Short View: US housing starts, inflation and the yen

Short View: US housing starts, inflation and the yen

By John Authers

Published: December 16 2008 18:43 | Last updated: December 16 2008 18:43

Even as the market awaited news on whether the Federal Reserve would cut official US interest rates to an all-time low on Tuesday, there were other records to comprehend.

US housing starts dropped to their lowest in more than half a century, well below the level at which they had bottomed out in the last four housing downturns. They have fallen 72.5 per cent since the market peaked in early 2006.

This might, strangely, be good news. Such a fall in activity is bad news for growth in the current quarter, but more or less everyone is resigned to that. Such drastic reductions in the supply of housing might, all other things being equal, help prices reach a bottom sooner rather than later. That, in turn, should clarify the value of the so-called “toxic” mortgage- backed securities that caused the market’s problems in the first place. That would help.

Meanwhile, very low inflation figures in the US helped push the Japanese yen below Y90 to the dollar. Before this month, it had not seen that level since 1995.

This is awful news for Japanese exporters, who have seen the currency appreciate by 31 per cent since July on a trade-weighted basis, according to Westpac.

It is also awful for Japanese retail investors (known to the markets as “Mrs Watanabe”), who have exploited Japan’s weak currency for years by investing internationally. The FTSE World index excluding Japan is down 61 per cent in yen terms since July last year.

With consumers poorer, exporters less competitive, and business confidence already falling sharply, the strong yen could be the last straw in knocking Japan into recession.

That will spark theories for forex traders as trading volumes decline in the approach to Christmas. Will the Japanese authorities feel forced to intervene to make their currency cheaper?

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Short View: Historic rate cut

By John Authers

Published: December 16 2008 21:44 | Last updated: December 16 2008 21:44

With Tuesday’s truly shocking announcement that the Federal Reserve would let its central Fed Funds rate drop to zero, the US has officially turned Japanese. For the first time since 1993, the Fed’s rates are lower than those of the Bank of Japan (currently at 0.3 per cent).

Japan’s rates, which were zero for years, went so low as part of the country’s long and painful war on deflation. The Fed made clear that it also expects to be in the trenches battling deflation for a long time. It also intends to use other weapons from the BoJ arsenal, including buying Treasury bonds to reduce yields that are already at half-century lows, in an attempt to jolt life into the economy.

The announcement was as historic as it was shocking. The market response was more predictable. Bonds, with a big new buyer in the offing, saw yields drop to new record lows. The dollar, totally undercut by its central bank, slumped. The rise of the euro was explosive, up a record 5.9 per cent in two days.

US stocks, in a knee-jerk reaction to lower rates, zoomed up – despite the doom-laden prognosis for the US economy that prompted the Fed to take such drastic action in the first place.

The S&P 500 went up through its 50-day moving average trend line, formed by an average of prices on the previous 50 trading days, for the first time since Lehman Brothers’ collapse in September. Risky investments did well, with the MSCI Emerging Markets index breaking through a marked downward trend, and now up more than 44.5 per cent from its trough last month.

But the world has learnt painfully this year that sudden currency moves can have nasty consequences. This news, by reducing the dollar value of debt, should help emerging markets. But it could be dreadful for the eurozone and Japan, and pushes other central banks to follow the Fed down.

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Short View: Fed Shock

By John Authers

Published: December 16 2008 20:26 | Last updated: December 16 2008 20:26

The biggest shock from the Federal Reserve in this most shocking of years was saved for last. By announcing that it will stop attempting to set its central Fed Funds rate, at which banks lend to each other, and instead allow it to move in a band that could go as low as zero, Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, has admitted that it has used all its conventional ammunition in its attempt to stave off deflation – and that it hasn’t worked.

Moreover, a Fed board that only four months ago said the “upside risks to inflation” were a “significant concern” managed to agree on this unprecedented turn in policy unanimously.

The initial reactions were predictable. The dollar was clobbered against every other world currency. The long rally it had enjoyed as US investors brought their money home is now decisively a thing of the past, with almost half of it now erased.

The euro, benefiting from hawkish rhetoric from the European Central Bank that nobody in the market is inclined to believe was a predictable beneficiary.

Government bonds were also predictable beneficiaries. That the latter should rally, when the Fed itself is announcing that it will go out of its way to buy them, is wholly logical. The yields on 10-year bonds are now at their lowest since 1954, and 2-year yields have dropped to 0.63 per cent – which should at least stimulate the US economy a bit.

Interbank rates look set to drop significantly on Wednesday, although their spread over the Fed Funds rate will remain far above pre-crisis levels.

The S&P 500 rallied, in an understandable knee-jerk reaction but soon gave up some of those gains – stock traders like interest rate cuts, but they cannot have liked the litany of doom in the Fed’s statement.

If the Fed is right that such drastic measures are needed, companies will find it hard to make profits for a while.

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Kuwaiti bank cut to junk status

By Robin Wigglesworth In Abu Dhabi

Published: December 16 2008 22:50 | Last updated: December 16 2008 22:50

A Kuwaiti investment company has been downgraded to junk status after failing to meet an estimated $200m international loan repayment deadline, heightening concerns over the country’s financial institutions amid the global turmoil.

Fitch Ratings downgraded the long-term rating of Global Investment House, a high-profile Kuwaiti bank with $10bn assets under management, from BBB to C and the individual rating from C to E after the bank missed the repayment.

Analysts forecast a flurry of downgrades of banks and investment companies across the Gulf as they struggle with international debt commitments, slowing economic growth and a shortage of domestic funding in the region.

Kuwait has been among the hardest hit by the credit crunch in the Middle East, in spite of its oil wealth.

Fitch said on Monday that a failure to meet this debt obligation within 72 hours would result in a default.

Robert Thursfield, a director at Fitch in Dubai, said on Tuesday that this would be the first known default of a Gulf bank in four years.

“There has been a lot of noise in Kuwait about supporting the investment companies so [the debt deadline] couldn’t have been a surprise,” he said.

Moody’s Investors Service placed four Kuwaiti banks under review for possible downgrades on December 4 due to its concerns over the country’s wilting real estate, stock market slump and “calls on the country’s banks to extend long-term secured funding to [investment companies]”.

Analysts say defaults are unlikely owing to the wealth and support of the Kuwaiti authorities, but the predicament of Global Investment House highlights the problems faced by the country’s investment companies.

The Kuwaiti central bank is trying to co-ordinate a $1bn local syndicated loan for Global Investment House through the Commercial Bank of Kuwait.

Global Investment House has written to its creditors calling for a meeting on December 21 to discuss a renegotiation of its debt maturities, which would be “in the best interests of all its stakeholders”, the company said in a statement this week.

The company did not return calls.

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Fed slashes rates to near zero

By Krishna Guha in Washington

Published: December 16 2008 19:27 | Last updated: December 17 2008 01:11

The Federal Reserve moved deeper into uncharted waters on Tuesday, heralding further unconventional measures to support the economy as it slashed interest rates from 1 per cent to virtually zero.

In a historic statement, the US central bank said it would target a record low interest rate, expressed as a range of between zero and 0.25 per cent. It said it expected to keep rates at ultra-low levels “for some time” and vowed to use “all available tools to promote the resumption of sustainable growth and to preserve price stability”.

The Fed’s action came as the eurozone purchasing managers’ survey showed the 15-country bloc on course to report its worst quarter on record, adding to pressure on the European Central Bank to follow the Fed’s lead and cut rates further.

The Fed said it “stands ready” to step up its planned purchases of securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants now under government control. It also said it was “evaluating the potential benefits of purchasing longer-term Treasury securities”.

The aggression of the statement caught the markets by surprise. Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive at Pimco, the bond fund manager, said it was “an incredibly strong public declaration that the Fed will throw everything it has in attempting to stabilise the financial and economic situation”.

US stocks and Treasury bonds surged after the central bank’s move, while the dollar slumped against the euro and the yen. The S&P 500 closed up 5.1 per cent, while the yield on 30-year Treasuries touched an all-time low of 2.82 per cent.

The yield on 10-year bonds fell below 2.30 per cent, the lowest level since 1954.

The statement came as US data showed prices fell a record 1.7 per cent in November – with no rise even in core prices excluding energy and food – raising fears about deflation. Housing starts also fell further.

The US central bank laid out a strategy that aims to drive down actual borrowing costs for households and companies. It seeks to do so by supporting demand for such loans, reducing the risk spreads on them. At the same time, it wants to keep government bond yields low.

This means expanded credit and outright asset purchase programmes, likely to be funded, at least for now, by expanding reserves and therefore the money supply. Jan Hatzius, chief US economist at Goldman Sachs, called this “quantitative easing”. But a senior Fed official said its policy was different from the quantitative easing pursued in post-bubble Japan. The Fed policy is driven by its credit operations whereas Japan targeted bank reserves.

The Fed said the outlook for economic activity had “weakened further” and acknowledged that “inflationary pressures have diminished appreciably”.

The decision to set a range for interest rates reflects an admission that the US central bank cannot tightly control the actual rate that prevails in the market in current conditions.

Barack Obama, president-elect, told reporters that the fact that the Fed had no more room to cut rates underscored the case for a big fiscal stimulus. “We are running out of the traditional ammunition that’s used in a recession, which is to lower interest rates,” he said.

“We are running out of the traditional ammunition that’s used in a recession, which is to lower interest rates,” he said. “They’re getting to be about as low as they can go.”

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Iraq signs $3bn power deal with GE

By Ed Crooks in London

Published: December 16 2008 22:13 | Last updated: December 16 2008 22:13

Iraq has signed a $3bn (£2bn) contract with GE, the US industrial group, to more than double its electricity generation capacity.

In Baghdad on Tuesday, Iraq’s electricity ministry announced it was buying 56 turbines from GE that could generate 7,000MW of electricity: more than the country’s typical output currently.

Power shortages are one of Iraq’s most serious problems: supply averages less than 6,000MW, while demand is about 10,000MW. From January to August the country had an average of just 12 hours of electricity a day, according to US government data.

