宿泊場所確保、厚労省に要請へ＝派遣村２５３人に－東京

宿泊場所確保、厚労省に要請へ＝派遣村２５３人に－東京

　東京都千代田区の日比谷公園に３１日に開設された「年越し派遣村」の実行委員会は２日、食事などの支援を受けるため入村手続きをした元派遣社員らが、同日までに２５３人に上ったことを明らかにした。

　実行委は同日午後にも、宿泊場所を確保するよう厚生労働省に申し入れる。同省ロビーや休校中の学校体育館などの活用を求める。

　実行委によると、入村したうち２２３人が公園内に設置したテントに宿泊した。労働や生活など１０８件の相談を受け、７５人分の生活保護申請を最寄りの千代田区へファクスで送った。申請者は、さらに増える見通しという。（2009/01/02-13:03）

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年越し派遣村：利用者、予想の倍　厚労省講堂なども開放

　仕事と住居を失った非正規社員らを支援するために東京・日比谷公園に開設されている「年越し派遣村」の実行委員会は２日、入村者が予想以上に増えているとして、舛添要一厚生労働相に緊急避難所の設置・開放を要請した。これを受け厚労省は、５日午前９時まで庁舎内の講堂やトイレの一部を開放した。

　実行委によると、年末に派遣村が開設されて以降、入村希望者が相次ぎ、２日午後６時現在で予想の２倍以上となる３０４人（宿泊者２７４人）に達した。食料は提供できるが、テントが不足し一部は外の椅子に座り一夜を過ごしていた。

　入村者らは２日夜から、実行委などが都内を中心に集めたレンタル用の布団を厚労省の講堂に運び込んだ。この夜講堂を利用するのは約２６０人。布団を運び終えた男性（４１）は「自動車マフラー製造の請負を１０月末に解雇された。今まで２週間野宿で派遣村には初日から来た。寒い外と講堂は天と地の差だが、なぜ今さらという気がする。急に気が抜けて風邪をひいてしまった」と話した。

　東京都中央区も廃校の小学校２校の講堂を、早ければ２日夜から提供することを決めた。

　実行委によると、派遣村への相談件数は１日までに１０８件。村長を務めるＮＰＯ法人「自立生活サポートセンターもやい」の湯浅誠事務局長は「行き場を失った人が増えていることは異常で、行く場所を作るしかない。政府は人を路頭に迷わせた企業の責任も追及すべきだ」と話した。

　村へのカンパは８００万円を超えたが、今後もさらに募る。問い合わせは臨時電話（０９０・３４９９・５２４４）、振込先はみずほ銀行銀座支店　普通２６９２９６４派遣村寄付金口座　弁護士棗（なつめ）一郎　【工藤哲】

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日比谷公園「派遣村」でテント不足、厚労省講堂を宿泊場所に

　「派遣切り」などで職と住まいを失った人たちのために東京・日比谷公園に開設された「年越し派遣村」で、来場者が想定の倍の３００人を超え、用意したテントが足りなくなったことから、ＮＰＯ法人などで作る実行委員会は２日、厚生労働省に宿泊施設の提供を要請。

　これを受け同省は同日夜、庁舎内の講堂（約８２０平方メートル）を開放した。

　期間は仕事始めとなる５日朝まで。

　長野県のパソコン工場で働いていた先月中旬、突然派遣契約を打ち切られた釘崎正さん（４１）は、住んでいた寮も追い出され、上京してコンビニなどで夜を過ごしてきたという。「寒さから逃れるために入った電器店のテレビで流れていたニュースでたまたま派遣村を知った。テント内も夜露をしのげたが、講堂内はとても暖かい。これからの職探しのために少しでも体を休ませたい」とほっとした様子で話した。

　一方、中央区も、廃校となった小学校の体育館など２施設を５日から１週間をめどに提供する予定。計１６０人が受け入れ可能という。

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社民党、党本部の開放を検討　「派遣村」パンクで

2009年1月3日0時9分

　「派遣切り」の労働者らが各地から続々と訪れ、市民団体などで作る実行委員会の用意したテントが足りなくなった東京・日比谷公園の「年越し派遣村」には２日、民主党の菅直人代表代行や社民党の保坂展人衆院議員らも姿を見せた。菅氏は自ら舛添厚労相や河村官房長官に電話し、対応を要請。東京都中央区の矢田美英区長にも協力を求め、同区は廃校になった小学校２カ所を開放することになった。

　菅氏によると、派遣村の責任者である湯浅誠・ＮＰＯ法人自立生活サポートセンターもやい事務局長から同党議員を通じて連絡があり、急きょ視察したという。菅氏は派遣村で記者団に「路上で年を越さなければならなかった人もいる。大変厳しい状況であることを改めて感じた」と語った。

　一方、社民党は２日、派遣村からあふれた労働者を受け入れるため、東京・永田町の党本部（社会文化会館）の一部を寝場所として開放する方向で検討に入った。今後の派遣切りの増加や公共施設の受け入れ状況を見極めて判断する。

　同党の福島党首は２日夜、開放された厚生労働省内の講堂を視察。朝日新聞の取材に「政府はもっと早く手を打つべきではなかったか。今回は天災ではなく、政治災害であり、避難民だ。厚労省の講堂の開放は画期的だが、国の責任であり、ある意味当然だ」と語った。

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Homeless Japanese flock 'tent village'

January 2, 2009 - 9:11PM

Some 300 homeless people, most of whom have lost their jobs due to recession, have flocked to a "tent village" temporarily set up by volunteers in Tokyo as a shelter for New Year holidays.

The village opened in Hibiya Park, near the Imperial Palace, government offices and luxury hotels, on New Year's Eve to provide free food and shelter for the homeless.

Japanese companies have cut tens of thousands of jobs, mostly temporary contract workers, as demand for cars, cameras and other products wanes amid the global financial crisis.

Organisers visited the welfare ministry on Friday to deliver a letter requesting access to unoccupied offices and schools as some 50 tents, each with a capacity of up to five people, are already full.

"In the worst case, there may be cold death," tent village head Makoto Yuasa told reporters. "We are trying to do what we can in a non-government capacity, but there is a limit."

Lawyers are volunteering their time to help people wrongfully sacked or forced to leave factory dormitories. The camp will close on Monday morning.

The labour ministry said some 85,000 temporary workers have already lost their jobs or know they will be laid off by March - a figure that has nearly tripled in a month.

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If this is like 1932, there will be hope as well as pain

By John Authers

Published: January 2 2009 18:24 | Last updated: January 2 2009 18:24

Everyone became an expert on the deeper reaches of financial history last year. With almost any relationship on which market traders had come to rely in the past three decades breaking down, they had to delve deeper for precedents.

Early in the year, we were looking at the Long-Term Capital Management disaster of 1998 and the savings and loan scandal of the early 1990s. Once it became obvious that the new crisis was deeper than these and oil prices started to surge, comparisons with 1973 and 1974 grew fashionable. Now the oil price has dropped by more than $100 a barrel and we fear the first great deflation since the Depression, attention has turned to the 1930s. Some have disinterred long-forgotten incidents such as the panic of 1907 (which led to the creation of the Federal Reserve), or the panic of 1873, which followed a boom in investing in railroads.

