has the last say in any decision, said it was reviewing the two rulings and would issue a final verdict next month.
Britain’s FTSE Group in September promoted Korea to developed country status, a decision analysts reckoned would attract billions of dollars in foreign investment. Total market capitalisation is Won633,000bn ($454bn).
One of the exchange’s executive directors said: “The government move basically means we will come under state control, regarding management, accounting and other business plans...It’s a step back and totally against global standards. Foreign institutional investors could lose confidence in our capital market, worried about government interference.”
The exchange is owned primarily by Korean securities firms, but JPMorgan Securities (Far East), Macquarie Securities, Prudential Investment & Securities and Citigroup Global Markets each have stakes of more than 2.8 per cent.
The audit board began its investigation into the exchange following a scandal involving one of KRX’s affiliates.
The decision over whether the state audit body will administer the exchange will weigh on plans to expand Korea’s interests into smaller stock markets such as Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Mongolia.
KRX has also said it is keen to boost trade by getting foreign companies to list in Seoul. Chinese companies have already done so.
In 2006, the audit board launched another case that became a litmus test for foreign investment in Korea, saying the acquisition of Korea Exchange Bank by Lone Star, a US buy-out firm, contained flaws, but cleared the Texan company of any wrongdoing.
Korean markets have suffered heavy falls during the economic crisis. Bellwether manufacturers are suffering and international investors rate Korea as a market from which they can bail out.
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Russia to support Lukoil bid for Repsol: minister
AFP
Russia's government is ready to give political support to Lukoil's bid for a stake in Spanish-Argentine oil firm Repsol, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said on Wednesday.
"No doubt, if Lukoil needs it, we will give it appropriate political support," Shmatko told reporters during a visit to Moscow by Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner.
Spanish media have reported Lukoil is now seeking 20 percent of Repsol, having scaled back its ambition of acquiring a 30-percent holding which had sparked unease in Spain.
However a Russian newspaper, Kommersant, reported on Wednesday that the deal had hit "several serious problems" as a result of the current economic crisis, quoting a senior Russian energy official.
The comments came as Argentina's leader met President Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin.
A tie-up with Repsol is seen as boosting Russia's presence in South America, where several Russian companies have been pursuing energy projects.
Experts believe Russia's ability to commit major investment to projects in South America has weakened as a result of the current crisis, which has cut sources of foreign credit to Russia.
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21:25 GMT, Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Strike adds to unrest in Greece
Several thousand people have marched through the Greek capital Athens to protest at the government's economic policies, as part of a general strike.
While turnout appeared lower than expected, the strike hit transport and the public sector and the city saw new unrest over the shooting of a teenager.
Rioters hurled petrol bombs at police outside a court where two policemen were remanded in custody for his death.
A defence lawyer says the youth was killed by a ricochet.
Shooting suspect arrives at the Athens prosecutor's office on 10 December
Greece's conservative prime minister has vowed to restore order and compensate businesses affected by the riots, which spread from Athens across Greek cities after the shooting on Saturday.
The leader of the socialist opposition, George Papandreou, made a call for public calm.
A lawyer for the officer who fired the shot which killed 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who was buried on Tuesday, said ballistics tests on the fatal bullet had shown the death was an accident.
Police officer Epaminondas Korkoneas, 37, was charged with murder and police officer Vassilios Saraliotis, 31, was charged as an accomplice. The Athens court ordered both men to be held in jail pending their trial. No date for the trial was set.
The ballistics tests have not yet been published and the Grigoropoulos family has hired an independent pathologist to study the case to ensure there is no cover-up.
Union demands
The two main umbrella unions - the Greek General Confederation of Workers (GSEE) and the Civil Servants Supreme Administrative Council (ADEDY) - are demanding increased social spending in light of the global financial crisis, as well as higher wages and pensions.
GENERAL STRIKE
* Athens international airport closed
* Athens bus, metro and suburban train systems disrupted
* Teachers, journalists, bank clerks and public sector workers also expected to strike
Rebellion deeply embedded
In pictures: Athens march
Greece riots: Your stories
Thessaloniki riot: 'War zone here'
They represent about 2.5 million workers - roughly half of the total Greek workforce.
For union leaders, though, the number of people who took part in the demonstration in Constitution Square was almost embarrassingly small, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in the capital.
While flights in and out of Athens airport were cancelled, and some banks and businesses were closed, most private sector workers found ways to reach their work-places.
The Athens Traders Association estimates the rioting over the police shooting caused 1bn euros ($1.3bn, £874m) worth of damage.
Responding to the unrest, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis promised on Wednesday to restore order and announced measures to compensate businesses that have suffered.
In a televised address, he pledged immediate aid packages, including cash payments and tax freezes, for businesses whose buildings had been torched or property looted.
"The government is determined to consolidate the feeling of public safety and to help businesses get back on their feet," said Mr Karamanlis.
Mr Papandreou, who has called for early elections on the grounds that public confidence in the government has been shaken, urged calm on Wednesday.
"I appeal to all to show responsibility, restraint and to end the violence that our country is experiencing these days," he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
Our correspondent says that the government has been badly wounded but will survive, as long as the prime minister can maintain party discipline.
New violence
Rioters hurled several petrol bombs near the courthouse where the two policemen were appearing before a magistrate for questioning.
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The bombs were reportedly thrown as a defence lawyer was preparing to talk to reporters outside the building.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed running battles in the city centre as masked youths pelted police with rocks, bottles and blocks of marble smashed from a metro station entrance.
Windows newly replaced after four nights of rioting were smashed again.
"The government wanted us to postpone this protest, but they are the ones who have to do something to stop this violence and to improve the quality of our lives," said one demonstrator, drama student Kalypso Synenoglou.
High-school students chanting "Cops! Pigs! Murderers!" clapped and cheered each time a riot policeman was hit by a stone, AP adds.
Also on Wednesday, a group of about 100 Roma attacked a police station in the impoverished Athens suburb of Zefyri, where they attempted unsuccessfully to push a burning lorry into the station, Greek TV reports.
And in the port city of Patras, 215km (134 miles) west of Athens, a crowd of shop-owners is said to have turned on rioters and forced them to stop a wave of destruction, our correspondent says.
Entrepreneurs have been sleeping in their shops to defend them against rioters and looters.
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07:48 GMT, Thursday, 11 December 2008
Oil plant investigated over pork
Irish bacon and sausages
A Northern Ireland oil recycling facility is being investigated by the environment agency over the contaminated Irish pork scare.
The Environment Agency said its investigations were at an early stage.
It would not identify the firm, but it is believed to be O'Neill fuels, based near Coalisland, County Tyrone. No-one at the firm was available for comment.
Meanwhile, the Republic's agriculture minister has announced how supplies of Irish pork are to be restored.
Brendan Smith said special labelling will confirm pork as having had no association with contaminated feed.
He said quick weekend action had let them restore supplies "in which consumers can have full confidence".
Slaughtering of pigs in the Republic is resuming on Thursday after the Irish government agreed to set up a 180m euro (£158m) contingency fund to help the pork industry meet the cost of the product recall.
European health watchdogs gave the all-clear on Wednesday to pork from the Republic of Ireland, and confirmed eating pig meat over the last three months posed no serious health risk.
Officials at the European Food Safety Authority found consumers should not be worried if they ate Irish produce - even if it was contaminated with a possible cancer-causing toxic.
But the Parma-based agency said it also supported the Irish government's total recall.
Its experts found eating an average amount of Irish pork every day during the 90-day contamination period from 1 September caused no concerns even if 10% of the meat and fat was infected at the highest level.
In Northern Ireland, pork production resumed on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, it emerged 53 cattle herds had consumed the contaminated feed but authorities on both sides of the border said neither beef nor milk posed any public health risk.
Nine herds in Northern Ireland had consumed the feed.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) said because of the differences in the digestive system of cows and pigs, the risk of contamination in beef was much lower than had been feared in relation to pork.
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12:13 GMT, Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Fatah al-Islam says leader 'dead'
Shaker al-Abssi pictured in March 2007
The militant Islamist group Fatah al-Islam has said that its leader, who fled from Lebanon last year, has been killed or captured in Syria.
