Published: February 14 2009 14:18 | Last updated: February 14 2009 14:18
We, the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors met today amid an ongoing and severe global economic downturn and financial turmoil. The stabilisation of the global economy and financial markets remains our highest priority. We have collectively taken exceptional measures to address these challenges and we reaffirm our commitment to act together using the full range of policy tools to support growth and employment and strengthen the financial sector.
The financial measures taken by each of us are helping to stabilise extremely volatile financial markets.
These actions aimed at restoring normal credit flows to the economy follow three approaches as needed 1) enhanced liquidity and funding through traditional and newly created instruments and facilities 2) strengthen the capital base according to the competent authority’s assessment of individual financial institutions and 3) facilitate the orderly resolution of impaired assets. The G7 commit to take any further action that may prove necessary to re-establish full confidence in the global financial system.
We will continue to work together and to cooperate to avoid undesirable spillovers and distortions.
What started as financial turmoil has now gripped the real economy and spread throughout the world. The severe downturn has already resulted in significant job losses and is expected to persist through most of 2009.
The policy response by the G7 has been prompt and vigorous, its full effects will build over time. Policy interest rates have been reduced to very low levels and unconventional monetary policy actions are being taken as appropriate. Budgetary action has been resolute. In addition to the full functioning of automatic stabilisers, substantial further fiscal stimulus packages are being implemented. By taking action together the effects of our individual actions will be boosted. Our fiscal policy measures adhere to principles that will increase their effectiveness.
* be frontloaded and quickly executed
* include the appropriate mix of spending and tax measures to stimulate domestic demand and job creation and support the most vulnerable.
* increase longer term growth prospects, addressing structural weaknesses through targeted investments.
* be consistent with medium-term fiscal sustainability and mostly rely on temporary measures.
We also welcome and appreciate the prompt macro-economic response from others throughout the world. In particular, we welcome China’s fiscal measures and continued commitment to move to a more flexible exchange rate, which should lead to continued
appreciation of the Renminbi in effective terms and help promote more balanced growth in China and in the world economy.
We reaffirm our shared interest in a strong and stable international financial system. Excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates have adverse implications for economic and financial stability. We continue to monitor exchange markets closely, and cooperate as appropriate.
An open system of global trade and investment is indispensable for global prosperity. The G7 remains committed to avoiding protectionist measures, which would only exacerbate the downturn, to refraining from raising new barriers and to working towards a quick and ambitious conclusion of the Doha round. The G7 also stresses the need to support emerging and developing countries’ access to credit and trade financing and resume private capital flows, and is committed to explore urgently ways, including through multilateral development banks, to enhance this support.
This crisis has highlighted fundamental weaknesses in the international financial system and that urgent reforms are needed. We agree that a reformed IMF, endowed with additional resources, is crucial to respond effectively and flexibly to the current crisis. In this respect, we welcome the Japanese government’s lending agreement with the IMF. Increased collaboration between the IMF and the expanded Financial Stability Forum (FSF) will be particularly important to develop a timely and reliable assessment of macro-financial risks. We also welcome the contribution of the World Bank and regional Development Banks to providing finance to emerging and developing countries affected by the crisis, using their resources effectively.
The G7 finance ministers have asked their deputies to prepare, in consultation with other partners, a progress report in four months on developing an agreed set of common principles and standards on propriety, integrity and transparency of international economic and financial activity.
The G7 is committed to continue working with partners in international fora to accelerate reforms of the regulatory framework including limiting procyclicality, the scope of regulation, compensation practices, market integrity and risk management.”
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Sinking shipping
Published: February 12 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 12 2009 02:00
What happens to the world when its workshop stops working? China's January trade figures, released yesterday, were significantly worse than feared, even allowing for a longer New Year hiatus; exports to the US were down 10 per cent year-on-year, and to the European Union down 17 per cent. The plunge in shipments to neighbouring producers was even steeper: down 30 per cent to Korea and 35 per cent to Hong Kong. No wonder that numbers this week from Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines, south-east Asia's biggest container carrier, and STX Pan Ocean, Korea's biggest dry bulk specialist, have been so gloomy.