A US defence department report in September welcomed a 12 per cent increase in electricity generation over the previous year, and said improved security and stronger defences had prevented attacks on the network and made it possible to repair and maintain transmission lines.

However, it conceded that “the population’s level of satisfaction with essential services remains low as the ministries struggle with ageing infrastructure and increased demand”.

Steve Bolze, the president of GE Energy’s power and water business, said: “The fact that we have done this deal and are signing this contract is an indication that conditions have improved in Iraq.” GE said it expected the turbines would all be operating by the end of 2010. They will be oil-fired initially, burning heavy crude, which is in relatively plentiful supply in Iraq, but can be switched over easily to burn gas.

Iraq is richly-endowed with gas, but much of its output comes as a by-product of oil production, and is burned off in flares for safety.

Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, has signed a deal with Iraq to collect that “associated” gas and make productive use of it, including for power generation, but the agreement has been politically controversial.

Mr Bolze said GE’s turbine deal had been agreed with “all appropriate visibility”, including multiple political reviews and an open bidding process with a number of competing suppliers.

There are expected to be more odrers to come. Iraq hopes to install much more electricity generation, perhaps 30,000MW of capacity, to support its economic development over the coming years.

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Commercial property fears deepen

By Daniel Thomas, Property Correspondent

Published: December 17 2008 02:00 | Last updated: December 17 2008 02:00

The value of commercial property loans in breach of their agreed terms more than trebled in six months as rapidly falling real estate prices hit a heavily leveraged sector struggling under almost £208bn of debt.

With more than £76bn of debt needing to be refinanced before the end of 2010 and increasing numbers of loans slipping into default, an influential survey of property lending will today add to warnings that commercial property could be a timebomb for banks that supported the real estate boom.

The value of total debt secured by commercial property rose slightly to £207.9bn in the six months to July 2008, according to De Montfort University, the smallest half-year increase ever recorded by the survey at 3 per cent.

About three-quarters of new loans were undertaken by just 12 organisations, according to the survey, which covers about 95 per cent of the lending sector.

While the survey reveals that the banking industry has almost closed for new real estate business, it is the number of property investors slipping into breach and default of loans that will cause most worry.

Meanwhile, the value of loans in breach of financial covenant was about 3.3 per cent of the total loan book by the end of June - almost £7bn when applied to total debt - and more than treble that reported at the end of 2007.

The number of organisations holding loans in breach of financial covenant almost doubled by mid-year 2008 - to 78 per cent of organisations, compared with 45 per cent at the end of last year - while 43 per cent of organisations put loans into administration, up from 33 per cent during the whole of 2007. Financial covenants are the terms governing lending such as the loan to value ratio.

In total, the report says that an estimated £600m of loans defaulted during the first six months of 2008. Although the number remains low as a share of total lending, banking sources suggest the scale of the problem could be much larger given the reluctance of lenders to check that borrowers are meeting their terms and foreclose on loans.

A decline in cash flow caused by failure of tenants and the subsequent vacant units with no prospect of re-letting was the most commonly cited reason for loans to default. Bankers expect defaults to rise rapidly next year as the recession bites into retailers and office occupiers after early casualties such as Woolworths and MFI.

By the end of the second quarter of 2008, £24.56bn of gross new lending had been completed, about half of the same period last year. Much of this was refinancing and the withdrawing of promised funds, however, rather than new lending.

With margins and fees spiralling higher, organisations have been restricting lending activity to core business clients only.

In many instances, agreed lending facilities are being withdrawn.

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Goldman Sachs falls to $2.12bn loss

By Greg Farrell in New York

Published: December 16 2008 13:52 | Last updated: December 16 2008 21:56

Goldman Sachs on Tuesday reported its first quarterly loss since it became a public company in 1999, after a severe decline in asset values, including real estate, hit the bank’s revenues.

Goldman, which converted from an investment bank into a bank holding company in September, lost $2.12bn in the fourth quarter, or a loss of $4.97 per share. The bank’s top seven executives, including chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, will not receive any bonuses this year.

For the year, Goldman’s revenues dropped by 52 per cent, from $46bn in 2007 to $22.2bn through November 30. Among its major business units, the biggest drop was in revenues in trading and principal investments, which posted $9bn in revenues for the year, a plunge of 71 per cent. Within that unit, Goldman sustained a $3.5bn loss related to real estate holdings.

“Our results for the fourth quarter reflect extraordinarily difficult operating conditions, including a sharp decline in values across virtually every asset class,” said Mr Blankfein.

Shortly after the loss was announced, Moody’s downgraded Goldman’s long-term debt rating. “This crisis has demonstrated that the business model of wholesale investment banks is not as resilient as it appeared,” said Peter Nerby, a senior vice-president at Moody’s. The credit rating agency said the downgrade was driven by the loss and was “not indicative of a risk control failure at the firm”.

In spite of the loss, which had been almost uniformly predicted by Wall Street analysts, Goldman posted full-year earnings of $2.32bn, or $4.47 per share, for fiscal 2008. That total marks a drop of 80 per cent from the company’s 2007 earnings, which were $11.6bn.

Roger Freeman, an analyst with Barclays Capital, noted a severe reduction in compensation and said Goldman also gained a sizeable tax benefit for the quarter.

As for the loss related to real estate investments, chief financial officer David Viniar said much of that was attributable to fair value accounting, which requires assets to be marked to market.

Goldman’s return on equity, which has exceeded 20 per cent for most of its nine-year run as a public company, was 4.9 per cent for 2008. The bank’s shares closed up 14.35 per cent at $76.

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Taiwan calls for Mega loan details

By Robin Kwong in Taipei and Sundeep Tucker in Hong Kong

Published: December 16 2008 18:46 | Last updated: December 16 2008 18:46

Mega Bank, Taiwan’s biggest corporate lender, is facing mounting political scrutiny over a series of high-profile loans, including some to foreign private equity firms.

Taiwan legislators are demanding that Mega, in whose parent the government owns a 17 per cent stake, provide full accounting details relating to a $670m loan to TPG Newbridge in 2006. TPG used the loan to acquire an 8 per cent stake in Taishin Holdings, one of the country’s biggest financial services groups.

The deal was typical of those made by foreign investors who flocked to Taiwan in 2006 and 2007 to take advantage of a wave of government-led bank consolidations. Private equity investors alone committed $5.8bn in several deals last year.

Taiwan’s domestic banking industry sucked in much of this investment, with several global private equity firms striking deals. They were attracted by hopes of strong growth, amid the backdrop of an expected sea-change in cross-Strait relations with China.

Mega, which forms the main part of Mega Financial Holding, Taiwan’s third biggest financial group by assets, only received Taishin stock from TPG as collateral for the loan, said legislator Alex Fei, who questioned why there was no margin call even as Taishin’s shares fell by more than 75 per cent this year.

People familiar with the deal said that TPG invested only about $200m of its own capital, with the remainder borrowed from Mega Bank.

TPG invested in Taishin, Carlyle spent $656m for a minority stake in Ta Chong, SAC Private Capital Advisors injected $900m in to Cosmos while Longreach Group acquired a controlling interest in EnTie Commercial for $694m.

Mega Bank is also believed to have provided financing on some of these deals, and they could face scrutiny in the coming weeks as lawmakers seek to discover the precise loans terms struck by foreign investors.

The foreign private equity groups were advised by investment bankers, who were typically based in Hong Kong. One banker said: “This wave was billed as a recapitalisation of the Taiwan banking system. But, in reality, Mega Bank gave many of the loans, so it just transferred the liability to another part of the state.”

Jack Lin, investor relations manager at Mega, confirmed the bank had made “some private equity bridge loans and syndicated loans” using only shares as collateral, but said that was because yields for those deals “were much higher than the average for corporate clients”. He declined to detail Mega’s total exposure as the loans were still performing and there were no signs that debtors were failing to make payments.

Mr Lin said the bank had also revised some of the margin requirements because “in times like these you don’t want to sell the shares”.

“Some legislators are unhappy about this but I don’t think there is any danger. Everything went by the book,” he said.

Lily Choi, Morgan Stanley analyst, said in a recent note to clients that the transparency of Mega’s investment book remained in question and “the expectation of a more severe global economic slowdown has clearly put Mega in a more vulnerable position than many of its peers given its high concentration in corporate lending and real estate/ construction”.

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Aborigines win court fight against Swiss miner

AFP

Australian Aborigines won a court fight Wednesday against Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata's plans to divert a river and expand one of the world's biggest zinc mines.

The Federal Court ruled the government did not follow the proper process when it approved the 110 million Australian dollar (74 million US dollar) project to expand the McArthur River Mine in northern Australia in late 2006.

Several kilometres (miles) of the McArthur River have already been diverted and the local Aboriginal group is now demanding that it be restored to its original course, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Aboriginal leaders, some crying with happiness, were applauded after the ruling, the broadcaster said.

"We just need the river back. We don't know how. They put it there, they can put it back," said Archie Harvey, a representative of the traditional owners of the land.

"We've got to live on that river for a long time, our kids got to live on it."

The project to divert the river sought to extend the life of the mine by turning it from an underground operation to open-cut.

But the court ordered the approval be quashed and said the Aboriginal group should be reimbursed for the cost of their appeal.

The Northern Land Council, which represents Aboriginal interests in the area, said the traditional owners of the land now demanded Xstrata immediately halt its diversion of the river and restore it to its original position.

"Traditional owners also demand that (McArthur River Mine) now properly engage with the traditional owners in negotiating a mining agreement that will provide for compensation, jobs and training," said chief executive Kim Hill.

The Northern Territory Resources Council, which represents miners, said the decision was a major blow for Australia's mining industry.

"It does throw a different light on how decisions are made in remote parts of Australia," said spokesman Scott Perkins.

"It means lack of development potentially in remote areas of Australia and it's really those remote people who ultimately are going to feel the economic disadvantage of all this sort of stuff."

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Austria's Bank Medici says has Madoff exposure

Reuters

Austria's Bank Medici, a closely held bank serving wealthy clients and institutional investors, said on Tuesday it held products affected by the alleged $50 billion Madoff fraud, but was not at risk in case of a loss.