The group said Shaker al-Abssi and two other members had been ambushed by the Syrian security forces in the small town of Jermana, south of Damascus.
It said Abu Mohamad Awad had been named as his successor.
A US intelligence monitoring group said the authenticity of the online statement had not been confirmed.
It was posted on a website used by many militant groups.
Syria says Fatah al-Islam was behind a bomb blast in Damascus in September which killed 17 people.
Fatah al-Islam fought a three-month battle with the Lebanese army last year in a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli.
About 400 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed.
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12:29 GMT, Wednesday, 10 December 2008
UN official slams Israel 'crimes'
Palestinian family celebrates a meagre Eid meal in Gaza
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories has said Israel's policies there amount to a crime against humanity.
Richard Falk's statement came as UN human rights delegates urged Israel to take nearly 100 measures including ending its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
He said the UN must act to protect the Palestinian population suffering what he called "collective punishment".
Israel says the blockade is a necessary security measure to stem rocket salvos.
The UN Human Rights Council has spent two days reviewing Israel's human rights record under a new mechanism called the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), in which the Council scrutinises the records of all UN member states every four years.
Israel is to report back in March on how it plans to follow-up on 99 recommendations made by the Council, which also include freeing thousands of Palestinian detainees.
Flurry of denunciation
In his statement, Mr Falk called on the United Nations to make an "urgent effort" to "implement the agreed norm of a responsibility to protect a civilian population being collectively punished by policies that amount to a Crime Against Humanity".
He said the International Criminal Court should also investigate whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law.
The last time there had been "such a flurry of denunciations by normally cautious UN officials" it was during the heyday of the apartheid government in South Africa, Mr Falk said.
"And still Israel maintains its Gaza siege in its full fury, allowing only barely enough food and fuel to enter to stave off mass famine and disease," Mr Falk said.
Israel allowed dozens of trucks filled with humanitarian supplies into Gaza on Tuesday, the fifth such shipment permitted to enter the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory in the past month.
Propaganda
There were heated exchanges between Israel and some of its adversaries during the debate at the UN last week.
Israeli officials described Gaza as "a hotbed for terrorist preparations" and said more than 200 rockets and mortar shells had been fired from there in the past four weeks. Palestinian militants say their barrages are a response to Israeli violations of a ceasefire in the summer.
Late on Tuesday Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva said the country was committed to building on successes in human rights and dealing with any shortcomings, and he welcomed the "positive and productive" dialogue with the Human Rights Council.
However a foreign ministry spokesman dismissed Mr Falk's intervention as "more anti-Israeli propaganda than truth".
"The situation in Gaza is the direct result of the violence inflicted by Hamas, not only on Israeli civilians but the Palestinian population," said Yigal Palmor in an interview with AFP news agency.
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11:55 GMT, Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Anger as Egypt sheikh meets Peres
Christian Fraser
BBC News, Cairo
Sheikh Mohammad Sayyid Tantawi
Egypt's top Muslim cleric is under pressure to resign from politicians and newspapers for shaking the hand of Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Criticism has been steadily growing since the newspapers began running a photograph of the Sheikh Mohammad Sayyid Tantawi greeting Mr Peres.
The two met at the United Nations sponsored interfaith conference in New York in November.
Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab states to have made peace with Israel.
But the bitter reaction to Sheikh Tantawi's greeting of Mr Peres showed just how deep the resentment felt by many in Egypt towards its neighbour goes.
'Passing meeting'
Sheikh Tantawi heads Cairo's al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's leading religious authority and one of the oldest universities in the world.
"He [Shimon Peres] was in a place, and I was in the same place... and he met me, stretched out his hand, so I greeted him. And suppose I knew him? So what... Isn't he from a country that we recognise?"
Sheikh Mohammad Sayyid Tantawi
He says the meeting was in passing, insisting that he didn't recognise the Israeli president. But his explanation has done little to deflect the criticism.
Among others, the leading independent newspaper al-Dustour, has been running a daily campaign calling for his dismissal.
The newspaper said Shimon Peres, whose career in Israeli politics has spanned 60 years, is tainted with the blood of thousands of Palestinians and that Sheikh Tantawi should richly purify his hands.
A spokesman for al-Azhar blamed Sheikh Tantawi's handlers for not paying closer attention and misdirecting him.
But the Israeli media has poured scorn on that version of the story.
The newspaper Maarif reported that it was Sheikh Tantawi that approached the Israeli president.
Although Shimon Peres has declined to comment on the row, his office said at the time the encounter was pleasant and that during dinner the two men had a very serious conversation.
Senior Egyptian politicians regularly meet with Shimon Peres.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak played host to the Israeli president just two months ago.
But Sheikh Tantawi, say commentators, is the leader of Sunni Islam and by shaking the hand of the Israeli president, he's seen as normalising relations with Israel while at the same time associating himself with the Egyptian regime, which is deeply unpopular in many quarters.
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11:49 GMT, Monday, 8 December 2008
Lebanese finds 'heaviest' potato
Khalil Semhat and his huge potato
A farmer in southern Lebanon has dug up what might be the heaviest potato in the world.
"This giant weighs 11.3 kilos (24.9 pounds)," Khalil Semhat told the AFP news agency at his farm near Tyre, 85 kilometres (50 miles) south of Beirut.
"I've been working the land since I was a boy, and it's the first time I've seen anything like it."
Mr Semhat, 56, said he had to ask for help from a friend to get the huge vegetable out of the ground.
He insisted that he had used no fertilizer or other chemicals to produce it.
Mr Semhat said he hoped his potato will be recognised as the heaviest potato in the world.
The current world record, as recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, is held by K Sloan of the Isle of Man in Britain for a potato weighing a mere 3.5 kg (7 lb 13 oz).
2008 is the International Year of the Potato, a project sponsored by the United Nations which aims to focus attention on the importance of the vegetable in providing food security and alleviating poverty.
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01:29 GMT, Thursday, 11 December 2008
Man's genes 'key to baby's sex'
Sleeping baby
A man's genetic make-up may play a role in whether he has sons or daughters, a study of hundreds of years of family trees suggests.
Newcastle University researchers found men were more likely to have sons if they had more brothers and vice versa if they had more sisters.
They looked at 927 family trees, with details on 556,387 people from North America and Europe, going back to 1600.
The same link between sibling sex and offspring sex was not found for women.
The precise way that genes can influence baby sex remains unproven.
But the Evolutionary Biology study could clear up a long-standing mystery - a flood of boy babies after World War I.
While a woman will always pass a female "X" chromosome via her egg to her child, the father effectively "decides" the sex of the child by passing on either another "X" in his sperm, making a girl, or a "Y" chromosome, making a boy.
"The family tree study showed that whether you're likely to have a boy or a girl is inherited"
Dr Corry Gellatly
Newcastle University
While the birthrate is almost 50/50, suggesting that overall men will deliver equal amounts of "X" sperm and "Y" sperm, scientists have suspected that in some individual couples the balance is shifted in favour of either boys or girls.
Various explanations have been put forward for this, ranging from differences in the time in the woman's monthly cycle that sex happens, to the amount of time that sperm spend waiting in the testicles.
The Newcastle study, by Dr Corry Gellatly, is strong evidence that there is a genetic component.
He found that within families, boys with lots of brothers were more likely to have a higher number of sons themselves and those with lots of sisters were more likely to have lots of daughters.
War babies
Dr Gellatly said it was likely that a genetic difference affected the relative numbers of "X" and "Y" sperm within those produced by the man.
This gene, while only active in the man, could be carried by men and women.
"The family tree study showed that whether you're likely to have a boy or a girl is inherited."
He said that the effect was to actually balance out the proportion of men and women in the population.
"If there there are too many males in the population, for example, females will more easily find a mate, so men who have more daughters will pass on more of their genes, causing more females to be born in later generations."
In the years after World War I, there was an upsurge in boy births, and Dr Gellatly said that a genetic shift could explain this.