No historical parallel can be perfect. But perhaps two years offer the best point of reference. What if last year was 1931? If so, this year could be 1932. In some ways this is good news. It was when the US stock market finally began its recovery. At one point the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than doubled in barely two months. But it still saw equity indices end the year worth less than when they had started. Intriguingly this is almost exactly in line with the apparently self-contradictory consensus of wisdom about the stock market this year: that it has not yet hit bottom but should do so this year and that at some point there will be an explosive rally.

There are differences. The bear market was already more than a year old when 1931 started, while 2008 started only shortly after equities had reached a final peak. And the point in the political cycle was different, as President Franklin Roosevelt was not elected until November 1932, some months after the stock market bottom. Policymakers took far longer to embrace monetary or fiscal easing.

But in the markets, 2008 looks a lot like 1931. It was the worst year of the 1930s for stock markets, with the S&P 500 falling 47 per cent, driven by fears for the banking system and by seismic shifts in foreign exchange rates.

As 1931 turned to 1932, the extra spread that investors required to buy the bonds of investment-grade companies, rather than US Treasury bonds, reached an all-time high – closely approached in the past few weeks. Then, as now, the Fed was about to buy back Treasury bonds, in a bid to push up their prices and push down their yields – a drastic way to lower interest rates payable in the broader economy, now known as “quantitative easing”.

So 1931 is a better comparison for the year just gone than most.

A look at how 1932 unfolded shows how the conventional wisdom about 2009 may yet come true. The year started with a rally as optimism took hold that the financial sector’s problems were over. That took the S&P 500 up almost 20 per cent by early March. Compare this with the current rally since the rescue of Citigroup in November.

But in spring 1932 gold started flowing out of the US, as foreign investors were convinced the dollar would be devalued, and this sparked a devastating sell-off in US stocks. By midsummer (at what turned out to be the bottom of the bear market), the S&P was down 50 per cent from its high for the year.

For 2009, a renewed run on the dollar is quite conceivable. Another fear is that investors grasp the scale of the damage to corporate profits only in the next few weeks, and this sparks another sell-off. Brokers’ forecasts suggest the scope for serious disappointment is real – and conceivably even enough to drive a sell-off like the one of early 1932.

In July 1932, optimism suddenly took hold that the economy was improving. This, according to Russell Napier’s definitive book Anatomy of the Bear, was based largely on evidence that deflation was coming to an end. The result: stocks gained 111 per cent in two months. Then in September they staged another sell-off as it became clear the economy was not out of the woods, and fell 25 per cent from there to the end of the year. Overall the index was down almost 15 per cent for the year but it never went back to its July 1932 lows.

How could this be repeated in 2009? An explosive rally at some point is possible, simply because record amounts of money are sitting in bonds and cash. And, as in 1932, what might move that money in a hurry would be a clear sign that inflation was returning. At present the risk is deflation and governments are actively trying to engineer a return to inflation: if that were to happen, bonds and cash would become horrible assets to be in, and so the chance of a race at the first sign of inflationary pressure is real.

As in 1932, when economic hope proved illusory, it is possible that could be a false alarm. But in these conditions, even a false alarm could spark a big rally. As for fundamental valuations, long-run indicators that have signalled market turning-points most successfully in the past, such as the multiple of stocks to long-term average earnings, suggest stocks are fairly valued, whereas they already looked cheap in early 1932. A drastic sell-off like the one in early 1932 would help address this.

The precondition for a sustainable rally is that share prices fall to a level where investors are widely convinced they are cheap. As 1932 demonstrated, getting there could yet involve a lot more pain. But it is fair to hope that we get there this year.

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Conglomerates begin to shine for stock-pickers

By John Authers

Published: January 3 2009 02:00 | Last updated: January 3 2009 02:00

The stockbroker's lexicon is full of euphemisms. One of the more insidious is "a stock-pickers' market". The positive spin on such a market is that there are returns on offer for those who pick the right stocks. A more realistic take is that the market as a whole is doing nothing - but you might just get by if you are lucky enough to pick the right stocks.

At present, a stockpickers' market, in either sense of the phrase, would be a boon. Last year was one of the most spectacular cases on record, when trying to pick the right stocks would have made little or no difference. Returns for the two traditional main styles of investing - "value" investing focused on stocks that are cheap compared to their fundamental value, and "growth" investing focused on stocks whose profits are growing - were virtually identical and, of course, very bad.

There was also barely any difference between the performance of larger and smaller companies. Even differences based on geography were minimal. Huge currency movements during 2008 ensured some variation, but a look at the performance of the main indices in North America, Western Europe and the developed markets of Asia showed that they all moved in line with each other.

All of this can readily be explained. Last year, unjustified optimism about the world economy turned to something more realistic in mid-summer, and then to something much worse after equity investors were taken by surprise by the financial crisis that followed the fall of Lehman Brothers.

From summer onwards, correlation between stocks rose to virtually unprecedented levels. Correlation tends to move in line with volatility, which also reached levels unseen even in the Great Crash of the early 1930s. According to David Kostin of Goldman Sachs, the average correlation of the stocks in the US S&P 500 index reached 66 per cent by the end of the year, by far the highest in two decades, while correlations within economic sectors were even higher.

And correlation between economic sectors, even though they should be affected very differently by a recession, is at its highest in more than 20 years.

Put simply, the "top-down" or "macro" bad news on the economy swamped any "bottom-up" or "micro" news that might have helped to differentiate companies. Instead, everyone sank together. Picking stocks became an irrelevant skill.

It is fair to assume that macro factors will drown out anything micro for a while. There will be intense interest in the government spending plans across the world, in central banks, and in any signs that deflation is turning to inflation.

But once markets have stabilised a little, correlations should come down. That does not necessarily imply a surge in broad indices; but it should mean that stock-pickers can make some money. After a sell-off so indiscriminate, some companies must now be badly undervalued compared to their peers.

How can we pick those stocks? It may be worth looking at sectors, where anything that can include the word "Obama" in the first sentence of its investment case should be in fashion. The new US president will spend a lot of money. Companies in sectors such as infrastructure or alternative energy that are well placed to receive a good share of the largesse could therefore outperform.

But rather than looking at how companies make money, stock-picking may be more a matter of gauging financial strength this year. Credit for companies will be severely constrained, by historical standards, for the whole of 2009. Companies that have least need of new debt, and that generate lots of their own cash, therefore look attractive.

Governments are almost daring investors to buy stocks. For anyone buying them now, the returns on cash, money market funds, and government bonds are terrible. That means many may be forced into equities to generate some return. So stock-pickers should pore through balance sheets for companies that pay regular and rising dividends, and generate the cash to keep doing so. Such stocks are likely to be in demand.