"With regards to the Madoff fraud case, the bank is itself invested, but is not at risk in any way due to its solid capital situation," the bank said in a statement.

Board member Peter Scheithauer declined to say how big the exposure was.

Bank Medici said that two funds for which it acts as global distributor -- Herald USA Fund and Herald Luxemburg Fund with a total volume of $2.1 billion (1.4 billion pounds) -- were also exposed to the Madoff scam, although it could not to what extent.

It said that 93 percent of the funds had been bought by international investors, the rest by Austrians. It added that there were redemptions from those funds as recently as in October.

UniCredit's Bank Austria owns 25 percent of Bank Medici. The rest belongs to Bank Medici Chairwoman Sonja Kohn, a banker who has worked in the hedge fund scene since 1987, according to Bank Medici's website.

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Russian warships causing no ripples in Pentagon

WASHINGTON – Russian warships have been plying the waters off Venezuela and Panama in recent weeks and are now heading for Cuba, but U.S. officials are not so much wringing their hands as yawning.

Asked about a Russian warship transiting the Panama Canal earlier this month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — who saw the ship while crossing the canal last week — told The Associated Press: "I guess they're on R&R. It's fine."

The Pentagon, while puzzled by the Russians' actions, also is taking a ho-hum attitude. The U.S. military commander for the region, Adm. James Stavridis, head of the U.S. Southern Command, said that from his vantage point, there is no reason to be concerned about the Russian naval activity.

"They pose no military threat to the U.S.," Stavridis said in an e-mail to the AP on Tuesday.

It was the first such passage by a Russian or Soviet warship since World War II.

There is no suggestion of a military confrontation, but the Russian moves are notable in part because they appear to reflect an effort by Moscow to flex some muscle in America's backyard in response to Washington's support for the former Soviet republic of Georgia and elsewhere on the Russian periphery. That includes U.S. missile defense bases to be erected in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The Russians were unhappy with a U.S. decision to send a state-of-the-art warship into the Black Sea as part of an American humanitarian aid mission for Georgia in the aftermath of last August's war with Russia. The Russians also are angry about the Bush administration's push to add Georgia and the former Soviet republic of Ukraine as members of the NATO military alliance.

Under the gaze of the U.S. Southern Command, Russian ships this fall held joint exercises with the navy of Venezuela, whose president, Hugo Chavez, is a fierce U.S. critic.

Navy Rear Adm. Tom Meek, the deputy director for security and intelligence at Southern Command, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that he sees little chance of Russia teaming up with Venezuela in a militarily meaningful way.

"I don't think that Russia and Venezuela are really serious about putting together a military coalition that would give them any kind of aggregate military capability to oppose anybody," Meek said. "Frankly, the maneuvers they conducted down here were so basic and rudimentary that they did not amount to anything, in my opinion."

And it's not just the Russian navy that is showing up in the West.

In September, two Tu-160 long-range bombers, known in the West as Blackjacks, landed in Venezuela — the first landing in the Western Hemisphere by Russian military aircraft since the Cold War ended.

Rice shrugs it off.

"A few aging Blackjacks flying unarmed along the coast of Venezuela is — I don't know why one would do it, but I'm not particularly going to lose sleep over that," she said in the AP interview Monday.

She said Russia is welcome to have relations with countries in the West.

"I don't think anybody's confused about the preponderance of power in the Western Hemisphere," Rice said.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has made no effort to hide his irritation at what he considers American arrogance.

"God forbid from engaging in any kind of controversy in the American continent," he said, referring to his Blackjack bombers flying to Venezuela for a training exercise. "This is considered the 'holiest of the holy,'" he said during a meeting with Western political scholars at his Black Sea residence in Sochi. "And they drive ships with weapons to a place just 10 kilometers from where we're at? Is this normal? Is this an equitable move?"

On Monday, the Russian navy announced that a destroyer and two support vessels will visit Cuba for the first time since the Soviet era. The ships are from a squadron that has been on a lengthy visit to Latin America; they are scheduled to put in at Havana on Friday for a five-day stay, navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said.

Moscow's support for Cuba fell sharply after the 1991 Soviet collapse, but the Russians have bolstered ties recently.

The joint naval exercises with Venezuela were Russia's way of "demonstrating to the U.S. that it has a foothold in a region traditionally dominated by the U.S.," said analyst Anna Gilmour at Jane's Intelligence Review.

Still, she and many Russian analysts say Moscow's deployments of warships are largely for show.

Russia's navy is a shadow of its Soviet-era force, having suffered from a serious lack of investment since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Many ships and submarines have rusted away at their berths, and deadly accidents occur regularly.

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BOE’s King Should Be Aggressive And Go ‘Too Far,’ Goodhart Says
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By Timothy R. Homan and Thomas R. Keene

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of England Governor Mervyn King should exercise “aggressive” policies to combat the credit crisis, said Charles Goodhart, a former member of the central bank’s monetary policy committee.

“The monetary authorities have got to be aggressive,” Goodhart, now a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said in a Bloomberg Radio interview to be broadcast today. He said King should approach next year with “courage, flexibility and perhaps going a bit too far with the very serious occasion we’re in.”

Goodhart said that the Bank of England, along with other central banks, didn’t fully realize “ the extent of the problem of liquidity.” He added that if the banks “had taken the steps that they have taken in the last few months much earlier we would never have got to the stage that we’re currently in.”

The Federal Reserve cut the main U.S. interest rate to “a target range” of between zero and 0.25 percent and said it will take all necessary steps to end the recession and unclog credit markets. Policy makers “will employ all available tools to promote the resumption of sustainable economic growth and to preserve price stability,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement.

Goodhart, who made his remarks before yesterday’s interest- rate cut by the Fed, said the U.S. central bank has been “doing exactly the right thing” to help alleviate the credit crisis by purchasing commercial paper. “There is a case also for trying to provide guarantees for certain securitized mortgages,” he said.

U.S. Deficit

Expanding the Fed’s balance sheet is not a concern, Goodhart said, while the U.S. budget deficit poses a greater challenge. “The Fed can shift its monetary policy back from quantitative easing to greater restraint much more easily, I think, than the federal government can shift from deficits back to surpluses,” he said.

The U.S. deficit for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1 climbed to $401.6 billion in November, a record for the first two months of the government’s budget. The gap is likely to widen if President-elect Barack Obama implements a stimulus package next year.

The euro zone faces similar difficulties, Goodhart said, as the “maintenance of the euro system” puts some of the weaker member countries “under intensive stress.” Still, Goodhart warned, “leaving the euro is just unbelievably expensive for the country that might try to do so.”

Other central banks have initiated interest-rate cuts. The European Central Bank lowered its main rate to 2.5 percent this month from 4.25 percent in July, while the Bank of England reduced its rate to 2 percent this month from 5.75 percent in July.

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Japan’s Isuzu to freeze new major investments abroad including in trucks in Russia

16.12.2008, 08.09

TOKYO, December 16 (Itar-Tass) - Japan’s Isuzu Motors Ltd. against the background of the global drop in demand, is going to freeze its new major investments abroad, including in the assembly of heavy-tonnage trucks in Russia and the construction of a plant in Saudi Arabia. In an interview to the Kyodo Tsushin news agency published on Tuesday Isuzu President Susumu Hosoi said it is unclear what will happen to the sales, market and currency rates.

Isuzu is also considering slashing board members' compensation as part of cost-cutting efforts, President Susumu Hosoi said in a recent interview with Kyodo News. “Given unclear outlooks for sales, the market and foreign exchange rates, we have to freeze all projects that have not yet been officially decided on in order to restrain our spending,” Hosoi said.

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Russia's Putin outlines measures to aid agriculture industry

MOSCOW REGION, Dec 16 (Prime-Tass) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday outlined measures to support the agriculture industry.

In particular, the government will provide farm loan subsidies amounting to 80%-100% of the Central Bank of Russia's (CBR) refinancing rate, Putin said at an official meeting on agriculture. The refinancing rate currently amounts to 13%.

Putin also said the government would invest 45 billion rubles in Rosselkhozbank, a state bank focused on farm lending. Previously the government planned to invest 31.5 billion rubles in the bank.

Additionally, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) will abolish the requirement under which banks have to put aside some cash as a reserve when they prolong short-term loans to farmers, Putin said.

Commenting on other measures, Putin instructed the Economic Development Ministry to consider introducing protective measures against Ukrainian vegetable oil and dairy products.

Meanwhile, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, who was present at the meeting, said the government would start purchasing corn next week to support its price.

Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev said at the meeting that Russian agricultural businesses wanted the government to guarantee 45 billion rubles worth of loans taken out by them.

Gordeyev also proposed that the Russian government provide loans to foreign governments for grain purchases in Russia.

(27.8160 rubles - U.S. $1)

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Black size 10 shoes of Iraqi journalist already cost ten million dollars
16.12.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/106832-iraqi_shoes-0

The incident with the shoes thrown at US President George W. Bush during his press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister in Baghdad continues to develop. The shoes of the 29-year-old correspondent of the Iraqi Al-Baghdadia TV channel, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, now cost a fortune.

It was first said that the technical director of the Iraqi football team Adnan Hamad offered $100,000 for the shoes. Hamad said that the journalist’s action expressed an attitude of all Iraqi people to George W. Bush – the man, who ruined Iraq and abused its people.

Another Iraqi businessman said that he would be ready to pay any price for the notorious shoes. To crown it all, Saudi media reported Monday that a 60-year-old Saudi entrepreneur offered $10 million for only one shoe of the pair that had flown in Bush’s direction.

In the meantime, the fate of the black size 10 shoes currently remains unknown. Iraqi security service agents might have most likely confiscated the shoes. It is not ruled out that employees of the Bush’s administration might have taken them along as souvenirs from Iraq. However, if the shoe incident comes to trial and al-Zeidi is found not guilty, the journalist will have a right to claim his famous shoes back.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi currently remains under arrest. The police are trying to find out if the journalist was staying under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the notorious press conference.