The odds, he said, would favour fathers with more sons - each carrying the "boy" gene - having a son return from war alive, compared with fathers who had more daughters, who might see their only son killed in action.
However, this would mean that more boys would be fathered in the following generation, he said.
--------------------------
13:49 GMT, Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Google tells us what we look for
A laptop opened on Google homepage
What do Sarah Palin, Facebook and Euro 2008 have in common?
They are all on the list of the top 10 fastest-rising queries on Google during 2008.
The search engine has published its year-end Zeitgeist, the tool which reveals what internet users are searching for.
The most searched term for Google users in the UK was Facebook while the BBC came second and its iPlayer service was the fastest rising query.
The list also reveals what global preoccupations are and this year the US election candidates and the Beijing Olympics figure high.
The things people around the globe have in common are a strong interest in socialising and politics, according to Marissa Mayer, vice-president of search at Google.
"Social networks comprised four out of the top 10 global fastest-rising queries while the US election held everyone's interest around the globe," she wrote on Google's official blog.
Popular politicians
FASTEST RISING GLOBAL QUERIES
* Sarah Palin
* Beijing 2008
* Facebook login
* Tuenti
* Heath Ledger
* Obama
* Nasza Klasa
* Wer Kennt Wen
* Euro 2008
* Jonas Brothers
The economic crisis has made an impact on UK searchers with "money saving expert" and "hot uk deals" making the top 10 finance-related searches.
Gordon Brown will be pleased to hear that he beat David Cameron into second place on the list of most popular politicians among UK searchers.
Barack Obama made it into third place with rival John McCain coming in seventh.
Foodies were interested in recipes for cupcakes, meatballs, lemon posset and pork belly, while the hottest tickets in the UK went to Oasis and Leonard Cohen (first and second respectively).
Popular music
MOST SEARCHED UK TERMS
* Facebook
* BBC
* YouTube
* eBay
* Games
* News
* Hotmail
* Bebo
* Yahoo
* Jobs
While news and weather tend to be the most searched for terms globally there are still plenty of country-specific quirks, according to Ms Mayer.
"Russians elected Dmitri Medvedev as their president but a couple of popular music acts got more attention from Google searchers," she wrote.
In Poland the fifth fastest-rising term was Jozin z Bazin, the title of a 1978 Czech song which has been popular on YouTube.
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12:11 GMT, Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Don't be 404, know the tech slang
Woman texting (BBC)
A study of new slang terms entering English finds that technology is driving and perpetuating them.
For instance, "404" - the error message given when a browser cannot find a webpage - has come to mean "clueless".
Slang lexicographer Jonathon Green says that some such terms and abbreviations come about because of the limited speed and space afforded by text messaging.
However, an Australian study found that reading "textese" takes more time and results in more mistakes.
A study conducted by the telecommunications arm of the Post Office has searched out the terms that are not yet in wide use but may be soon.
"What we're seeing is the influence of technology coupled with current events and, inevitably of the young, who in many cases drive language," says Mr Green.
"It's focused on this world of mobile phones - these abbreviations are perfectly suited to those little screens."
And the very act of text messaging can throw up new terms: predictive text tends to choose "book" when users type the letters for "cool". Solution? Book now means cool.
Oyster pearls
Of the more unlikely slang sources identified in the Post Office research is the Oyster system, a card-based payment scheme on the London Underground. The card readers show the number 35 if the card has run out of credit. As a result, "Code 35" has come to mean penniless.
Similarly, if you're behind the times, you might be "Code 11" - Oyster's way of signifying an out-of-date card.
While these might seem London-centric, Mr Green says that slang is inherently an urban phenomenon, and London has ruled the invention and propagation of slang since as far back as the 16th Century.
Other terms from the study are of a more topical bent; the economic downturn has given rise to "GOOD job" - an acronym for Get Out Of Debt, the kind of job that many of the cash-strapped formerly employed may be on the lookout for.
Other examples are simple abbreviations, the technologically driven equivalents of FYI or TBC. Such consonant-heavy shortcuts are well-documented, but new examples are creeping in. "I love you" can take the shortened form of 143 - for the number of letters in each word.
"It's just another form of the Queen's English - not better, not worse"
Jonathon Green, slang lexicographer
Such labour-saving is nothing new; as another fairly fiddly mode of communication, the telegraph had its own rich collection of abbreviations. But the sheer number of mobile users compared to the number of telegraphers in their heyday means that these abbreviations and terms will spread further and last longer.
Hrd 2 rd
According to a study by psychologist Nenagh Kemp at the University of Tasmania, however, such shortcuts benefit only the sender, not the recipient.
A group of 55 students was asked to send and read out text messages either in standard English or its vowel-impoverished cousin "textese".
While writing in textese was significantly faster across the board, nearly half the students took twice as long to read messages aloud as compared to standard English versions.
Contrary to the idea that shortenings and deliberate misspellings are dulling our language skills, Dr Kemp argues that expertise with phonetics and grammar is directly tied to the ability to decipher messages in textese.
The development of this technologically savvy (or lazy) branch of language is a natural part of our language's evolution, argues Mr Green.
"It's just another form of the Queen's English - not better, not worse," he says.
--------------------------
00:35 GMT, Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Virtual world for Muslims debuts
Muxlim screenshot (Muxlim)
A trial version of the first virtual world aimed at the Muslim community has been launched.
Called Muxlim Pal, it allows Muslims to look after a cartoon avatar that inhabits the virtual world.
Based loosely on other virtual worlds such as The Sims, Muxlim Pal lets members customise the look of their avatar and its private room.
Aimed at Muslims in Western nations, Muxlim Pal's creators hope it will also foster understanding among non-Muslims.
"We are not a religious site, we are a site that is focused on the lifestyle," said Mohamed El-Fatatry, founder of Muxlim.com - the parent site of Muxlim Pal.
"This is for anyone who is remotely interested in the Muslim culture and the Muslim lifestyle," he said.
"From what we have seen from our market research is that most Muslims have a lifestyle that is not so different from everybody else," he said. "They all share the core values which are from Islam then beyond that they actually have made identities, they have many interests."
Mr El-Fatatry said Muxlim.com had 26 different categories of content, only one of which was religion. He said he hoped it would help Muslims meet and talk to others that shared their interests.
"This is nowhere near the vision of where it will be someday"
Mohamed El-Fatatry, Muxlim.com
Those joining the site will get to control the life of a cartoonish avatar or pal that they can then use as a proxy to explore the Muxlim Pal virtual world - which has a beach bar, arena and shopping areas.
Character development
The pal or avatar that members control has several "meters" governing its happiness, fitness, knowledge and spirituality that change when the character carries out tasks in the social world.
"How it differs from The Sims is that it is social," said Mr El-Fatatry. "So you can actually be with other people at the same time, interact, and see what their characters are doing."
The browser-based virtual world can be used for free but alongside will go some premium services that will help users do more with their avatar and personal room.
Those joining Muxlim Pal get a few virtual coins to spend in the online world's shops - to clothe their avatar or decorate their room. Real cash can be used to buy more virtual coins. So far no exchange rates have been given for swapping real for virtual coins. Muxlim screenshot (Muxlim)
Mr El-Fatatry said the impetus to create Muxlim Pal grew out of observing what Muxlim.com's 1.5m monthly users spent most time on.
He said: "We were seeing that our users were enjoying certain character developing elements of Muxlim.com, and as no other virtual world offers a family-friendly environment for our community, we felt there was a need to cater for the people who were being left out."
Mr El-Fatatry said because the trial version was only six months old it was likely to change significantly before the public launch in 2009. Muxlim was investigating whether members want to be able to create their own content, such as chairs or clothes, and be able to share those with other users.
"This is nowhere near the vision of where it will be someday," he said. "It is very important to put things out and listen to how people interact with it. What feedback they give us and then that will play a big role in which direction we take the product in."