The credit crunch could also bring us back to the future when it comes to financial engineering. The boom in the middle of this decade, and the boom of the late 1980s, both owed much to the practice of using cheap debt to split large and cumbersome conglomerates - the "corporate raiders" of the 1980s became the private equity players of the 2000s.

Now, with debt much harder to obtain for borrowers, such financial engineering is largely impracticable. But the conglomerate structure might have new appeal. Rather than having to borrow from banks, or from the capital markets, a conglomerate can finance subsidiaries with cash generated by other businesses elsewhere in the company. Such companies tended to fare reasonably well in the "stock-pickers' market," as it might euphemistically be called, of the 1970s. And big companies, particularly conglomerates, that are less reliant on the credit market, may be set to outperform in the next stock-pickers' market.

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フジクリ・フニクラ富士山鉄道構想　麓から５合目まで (1/2ページ)
2009.1.3 18:54

　山梨県側の富士山の麓（ふもと）から５合目まで、登山者や観光客を電気鉄道で輸送する一大構想が持ち上がっている。自然界への影響を懸念する声も聞かれるが、構想を打ち出した富士五湖観光連盟（山梨県）は「電気鉄道による悪影響は少ない」と自信をみせ、「首都圏から乗り換えなしの５合目直行便」の実現にも夢を膨らませている。（牧井正昭）

　「なぜ富士山に鉄道がなかったのか。その方が不思議です」。同連盟の堀内光一郎会長は首をひねる。

　富士山５合目には、麓から有料道路「富士スバルライン」か林道を利用してマイカーやバスで行くか、麓から歩いて登る方法しかない。さらに、冬季は降雪で通行止めとなり、富士山の実質観光シーズンは４月から１１月ごろまでだ。

　鉄道構想は昨年１１月、観光連盟の正副会長会議で打ち出された。麓の有料道路ゲート付近に始発駅を設け、有料道路上に単線の線路を敷く。５合目ロータリーまでとすると全線約３０キロ、平均勾（こう）配（ばい）５％。観光客が散策できるように途中に４駅を設置する。

　車両は電気動力で２００人乗り車両を４両連結し、１便で８００人程度を運ぶ。建設費は概算で６００億円から８００億円程度を見込んでいる。

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「不審な会話」で搭乗拒否　米空港でイスラム教徒９人
2009.1.3 18:58

　米首都ワシントン郊外のレーガン・ナショナル空港で１日、国内便に乗り込んだイスラム教徒の家族連れ９人が、「不審な会話」をしたと誤解され、航空会社に搭乗を拒否される騒ぎがあった。米ワシントン・ポスト紙（電子版）が報じた。

　同紙によると、９人はエア・トラン航空の旅客機でフロリダ州オーランドに向かう途中で、ほかの乗客に、不審な会話をしていると受け取られた。

　９人によれば「どの席が安全か」などと話しただけだといい、米連邦捜査局（ＦＢＩ）が調べた結果、誤解だと判明。航空会社は２日、謝罪コメントを出した。（共同）

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羽田の国際化へ着々　秋に進滑走路・深夜早朝枠・アクセス整備 (1/5ページ)
2009.1.3 15:49
このニュースのトピックス：航空業界

　来年秋、羽田空港に４本目の滑走路が完成する。新滑走路の供用開始に伴い、飽和状態となっていた羽田の発着枠は現在よりも３割増やすことが可能で、国際線の発着数も飛躍的に増える。特に深夜・早朝の時間帯を利用して欧米定期便が運航する予定のため、旅行客の利便性は格段に高まるとみられる。羽田が文字通り東京国際空港として国内外の航空需要に応えるための準備は着々と進んでおり、今年は飛躍に向けた重要な１年になる。

　　
■　　■　　■

　羽田空港南東側沖合の海上に浮かぶＤ滑走路の建設現場。ジャンボジェット機の離着陸が可能な全長２５００メートルの新滑走路の完成に向けて、２４時間態勢で突貫工事が進んでいる。

　すでに外周４５００メートルの護岸は仕上がり、２２年秋の供用開始に向けて「準備は順調に進んでいる」（国土交通省航空局）状況だ。２２年以降は、年間の航空機の発着枠は１０万回以上増える。１時間あたりの便数で計算すると、３１便から４０便にまで拡大する計算だ。とりわけ、国際線は現在の年９０００回から６万回へと６～７倍に拡大する。

　国交省のプランでは、うち３万回は昼間、香港までの近距離路線を運航する。すでに日韓両国の間で、羽田－金浦間に１日６便ずつの計１２便の定期便を就航させることで合意している。一方、残る３万回は深夜・早朝には欧米を含む主要都市と結び、世界中とネットワークを張り巡らせる考えだ。

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メール傍受し反対派監視　米誌報道、チェイニー副大統領側近ら
2009.1.3 18:52

　２日の米誌バニティ・フェア（電子版）はブッシュ政権の８年間を回顧する特集記事で、強硬派のチェイニー副大統領の側近がホワイトハウス国家安全保障会議（ＮＳＣ）メンバーの電子メールを盗み読みし、反対派や穏健派の動向を監視していたなどの「秘話」を紹介した。

　ＮＳＣは外交・安全保障問題に関し、米省庁間の政策を調整、決定する機関。パウエル前国務長官の首席補佐官だったウィルカーソン氏によると、ＮＳＣのあるメンバーは副大統領らの側近にメールを見られていることに気づいた。

　この人物は監視の実態を調べるため、副大統領の右腕だったリビー首席補佐官（当時）の怒りを買うようなメールを試しに第三者に送ってみたところ、１時間もしないうちに首席補佐官が職場にやってきたという。（共同）

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未婚の４３歳・仏司法相が出産…「父親は大統領」の憶測も

　【パリ＝林路郎】フランス初のアラブ系女性主要閣僚として注目を集めるラシダ・ダティ司法相（４３）が２日夜、パリ近郊で長女ゾーラちゃんを出産した。司法相は未婚で、早期に職務復帰する意向を示している。

　ダティ氏は、モロッコ系の父とアルジェリア系の母の間に生まれ、１２人きょうだいの貧しい家庭から閣僚に上り詰め、仏政界で現在、最も注目度の高い政治家の一人。サルコジ大統領と親しく、２００７年夏には大統領一家と共に米国でバカンスを過ごした。

　昨年９月に妊娠を公表した際には、「私の私生活は複雑」として父親の氏名を明らかにせず、仏メディアでは、「父親は大統領だ」「いや、スペインのアスナール前首相」などの憶測を呼んでいる。

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皇居で新年一般参賀、雅子さま６年ぶりにすべて参加される
新年一般参賀でにこやかに手を振られる天皇、皇后両陛下と皇太子ご夫妻＝菅野靖撮影

　一般参賀７万５７９０人　新年恒例の一般参賀が２日、皇居・宮殿の東庭で行われ、７万５７９０人の参賀者が訪れた。

　天皇陛下は、皇后さまはじめ皇族方と宮殿のベランダに立ち、「厳しい経済情勢の中にあって苦労多く新年を迎えている人々が多いのではと案じていますが、国民にとり少しでも良い年になるよう願っています」とあいさつされた。