Al-Zeidi’s deed was widely supported in the Muslim (and not only Muslim) world. The journalist’s brother, Dirham, said that Muntadhar had expressed the wish of millions of Iraqi citizens to insult the US tyrant. The young man added that his brother had thrown his shoes at the US president being moved with the sufferings of the Iraqi people which he was filming on camera almost every day. The majority of Muntadhar’s reports were devoted to Iraqi widows, orphans and children.

Dirham al-Zeidi said that he was very proud of his brother, although he was shocked to see his brother throwing his shoes at Bush. Dirham added that his brother had nothing against the American people.

The daughter of the Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi announced that she was awarding the Libyan Bravery Medal to al-Zeidi. Over 200 lawyers have set out their readiness to defend the brave Iraqi journalist at court.

The administration of Al-Baghdadia TV channel addressed Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki with a request to release Muntadhar al-Zeidi “in accordance with the norms of democracy and freedom of speech, which the US authorities promised to the people of Iraq.”

It goes without saying that the goal of Bush’s visit to Iraq has been entirely lost behind the shoe scandal. No one wants to know what Bush arrived in Baghdad for. Everyone wants to know what happened to those shoes.

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Russia’s Yakutia Republic suffers from Arctic temperatures
16.12.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/history/106836-yakutia-0

Temperatures in some settlements of Russia’s Yakutia Republic may reach 60 degrees below zero Centigrade (-76F) during the next couple of days, an official spokesman for the Meteorological Department of Yakutia said.

“The temperature in the Tomponsky district of the republic fell below -50 degrees Centigrade on Sunday. This severe cold is rare for Yakutia in spite of the fact that the republic is considered Russia’s coldest inhabited territory. Winter temperatures normally reach 40-45 below zero,” the official said.

“This is not the lowest point. Thermometers may show 60 degrees below zero Centigrade during the upcoming several days in the settlement of Krestyakh,” the meteorologist said.

This year’s winter in Yakutia is a lot colder than usual: the republic sits on the way of cold Arctic air currents that reach the territory of the republic without any obstacles, and the air becomes even colder at nighttime under the clear sky.

All schools in Yakutia’s capital, the city of Yakutsk, were closed Monday due to severe cold - 51C below zero. Many classes were canceled last week too, when temperatures fell as low as 45C below zero.

Thirty-one apartment buildings in the towns of Tommot and Yakokit were cut from hot water and heat supplies because of a breakdown on the local heat supply system. Over 300 people have to live in the frozen apartments while over 120 workers try to take maximum efforts to repair the pipelines.

The Yakutia Republic is the largest subnational governing body by area in the world. Yakutia is washed by the Laptev and Eastern Siberian Seas of the Arctic Ocean – the coldest and the iciest waters in the northern hemisphere. About 40 percent of the republic lies above the Arctic circle and all of its is covered by permafrost.

Despite severe weather conditions, Yakutia is rich with raw materials. There are large reserves of oil, gas, gold, silver and many other materials in Yakutia. Almost 99 percent of all Russian diamonds are mined in Yakutia and make up 25 percent of the world’s diamond production.

Yakutia is known for its climate extremes, with the Verkhoyansk Range being the coldest area in the northern hemisphere. The Northern Hemisphere's Pole of Cold is at Verkhoyansk, where the temperatures reached as low as −67.8 ℃ (−90 ℉ ) in 1892, and at Oymyakon, where the temperatures reached as low as −67.7 ℃ (−89.9 ℉ ) in 1933.

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Russian arms exports exceed $8 bln in 2008
18:58 | 16/ 12/ 2008

MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russian arms exports in 2008 have been worth over $8 billion, a deputy prime minister said on Tuesday.

Sergei Ivanov also said Russia had secured $33 billion worth of firm orders for arms deliveries.

"Russia is among the [world's] three leading arms exporters," he said.

He added that despite the global financial crisis none of Russia's foreign clients had reneged on their contracts.

The official stressed that the Russian government would continue providing ample financial assistance to defense industry enterprises.

"We will not leave our defense enterprises to face problems caused by the world financial crisis on their own," Ivanov said.

Russia has doubled annual arms exports since 2000 to $7 billion as of last year, becoming the world's second-largest exporter of conventional arms after the United States.

Russia exports weapons to about 80 countries. Among the key buyers of Russian-made weaponry are China, India, Algeria, Venezuela, Iran, Malaysia and Serbia.

The most popular types of weaponry bought from Russia are Sukhoi and MiG fighters, air defense systems, helicopters, battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.

Russia also maintains traditionally strong positions in the sales of small arms and light weapons (SALW), and anti-tank and surface-to-air missile systems.

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Russia to 'donate' 10 MiG-29 jet fighters to Lebanon
16:59 | 16/ 12/ 2008

MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will supply Lebanon with 10 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters, Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said on Tuesday after a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Anatoly Serdyukov.

Serdyukov said Moscow had received a weapons procurement list from the Lebanese armed forces which would be considered in the near future.

He added that the fighter deliveries would provide a fresh impetus to military cooperation between the two countries.

A member of the Lebanese delegation said the aircraft would be provided "as aid."

According to inside sources privy to the deal, the warplanes "will be sold at a hefty discount."

Media reports say the Lebanese Air Force is in a deplorable state with virtually no airworthy planes.

Currently the Air Force is equipped with Bell UH-1 Iroquois combat helicopters, developed back in the 1950s, and Robinson R44 Raven II civilian helicopters, all of which were supplied by the United States.

In 2007, Beirut took delivery of nine SA342L Gazelle helicopters from the United Arab Emirates.

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Russia alarmed by planned U.S. bases in Central Asia
16:52 | 16/ 12/ 2008

MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) - A senior Russian military official expressed concern on Tuesday about what he said were U.S. plans to set up military bases in the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

"American military bases are dotted throughout the world," said Gen. Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces. "The U.S. has opened bases in Romania and Bulgaria, and according to our information plans to establish them in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan."

Former Soviet republics in Central Asia have seen increased rivalry between Moscow and Washington of late.

The United States has recently stepped up ties with oil-rich Kazakhstan, which allowed U.S. planes to fly over its territory during the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and also contributed troops to Iraq.

Observers in Russia say that Washington will need more bases in countries neighboring Afghanistan due to president-elect Barack Obama's plans to increase the U.S. military presence in the war-ravaged country by 20,000 troops.

The U.S. has run an airbase in Kyrgyzstan since the war in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan expelled U.S. troops from its airbase in 2005, but has recently sought closer ties with the U.S. and other Western powers.

General Makarov also blamed Washington for pushing Georgia and Ukraine toward NATO membership. He said Russia had been surrounded by the military alliance's forces.

The statement came amid an ongoing dispute over Washington's plans to place a missile base in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic. Moscow opposes the plans as a threat to its national security. The U.S. says the missile defenses are needed to counter possible strikes from "rogue" states.

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日テレ、プロレス撤退へ…姿消す“最古”のコンテンツ

　日本テレビが開局翌年の１９５４年以来続けてきたプロレス中継を来年３月末で打ち切る方針であることが１７日、関係者の話で分かった。日テレのプロレスといえば「三菱ダイヤモンドアワー・日本プロレス中継」「全日本プロレス中継」などで力道山、ジャイアント馬場、アントニオ猪木らの活躍を伝えた、巨人中継と並ぶ同局の看板番組。日本のテレビ界“最古”のコンテンツも、同局が進める経費削減によって姿を消す見通しとなった。

　関係者によると、日テレは日曜深夜１時２０分から放送している「プロレスリング・ノア」の中継を来年３月末で打ち切る。プロレスファン人口の減少に伴い、視聴率も低迷。すでに系列の読売テレビ（大阪）での放送は今年９月に打ち切られている。同局のＣＳ放送「日テレＧ＋（ジータス）」での放送は継続の方向で検討されているという。

　同局のプロレス中継では５４年、東京・蔵前国技館で力道山・木村政彦組とシャープ兄弟組のタッグマッチをＮＨＫと二元中継したのが有名だ。また、試合以外の場面でも話題を提供。中継のメーンスポンサーは三菱電機で、リング上に同社の掃除機「風神」を登場させるパフォーマンスにより、プロレスファンはこぞって「風神」を購入したといわれる。

　しかし、娯楽の多様化などもあり、プロレス人気は低迷。「全日本プロレス中継」は２０００年で打ち切られ、最後の灯火が「プロレスリング・ノア」に受け継がれていた。

　週刊プロレス元編集長でプロレス評論家のターザン山本氏は「うわさには聞いていたが不況の影響がここまできたか、という感じ。力道山は空手チョップで外国人レスラーを倒し、日本人の敗戦のショックを解消した。だが、いまのプロレスにそうした役割はない。人間の泥臭さを表現したプロレスを愛するプロデューサーも、テレビ局からいなくなってしまったのだろう」と寂しげに語っていた。

ZAKZAK 2008/12/17

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米ゴールドマン平均年収４５％減…それでも３千万円超

　米金融大手ゴールドマン・サックスは１６日、２００８年の社員の平均年収が、前年の６６万ドル（約５８００万円）強から３６万ドル強へ、約４５％減少したことを明らかにした。

　同日発表した０８年９―１１月期決算が１９９９年の上場以来初の赤字に転落するなど、金融危機拡大で業績が悪化したことを反映。業績に連動して支払われるボーナスの減少が響いた。

　同社の給与は高給で知られる米ウォール街でも最高水準。大幅カット後も、一般の給与水準を大きく上回っている。（共同）

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丸山弁護士に支払い命令…元所属弁護士とトラブル

　参院議員の丸山和也弁護士の法律事務所に所属していたオーストラリア人弁護士が、企業間トラブルを解決した報酬として同弁護士に４０００万円を求めていた訴訟の判決で、東京地裁は１６日、１０００万円の支払いを命じた。

　佐久間邦夫裁判長は、企業から受けた報酬の２割をオーストラリア人弁護士の取り分とする合意があったと判断。丸山弁護士は１億円を受領しており、既払いの１０００万円を差し引いた金額の支払い義務を負うとした。