----------------------------
「公明党はカルトの命令下に」 民主・石井副代表発言
2008.12.11 19:08
民主党の石井一副代表は１１日、東京・丸の内のパレスホテルで講演し、公明党と支持母体の創価学会について、「公明党なんて政党はない。創価学会だ。党の人事から予算まで全部後ろのカルト集団の命令下でやっている」と批判を展開した。また、「自民党は公明党の票で生き延びている。創価学会が政権を振り回してきている。文句を言うのは当たり前だ」と強調した。
これに対し、公明党の北側一雄幹事長は同日の記者会見で「とんでもない発言だ。公党に対する侮辱もはなはだしい。謝罪と発言の撤回を求めたい」と反発した。その上で「創価学会がフランスでカルト集団と認定されていると言うが、そのような事実は全くない」と反論した。法的措置については「今のところ考えていない」と述べた。
石井氏は１０月にもテレビ番組で公明党を「バイ菌みたいなもの」と批判するなど、民主党内でも公明党・創価学会攻撃の急先鋒（せんぽう）だ。
------------------------------
少額の株式投資、総額500万円まで非課税 税制大綱最終案
2009年度与党税制改正大綱の最終案が11日、判明した。年間100万円を上限に最長5年間、総額で500万円までの株式投資について配当と譲渡益を非課税にする制度を12年から導入する。中小企業の法人税の軽減税率は現行の22％を09年度から2年間18％に引き下げる。社会保障費の財源として焦点になっているたばこ税増税については与党は同日、見送りの方針を固めた。
最終案は同日午前の自民党税制調査会（津島雄二会長）の幹部会に提示された。同日午後の党税調小委員会、与党税制協議会を経て、12日に正式決定する。
-----------------------------
出産一時金、40万円超に増額 厚労省方針、少子化の歯止め狙う
厚生労働省は健康保険の加入者に支給している出産一時金を全国一律で引き上げる方針を決めた。子供1人当たりの出産一時金を現行の35万円から41万 ―43万円に増やす方向で調整する。12日に開く社会保障審議会医療保険部会に提示し、来年10月からの実施を目指す。少子化に歯止めをかけるため、出産の費用負担を軽減すべきだと判断した。
出産一時金については来年1月の産科医療補償制度の導入に合わせて、38万円に引き上げることが決まっている。都市部などでは出産費用が35万円を大きく上回るケースもあるため、さらに3万―5万円増やす方向だ。(16:00)
-------------------------
土地譲渡益に非課税枠 自民税調方針
自民党税制調査会（津島雄二会長）は10日、来年から2年間に購入した土地について譲渡益の非課税枠を設ける方針を固めた。5年超の長期保有を条件とし、その後に売却して利益が出た場合は1000万円を上限に課税所得からの控除を認める。中小企業の法人税の軽減税率に関しては、現行の22％を来年度から2―3年程度は18％に引き下げる方向だ。
11日の党税調幹部会で原案を提示し、12日にまとめる来年度与党税制改正大綱に盛り込む。(09:29)
--------------------------
日興、１割リストラ 希望退職に多数の応募者
米シティグループ傘下の日興コーディアル証券が11月下旬から実施した希望退職者の募集で、全従業員7000人のうち応募者が1割強に上った。経営悪化に陥った米シティは全世界で人員削減に取り組んでおり、日興もスリム化に道筋をつけた。削減した個人向け営業部隊の補強にどう取り組むかが今後の課題になりそうだ。
日興は具体的な応募者数を明らかにしていないが、関係者によると800―1000人に上ったもよう。経営陣の想定を上回っており、追加の募集はしない方針だ。前回の株安時の1999年に日興証券（当時）が900人の人員削減を実施したことがあり、それに匹敵する削減幅となった。(07:00)
----------------------------
小規模事業所の賞与、10年連続で減少 今夏までの１年間
厚生労働省が10日まとめた毎月勤労統計調査の特別調査によると、従業員5人未満の小規模事業所の賞与など「特別に支払われた給与」は今年7月までの1 年間で1人当たり平均計20万8367円となり、前年に比べ2.9％減った。減少は10年連続。パートなど非正規労働者の増加で賞与の水準が押し下げられたもよう。一方、7月時点の定期給与は前年比1.1％増と、10年ぶりに増加に転じた。
毎月勤労統計は従業員5人以上の事業所が対象のため、厚労省は毎年7月に小規模事業所を対象に特別調査を実施している。(07:00)
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ウォン安対策、韓国に2.8兆円融通 日本政府方針、通貨危機防止
日本政府は通貨ウォン相場の急落で外貨不足の恐れのある韓国を支援するため、日韓で結んでいる協定を拡充する方針を固めた。ウォンと引き換えに円やドルを韓国に融通する通貨交換（スワップ）協定の資金枠をいまの130億ドル（約1兆2000億円）から300億ドル（2兆8000億円）規模に広げる方向で最終調整しており、中国も人民元の供給枠を増額する方向。13日の日中韓首脳会議で正式合意する。金融危機の打撃でウォンがアジア通貨危機以来の安値に急落する中で、連携強化により危機再発を防ぐ。
日韓が結んでいる現在の通貨交換協定には、中央銀行間でいつでもウォンと引き換えに円を融通する協定と、国際通貨基金（ＩＭＦ）が緊急融資を発動するような「危機」時にドルを供給する協定の2種類がある。それぞれの枠は円が30億ドル分、ドルが100億ドルで、合わせて130億ドル相当になる。これを 2.3倍に引き上げる方向だ。(07:00)
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コロムビアミュージック、最大70人の早期退職者募集
コロムビアミュージックエンタテインメントは11日、全グループ社員を対象に最大70人の早期退職者を募集すると発表した。募集期間は15日から 2009年1月6日までで、グループ従業員の最大で14％に当たる。通常を上回る退職金を払い、再就職先をあっせんする。人員削減に伴う費用は約2億円で、09年3月期に特別損失として計上する予定。
12月分から執行役と管理職社員の給与カットも実施し、人員削減効果と合わせて年間6億円を削減する。給与カット率は執行役の場合10％で、黒字化が達成できるまで続ける。
コロムビアは08年3月にも約2割の人員削減を実施したが、新人発掘・育成の遅れやＣＤ・ＤＶＤ市場の縮小などが響き、08年4―9月期の最終損益は1 億4900万円の赤字だった。ゲームソフト開発など新規事業へ経営資源を投入するほか、営業や制作を再編成して再建を目指す。(21:01)
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アサヒビール、焼酎原料の調達見直し 製品の安心感高める
アサヒビールは11日、焼酎に使うコメやイモなど原料の調達を全面的に見直すと発表した。製造委託先に任せていた仕入れを、同社が指定する米穀会社などからの調達に切り替える。コメは国産米のみを使用、イモは契約農家からの調達に切り替える。原料段階から同社が事実上、品質保証することで製品の安心感を高める。
米粉加工会社「三笠フーズ」（大阪市）の不正転売問題を受け、9月に自主回収していた「芋焼酎かのか」ブランドなどの販売を3月に再開するのに合わせて適用する。アサヒビールは事故米を使用していた焼酎約100万本を自主回収し、回収費など約15億円の損失が発生した。(20:01)
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東京都心５区のオフィス空室率、10カ月連続上昇 11月末
オフィス仲介大手の三鬼商事（東京・中央）が11日まとめた11月末時点の東京都心5区（千代田、中央、港、新宿、渋谷）のオフィス空室率は4.56％と前月末比0.26ポイント上がった。上昇は10カ月連続。例年だと11月までに成約する来年4月の新年度入りに合わせたオフィス移転や増床の需要が盛り上がりに欠けた。
平均賃料（募集ベース）は3.3平方メートル当たり2万2347円。前月比0.94％（212円）下がった。下落は3カ月連続。早期にテナントを確保するため、賃料を値引きするオーナーが増えている。(18:48)
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ガムかむと脳が活発に 生理研教授解明
自然科学研究機構・生理学研究所（愛知県岡崎市）の柿木隆介教授らの研究チームは、ガムなどをかむと脳の働きが活発になることを明らかにした。無味無臭のチューインガムをかんだ後の特殊な脳波の反応を調べて解明した。同教授は「運転中にガムをかむ効果や、大リーグの選手が試合中にガムをかむ意義を科学的に証明できた」と説明している。
11人を対象に条件を変えて実験し解析した。ガムを5分間かんだ後に刺激音を聞いてもらい、刺激に反応する脳波が出るまでの時間を計った。通常は0.3 秒程度かかるが、5分間ガムをかんだ後では0.01秒ほど短縮された。ガムをかむ時間が長くなるほど反応が速くなり、5分かんで5分休むパターンを3回繰り返すと反応が0.04秒速くなった。(21:01)