　体調を崩された陛下の負担軽減のため、お立ちになる回数を例年の７回から５回に減らして行われた。皇太子妃雅子さまは、６年ぶりにすべての回に参加された。

　１日には「新年祝賀の儀」が宮殿で行われ、天皇、皇后両陛下と皇族方が、麻生首相や衆参両院の議長ら約６６０人からあいさつを受けられた。

　宮内庁によると、皇后さまは例年、１日の儀式に「ティアラ」と呼ばれる髪飾りを付けて臨まれるが、１２月半ばから背中に強い痛みを感じることがあり、重みで負担がかからないよう着装を取りやめられた。

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金融庁も目を光らせる新生銀行の行く末
NEWS FILE
プレジデント 2008年12.29号

ことごとくサブプライム問題などの影響も受けて開店休業のような状態を余儀なくされている。

予想されていたとはいえ、無残な数字が並んだ。

2008年11月12日、新生銀行は9月期中間決算を発表した。9月の段階ですでに280億円の黒字予想から一転し、150億円の連結最終赤字に転落すると発表したばかりだった。

しかし、蓋を開けてみると連結最終赤字は192億円と、当初の予想を大幅に超えるまでに膨らむ結果となった。しかも、社長であるティエリー・ポルテが退任し、かつて同行の初代会長を務めていた八城政基が社長を兼務、取締役会長として復帰することが発表されたのだ。

新生銀行誕生の立役者にして、功労者であるものの八城は一線を退いていた身。79歳という高齢で、非常事態に陥っている銀行を立て直す陣頭指揮にあたれるとは到底思えない。そうした八城しか引き受け手がいないほどポルテの後任人事は難航を極めた。誰もが“ババ”を引くことを拒んだのである。

1998年に経営破綻した新生銀行の前身、日本長期信用銀行（長銀）に日本政府はおよそ8兆円の公的資金を投入し、銀行を救済した。今も同行の株式約20％を所有する大株主は日本政府だ。それゆえ、新生銀行は通期利益予想が経営健全化計画を30％以上下回ると金融庁から行政処分を受ける。

2007年6月の業務改善命令は経営陣とともに、金融当局を慌てさせた。だが、今回の危機はそれ以上に深刻だ。なぜなら身売りが現実的なものとなり、もし買い手がつかなければ「長銀は二度死ぬ」という事態となり、金融当局への非難は避けられないものとなるからだ。

再生の見本ともいわれた新生銀行を窮地に追い込んだものはなんだったのだろうか。

長銀から生まれ変わった新生銀行の“売り”はリテールバンキングへの特化だった。ATMの年中無休24時間営業、窓口営業時間の延長などに象徴されるリテール業務の強化は、信販会社「アプラス」さらには消費者金融業「シンキ」への相次ぐ買収へと発展していく。今春、5800億円もの巨費を投じて買収した消費者金融業「レイク」もリテール・投資銀行業務強化の一貫とされる。

しかし、現実はどうだろうか。

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２ちゃんねる、“言論の自由なき日本”を見捨てた？ (2/2ページ)
2009.1.2 10:20

　また、書き込みを保存するサーバー自体はアメリカ合衆国にあり、従来、２ちゃんねるガイドに添えられていた「書き込み削除の最終責任は管理人ひろゆきにあります。」という表現自体も削除されていることから、訴訟などの諸問題を解決するための“仮想法人”への“仮想譲渡”である可能性が濃厚だ。ただ、今回の“外国への譲渡”が、書き込みをめぐる名誉棄損訴訟や法務省、警察庁など“ネットを取り締まる”官庁にも相当の影響を与えると思われる。

　２ちゃんねるは１９９９年、当時流行していたアングラ掲示板の“避難所”として設立された。「スレッドフロート式」と呼ばれるシステムが特徴で、新しい書き込みが多い掲示板（スレッド）、つまり“ネット上でもっとも盛り上がっているスレッド”ほど自動的にページトップに浮き上がる仕組み。ADSLが登場し、インターネットが常時接続時代に入った２０００年、佐賀県で「西鉄バスハイジャック事件」が発生し、容疑者の少年が「ネオむぎ茶」という固定ハンドル名で２ちゃんねるに“犯行予告”を書き込んでいたらしいことから脚光を浴び、同年、Yahoo! JAPAN（ヤフー！ジャパン）にも登録され、国民的な人気サイトとなった。

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Move to the euro haunts Ahmadi-Nejad

By Najmeh Borzogmehr

Published: December 30 2008 02:00 | Last updated: December 30 2008 02:00

In 2007, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's colourful president, called the US dollar a "torn piece of paper" and in November last year his government changed the country's base foreign currency to the euro in an effort to try and avoid US sanctions imposed as a result of the country's nuclear programme.

At the time, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad and his colleague Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, even tried to persuade the other members of Opec to shift their reference prices for oil to the European currency, arguing that the greenback was fatally weakened.

A year on, however, and the Iranian government has had to live with a revival in the dollar's fortunes and it is the rial that is in the doldrums. The rial has lost about 10 per cent against the dollar during the past month, even rising above the important 10,000 to the dollar mark for the first time in its history. It has since strengthened slightly back to 9,820.

This has landed Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's government on the wrong side of public opinion, which views the rial's value against the dollar as a central indicator of its economic strength.

Although the rial has changed little if measured against a basket of currencies, including the euro and the pound, "people are only concerned about the dollar rate", says one economist.

In the aftermath of the Islamic revolution the rial collapsed, and the regime adopted a series of exchange rate policies in 1980s and 1990s by fixing at about half a dozen different rates against the dollar. But in 2001, a reformist government led by Mohammad Khatami officially adopted a policy of a managed float.

Yet successive Iranian governments, even before Mr Ahmadi-Nejad took office in August 2005, have followed an unstated policy of ensuring that the dollar traded at less than 10,000 rials.

Whenever the rate has looked close to crossing that mark, the central bank has injected dollars to bring it down again. But this time the authorities are choosing not to pump in dollars because the country's oil revenues, the main source of income, are plummeting.

Iran tries to receive its oil income in euros to avoid oversight by the US authorities, which could block the Islamic regime's money over the controversial nuclear programme and alleged funding of terrorism.

Experts estimate that about two-thirds of the country's $80bn foreign currency reserves are now held in euros, and government opponents have complained of a loss of about $5bn due to the European currency's recent decline against the dollar.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad argues that the benefits of increasing euro share in the reserves still exceed recent losses.

"We have had both economic and political gains by shifting from the dollar to the euro because the dollar was hugely weakened but this [the current strength of the dollar] will last for a short period of time," Mr Ahmadi-Nejad said earlier this month, while vowing to run the country for a further three years even if oil prices fall to zero.

However, the drastic fall in oil prices will still put the government budget under great pressure next year, and may leave it no choice but to devalue the rial. Analysts say that they do not expect this to happen before the presidential election in June.

In downtown Tehran, the main centre of currency trading, traders say that the stronger dollar is a natural reaction to world markets.