Shipping firms are about as agile as their 90,000-tonne vessels. They cannot reconfigure their businesses fast enough to adjust supply to much lower levels of demand. Nol expects a loss for the full-year 2009, with little respite in 2010; its net profit for 2008 tumbled 84 per cent to $83m, after a fourth-quarter loss of $150m. STX turned in a quarterly loss of $95m, after the Baltic Dry Index fell 89 per cent, its biggest quarterly drop.
Operators are taking the usual snap remedies: take vessels out of service (lay-ups of container ships have quadrupled since the end of October), cut routes and freeze new orders. (For the first time in the 53-year history of container shipping, four months have now gone by without a single new order for new vessels, according to broker Howe Robinson.) But existing commitments still weigh heavily - operators are due to take delivery of ships with 1.1m new container slots this year, even though utilisation rates suggest 200,000 fewer slots are actually needed. Delaying orders is possible, at a cost, but much of this capacity is nearing completion. Either operators take the hit or the yard owners do. A wave of bankruptcies is only just beginning .
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Temasek portfolio falls 31%
By John Burton in Singapore
Published: February 10 2009 18:55 | Last updated: February 10 2009 18:55
Temasek Holdings, the Singapore state investment company, suffered a 31 per cent fall in the value of its portfolio from S$185bn ($123bn) to S$127bn in the eight months to the end of November last year, the government said on Tuesday.
The disclosure by a government minister in parliament about Temasek’s performance for the first eight months of its fiscal year provided an advanced look at how the group has fared in the global financial turmoil. Temasek normally waits until five or six months after the close of the fiscal year to reveal its results.
In the past 18 months, Temasek made high-profile investments in several western financial groups, including Merrill Lynch and Barclays, whose share prices have since fallen sharply.
Temasek invested $5.8bn in Merrill Lynch between December 2007 and July 2008. Merrill’s share price fell 78 per cent last year before the stock was delisted and the investment bank was taken over by Bank of America. Temasek acquired a stake in BoA as a share swap in the Merrill deal.
Lim Hwee Hua, the senior minister of state for finance, said Temasek still performed better during the eight-month period than the MSCI World Index, which fell 38 per cent in US dollar terms. However, Temasek’s portfolio differs somewhat from the MSCI World Index as it is mainly focused on Singapore and other Asian markets.
The news on the portfolio performance comes after a decision last week by Ho Ching, the group’s chief executive, to step down after seven years in the post. Ms Ho was credited with overseeing Temasek’s rapid expansion from a Singapore-oriented holding company to a global investment group.
Temasek said last week that Ms Ho’s departure had nothing to do with the group’s investment record in the past year. Her successor is Chip Goodyear, the former chief executive of Anglo-Australian mining group BHP Billiton.
Ms Ho said last week that succession planning had been under discussion since 2005. Temasek said its chief executive was subject to a contract renewal every three years.
Temasek’s bigger sister fund, the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, with an estimated $300bn in assets, also has investments in UBS and Citigroup, two banks that have suffered sharp share price falls.
“GIC and Temasek have the ability and resources to weather the ups and downs, over multiple economic and market cycles,” Ms Lim said. “The government is confident that they will continue to deliver good long-term returns within the risk limits set.”
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Air France-KLM forced to cut capacity
By Kevin Done in London
Published: February 14 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 14 2009 02:00
Air France-KLM, Europe's largest airline, has fallen heavily into loss and is being forced to shrink its operations to cut costs.
The airline is reducing capacity in the coming summer season from April and is slowing capital investment. It is also being forced to unwind several of its fuel hedging positions, which are incurring heavy losses in the face of the steep decline in the oil price.
The group is being hit like other leading European airlines by contracting demand from business travellers - its most lucrative customers - and from the sharp drop in air cargo volumes due to the weakness of the global economy.
Its short-haul domestic routes also performed poorly in the third quarter.
The airline said yesterday that the economic environment was continuing to deteriorate, which made it difficult to forecast its results for the 12 months only weeks before the end of the financial year at March 31. Its shares closed 25 cents or 3.2 per cent higher at €7.98.
Air France-KLM said it was aiming to remain in operating profit for the full year to March, but the level would "depend on economic developments, their impact on the passenger activity, and especially on cargo which is facing extremely difficult conditions". Last May it forecast an operating profit of about €1bn ($1.3bn).