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これなら納得？ リーマン内定取り消しで１０００万円
破綻前、東大生に
米証券大手、リーマン・ブラザーズの日本法人が経営破綻する前の今年３月ごろ、採用内定を取り消した東大生に対して１０００万円の補償料を支払ったとして、金融界で話題になっている。リーマン日本法人は９月の破綻後、野村ホールディングスが人材ごと買収。野村のリーマン部門広報担当者は夕刊フジの取材に対し、「人事関係のことはコメントできない」と話している。
【裁判ざた避ける外資流】
関係者によると、東大３年の男子学生（当時、現在は４年）が今年３月ごろ、リーマンから採用内定を取り消され、その際、内定取り消しの補償料として１０００万円が支払われたという。
ある金融筋は「私の息子も現役の東大生だが、『リーマンから内定取り消しを受けた学生が１０００万円をもらった』というのは、その学生の周辺では知られた話のようだ」と明かす。
１０００万円という額は、にわかには信じがたいが、外資系金融機関の関係者によると、「外資系金融機関は特にコンプライアンス（法令順守）にうるさい。内定取り消しの“迷惑料”も、あとあと裁判ざたにならないように多めに渡すのが外資流だ」。
内定取り消しに対する法的な問題については、「内定段階ですでに労働契約が成立しているとみなすのが一般的。判例をみても、内定取り消しが適法と判断されるケースは少ない」という。
国内の外資系金融機関では、大学３年の冬に内定を出した学生への内定取り消しが今年春以降、相次いだ。国内で不動産バブルがはじけたことが要因の１つという。
「今年春ごろから、それまで活況を呈していた国内の不動産市況は急速に冷え込んでいった。日本の不動産に積極投資していた外資系金融機関もこのころから、一斉に手を引き始めている。不動産投資部門の活況が続いていれば、内定した学生はそのまま採用されただろう。しかし、急に冷え込んだため、“迷惑料”を支払って内定を取り消さざるを得なくなった」（先の外資系金融機関関係者）
野村ホールディングスのリーマン部門広報担当者は夕刊フジの取材に対し、「リーマンが内定を取り消した学生に１０００万円を支払ったかどうかを含め、人事関係のことはコメントできない」と話している。
【日本綜合地所の場合は１００万円】
内定取り消し問題では最近、東証１部上場のマンション分譲会社、日本綜合地所（東京）が来春入社予定だった大学４年生５３人の内定を、業績悪化を理由にすべて取り消すことが明らかになっている。
同社は１０月１日に内定式を開いた段階では、学生に計画通りに採用する意向を伝えた。が、マンション市況の低迷や世界的な金融不安で業績が急速に悪化したのに伴い、１１月１７日に電話で内定取り消しを通告した。
学生には当初、内定取り消しの補償料として４２万円を支払うことを検討していたが、今月９日、誠意を示すため一律１００万円に増額することを決定。一部の学生はこれに納得せず、話し合いを続けている。
また、１０月に破綻した大和生命保険（東京）でも、来春採用予定だった学生の内定を取り消したもようだ。
厚生労働省の調査によると、景気悪化の影響で企業から１１月２５日までに内定を取り消された来春卒業予定の学生は、全国で３３１人。大学生（短大、専修学校など含む）が３０２人、高校生が２９人となっている。
同日までに内定取り消しに踏み切った企業（支社レベルなども含む）は８７社。このうち大学生の内定取り消しを行ったのは７５社で、高校生が１５社だった。
ソニーが国内外で１万６０００人以上の人員削減を発表するなど、産業界にはリストラの嵐が吹き荒れている。厚労省は今後、全国のハローワークなどに特別相談窓口を設置し、内定取り消しの回避を企業に働きかけていく方針だ。
ZAKZAK 2008/12/11
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犬にも不当な状況を察したり嫉妬する感情があるんです
【ロンドン８日＝ロイター】オーストリアの研究者らが８日、犬も不当な状況を察知したり、嫉妬に似た感情を表すことができるとの研究結果を発表した。
研究を主導したウィーン大の動物心理学者によると、ほかの犬が芸をしておやつをもらったのに自分はもらえなかった場合、不機嫌になったり「お手」を拒んだりすることが確認された。学者は「われわれが普段動物に対して考えているよりもずっと複雑な感情だ」と述べた。
また、ほかの犬がもらっているのに自分は褒美がもらえない場合、体をなめたり引っかいたり、ストレスを感じている様子を見せたという。
研究報告は「Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences」に発表された。
ZAKZAK 2008/12/11
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恐喝・監禁：容疑の元プロボクサーら逮捕 警視庁
警視庁組織犯罪対策特別捜査隊は１１日、自称内装会社経営、石原慎介（４３）＝東京都豊島区南池袋＝と元プロボクシング日本チャンピオンで同社員、中島吉謙（よしかね）（３０）＝板橋区幸町＝ら４容疑者を恐喝と監禁容疑で逮捕したと発表した。
調べでは、石原容疑者らは自分たちがやっている内装会社を辞めた男性（４１）に腹を立て、先月５日に豊島区南池袋の同社事務所に監禁したほか、「お前の担当だった仕事の客からクレームがつき被害を受けた。慰謝料を払え」などと言いがかりをつけ現金１０万円を脅し取った疑い。全員容疑を認めているという。
中島容疑者は９６年プロデビュー。０３年にスーパーバンタム級の王者になり、４度防衛した後、０５年に引退していた。
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元次官宅襲撃：生活苦で自暴自棄、引き金か 小泉容疑者
元厚生事務次官宅連続襲撃事件で、小泉毅容疑者（４６）が襲撃を決意したとされる昨年９月ごろ、株取引の度重なる失敗で生活資金がなくなり、借金生活に陥っていたことが埼玉県警と警視庁の合同捜査本部の調べで分かった。小泉容疑者は動機について、「３４年前に愛犬を処分された恨み」と供述しているが、捜査本部は、生活苦で自暴自棄になったことが最終的な引き金になったとみている。
捜査本部によると、小泉容疑者は昨年９月ごろ襲撃を決意した。「人生に未練がなくなった」などと供述したという。このため、昨秋の生活状況を調べたところ、株取引の損失で一時約１０００万円あった貯蓄が、このころ底をついていたという。その後はカードローンなどの借金で主に生計を立てていたとみられ、先月の出頭時点に借金は数百万円に上っていたとされる。
昨年夏に国立国会図書館（東京都千代田区）で襲撃対象者の住所を調べるなど襲撃に向けた動きを本格化させていたが、生活が困窮していく時期と重なっているという。
小泉容疑者は「（狂犬病予防法を所管する旧厚生省の官僚らは）命を粗末にするやつらだから、自分の命で償わせた」「保健所は通常、１週間程度は保護しているはずなのに、チロをすぐに処分したことが許せなかった」と供述し、３４年前に愛犬を処分された恨みを動機としているが、捜査本部は、事件の背景に生活の困窮があるとみている。小泉容疑者は都内のコンピューター関連会社を不採用となった約２年前以降は定職に就いていなかった。
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共産党：１３カ月間連続で党員が増加
共産党の志位和夫委員長は１１日の会見で、昨年９月以降で１万４０００人超が新たに入党したと明らかにした。１３カ月間連続の増加で、同党によると特に最近１年は、それ以前の倍近いペースの毎月１０００人程度が新たに入党しているという。同党の党員数は０６年１月現在で約４０万人。増加の背景について、志位氏は「雇用問題が大きく、非正規労働者の若者から痛切な訴えがある。インターネットなどを見て（入党して）来るケースもある」と述べた。
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中途解雇への抗議「労働者の反撃」 共産・志位氏
2008年12月11日18時44分
共産党の志位委員長は１１日の記者会見で、企業による中途解雇や雇い止めに対して非正規労働者らが労働組合などを結成し、撤回を求めていることについて「労働者の社会的反撃が始まった。労働者が団結して不当な首切りから雇用を守る闘いが発展することは大事。我が党は今、労働者が反撃に立ち上がる流れに強く連帯して闘いを展開していきたい」と語り、積極支援する姿勢を強調した。共産党は派遣社員らの大量解雇を決めた「いすゞ自動車」など複数の企業に対し、雇用維持を訴える活動を展開している。
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皇室問題 陛下に「様々なご心労」 宮内庁長官
2008年12月11日21時36分
ストレスが原因とされた胃腸の炎症など体調不良を訴えていた天皇陛下について、宮内庁の羽毛田（はけた）信吾長官は１１日、「ここ何年かにわたり、ご自身のお立場から常にお心を離れることのない将来にわたる皇統の問題をはじめ、皇室にかかわるもろもろの問題をご憂慮のご様子を拝している」とし、陛下に「様々なご心労」があると述べた。