They are, however, worried about the possibility of heavy-handed government interference - such as closure of their shops, which happened about 13 years ago - should the dollar strengthen further.

"The government might accuse some traders of dollar smuggling, close their shops and urge people to buy hard currencies only from banks," one trader says.

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Annual panto of greed and power may be in its last season

By Quentin Peel

Published: January 3 2009 02:00 | Last updated: January 3 2009 02:00

The annual winter pantomime time is upon us. Once again, the malevolent Russian bear - also know as Gazprom - has turned off the gas taps supplying its feckless and debt-laden neighbour, Ukraine, because its former vassal will not pay a 40 per cent price rise.

The danger is that the rest of Europe will rapidly get sucked into the dispute, because European Union members rely on Russia for 25 per cent of their natural gas supplies, and about 80 per cent of that is delivered in transit through Ukraine.

But this year there is better news - unlike in January 2006, when Gazprom last turned off the taps to Ukraine in the middle of a very cold winter, and supplies to the rest of Europe dropped by a third within 24 hours.

Then, Kiev simply siphoned off what it needed. This time, the weather is milder, and consumption is sharply down because of the economic slowdown.

As a result, Ukraine and the rest of Gazprom's European customers, such as Germany, Italy and most of central Europe, have built up much larger gas reserves. Naftogaz, the Ukrainian state gas company, says it has 28bn cubic metres in storage, or about 22 per cent of annual consumption.

The other piece of good news is that this depressing annual ritual of bad- tempered negotiations between Moscow and Kiev, with each side accusing the other of blackmail and dishonesty, may not continue for much longer. If international gas prices drop sharply in 2009, as they are expected to, then the gap between the commercial price for gas and what Ukraine can afford is likely to narrow rapidly.

"If you look at what is happening with European gas prices, they will be declining throughout 2009," says Jonathan Stern, director of gas research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

"We have got a really good chance of equalising Ukrainian prices with what Europeans are paying. Then we may be in a position to have a longer-term contract between Russia and Ukraine, instead of repeated renegotiations."

On the bad news front, the Russia-Ukraine talks remain acutely political, in spite of all the best efforts by Gazprom to present them as a purely commercial exercise.

It is no surprise that problems come to a head every winter, rather than in summertime, when there is no particular pressure to keep supplies going. That increases Moscow's bargaining power. Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, has made it clear that he is perfectly prepared to shut off the gas, whatever the weather. As the former Russian president, he did so with both Belarus and Ukraine.

He has also made it no secret that he does not regard any of the former Soviet republics as serious independent states.

On the other hand, taking a tough and truculent attitude towards Gazprom plays well in the fractious politics of Ukraine, where relations between President Viktor Yushchenko and his prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, are poisonous.

They are likely to be running against each other again in the next presidential elections, and each is anxious to prove that he or she is best able to stand up to the Kremlin.

On the face of it, the negotiations should be straightforward. Gazprom wants to raise the price Ukraine must pay for its gas from $179.50 per 1,000 cu m of gas to $250 (€180, £173). On the open market in Europe, the peak price was about $500 last year, but is now declining.

According to a rare joint statement issued by Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko in Kiev, Ukraine should be paying a gas price of $201 this year, based on a memorandum agreed between the two governments last year. They also want to raise the transit price for Russian gas through Ukraine from $1.70 to $2 per 1,000 cu m.

In these straitened times, Gazprom - itself burdened with massive foreign borrowing and facing slumping demand this year - needs the cash as much as Ukraine finds it difficult to pay. Each is exploiting its monopoly: Gazprom in natural gas supply; Ukraine on control of the transit pipeline.

Behind the winter pantomime is a game of high-stakes poker, with profit and power seen as the prize.

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Kyriakou lines up £2bn for UK buys

By Ben Fenton, Chief Media Correspondent

Published: January 2 2009 19:24 | Last updated: January 2 2009 19:24

Greek millionaire Theodore Kyriakou intends to amass a war chest of more than £2bn to target UK media acquisitions.

Mr Kyriakou, the scion of an important shipping family, said he will leverage the proceeds of the October sale of Nova, the Bulgarian assets of his Antenna TV company to Modern Times Group of Sweden for €628m (£600m), to buy media companies, but “probably not newspapers”.

“In a really terrible credit market, I suppose we would be thinking of a multiple of 2x,” Mr Kyriakou, 34, told the Financial Times.

“But if things were a bit better perhaps we would go to 3x or even a bit higher and so we are looking at between €1.25bn and €1.8bn of firepower, something like that.”

Including the cash sum realised by sale of Nova, that would give Mr Kyriakou more than £2bn. “Obviously it depends on when and how we leverage up the cash sum that we have,” he said.

“We are not about to rush in anywhere, but will wait to see what opportunities turn up in the next six to 18 months.

“At the moment, our strategy is to stay in cash for the next six months or so and then see what state the credit markets are in.”

With little debt – Antenna has a €120m bond due in 2015 – that large sum of cash is to form the kernel of an aggressive fighting fund for expansion across Europe,

“We will be looking at a variety of assets across the broad spectrum of the media world and across Europe,” he said.

But the base for his search for value in a distressed sector will be London: “This is the place to be. This is where the best people are and where all the information we need and the help we need can be found.”

He has already begun to assemble an advisory group of bankers, executives, lawyers and consultants in London to help him find a home for his money.

Recently, Guillaume de Posch, the former chief executive of ProSiebenSat1, the German broadcaster, was named as the first important member of the group.

But the group is also expected to include heavy hitters from the investment banking world and lawyers with experience of deal-making in the European media sector.

When a report emerged before Christmas that the Antenna chief executive had “not ruled out” a bid for ITV, it had no effect on the share price of the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster.

But that report mentioned only the €628m cash sum, apparently not realising that Mr Kyriakou intends to leverage that with bank debt into a sum which would be enough to make a 60p-a-share offer for ITV, were he minded to throw the whole pot at one company.

However, there is no reason to believe that is what he intends to do.

“I am not going to rule out anything,” said Mr Kyriakou, who holds two degrees, one in physics and one in business, from Georgetown University.

“But we are looking for businesses with growth potential and we are looking at internet; at production companies; at pay-television; at free-to-air television; at magazines; at pretty much everything and across Europe.

“That includes the UK, but not just the UK by any means.”

Antenna was founded by Mr Kyriakou’s father Minos in 1989 and it is now the largest Greek-language media company in the world with production companies, radio stations, magazines and television channels at home.

It also owns channels in the US and Australia, serving the large Greek-speaking populations in those places.

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Squadrons of Pacific, Baltic Fleets of Russia meet in Indian Ocean

02.01.2009, 19.52

MOSCOW, January 2 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s Pacific Fleet squadron comprising the Admiral Vinogradov large antisubmarine warfare ship, rescue tug Fotii Krylov, and the Pechenga and Boris Butoma support vessels on Friday met in the Indian Ocean with the warship squadron of the Russian Baltic Fleet comprising the Neustrashimy patrol gunboat and the Yelnya tanker, an aide to the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, head of the Navy information and public relations service Captain Igor Dygalo said.