　オーストラリア人弁護士は１９９５年から２００６年まで丸山国際法律・特許事務所（東京）に勤務。山口県の薬品メーカーとインド企業との間で生じた紛争の仲裁を担当していた。

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読売エリート記者が暴行で逮捕…酒癖の悪さで知られる

泥酔してラーメン店員殴る

　大阪・北新地のラーメン店で店員に暴行し、けがを負わせたとして、読売新聞大阪本社地方部次長の男（４５）が大阪府警天満署に傷害の現行犯で逮捕されていたことが１７日までに分かった。関係者によると、容疑者は府警や警察庁担当キャップを歴任したエリート記者だが、その一方で酒癖の悪さもよく知られていた。

　調べでは、容疑者は１５日午後１０時２０分ごろ、大阪市北区曽根崎新地のラーメン店で寝込んでいたところ、アルバイト店員の男性（３３）から料金精算を求められて起こされたことに立腹。店員の顔を蹴り、左目尻を切る軽傷を負わせた疑い。

　事件当時は泥酔状態で、調べに対し容疑を認めているという。

　地元のマスコミ関係者によると、容疑者は大阪本社で府警キャップなどを担当し、数年前に東京本社へ転勤となり、警察庁キャップを務めた。しかし、テレビ局の女性記者に酔ったあげくセクハラまがいの行為をしたとして問題になり、その後、大阪本社へ戻されたという。関係者は「酒に酔ったうえでの武勇伝はいくつか聞いたことがあり、関西では有名な存在だった」と話す。

　読売新聞大阪本社は「当社の社員が逮捕されたことは誠に遺憾で、深くおわび申し上げたい。事実を確認したうえで厳正に対処したい」（広報宣伝部）としている。

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木暮剛平氏が死去８４歳…電通元社長、世界的企業に

　電通元社長で同社を世界的企業に押し上げ、経済同友会副代表幹事も務めた木暮剛平（こぐれ・こうへい）氏＝写真が１４日午後５時２２分、肺炎のため都内で死去した。８４歳。群馬県出身。葬儀・告別式は近親者のみで行った。喪主は妻紀子（のりこ）さん。電通主催の「お別れの会」を来年１月２９日正午から東京都千代田区内幸町１の１の１、帝国ホテル東京で行う。

　東大を卒業前の１９４７年にアルバイトとして電通に入社。常務、専務を経て８５年に社長就任。９３年に会長、９７年に相談役に退き今年６月から名誉相談役。

　万国博覧会の準備にかかわったほか、海外事業室長として海外進出を推進、電通が世界最大の広告会社に成長する道筋を付けた。社長時代には創立８５周年記念として電通総研を設立。映画「敦煌」を大映と共同製作するなど映画分野にも進出し、８８年度に年間売上高１兆円を達成した。

　財界活動でも活躍し、経済同友会副代表幹事や日本広告業協会会長、通産省（現経済産業省）情報処理振興審議会会長などを歴任。趣味の俳句も有名で９６年に句集を出版、９９年から国際俳句交流協会会長を務めた。

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石井慧、米ＵＦＣ参戦…あこがれの“オクタゴン”へ

野球でいえばメジャー

　プロ総合格闘家に転向した北京五輪柔道１００キロ超級金メダリスト、石井慧（２１）が、米総合格闘技団体ＵＦＣに参戦する意向を明らかにした。石井は、日本の総合格闘技団体「ＤＲＥＡＭ」に入るとみられていたが、金メダリストの看板を武器に、あこがれの“オクタゴン”（八角形のリング）へ一気に飛び込む青写真を描いている。

　石井は先月３日のプロ格闘家転向宣言後、ＤＲＥＡＭ関係者と交渉を開始。同１８日の紫綬褒章授章式直後には、ＤＲＥＡＭを意中の団体としてほのめかしていた。だが、夢を捨てきれず翻意した。ＵＦＣは石井にとって「子供のころからの夢だった」という。

　ただ、石井はＵＦＣとはまだ何も交渉していないという。通常は正式に契約を交わしてから発表するものだが、「ＤＲＥＡＭ関係者やファンに思わせぶりなことをしてはいけない」と決意は固い。ＵＦＣの魅力については「野球でいえばメジャーリーグ。ヘビー級の選手もいるし、本物」と話している。

　ＵＦＣの試合が行われる直径９メートルの八角形のオクタゴンに上がるには、総合格闘技での実績が問われる。五輪金メダリストの肩書があっても、すぐにデビューできる保証はないが、「総合格闘技では自分は白帯」とマイナー団体のＷＥＣからのスタートも覚悟している。

　石井は来年３月ごろに渡米しＵＦＣ戦士を多く輩出する総合格闘技ジムでトレーニングを積み、来年夏以降のデビューをめざすという。

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「住」の悲鳴　初日で１２６７件　ハローワーク派遣切り相談窓口
2008.12.17 13:16

　解雇された派遣社員などの住居確保支援のため全国のハローワークで１５日始まった相談業務について、初日の相談は１２６７件あり、このうち転居に必要な敷金など経費に関するものが最多の２５５件、次いで雇用促進住宅への入居に関する相談が２０９件だったことが、厚生労働省のまとめで分かった。

　このほか寮や住み込み付きの求人に関するものが多かった。都道府県別では、愛知が最多で２４７件、次いで広島１５５件、東京１０８件、神奈川９２件、岡山７０件、大阪５６件と続く。

　大阪ではハローワーク１０カ所に窓口が設けられ、ハローワーク大阪東（大阪市中央区）には初日だけで５人が訪れた。

　兵庫県内の工場に派遣で勤めた４０代の男性は人員削減の第一陣として１カ月前に予告を受け、今月初めに退職。派遣会社の借り上げ住宅から退去を余儀なくされ、大阪市内の実家に身を寄せているが、「いつまでも親元にいられない」と窓口を訪れ、この日の相談ではただ１人、雇用促進住宅入居の見通しが立った。

　このほか同住宅に入居するための家賃（約２万～３万前後）２カ月分に相当する初期費用が払えないなど家賃に関する相談が寄せられた。

　同ハローワークの担当者は「非正規労働者が、働きながら次の仕事を探すのは難しく、住まいがなければ路上生活になってしまう。当面の生活資金や仕事の経験など個々の事情に沿えるようにしていきたい」としている。

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共産党委員長、経団連幹部と初会談へ　雇用問題で１８日
2008.12.17 16:11

　共産党の志位和夫委員長は１８日、日本経団連の田中清専務理事と都内のホテルで会談し、年末に向け深刻化する雇用問題への対応について要請する。「双方の幹部が公式にテーブルにつくのは初めて」（同党関係者）という。

　会談は共産党側からの申し入れを経団連側が受け入れた。雇用問題をめぐり志位委員長は５日、麻生太郎首相との異例の首脳会談を実現させるなど、メディアへの露出作戦を精力的に展開しており、経団連幹部との会談もその延長線上にあるとみられる。

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公立病院閉鎖へ、異例の条例案可決　大阪府松原市
2008.12.17 14:41

　深刻な経営難に陥っている大阪府松原市の市立松原病院（桑田博文院長、１６２床）を来年３月末で閉鎖する条例案が、１７日に開かれる市議会本会議で自民、公明などの賛成多数で可決された。すでに今月１５日から新規の入院、外来診療の受け付けを停止するとともに入院患者の受け入れ先を探しており、来年度中に廃止する方針。

　平成１６年に導入された新臨床研修制度による医師流出などに伴い、各地の公立病院は構造的な赤字体質が続いているが、廃止に踏み切るのは極めて異例だ。

　中野孝則市長は１１月２８日、施設の老朽化や医師不足などを挙げ、本年度末までに累積赤字が約５０億円に達する見通しも示して、廃止を発表していた。

　平成１３年に３８人いた常勤医師は、今年１月には２７人に減少。外来患者数は、１３年度の約２２万６０００人から、１９年度には約１３万３０００人に落ち込んだ。

　同病院は昭和２５年に開設。診療科は内科、外科、産婦人科、小児科など１２科。医師不足と施設の老朽化などで患者数が減少し、１９年度決算で約４０億円の累積赤字を計上。今後も毎年約１０億円の赤字が見込まれ、市の財政再生団体への転落が危ぶまれる中、一般会計からの繰り入れも限界に達していることから閉鎖を決めた。

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英国、ヤード・ポンド法継続へ　ＥＵの「メートル法」使用退ける
2008.12.17 11:41
このニュースのトピックス：欧州

　日常生活で長さや重さの単位として「ヤード・ポンド法」が使われている英国と、加盟国にメートル法の使用を求めていた欧州連合（ＥＵ）との計量単位をめぐる争いが英国側の勝利で決着したと、ＢＢＣ放送（電子版）などが１６日伝えた。

　英国ではビールの量はパイント（約５７０ミリリットル）で表記するのが一般的で、英大衆紙サン（電子版）は「英国のパイントに乾杯」との見出しで好意的に報じた。

　英ＰＡ通信によると、英国はこれまで特例措置として、ヤード・ポンド法の使用が２００９年まで認められていた。１６日に欧州議会で、この問題をめぐる投票があり、０９年以降もヤード・ポンド法の使用を認めることを決めたという。

　英国のフリント欧州担当閣外相は投票の結果について「良識の勝利だ」と胸を張っている。（共同）

------------------------------
株式会社立の「ＬＣＡ大学院大」経営難で学生募集停止へ

　構造改革特区制度を利用して株式会社が設立した大阪市の「ＬＣＡ大学院大学」（学長・山崎正和中央教育審議会会長）が、来年度の学生募集を停止する方針であることが１７日、明らかになった。

　学生数が定員を大幅に割り込み、経営難が続いているためで、廃校を視野に入れた対応だ。

　ＬＣＡ大は、２００６年に経営コンサルティング会社「日本エル・シー・エー」（東京・東上野）の子会社が開校した。大卒者を対象に２年間、平日夜や土日に講義を行い、実践的な企業経営を教えている。定員は１４０人で、学生には会社員が多い。