長官は記者会見で「私なりの所見」としたうえで、陛下が、皇太子さまや療養中の皇太子妃雅子さまの体調、公務に関して気遣っていることを説明。皇太子さまが昨年６月、十二指腸のポリープの切除手術を受けた際、人さし指の先ほどだったポリープの大きさに天皇、皇后両陛下は驚き、相当期間、検査がされていなかったことに強い不安を持ったという。両陛下は、皇太子ご夫妻が定期的に健康チェックを受けるよう願っているという。
また、雅子さまの「適応障害」との診断に関し、「皇室そのものがストレスであり、病気の原因」という意見があることについて、「皇室の伝統を受け継がれて一心に働き続けてこられた両陛下は深く傷つかれた」と述べた。
さらに、皇太子ご夫妻の公務について、皇太子さまが何度か見直す考えを示し、両陛下の依頼で歴代の宮内庁長官らが相談に乗っていることについても説明したうえで、皇太子さまから具体的な提案がないことも明かした。
陛下の公務については、天皇誕生日や年末年始など今後１カ月程度、ストレスになりそうな状況をできるだけ減らすとしている。
羽毛田長官は今年２月の会見で、陛下が愛子さまと会う機会が少ないことを「残念なこと」とし、皇太子さまが「お会いする機会を作っていきたい」と答えたことについて、「回数は増えていない」とし、「発言なされたからには実行を伴って頂きたい」と皇太子さまに苦言を呈した。（佐々木隆広）
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宮内庁長官、定例会見での発言要旨
2008年12月11日21時37分
宮内庁の羽毛田（はけた）信吾長官は１１日、定例会見を開いた。発言の要旨は次の通り。
【長官の会見要旨】
天皇陛下は、かねてから国の内外にわたり、色々と厳しい状況が続いていることを深くご案じになり、これに加え、ここ何年かにわたり、ご自身のお立場から常にお心を離れることのない将来にわたる皇統の問題をはじめ、皇室にかかわるもろもろの問題をご憂慮いただくというようなご様子を拝して参りました。このような様々なご心労、これ自体は陛下であるがゆえのご心労でありますから、そのすべてをうかがい知ることはできませんが、私なりの所見を申し上げたいと思います。
（１）今月９日、皇太子妃殿下の誕生日に際し、妃殿下のご感想が発表されました。この中で、妃殿下ご自身が「天皇皇后両陛下には、これまで私の体調についてご心配下さり、温かくお見守りいただいているお心遣いに深く感謝申し上げます」とお述べになっているように、天皇陛下は皇后陛下とともに妃殿下の快復を願われ、心にかけてこられました。この数年、一部の報道の中に「両陛下は皇太子妃殿下が公務をなさらないことを不満に思っている」「両陛下は皇太子同妃両殿下がオランダに赴かれたことに批判的であった」などの記事が散見されるが、妃殿下がご病気と診断されてこの方、両陛下からこのたぐいのお言葉を伺ったことは一度もありません。
（２）この間、両陛下がずっとご心配になっておられたことは、妃殿下の適応障害のみならず、さらに広義におけるご健康のことでした。昨年、皇太子殿下がポリープの切除手術を受けられたが、その時も、両陛下はポリープの大きさに驚かれ、相当期間検査がなされていなかったことに強い不安を持たれました。以後、殿下が定期検診を避けることのないよう願っておられました。皇太子妃殿下についても現在のご病気のこととともに、妃殿下が、がんを始め様々な成人病にかかりやすい年齢におられることを深く案じ、健康チェックを定期的になさるよう、また、そのことに誰かが責任を持ち、妃殿下の健康をお守りすることを願っておられます。
（３）妃殿下の適応障害との診断に関し、「皇室そのものが妃殿下に対するストレスであり、ご病気の原因ではないか」「妃殿下がやりがいのある公務をなされるようにすることがご快復の鍵である」といった論がしばしばなされることに対し、皇室の伝統を受け継がれて、今日の時代の要請に応えて一心に働き続けてこられた両陛下は深く傷つかれました。その中でなお、お二方のために両陛下として何が出来るか、宮内庁、掌典（しょうてん）職と何をはかっていくべきかを考え続けてこられたことを指摘したいと思います。
皇太子妃殿下のご公務、皇太子殿下の新しいご公務については、殿下の記者会見における公務見直しのご発言のあった直後、両陛下から当時の宮内庁長官、前任の長官、参与などが両殿下のご意向をよく伺って、ご相談に乗るようにとのご依頼を受け、御前にも出て、色々と申し上げているが、今も具体的なご提案をお待ちしているところであります。
（４）皇太子妃殿下の健康診断の問題は、従来から妃殿下のご病気の性格上、東宮職の意向もあり、皇室医務主管が直接に妃殿下の健康管理にかかわることは差し控えてきました。医務主管が検診の種目を指示し、検査結果を把握することができず、結果として妃殿下だけでなく、殿下の定期検診の責任をだれが持つかを不明確にし、ご検査を間遠にし、ポリープのご手術の時のように両陛下に非常なご心配をおかけしてしまいました。今後は東宮職医師団が直接の責任者となり、両殿下の定期的な検診の実施、検査結果の把握などにあたってもらうことを考えています。
（５）今年は毎年行われる色々な行事に加え、オリンピックやパラリンピック、様々な事項の節目の年にあたり、記念行事や式年祭が多かった。通常の年に比較し、お忙しい１年でした。かねてから私は天皇陛下が７５歳のお誕生日をお迎えになり、平成の御代（みよ）が２０年を超えるこの機会に、ご負担の軽減を進めさせて頂きたいと考えてきましたが、一昨日の医師団の判断にかんがみ、当面の対応として、陛下のお疲れを減らし、ストレスになりそうな状況をできるだけ減らすために、ここ１カ月程度はご日程を可能な限り軽いものに致したいと思っていて、天皇誕生日や年末年始の行事などについて所用の調整をしていきたい。
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小泉元首相ら議連旗揚げ 郵政民営化推進派を結集
2008年12月9日21時8分
小泉元首相らが９日、自民党の議員連盟「郵政民営化を堅持し推進する集い」を発足させた。麻生内閣で郵政民営化反対組が次々と政権中枢に入り、民営化見直しの機運が出てきたことへの危機感からだ。麻生首相の出方次第では、同議連の動向が政局に連動する可能性もある。
「あの３年前の（郵政）選挙がどういう選挙であったか思い起こしていただきたい。何やら不可解な行動をしている方々の多くは、元々郵政民営化に反対。しかし、誓約書まで書いて、間違いだったと（認めて）復党した」
９日の党本部。政界引退表明後は表舞台から遠ざかっていた小泉氏が、こう諭すように語ると、集まった約６０人の議員から拍手が起きた。
会合には、中川秀直元幹事長や小池百合子元防衛相、小泉チルドレンら小泉改革路線の推進を訴える面々が顔をそろえた。郵政反対組の議員を復党させた安倍元首相も参加し、「郵政民営化を進めていくということは、すでに決断をした話だ」と語った。
麻生首相は、郵政反対組で一度は自民党を離れ、後に復党した山口俊一氏を首相補佐官に起用。こうした復党組が「郵政研究会」を１０月に立ち上げ、民営化見直し論議を始めている。
党内にはさらに民営化に慎重な郵政研究会のほか、民営化を検証するために党政務調査会のもとに設置された「郵政民営化見直しプロジェクトチーム（ＰＴ）」もある。ＰＴ座長の中谷元・元防衛庁長官は「対立するものではない」と語るが、民営化論議が党内で再燃すれば党内分裂の引き金を引きかねない。
会合では、道路特定財源の一般財源化など改革路線の後退に対する危機感を訴える声も出た。山本一太参院議員は「今の党内は、非常時だからと、まるで昔のバラマキに戻したらいいというような議論になっている」と訴えた。
議連の呼びかけ人の一人である中川氏が会合後、記者団に「我々が逆コースを歩んでいないということを国民に伝える意味がある」と強調。郵政民営化をはじめ、道路特定財源の一般財源化、歳出削減・抑制方針の転換など、「小泉改革」が骨抜きになることへの警戒感が強く、首相の政権運営を注視する構えだ。（林尚行、佐藤徳仁）
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Russia’s LUKOIL to enter Argentina’s market
10.12.2008, 14.50
MOSCOW, December 10 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s LUKOIL and Argentina’s Energia Argentina and Pobater have signed a memorandum of understanding, the press service of the Russian company told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
LUKOIL First Vice-President Vladimir Nekrasov, Argentina’s Energia Argentina President Ezequiel Omar Espinoza and Pobater President Horacio Gabriel Sambucetti put their signatures to the document.