They met in the area south of the Sokotra Island in the Arabian Sea, he specified.

The travelling headquarters of the two fleets’ warship squadrons are currently exchanging information.

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Russia’s new international role becomes its biggest achievement in 2008
31.12.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/106886-russia-0

The world has started to respect Russia and take Russia’s opinion into consideration. This is Russia’s major achievement in 2008. The future of 2009 is rather vague because of the financial crisis, which has all chances to develop into a global political crisis. Pravda.ru interviewed State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin, TV journalist Mikhail Leontiev and scientists of politics Sergei Mikheyev and Alexander Rar regarding the results, which the nation achieved in 2008.

Konstantin Zatulin, a deputy of the Russian Federation State Duma, United Russia faction, the director of the CIS Institute:

“I would like to point out a number of events, which are not limited with the time period of one year only. It is the economic crisis, first and foremost, which inevitably leads to political consequences. The five-day war in South Ossetia and Russia ’s recognition of Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia ’s independence is the second most important event. A new situation has been created on the post-Soviet space. Russia responded adequately to the challenge, but the West perceived it as a challenge, because it did not expect Russia to act like that.

“I think that it is too early to analyze the consequences of the reappraisal of values. Many try to underestimate the significance of what happened. Russia exercised its will to resist at the moment, when its interests were affected. All these aspects are beyond the scope of the year 2008.”

Mikhail Leontiev, editor-in-chief of Profile Magazine, the host of “However” program of The First Channel:

“There are two things which identify Russia 's international results in 2008. The first one of them is the conflict in South Ossetia. It was the first time in the post-Soviet history of the world, when Russia stood up against the US will. We must realize that it was the USA, not Georgia that acted as a conflict side. It was a direct order to Saakashvili, although it is not clear why they gave that order and what they wanted to achieve with it. The USA participated in the conflict with its arms, money, advisors and direct prewar assistance in the form of electronic guidance on targets from space.

“Russia’s recognition of Ossetia’s and Abkhazia’s independence and Russia’s de-facto recognition of the US patronage over Georgia is a new political situation, a new political reality. It is very important that the situation emerged during the year, when the world crisis began.

“The second result of the year is the global crisis, which resulted in many changes in the current state of affairs. The USA has stopped being the world’s dominating economic power. I do not believe that it will be all about the economy only. It is not likely that the Americans will use only economic methods to preserve their domination. Such crises always evolve into socio-political, military and political conflicts. This is the biggest challenge for Russia.”

Sergei Mikheyev, deputy director of the Center for Political Technologies:

“The war in South Ossetia is the most important event of the year, of course. The war showed that Russia could defend its interests. They originally tried to blockade and isolate our country, but then it was revealed that the world was not so unanimous in estimations of Russia 's actions, as the US administration would like it to be.

“Russia’s authority in the world has grown. Russia proved that it was not going to stand on its knees. This is the most important positive outcome of the year. The war is not the best way to achieve such results, of course, but we had no other choice.”

Alexander Rar, a scientist of politics, a member of Germany’s Foreign Policy Council:

“I would say that the year has a gloomy ending for everyone. Every country suffers from the financial crisis, and it may grow into a political crisis. One can already witness that in Greece with its street riots. Demonstrations take place in other countries too. This is the first major clash within the scope of the globalization. The whole world is tumbling down – this is the major outcome of the year 2008.

“The events that we saw in South Ossetia are just a shadow. One may also recollect the missile defense issue and Medvedev’s suggestions regarding the new European security system. The USA will be engulfed in its home problems, Russia, China and the European Union will have very serious problems to deal with too.”

Tatiana Barkhatova, Vadim Trukhachev

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2009: Time for hope
30.12.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/106855-timeforhope-0

In the first days of the New Year, the Bush regime will enter the annals of history. George W. Bush and his captains of the legions of Baal which he unleashed upon this planet will hope that at best, the history book will be silent for a good many years and then after the collective memory has been jaded by time, that the world will remember him and his as a Presidency and regime which took tough decisions in difficult times. It will not, should not and must not.

The United States of America was built upon the collective desire of European peoples for freedom and democracy, at the expense of the native Americans. Period. The Constitution of the United States of America guarantees those freedoms and the foreign policy of this country has constantly referred to these precepts as being the fundamental principles underpinning Washington’s diplomacy.

Simultaneously, Washington’s myriad of Agencies and Departments has used cajoling, skulduggery, bullying and blackmail as guidelines for its policy, while Operation Condor and others have supported fascist and repressive regimes across the globe, implanting Washington-friendly regimes at the expense of freedom and democracy. The foreign policy of the United States of America, then, has not represented and does not represent, freedom and democracy.

The illegal and inhumane embargo against the people of Cuba does not represent freedom and democracy and this policy has been a mainstay of all the regimes in power in Washington since President Kennedy turned the White House into the Whore House. The many attempts to murder Fidel Castro do not represent freedom and democracy, the intrusion into numerous states in Latin America and Africa and Asia did not represent freedom and democracy and the murderous and criminal foreign policy of the Bush regime confirms the worst fears of the apologists of the Conspiracy Theory.

The political epitaph of the Bush regime will be written, and indeed already has been stamped, by His Excellency President Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti. The illegal invasion, the derision shown to the international community, the breach of international law, the war crimes, the crimes against humanity, the deployment of military hardware against civilian targets, the wanton destruction of strutures and the doling out of billionaire contracts to White House cronies, the decision to use weapons of mass destruction in civilian neighbourhoods, the policy to implement torture, the concentration camps are the visible external signals of the evil that the Bush regime represented. Nothing will ever change that.

The political epitaph of the Bush regime has been written by its members. Torquemada, Hitler, Pol Pot, Himmler merge with the names of Rumsfeld, Bush, Rice, Cheney in the historical trash bin of the worst type of blood-sucking leeches to have inflicted themselves on the collective history of Mankind.

Yet finally, in 2009, we can see and feel a new ray of hope which we had expected at the turn of the Millennium. The New World Order we had wished for in 2000 was delayed eight years by the murderous policies of a clique of corporate elitists in Washington who not only belied their cause but also proved once and for all that the Capitalist Monetarist model is flawed and fatally so.

With the Bush regime flushed into the sewer of political history where it belongs, we can once again pull together, hold hands and express our collective wish for a multilateral New World Order which respects the collective desires of humanity and not a chosen few, which bases decisions on crisis management policies that involve a broad spectrum of humanity and not just the proponents of the Anglo-Saxon arms and energy lobbies.

Russia has long been the champion of this cause. It remains to be seen whether the world’s other super power, the United States of America, is capable or not of assuming a similarly noble position on the world stage under Pressident Obama, or whether the clique of elitists in Washington has closed ranks and decided that the forthcoming four years will be more of the same.