　ただ、学生数は開校以来、定員に届かず、現在は２４人だ。また、７月には親会社が債務超過を公表し、経営陣の交代を機に大学運営を含む事業見直しを進めており、この中で来年度の学生募集の停止を決めた。

　ＬＣＡ大は「現時点で廃校を決めたわけではない」とし、在学生が卒業する１０年３月末までは講義を続ける方針だ。しかし、この時期までに資金が調達できなければ廃校とする方向で検討している。

　大学では「運営のコストは覚悟していたが、親会社の経営悪化や学生の集まりの悪さについては、読みが甘かった」としている。

　文部科学省は１８日、特区内の規制緩和の全国拡大を検討する政府の「評価調査委員会」に、こうした状況を報告する予定だ。

　私立学校を設置できるのは学校法人に限られているが、０３年から特区での株式会社による学校設立が認められた。株式会社立の学校は現在、大学６、高校２１、中学１、小学１校で、これまで廃校したところはない。

--------------------------------
「自分がやった」ブッシュ米大統領に靴投げたイラク人記者
特集 イラク情勢

　【カイロ＝福島利之】ロイター通信によると、ブッシュ米大統領に靴を投げつけ、拘束された衛星テレビ局のイラク人、ムンタダル・ザイディ記者（２９）に対する予審が１６日、バグダッドの裁判所で開かれ、同記者は「自分がやった」と行為を認めた。

　審理には、弁護人と検察官が立ち会い、裁判所は同記者の拘置継続を決定した。予審判事が捜査を行い、起訴するかどうかを決める。

　イラク高等司法評議会の報道官によると、刑法の「イラクまたは外国の大統領の暗殺未遂」の罪に問われる可能性があり、有罪の場合、禁固７～１５年の刑が科されるという。

------------------------------
21:31 GMT, Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Ex-Guantanamo men home in Bosnia
Mr Boudella's wife and daughter await his arrival at Sarajevo airport

Three Algerian-born former inmates of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp have returned to their adopted homeland of Bosnia.

They had been held without charge for seven years on suspicion of plotting to attack the US embassy in Sarajevo.

But last month a US judge ordered their release - the first such decision since the Supreme Court ruled inmates could challenge their detention.

Some 250 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay, suspected of links to terrorism.

The men - Mustafa Ait Idir, Mohamed Nechla and Hadj Boudella - were among six Algerians arrested in Bosnia in the weeks following the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

They were transferred to the US camp at Guantanamo Bay in southern Cuba in January 2002 and held as "unlawful enemy combatants".

Judicial order

The men were initially accused of plotting to bomb the US embassy in Sarajevo, but these allegations were dropped.

US authorities also accused the men of planning to go to Afghanistan to link up with Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters.

But last month, a US judge ruled that the government had failed to make a case for holding five of the six men.

They brought the case following a decision in June by the US Supreme Court to allow detainees to challenge their imprisonment in civilian courts. The US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Three of the men have been flown to Sarajevo. They will be released from protective custody once their identities are confirmed, a lawyer for the men said.

It is not clear when the other two men, who do not hold Bosnian citizenship, will be released.

About 250 detainees accused of terrorism or links to al-Qaeda remain in the controversial detention camp in Cuba. Many of them are now in the process of challenging their detention.

US President-elect Barack Obama has promised to close down Guantanamo Bay once he takes office in January.

-----------------------------
15:34 GMT, Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Scores held in anti-Mafia raids

Italian police say they have arrested nearly 100 people in anti-Mafia raids across the southern island of Sicily and in the central region of Tuscany.

They say the operation targeted the bosses of local clans who were planning to rebuild the Sicilian Mafia - also known as Cosa Nostra.

A police statement said the raids involved some 1,200 police officers.

The Sicilian Mafia was dealt a huge blow with the arrest in 2006 of its boss Bernardo Provenzano.

The police operation, codenamed Perseus, involved the use of helicopters and dogs in a vast sweep across Italy, says the BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Rome.

Police said it was the result of a nine-month operation that included the use of phone taps.

Those being held are accused of extortion, arms dealing and drugs trafficking.

Loss of influence

The police statement said that Matteo Messina Denaro, alleged to be one of the mobsters trying to become the overall leader, was behind the plan to set up a Mafia council with the aim of appointing a new godfather, to re-establish the Cosa Nostra's influence.

Bernardo Provenzano. Photo: April 2006

That has been on the wane since Provenzano - who is also known as the "Boss of Bosses" - was arrested in April 2006 after 43 years on the run.

After his arrest Provenzano was believed to have handed the reins of the Cosa Nostra to a younger man, Salvatore Lo Piccolo.

He was arrested in November 2007, and police say they are still not sure who is now heading the Cosa Nostra.

But analysts believe that other mafia organisations on the mainland, including the 'Ndrangheta and Camorra, have increased their presence in organised crime both in Italy and in other countries.

For many years, the Mafia's core criminal activity has concentrated largely on protection rackets and the construction business. It is also involved in drug trafficking and money laundering.

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14:32 GMT, Monday, 15 December 2008
Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker

Bush shoe-ing worst Arab insult

Sadr Protests for Iraqi TV journalist

Thousands of Iraqis have demanded the release of a local TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference.

Crowds gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City district, calling for "hero" Muntadar al-Zaidi to be freed from custody.

Officials at the Iraqi-owned TV station, al-Baghdadiya, called for the release of their journalist, saying he was exercising freedom of expression.

Iraqi officials have described the incident as shameful.

A statement released by the government said Mr Zaidi's actions, which also included him shouting insults at President Bush, "harmed the reputation of Iraqi journalists and Iraqi journalism in general".

Correspondents say the protesters are supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr - a leading critic of the US presence in Iraq. Smaller protests were reported in Basra and Najaf.

The Iraqi government has demanded an on-air apology from his employer.

An Iraqi official was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the journalist was being interrogated to determine whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at President Bush.

He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV channel said Mr Zaidi should be freed because he had been exercising freedom of expression - something which the Americans had promised to Iraqis on the ousting of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"He [George Bush] deserves to be hit with 100, not just one or two shoes. Who wants him to come here? "
A Baghdad resident

"Any measures against Muntadar will be considered the acts of a dictatorial regime," the firm said in a statement.

The programming director for al-Baghdadiya, Muzhir al-Khafaji, described the journalist as a "proud Arab and an open-minded man".

He said he was afraid for Mr Zaidi's safety, adding that the reporter had been arrested by US officials twice before.

"We fear that our correspondents in Iraq will be arrested. We have 200 correspondents there," he added.

'Proud Arab'

Mr Zaidi leapt from his chair at Sunday's news conference and hurled first one shoe and then the other at Mr Bush, who was joined at the podium by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

Muntadar al-Zaidi (file image)

The shoes missed as Mr Bush ducked, and Mr Zaidi was immediately wrestled to the ground by security guards and frogmarched from the room.

"This is a farewell kiss, you dog," he yelled in Arabic as he threw his shoes. "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

Arabic TV stations have been repeatedly showing footage of the incident, which was also front-page news in many papers.

Correspondents say the journalist's tirade was echoed by Arabs across the Middle East who are fed up with US policy in the region.

"He [George Bush] deserves to be hit with 100, not just one or two shoes. Who wants him to come here?" said a man in Baghdad.

But his view was not expressed by everyone.

"I think this incident is unnecessary, to be honest. That was a press conference, not a war. If someone wants to express his opinion he should do so in the proper manner, not this way," said another Baghdad resident.

Courts criticised

Also on Monday, Human Rights Watch accused Iraq's main criminal court of failing to meet basic international standards of justice.

The New York-based group said torture and abuse of prisoners before trial appeared common, and legal representation was often ineffectual.

Human Rights Watch said some of the court's failings showed disturbing similarities to those that existed during the Saddam Hussein era.

The group called on Iraq to take immediate steps to protect detainees from torture, and ensure they had access to proper defence and received a prompt hearing.

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17:22 GMT, Tuesday, 16 December 2008
This year is coolest since 2000
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Cows in snowy field

The world in 2008 has been cooler than at any time since the turn of the century, scientists say.

Cooling La Nina conditions in the Pacific brought temperatures down to levels last seen in the year 2000.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) notes that temperatures remained about 0.3C above the 1961-1990 average.

Computer models suggest that natural cycles may cool the Earth's surface in the next few years, masking the warming impact of rising greenhouse gas levels.

"Human influence, particularly emission of greenhouse gases, has greatly increased the chance of having such warm years"
Peter Stott, UK Met Office
El Nino/La Nina explained

One recent analysis suggested there may be no warming for about the next decade, though other scientists dispute the conclusion.

What is beyond dispute is that 2008 saw temperatures a shade below preceding years.

Using data from two major monitoring networks, one co-ordinated by the UK's Hadley Centre and University of East Anglia (UEA) and the other by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the WMO reports that despite the cooling, 2008 still ranks among the 10 warmest years on record.

At 14.3C, the average temperature for the year was significantly above the 14.0C average for the 1961-1990 period, a commonly used baseline.

Temperatures are about 0.7C above pre-industrial times.

Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring and attribution at the UK Met Office of which the Hadley Centre is a part, suggested that in previous decades 2008 would have stood out as unusually warm. Weather station

"Human influence, particularly emission of greenhouse gases, has greatly increased the chance of having such warm years," he said.

Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Giss), which produces its own record of atmospheric temperature, agreed that 2008 was the coolest year since the turn of the century.

But Giss still ranks it as the ninth warmest since 1880.

The warmest of all remains 1998, when exceptionally strong El Nino conditions added to rising greenhouse gas levels sent thermometers to an average of about 14.5C.

"The most important component of year-to-year variability in global average temperatures is the phase and amplitude of equatorial sea surface temperatures in the Pacific that lead to La Nina and El Nino events," observed UEA's Dr Phil Jones.

Millennial warmth

John Christy, a scientist noted for taking a cautious approach to the likely impacts of human-induced climate change, agreed that the Earth's atmosphere had warmed by about 0.4C over 30 years.

His own research team at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) measures atmospheric temperatures from weather balloons.

Professor Christy suggested that the trend in the immediate future would be decided by whether conditions in the Pacific veer towards El Nino or La Nina.