Under the arranged agreement LUKOIL will supply petroleum products (fuel oil and diesel fuel) for Argentina’s Energia Argentina and use Pobater’s infrastructure for fuel storage.
“Our company has already been conducting an active work in two Latin American countries – in Colombia and Venezuela,” Nekrasov said. “We hope that the memorandum of understanding we signed today with the Argentine companies will help step up mutually advantageous cooperation between Russia and Latin America.”
LUKOIL “operates on the international market as a supplier of petroleum products through its subsidiaries Litasco in Switzerland and LUKOIL Pan Americas in the US that have a vast experience of diesel fuel supplies to Latin America,” a company’s official said.
Argentina’s Energia Argentina is a state-run company engaged in oil and gas exploration, transportation, storage and sale as well as other related activities in Argentina and other countries of Latin America.
Pobater owns oil bases and refineries in Buenos Aires Province.
The signing of the memorandum was timed to coincide with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s visit to Russia. On Wednesday, she holds talks in the Kremlin with her Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.
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Russia, Iran diplomats discuss bilateral economic cooperation
10.12.2008, 13.56
MOSCOW, December 10 (Itar-Tass) -- The high-ranking diplomats of Russia and Iran discussed trade and economic cooperation between the countries and key regional and international problems, the Russian Foreign Ministry said after a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov and Iranian Ambassador to Russia Seyed Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi here on Wednesday.
“The sides shared views on a broad range of issues of Russian-Iranian relations. The bilateral relations and cooperation keep developing dynamically in 2008,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The negotiations highlighted “trade and economic cooperation, key regional and international problems and joint efforts to solve them,” the ministry added.
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Black House of the United Socialist States of America
10.12.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/106817-obama_america-0
The day when Barack Obama won the election has been ironically dubbed as ‘Black Tuesday.’ It brings up the idea that the White House in Washington might be renamed soon too. As a matter of fact, red is the best color that fits America today. If things continue to develop like that, the country’s new name will the USSA – the United Socialist States of America.
Americans have reached the highest point of hypocrisy in their self-complacency and confidence. It may at times be very close to absurdity. Just imagine that Governor Schwarzenegger bans words ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ from California schools just because of the fact that the words supposedly discriminates gay families. In America, feeding children with junk food, which is obviously made only for profit, is considered politically correct. It is considered politically correct to bomb Iraqi children for seven years after Colin Powell showed a test-tube with detergent at the UN and said that it was a weapon of mass destruction. ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ prove to be politically incorrect. Schwarzenegger might want to have a closer look into the origin of his last name, for it seems to an extremely incorrect name.
The story of a US congressman suing God made numerous headlines not so long ago. The politician decided to defend the rights of his electors against the background of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters. The claim has been noted, the Lord has been provided with lawyers but the hearing never took places because it was impossible to find out the defendant’s address.
Stupid rules can be a lot more important that common sense at times. Will Obama be able to wake America up? It is not likely that Obama will become an object of sarcasm and countless jokes, like it happened with outgoing President Bush (e.g. Bush has lost his entire library in a fire – all the three books are gone).
Every nation deserves its leader, and this saying matches America completely. Many Americans were sincerely surprised when they were told that one of their states – Georgia – exists across the ocean. Some of them were concerned about Russia attacking the Georgian governor. It seems symbolic that the name ‘George’ sounds very much like the name of the country – ‘Georgia.’
Mikhail Zadornov for Express Gazeta
Mikhail Zadornov is a well-known Russian stand-up comedian and writer. Zadornov is particularly famous for his satirical comparisons of Russians and nationals of other countries, especially Americans. He has also been known to make fun of any CIS (former Soviet) country seeking a friendly relationship with the west, but seems to have no hard feelings against them.
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Proxy war between India and Pakistan will benefit 'divide and conquer' agenda of the USA and Israel
11.12.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/106819-proxy_war-0
The USA has been the chief supporter of Pakistan for the past several decades. During the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, the USA funneled vast amounts of war materiel to Afghanistan through Pakistan, and much of that war material was diverted, with US permission, to Pakistani Terrorism against India. The USA actually created Al Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden worked as a CIA asset in Afghanistan and also in Kosovo.
During the past several decades the US government and the CIA have not only turned a blind eye to the Pakistani government's support of Terrorist training and Terrorist attacks against India, but the ongoing financial, training, and logistical support which the USA has provided for Pakistan shows that the USA has been a willing co-conspirator with the Pakistani government's efforts to attack and destabilize India.
Saddam Hussein was hired at the age of nineteen to work as an assassin for the CIA, and after Saddam's bungled assassination attempt against the Iraqi President, Saddam retreated to Cairo, where he was a frequent visitor to the US Embassy, and Saddam remained on the CIA payroll. During the Iran/Iraq War, in which more than a million people died, the USA openly supported Iraq and secretly supported Iran with arms sales as part of the CIA's illegal Iran/Contra operation. 'Divide and Conquer' is the game that the USA played during the Iran/Iraq War, and today the USA continues to play 'Divide and Conquer' with Iraq and Iran.
Now, after supporting Pakistan for decades, during which time the USA not only ignored, but also aided and abetted the Pakistani State Terrorism against India, the USA is making a public show of turning against Pakistan. The USA's recent saber rattling against Pakistan is not a result of the US government suddenly becoming 'wise to' or 'fed up with' Pakistani Terrorism. It is part of the USA's long range program of 'Divide and Conquer' against Pakistan and India. The USA and Israel intend to encourage or provoke India into a 'proxy war' against Pakistan.
Both Pakistan and India will suffer greatly from the coming 'proxy war' now being promoted by the USA and Israel, but no matter how much Pakistan and India suffer, the real winners of an all-out Indo-Pakistani War will be the USA and Israel, because the USA and Israel will profit from selling arms, materiel, and logistical support to both sides in the conflict, and the devastation of both Pakistan and India will benefit the geopolitical goals of the USA and Israel.
A likely victory by India over Pakistan in the coming 'proxy war' that is being encouraged and provoked by the USA and Israel will benefit the USA and Israel, because it will strengthen the economic and political bonds between India, the USA, and Israel. India will become a greater market for US and Israeli products, and India will become a more committed partner in the USA and Israel's geopolitical activities and goals.