That being the case, Humanity is condemned to a Hellish and very dangerous period of history. Let us hope not, let us welcome President Obama and the people of the United States of America with open arms, with good will, and let us try to bridge the gaps created by the evil, selfish and inhumane policies of the Bush regime. Happy New Year, Happy New World Order.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

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France steps up drive to sell morality to markets

By Ben Hall in Paris

Published: January 3 2009 02:00 | Last updated: January 3 2009 02:00

France is to step up efforts to instil moral values in the global market economy by urging policymakers to consider fresh ways of combating financial short-termism.

Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, and Tony Blair, the former UK prime minister, will jointly host a conference in Paris next week of political leaders and Nobel prize-winning economists to discuss ways of strengthening the ethical foundations of the capitalist system after the financial crisis.

"There is no system of wealth creation without a system of values and this value system has been badly shaken," said Eric Besson, the French minister for policy planning, who is organising the conference.

"People are prepared to accept others getting high pay and enjoying different lifestyles, but only if they have the feeling that the system is fair and that the law is the same for everybody."

Mr Besson criticised complex securitisation of debt, excessive financial leverage, short-selling and demands for unrealistic returns on investment, saying they pointed to a pervasive "failure to value the long term" across all sectors of the economy for the past 20 years. "Nobody wants to ban the stock market," he said, even though it had become a "casino".

"But how can we return to certain fundamental values where the stock exchange is the place businesses come to for the long-term capital they need?"

Mr Besson, a former Socialist party adviser who jumped ship to Mr Sarkozy's centre-right government, acknowledged that it was more difficult to find the technical solutions than diagnose the problems.

But he said this should not prevent a long overdue discussion by top policymakers, economists and intellectuals on how to restore a sense of responsibility to the global financial system.

"Those who want to defend the virtues of free market capitalism must at the same time demand a balance of rights and responsibilities from top executives. Setting an example matters."

An "intellectual opening- up" in the wake of the financial crisis, a new US administration and a second summit of G20 leading and emerging economies in April made it the right moment to discuss the values under-pinning capitalism before moving on to specific regulatory issues.

"I think the accession of Barack Obama is going to create an extraordinary window of opportunity," he said. "From what I have heard, he talks the language of regulation."

But Mr Besson added there would be many people, for now keeping quiet, who would argue that the financial crisis was a "little car accident" caused by a few specific US problems and that it would soon be "back to business as usual".

Mr Sarkozy has long argued for the "moralisation" of capital, calling for a capitalism for entrepreneurs rather than speculators.

He was instrumental in bringing about the first summit of G20 in Washington in November but has so far come up with few detailed policy proposals of his own.

Mr Besson dismissed suggestions that the conference was an attempt by Mr Sarkozy to hog the limelight and control the policymaking agenda ahead of the G20 summit with another international gathering in Paris.

"The idea of regulation automatically sounds better to French ears whatever their political convictions," Mr Besson said. But France's instincts would be tempered by the need to keep on board other European capitals, particularly London and Berlin, he said.

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11月の日経ＢＩ、低下幅が過去最大に

　日本経済新聞デジタルメディアがまとめた2008年11月の日経景気インデックス（日経ＢＩ、速報値、05年平均＝100）は96.5となり、前月と比べ4ポイント低下した。低下は4カ月連続で、低下幅は統計を取り始めた1973年以降で最大となった。日経ＢＩは景気の動きに敏感な4つの経済統計をもとに指標にしている。昨年11月は有効求人倍率など4つの経済統計がそろって悪化した。

　鉱工業生産が過去最大の低下幅を記録したほか、所定外労働時間も33年半ぶりの大きな落ち込みになった。11月は世界同時不況の様相が強まり、国内企業の活動が急速に萎縮している状況を映し出した。(22:01)

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株券電子化、5日実施へ　ほふりの準備終了

　証券保管振替機構（ほふり）は3日、上場企業の株券を電子データに切り替える株券電子化の準備作業が終了したと発表した。ほふりは昨年末から新システムへの移行作業を実施。3日夕までに計画通りすべての対応を終えた。年始の株取引が始まる5日から、正式に電子データによる管理が始まる。

　株券電子化は3800億株に上る上場企業株の管理を効率化するため、証券業界と政府が一体となって準備を進めてきた。昨年は電子データの管理を担うほふりを中心に、何度もシステムの接続試験を実施。年末年始に最終的な点検作業などをした。

　準備作業が終わったことで、5日から株券電子化が始動。紙の株券は法的にはただの紙切れとなる。電子化後も投資家は基本的に従来と同じように株式を売買できる。(20:02)

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外国人の高度技能者、人材獲得へ研修制度　政府が検討

　政府の高度人材受入推進会議（議長・田中直毅国際公共政策研究センター理事長）は法律や研究、製造現場の技術などで高い技能を持つ外国人の受け入れ拡大に向け、新たな研修制度の創設や在留資格の見直しに向けた検討に入る。作業部会を設置し、具体策の議論を始めた。世界各国は国際競争に勝ち抜くための人材獲得に力を入れており、政府も戦略の立案を本格的に進める。

　専門的な技能を持つ外国人は日本での在留資格が認められる。ただ、歌手やダンサーなどの「興行」を除いた「専門的・技術的分野」の在留資格を得た外国人は2006年末で約15万8000人にとどまる。日本に滞在する優秀な外国人を増やすために、受け入れ体制を充実させることが課題だ。(14:02)

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財投「埋蔵金」を全額活用　財務省、特例法案提出へ

　財務省はいわゆる「埋蔵金」と呼ばれる10兆円規模の財政投融資特別会計の金利変動準備金について、2010年度までに全額を経済・雇用対策や基礎年金の国庫負担引き上げの財源として活用する検討を始めた。通常国会に提出する09年度予算案と併せ、2年間に限り同準備金の一般会計繰り入れを可能にする特例法案を提出する。同省は準備金の取り崩しに慎重だったが、経済・雇用情勢の悪化を受け方針転換した。

　財投特会の金利変動準備金は、政府系機関や自治体向け貸し出しの原資となる財政融資資金を安定運用するために積み立てておく資金。資産の5％を金利変動に備え、現在約10兆円の残高がある。今年度第2次補正予算案や来年度予算案で取り崩しが決まっており、10年度末の残高は4兆円程度に目減りする見込みだ。

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地熱発電所、三菱マテなど20年ぶり新設　政府、春に支援策

　地下の熱水や蒸気を利用する地熱発電所の新建設計画がほぼ20年ぶりに国内で動き出す。三菱マテリアルとＪパワーは共同で約400億円を投じ、2016 年にも出力6万キロワットの発電設備を建設。日鉄鉱業と九州電力も約200億円で発電所を新設する。政府も今春に資金面などの支援策をまとめる方針で、二酸化炭素（ＣＯ2）をあまり出さず、燃料価格の乱高下リスクがない地熱を国産エネルギーとして活用する動きが広がりそうだ。

　三菱マテとＪパワーは秋田県湯沢市で、09年度から本格的な事業化調査（ＦＳ）に入る。地下2000メートル前後から熱水や蒸気をくみ上げ、発電設備で利用する。環境アセスメントなどを経て着工、16年にも稼働させる。電力は東北電力などへ販売する。三菱マテはすでに国内2カ所、Ｊパワーは1カ所に地熱発電所を持つ。