THE 10 WARMEST YEARS

* 1998 - 14.52C
* 2005 - 14.48C
* 2003 - 14.46C
* 2002 - 14.46C
* 2004 - 14.43C
* 2006 - 14.42C
* 2007 - 14.40C
* 2001 - 14.40C
* 1997 - 14.36C
* 2008 - 14.31C
* Data from Hadley Centre


"If you look at the 30-year graph of month-to-month temperature anomalies, the most obvious feature is the series of warmer than normal months that followed the major El Nino Pacific Ocean warming event of 1997-1998," he said.

"Right now we are coming out of one La Nina Pacific Ocean cooling event, and we might be heading into another.

"It should be interesting over the next several years to see whether the post La Nina climate 're-sets' to the cooler seasonal norms we saw before 1997, or the warmer levels seen since then."

The effect of El Nino and La Nina conditions are one reason why scientists prefer to average temperatures over 10-year periods, which smoothes out the annual variations and gives a better picture of long-term trends.

On average, the decade from 1990 to 1999 was 0.23C above the 1961-1990 baseline, while in the period 2000-2008 it was 0.40C over, indicating a warming trend.

It is almost certain that the first decade of this century will turn out to have been significantly warmer than the last decade of the last century, notwithstanding the freak El Nino year of 1998.

The question for the next decade or so will be whether natural cycles such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation continue to moderate the warming effect of rising greenhouse gas concentrations.

-----------------------------
「私たちが作りました」農家の顔写真、実は工場従業員

2008年12月16日22時21分

　農林水産省は１６日、愛知県一宮市の食品加工会社「たけ乃（の）子屋」（森嘉仁社長）が中国産のタケノコ水煮を国産と偽って販売したとして、ＪＡＳ法違反で改善を指示した。同社は熊本罐詰（かんづめ）（熊本市）など４社に中国産タケノコ水煮を販売し、国産として買い戻す手法で産地を偽装した。

　偽装に協力したのは、熊本罐詰のほか、ぬながわ森林組合（新潟県糸魚川市）、出石缶詰（京都府木津川市）、甲木（かつき）フーズ産業（福岡県立花町）。熊本、新潟、京都、福岡の４府県もこの日、ＪＡＳ法違反で、それぞれ４社に対して改善を指示した。

　特に熊本産とされた商品には「竹林農家の皆さん」として３人の写真が掲載されていたが、３人とも農家ではなく、熊本罐詰の工場従業員だった。熊本罐詰の都五雄社長によると、たけ乃子屋から「農家として写真を撮らせてほしい」と頼まれたという。

　農水省の調べでは、たけ乃子屋は昨年７月～今年１０月、中国産のタケノコ水煮５２７トンと、自社の商品のパッケージを４社に販売。４社で袋詰めして「国産」に偽装された商品を買い戻し、首都圏や東海地方のスーパーを中心に販売。フキやレンコン、ゼンマイの水煮でも中国産を混ぜて国産として販売。偽装は０２年ごろに始まったという。

-------------------------------
弁護士費用４億円「ダスキンが払え」原告株主側、提訴へ

2008年12月16日17時1分

　総額５３億円の損害賠償が確定したダスキンの旧経営陣に対する株主代表訴訟をめぐり、原告の株主側は近く、約４億円の弁護士費用の支払いをダスキンに求める訴訟を大阪地裁に起こす。代表訴訟では原告勝訴の場合、会社が原告側の費用を支払うが、ダスキンは旧経営陣からの回収額が少ないとして５５００万円の支払いを提示していた。

　代表訴訟は、ダスキンが運営する「ミスタードーナツ」で、旧経営陣が肉まんに無認可添加物が入っていることを知りながら販売し、営業補償などで会社に損害を与えたとして株主側が提訴。今年２月、当時の役員１３人に約５３億円の支払いを命じた二審の大阪高裁判決が確定した。

　両者が提示する費用の差は、弁護士報酬の基礎となる「経済的利益」のとらえ方の違いにある。原告側は５３億円が会社が得る経済的利益と主張。相場とされる算定基準に基づき４億円とはじいた。ダスキンは実際に回収できた約６億９千万円を経済的利益と主張している。

　原告の弁護士は「賠償額を基礎にしなければ、確定判決の意味がない。会社側が回収努力を怠っている可能性もあり、回収額を基準にはできない」と主張している。ダスキンは今後の回収見込みは低いとみる。そのうえで「５３億円という金額は、個人の資産から回収できるものでなく、会社の経済的利益とは考えられない」と強調している。（加藤裕則）

--------------------------------
11月の電力需要、産業用が５％の大幅減

　電気事業連合会が17日発表した11月の電力需要実績（速報、10社計）によると、産業用の大口電力が前年同月比5.2％減の234億キロワット時となった。5％を超える落ち込みは2002年2月以来。10月の0.5％減から下げ幅を大きく拡大しており、景気悪化による生産調整や投資凍結の影響が鮮明になってきた。

　主要7業種すべてで前年実績を下回った。とくに大口電力の3割近くを占める「機械」が9.3％の大幅減。自動車やデジタル家電の減産が響いた。1割強を占める「鉄鋼」も7.1％前年を下回った。

　電力需要全体では前年同月比2.0％減の697億キロワット時だった。契約が増えた家庭用の電灯が1.1％増となったため、産業用の落ち込みを緩和した。(12:25)

-----------------------------
Fat Bonuses For Bail-Out Bankers

SkyNews Sky News

Workers at Goldman Sachs are sharing £1.7bn in bonuses - even after the US pumped cash into the bank to rescue it from the credit crisis.

The bank revealed the figure, worth around £55,000 per employee, as it posted its first quarterly loss since becoming a public company in 1999.

A spokesman for the bank, which recently received a $10bn handout from the US government, said the bonus pot totalled £1.67bn.

The chief executive and six senior colleagues will not take a share, having agreed to give up the perk.

A spokesman rejected reports that the bonuses could amount to as much as £4.3bn - or £142,000 for each worker including the 5,000-plus employed in London.

Salaries and benefits, including bonuses, were paid out of earnings, not capital, he added.

The US-based firm, which switched from being an investment bank to a savings bank in September, lost £1.36bn in the final quarter of this year.

Goldman Sachs boss Lloyd Blankfein said its recent performance reflected "extraordinarily difficult operating conditions".

He added: "While our quarterly performance obviously didn't meet our expectations, Goldman Sachs remained profitable during one of the most challenging years in our industry's history."

Other top companies badly affected by the US mortgage crisis are expected to announce similarly poor results before Christmas.

------------------------------------
証拠金不足、差し入れ制発動　金融取

　東京金融取引所は17日、午前の取引終了時点で金利先物取引にかかわる証拠金不足額差し入れを求める「緊急証拠金制度」を発動した。米連邦準備理事会（ＦＲＢ）の大幅利下げをうけて日銀の追加利下げ観測が強まり、円3カ月金利先物中心限月の2009年3月物金利が急低下したため。同制度の発動は9月 16日以来、3カ月ぶり。(13:53)

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退職金共済に住宅融資移管　雇用機構改革最終案

　政府は16日、厚生労働省所管の独立行政法人、雇用・能力開発機構の改革に関する最終案をまとめた。機構を廃止し、機構の事業である住宅資金向け融資業務を独法の勤労者退職金共済機構へ移管。共済機構は中小企業などの退職金業務を手掛けており、移管すれば相乗効果を期待できると判断した。年内にも閣議決定する。

　雇用機構の住宅向け融資は、労働者が住宅の取得や増改築をする際に資金を借り入れできる。毎月の給与などの一定額を積み立てる財形貯蓄を利用している人が対象で、今年3月末の融資残高は約2兆円、貸出件数は18万件に上る。別の融資業務である教育融資は利用件数が少ないため廃止する方向だ。(07: 00)

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日本郵政の改革にブレーキ　金融危機で市場縮小

　深刻な金融危機が民営化した日本郵政の改革に影を落とし始めた。国債一辺倒だった運用を改善しようと数兆円規模で計画していた外債投資を大幅に縮小。新規事業の目玉だった変額年金保険は売れず、不動産の売却にも影響が出ている。現在、収益そのものは堅調だが、株式上場に欠かせない収益構造の転換にブレーキがかかっている。

　日本郵政グループのゆうちょ銀行は2010年度を目指す株式上場までに、外国企業の社債などを数兆円買い増す予定だった。ところが、金融危機で欧米の発行市場が縮小し、流動性も大きく低下。「市場が壊れた中では投資も慎重にならざるを得ない」（ゆうちょ銀幹部）ため、秋口以降の購入額は予定を大幅に下回っているという。(07:00)

-------------------------------
ブラジル銀のクレジットカード、「円決済」ＯＫ　ライフと提携

　ブラジル最大の商業銀行であるブラジル銀行は来年2月、カード会社のライフと提携し、日本で働くブラジル人らを対象に円建てで決済できるクレジットカードを発行する。同行の定期預金を担保に、預金額の8割程度の範囲内で買い物や現金借り入れができる。預金を担保にすることで、与信管理などが難しい外国人でもクレジットカードを取得しやすくした。

　同行に口座を持つ日系ブラジル人や、就労ビザを取得して日本で働く外国人など約13万人が対象。ポルトガル語の説明資料やコールセンターも設ける。日本での買い物を円で決済できるため、海外のクレジットカードに比べて為替手数料がかからず、決済までの為替変動の影響も避けられる。(07:00)

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東証上場企業数、２年連続減少　08年末、42年ぶり

　東京証券取引所の上場企業数（第1部、第2部、マザーズの合計）が今年末で2373社となり、2年連続で減る見通しとなった。株価の低迷で新規上場が減少しているのに加え、経営破綻による上場廃止が増えているため。2年続けて減るのは証券不況だった1965、66年以来、42年ぶり。

　来年も株式市場が急回復する兆しは乏しく、頭打ち傾向が長びく可能性もある。(07:00)

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ＪＴ、中国の冷食生産委託先を４割減　ギョーザ中毒事件受け