The global police state which the US, the UK, and Israel want to create and rule as the 'world's policemen' is already taking hold in India, as the USA and Israel incite hostilities between Pakistan and India. The USA makes a public show of encouraging diplomacy between Pakistan and India, but behind the scenes the actions of the USA and Israel are manipulative and unscrupulous. Indian cooperation with the USA and Israel will inevitably lead to India becoming a puppet of the USA and Israel, and a willing participant on the USA and Israel's global police state agenda.
Gregory F. Fegel
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Six-party N.Korea nuclear negotiations end with no deal
15:45 | 11/ 12/ 2008
MOSCOW, December 11 (RIA Novosti) - Four days of international negotiations in Beijing on North Korea's denuclearization process ended on Wednesday with no deal reached.
U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters before leaving Beijing: "I would say that there was a lot of agreement among a majority of the delegations there, but ultimately the DPRK (North Korea) was not ready to reach a verification protocol with all the standards that are required."
The six countries - the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan - discussed a Chinese-drafted verification protocol on means of probing North Korea's past nuclear activities.
China, as host nation, released a statement saying: "the sides highly value the progress reached toward signing an agreement on verification."
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told journalists that differences remained between the negotiators.
Hill said no date had been agreed for the next round of six-nation talks.
Currently, the main stumbling block in the negotiations, which have been ongoing since 2003, is the U.S. demand for nuclear inspectors to be able to take samples from North Korean facilities out of the country for analysis.
The negotiations have been complicated by North Korea's refusal to acknowledge Japan as a participant over Tokyo's failure to meet its obligations under a 2007 six-party agreement to provide fuel aid to Pyongyang in exchange for the dismantling of North Korean nuclear facilities and disclosure of all information on past nuclear activities.
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Serbia to sign 3 energy deals during president's visit to Moscow
10:01 | 11/ 12/ 2008
BELGRADE, December 11 (RIA Novosti) - A Serbian delegation led by President Boris Tadic will arrive in Moscow next week to sign three oil and gas deals with Russian energy giant Gazprom, a Russian diplomatic source said on Thursday.
A preliminary agreement was signed in Moscow on January 25 that includes the acquisition by Gazprom's oil arm Gazprom Neft of a 51% stake in state-owned Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) for $400 million, Gazprom's $500 million investment in a gas storage facility in Serbia, and the construction of the Serbian segment of the South Stream pipeline.
"The Serbian delegation will be in the Russian capital on December 17. It will be led by President Tadic," the source in Belgrade said. Tadic's visit will come a week after his last trip to Moscow, for the funeral of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II on December 9.
On December 5, during talks with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller in Belgrade, the Serbian president confirmed the agreements would be signed by the end of the year.
Under the South Stream project, a 400-km (248 mile) leg will be built in Serbia for Russian natural gas supplies to and via the Balkans.
NIS produces around 1 million metric tons (7.3 million barrels) of crude annually, refines 7 million metric tons (51 million barrels), and has Serbia's largest network of filling stations.
Gazprom Neft, known as Sibneft before it was taken over by Gazprom in September 2005, produced 32.7 million metric tons (240 million barrels) of crude and posted a US GAAP net income of $4.14 billion in 2007.
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Russia looks to Bolivia-Argentina gas pipeline - Medvedev
17:14 | 10/ 12/ 2008
MOSCOW, December 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is ready to take part in a project to build a gas pipeline linking Bolivia and Argentina, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.
Speaking after talks with his Argentine counterpart, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Medvedev said: "We have the opportunity to develop cooperation in the gas sphere, including in the construction of a gas pipeline to link Argentina and Bolivia."
"We hope that we will reach an agreement on the project's main issues," Medvedev told a news conference.
Bolivia, which has Latin America's second largest gas reserves after Venezuela, signed a contract with Argentina last March to build a $1.5 billion gas pipeline that will eventually quadruple the amount of natural gas the country supplies to its southern neighbor.
Russia's Gazprom, which is increasingly looking to Latin American markets, signed a gas prospecting deal with Bolivia earlier this year. The energy giant is also in talks with Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela that jointly plan to build a transcontinental pipeline which will also cross Bolivia.
Medvedev also said Russia and Argentina would cancel visas soon in a bid to encourage business contacts and tourist flows. "We agreed to finish work over an agreement on visa-free travel as soon as possible," he said.
During de Kirchner's visit to Russia, the first by an Argentine leader in ten years, a series of deals were signed, as well as a statement and memo on cooperation in nuclear power and energy respectively.
In a joint statement after the talks, the presidents said their countries would continue to cooperate in space, primarily in probe and satellite launches, and pledged efforts to increase and balance trade with a focus on hi-tech projects.
Bilateral trade has grown more than fivefold in the last four years to over $1.6 billion, although it has tilted in Argentina's favor.
Medvedev and de Kirchner also reiterated appeals for reform of the global financial system against the backdrop of the ongoing credit crunch. They urged efforts to promote a fair world order and curb inequality.
Argentina also expressed support for Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization.
De Kirchner invited Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who she met on Tuesday, to visit Argentina. The invitations were accepted. The date for the visits will be coordinated via diplomatic channels.
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大相撲「八百長」訴訟が結審＝来年３月に判決－東京地裁
大相撲の八百長疑惑を報じた週刊現代の記事をめぐり、日本相撲協会と力士らが発行元の講談社に損害賠償などを求めた訴訟の口頭弁論が１１日、東京地裁（中村也寸志裁判長）で開かれ、双方が最終準備書面を提出して結審した。判決は来年３月２６日。
協会側は同書面で、講談社側が提出した八百長を認める元若ノ鵬の陳述書について、本人が後に証言を翻したとして、「根も葉もない作り話」と批判。「八百長について、必要な裏付け取材も行わなかった」と主張した。
被告側は、八百長は存在するとした上で、「考えられる限りの取材を尽くした」などと反論した。 （了）
（2008/12/11-17:53）
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八百長訴訟が３月２６日判決 東京地裁で結審
週刊現代の八百長疑惑記事をめぐり、日本相撲協会と横綱朝青龍ら力士が発行元の講談社などに損害賠償と謝罪広告を求めた訴訟の口頭弁論が１１日、東京地裁（中村也寸志裁判長）であり、結審した。判決は来年３月２６日に言い渡される。
同訴訟では、記事で八百長の中心人物と指摘された原告の朝青龍関が１０月に出廷して「八百長はない」と証言。
被告側は、大麻問題で協会から解雇された後、週刊現代誌上で八百長疑惑を告発した元幕内若ノ鵬を証人申請したが、認められなかった。
週刊現代は２００７年１月から「横綱・朝青龍の八百長を告発する」などの見出しで連載した。一連の記事をめぐっては、北の湖前理事長らが別に２件の訴訟を東京地裁に起こし、係争中。
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Genetically Modified Crops Reach 9 Percent of Global Primary Crop Production
December 4, 2008
WASHINGTON - December 4 - Genetically modified crops reached 9 percent of global primary crop production in 2007, bringing the total GM land area up to 114.3 million hectares, according to Worldwatch Institute estimates published in the latest Vital Signs Update. The United States continues to be the global leader in production, accounting for half of all GM crop area.
GM production has been on the rise since the crops were first introduced more than a decade ago, and it now includes 23 countries. But controversy over the benefits of genetic modification continues, including questions about the technology's ability to deliver on promises of enhanced yields and nutrition.
"GM crops are definitely not a silver bullet," said Alice McKeown, a researcher for the Worldwatch Institute. "They sound good on paper, but we have yet to see glowing results."
Even as GM crop area expands, tensions are building. The European Union is expected to offer new guidance on the crops by the end of the year. Meanwhile, a new scientific study funded by the Austrian government suggests that a popular variety of GM corn reduces fertility in mice, raising questions about the technology's safety.
"There are still many unanswered questions about GM crops," said McKeown. "But the good news is that we have solutions to food security and other problems available today that we know work and are safe for humans and the environment, including organic farming."
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