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カシオ、ブラジル市場を開拓　デジカメなど取扱店を倍に

　カシオ計算機はブラジル市場を本格的に開拓する。1月5日にブラジル・サンパウロ市に販売会社「カシオブラジル」を設け、デジタルカメラや時計の販促活動を強化する。同社の海外売り上げは欧米中心で、ブラジルやメキシコなど中南米は1割に満たない。世界的な需要低迷でも市場の伸びしろは大きいと判断。まず2011年にカシオ製品の取扱店を2倍に増やす。

　ブラジルのデジカメ販売は先進国と同様に、家電量販店が中心となりつつある。このため量販流通の開拓に力を入れる。時計では高級時計店などの専門店向けを増やし、高額時計の販売を伸ばす。現在カシオ製品の取扱店数は約4000店だが、2年後に倍の8000店まで増やす。(07:00)

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無戸籍児：親子関係２２人認定　一斉申し立ての８割

　民法の離婚後３００日規定による無戸籍児問題で、昨年７月、実父との親子関係を確認する認知調停を一斉に申し立てた全国２７人のうち、８割にあたる２２人の調停が成立し、親子関係が認められ戸籍を取得した。支援団体「民法７７２条による無戸籍児家族の会」（神戸市）のまとめで分かった。

　同会によると、２２人は津、松江家裁などで調停を進めていた無戸籍児ら。このうち１８人は、実父とのＤＮＡ型が一致した鑑定結果が決め手になり、調停が成立した。ほかの４人は、それまでの生活実態などから親子関係が認められたという。しかし、実父と一致するＤＮＡ鑑定を提出しても親子関係が認められなかったケースも３件あったという。

　離婚後３００日以内に生まれた子供は、民法の規定で母親の「前夫の子」と推定されるため、親が出生届を出さずに無戸籍児となるケースがある。２７人は、最高裁が昨年６月、手続きに前夫が加わらなくても無戸籍児の実父への認知調停申し立てができると全国の家裁に周知を図ったことに伴い、一斉申し立てした。

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東京「派遣村」３４０人超す／横浜寿町も前年の１・５倍

2009/01/03 18:37

　派遣契約打ち切りなどで仕事や住居を失った人たちに宿泊場所や食事を提供する“年越し派遣村”（東京・日比谷公園）に集まった労働者らは３日午後も増え続け、約３４０人を超えた。

　ボランティアから生活保護申請の方法などを教わり「希望が出た。仕事を見つけ、再び自立したい」と笑顔を見せる人もいたが、前日に厚生労働省が開放した庁舎講堂が週明けに使えなくなるため、実行委員会は対策を検討、同省と交渉中だ。

　例年、野宿者の支援活動が行われている横浜市中区の寿町にも前年の１・５倍の人が集まり、今年は３０－４０代が激増している。これまでは６０代が中心だったという。

　支援団体「寿支援者交流会」の高沢幸男事務局長によると、この年末年始に寿町周辺で市民団体や行政の支援を受けている人たちは４００人を超えた。２０歳の若者や３０代前半の女性までいる異変が起きているという。

　高沢事務局長は「ハローワークで『寿町に行けば支援が得られる』と言われて来た若者もいる。民間の方が動きが早いから協力できれば利点もあるが、権限も資金も与えず、困っている人に『行け』というだけとは無責任だ」と指摘している。

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「派遣村」、寝場所を厚労省に再要請　講堂５日で期限

2009年1月3日21時35分

　「派遣切り」などで仕事と住居を失った人に寝場所と食事を提供する東京・日比谷公園の「年越し派遣村」をめぐり、労働組合や市民団体でつくる実行委員会は３日、厚生労働省に、同省が緊急開放した講堂の使用期限となる５日朝以降の寝場所や食事の確保などを要請した。

　厚労省が２日に開放した講堂で一夜を明かしたのは約２５０人。元派遣社員の男性（３９）は「足をのばせて寝られてよかった」と、ほっとした表情を見せた。だが、先月半ばで派遣契約を打ち切られ、所持金は１千円程度。「５日以降のことは考えていない。頭が真っ白の状態で、今は不安しかない」と話した。

　厚労省の講堂は２日夜時点でほぼ満員。３日に入村した８０人以上の人たちは公園内のテントに入っているが、４日も村民が増えれば、収容しきれなくなるおそれがある。

　また、講堂は５日朝までしか使えず、その後の寝場所は決まっていない。実行委の関根秀一郎・派遣ユニオン書記長は「村民の間では５日以降どうなっちゃうのかという不安が広がっている」と話す。

　５日以降については、東京都中央区が廃校となった小学校２カ所で計１６０人を１週間程度受け入れる意向だ。だが、調理施設がなく、食事の確保のめどはたっていない。都は２施設に収容しきれない場合に備えて別の施設の提供も検討しており、厚労省も財政的に支援する考えだ。

　派遣村実行委によると、３１日の開村から３日夜までの入村者は４００人を超えた。２日時点で千代田区などにＦＡＸで生活保護を申請した人は１１２人で、５日に一斉に同区の福祉事務所を訪れて手続きをする予定。

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厚労省講堂開放は５日朝まで　失業労働者「その後は野宿…」
2009.1.3 22:07

　派遣契約の打ち切りなどで仕事や住居を失った労働者らの生活を支援する東京・日比谷公園の「年越し派遣村」に、主催者側の想定を超える労働者らが集まる事態になっている。３日午後までの“入村者”は約３５０人になった。

　用意された宿泊場所の収容能力（約１５０人分）を超えたため、厚生労働省が２日から夜間の庁舎講堂の開放に応じたが、それも仕事始めの５日朝まで。５日には派遣村自体も撤収予定で、支援を頼る人たちからは、その後の生活の不安を訴える声が上がっている。

　埼玉県内の自動車部品工場から解雇された男性（６７）は「とにかく建物の中で眠れることがうれしい」と庁舎講堂の開放を喜ぶ。しかし、５日からの食や住まいのあてはない。「年も年だから仕事を見つけるのが難しい。野宿を続けるしかない」と話す。

　東京都内で廃家電回収業をしていた男性（６０）も、「１５年前に脊髄（せきずい）を損傷してから仕事探しが難しい。空腹や寒さで『死んだ方が楽だ』と思うことが何度もある」と絶望を語る。

　景気悪化で経営していた貸倉庫業が立ちゆかなくなったという東京都内の男性（４９）は「夜間の荷物の仕分けの仕事が見つかった。昼の仕事も見つかれば、１カ月半後ぐらいには安いアパートが借りられるようになる」と話す。しかし、その１カ月半の間の住居はない。

　派遣村の実行委員会では、週明け後の対応策を厚労省などに交渉中だが具体策が固まるまでには至っていない。また、東京都中央区が廃校となった小学校の講堂を５日から１週間程度開放する準備を進めている。実行委によると、寒さのあまり体調を崩す人も現れ、少なくとも５人が肺炎などで入院したという。