　日本たばこ産業（ＪＴ）は17日、子会社が販売した中国製冷凍ギョーザによる中毒事件を受け、中国における冷凍食品の製造委託先を事件前に比べ4割減らしたことを明らかにした。食の安心・安全問題で消費者の「中国離れ」が続く中、自社工場での生産比率を高めて信頼回復につなげる。

　加ト吉などを含めたＪＴグループ全体の中国での委託先数は、事件が発覚した1月以前は42あった。だが事件後に委託先の安全管理体制などを再度調査。基準に満たない工場から順次、契約を打ち切った。

　また中国産冷食は売り上げが前年度に比べて4割に落ち込むなど販売不振が続いていることもあり、委託先は25にまで減った。これらを受けて冷凍食品全体の売上高に占める中国産の比率も3割強から2割弱に減少した。(21:40)

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ユニチカ、電子回路の放熱助ける塗料を開発　コスト大幅減

　ユニチカは17日、電子機器の内部にあるプリント基板に「放熱機能」を持たせる塗料を開発したと発表した。電子機器メーカーにとって、小型化が進む機器の内部にこもる熱への対策は共通の課題。今回開発した塗料は印刷方式で塗布できることなどから、従来の放熱材に比べてコストをほぼ半減できるとしており、モバイル機器やパソコン向けに売り込む。

　塗料を基板の積層に挟み込む形で仕込むと、熱がそれを介して機器の外装部分などに伝わり、結果として熱を逃がす仕組み。基板に感光材を印刷するのと同じ機械を利用し、「スクリーン印刷」と呼ばれる手法で必要な場所にだけ塗れるため、従来の主流だったカーボンシートに比べ加工工程が少なく済むという。

　価格は1キロ1万円程度を見込んでおり、2009年1月から営業活動を始める。09年度で30トン、3億円程度の販売を見込んでいる。

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ガソリン価格、114円台に下落　４年４カ月ぶり低水準

　石油情報センターが17日まとめた15日時点のガソリン店頭価格（全国平均）は、1リットル114.7円と前週から4.4円下がった。下落は19週連続で、2004年8月末以来、ほぼ4年4カ月ぶりの低水準。原油価格の下落に加え、給油所の値下げ競争で店頭価格が一段と下がった。

　ハイオクは前週比4.4円安い125.5円。軽油は3.9円下がって109.3円だった。(14:29)

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日産、国内の減産拡大　非正規社員ゼロに

　日産自動車は17日、国内で実施している減産を2009年1月以降、拡大すると発表した。来年3月末までの追加分は7万8000台規模。08年度の減産幅は合計で23万台前後と、期初計画（138万台強）に比べ16％程度になる。減産に合わせて、来年3月末までに日産本体の非正規社員500人を順次削減しゼロにする。08年度初めの段階では日産本体で2000人の派遣社員がいた。50人いる期間従業員もゼロにする。

　減産は小型車の「マーチ」や「ティーダ」の生産を手掛ける追浜工場（神奈川県横須賀市）で1月以降、1カ月に数日間の稼働休止日を設けるほか、生産速度を遅らせる措置を取る。小型車はこれまで比較的販売が好調だったが、国内外で乗用車全体の販売が落ち込んできたため、減産で在庫を削減する。

　北米向けの多目的スポーツ車（ＳＵＶ）などを生産する九州工場（福岡県苅田町）でも1月以降、同様に稼働休止日を増やすほか、生産速度を遅らせる。(13:36)

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日本郵船、船舶投資15％減　海上荷動き低迷で

　日本郵船は2009―11年度に総額1兆3000億円程度を計画していた船舶投資を約15％削減する。世界的な景気後退で資源や工業製品の荷動きが急減しているため。当初は老朽船の前倒し廃棄などで輸送能力を調整する方針だったが、低迷は長期化するとみて新造船などの調達も見直す。積極投資を続けてきた海運大手で投資抑制に転じるのは初めて。

　海運市場が好調だった今年春の時点では、08年度以降は年平均で4000億円超の船舶投資を続ける計画だった。しかし今年夏以降に市場が縮小に転じたため、来年度以降の3年間で合計1兆2000億―1兆3000億円を見込んでいた投資を1500億―2000億円削減する。(07:00)

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電子申請システム、文科省・防衛省で停止　手続き煩雑で不振

　政府は来年度から文部科学省と防衛省の電子申請システムを停止する。両省合わせて利用が年間100件程度にとどまり、これ以上の拡大が見込めないと判断した。ＩＴ戦略本部（本部長・麻生太郎首相）を中心に「電子政府」の実現を推進してきたが、省庁全体のシステム停止に踏み切るのは初めて。停止により両省合わせて年間1億円を超える経費の削減となる。

　文科省はインターネット上で高校卒業程度の認定試験や学芸員資格認定など696の手続きが可能で、2003年から運用してきた。ただ住民票などの添付書類を別送する必要があるなど手続きが煩雑で、利用件数は07年度で115件にとどまっていた。(07:00)

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食器後片づけロボットを開発　東大とパナソニック

　東京大学は17日、パナソニックと共同で、食器の後片づけをする腕型ロボットを開発したと発表した。流し台に置かれた皿やグラスをつかんで食器洗い機に入れる。触覚センサーやカメラを使って食器をていねいに扱うのが特徴。制御技術の改良や小型化に取り組み5―10年後の実用化を目指す。

　開発した腕型ロボットは人の腕とほぼ同じ大きさで流し台に取り付ける。手のひら部分に埋め込まれた23個のセンサーが集めたデータと流し台を見下ろす位置から撮影するカメラの画像をもとに、食器を認識してしっかりつかむ。形や素材が様々な食器を見分けて食器洗い機に並べられるようになった。

　実演では、お盆の上の皿とおわんを持ち上げて食器洗い機に1つずつ並べて、スタートボタンを押すまでの一連の作業を数分間かけてこなした。1人暮らしの高齢者や仕事や育児に忙しい家庭で役立つとみている。(21:01)

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「あんまんじゃない！」と同棲相手を金づちで殴打

　同棲（どうせい）していた女性にあんまんの購入を頼んだのにチョコまんを買ってきたことに激怒し金づちで殴ったとして、茨城県警土浦署は１７日、傷害の疑いで、同県美浦村、ゴミ収集作業員の男（６４）を逮捕した。

　調べでは、男は１１月１日午前１時半ごろ、土浦市内の女性（５７）宅で、女性に「あんまんを買ってきて」と依頼。女性は、品切れだったあんまんの代わりにチョコまん数個を、近くのコンビニエンスストアで購入したため、「頼んだものと違う」と激怒し、女性宅にあった金づちで女性の頭を数回殴り、全治３週間のけがを負わせた疑い。

　調べに対し、男は「頭にきたのでやってしまった」と容疑を認め、「申し訳ない」と反省しているという。

　１１月中旬に女性が同署に相談。「今までもたびたび暴力を受けた」と被害届を出した。２人は約１０年前から同棲していたという。

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動産会社、争う姿勢…ゼロゼロ物件訴訟で弁論

　敷金・礼金なしで部屋を借りられる「ゼロゼロ物件」をめぐり、家賃支払いが数日遅れただけで鍵を交換され入室できなくなったとして、居住者ら５人が不動産会社スマイルサービス（東京）に慰謝料などを求めた訴訟の第１回口頭弁論が１７日、東京地裁（矢尾渉裁判長）で開かれた。

　スマイル社側は答弁書で「地方から上京してきた人に低料金で定住場所を提供するためのシステム。契約時に内容を説明している」と争う姿勢を示す一方、「合理的側面を欠く点があった」と契約上の非も一部認めた。

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「集住都市会議」：外国人労働者の雇用悪化で要望

　日系人労働者など外国人労働者が多く集まる２６都市で作る「外国人集住都市会議」（座長、渡辺直由・岐阜県美濃加茂市長）は１７日、厚生労働省と文部科学省に雇用情勢悪化に伴う緊急要望を行った。

　２６都市には、計約２２万人の外国人労働者がおり、多くは派遣や請負で働いていることから、解雇問題などで深刻な影響が出ているという。要望では、休業手当の助成などに充てる雇用調整助成金の拡充などの雇用支援と、失業した外国人が再就職しやすいように実施する日本語教育への支援などを求めた。渡辺市長は「市内では２０代の２６％、３０代の１４％が外国人だ。雇用の悪化が進むなら街に活気がなくなる」と訴えた。

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イラク空自、最後の１機撤収　業務隊員も年度内に

2008年12月17日21時35分

　【アリ・アッサーレム基地（クウェート）＝樫本淳】イラク首都のバグダッドなどへ米軍中心の多国籍軍兵士らを運ぶため、クウェートを拠点に活動してきた航空自衛隊派遣部隊のＣ１３０輸送機３機のうち、最後の１機が１７日午後２時半ごろ（日本時間１７日午後８時半ごろ）、日本に向けてアリ・アッサーレム基地を出発した。

　０３年１２月に空自先遣隊が派遣されてから５年、計８２１回にわたった空自の輸送任務はこれで終了した。イラク南部のサマワで給水活動などをしてきた陸上自衛隊は０６年７月にすでに引き揚げており、撤収作業にあたる業務隊員も年度内にすべて撤収する。

　「日米同盟、その礎を築くことができた」。記者会見した北村靖二・派遣部隊司令は、空自の活動が現在の日米同盟を支えてきたと明確に位置づけた。離陸前の式典では、米空軍の遠征航空団司令代理のポール・フェザー大佐が「日米両国の友情に貢献した」と賛辞を送った。

　十数人の隊員が乗り込んだＣ１３０は砂漠に造られた滑走路を滑り出し、ゆっくりと機体を浮き上がらせた。

　イラクへの自衛隊派遣は、米ブッシュ政権への支援策として打ち出された。空自の派遣隊員は、愛知・小牧基地の第１輸送航空隊を中心に延べ３５００人に上った。

　空自派遣活動の一部については、名古屋高裁が４月、派遣差し止め訴訟の判決で「武力行使との一体化にあたる」と違憲判断を示している。