Lufthansa, the rival German airline, said that it had reached agreement with its unions for 2,600 cargo ground staff to go on to shortened hours from March 1, cutting hours by 20 per cent. The airline has also started similar negotiations with its pilots.
Air Canada, which is also cutting jobs and capacity and has been raising capital to shore up its balance sheet, reported a bigger-thanexpected fourth-quarter loss and warned of further cost-cutting.
Air France-KLM fell to an operating loss of €194m from a profit of €311m a year ago in the third quarter from October to December. In the first nine months, operating profits declined by 69 per cent from €1.45bn to €445m.
The €288m negative impact of its fuel derivatives contracts helped to push Air France-KLM into a net loss of €505m in third quarter from a net profit of €139m a year earlier.
For the nine months it fell from a net profit of €1.29bn to a net loss of €309m including the negative impact of €649m from its fuel derivatives contracts.
The group said it was reducing capacity in the summer season from April to October by 2 per cent and was cutting capital expenditure by €1.2bn, including €600m in the coming financial year as part of the effort to conserve cash.
It is unwinding several of its fuel hedging positions leaving it 43 per cent hedged for 2009-10 and 20 per cent for each of the two subsequent years.
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Berlin fears repeat of 1930s mistakes
By Guy Dinmore in Rome and Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Published: February 14 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 14 2009 02:00
With latest data confirming that their economies are crumbling, Group of Seven finance ministers launched two days of talks in Rome last night with warnings that unco-ordinated responses to the crisis would fuel protectionism.
Peer Steinbrück, German finance minister, warned against repeating the mistakes of the 1930s, when a raft of protectionist measures turned what had begun as a financial crisis into the recession that contributed to the rise of Nazism.
The slump of the 1930s, Mr Steinbruck said, was less a consequence of the 1929 crash on the New York stock exchange than the fallout from Edgar Hoover's decision to sharply raise import tariffs on agricultural products. He went on to cite the US and UK as countries where protectionist tendencies were on the rise.
Alistair Darling, UK chancellor of the exchequer, told reporters: "We must avoid retreating into protectionism . . . to retreat into protectionism would be disastrous, just as it was in the 1930s."
Asked about concerns over Buy American provisions in the US stimulus package, Mr Darling said Barack Obama, US president, understood the risks of protectionism. He said governments had to protect their own economies but avoid hurting others, and defended his bail-out of UK banks, with provisions that they should lend to the UK market, saying taxpayers expected as much. The solution was for all governments to take similar co-ordinated measures.
Robert Zoellick, World bank president, said: "I hope G7 leaders will make a clear commitment not only to shun protectionism in favour of reaching global and co-operative solutions, but will hold themselves accountable."
He said it was "natural for publics to look close to home" in demanding stimulus packages but warned that "a backyard backlash will pull everyone into a downward spiral".
Officials admitted that public declarations masked serious differences, with Europe divided over incentives for industry and the US and UK worried that others were not stepping up to tackle the "impaired assets" on banks' balance sheets.
Marco Annunziata, Unicredit chief economist, expressed concern that the weekend of talks would amount to little more than a chance to compare notes.
"It is clear that protectionism and financial isolationism have already emerged as the next biggest threat to a recovery," he said .
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Eurozone slump worst for 50 years
By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt, Guy Dinmore in Rome and,Jean Eaglesham in London
Published: February 14 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 14 2009 02:00
Countries in the eurozone face their worst recession in half a century after data yesterday revealed that the economic slump late last year was even steeper than feared.
Eurozone gross domestic product fell 1.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, led by a dramatic deterioration in Germany. This highlighted how the fortunes of economies have become entwined as the global crisis has unfolded.
As finance ministers from the G7 group of industrial nations gathered for a summit in Rome, Alistair Darling, UK chancellor, said Germany's difficulties demonstrated that economies were going through "one of the severest downturns in generations" and that "governments must take extraordinary actions at extraordinary times".
Before leaving Washington, Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, said he would call for "strong action" and that challenges called for "exceptional and complementary measures by all".
German gross domestic product contracted by 2.1 per cent in the final three months of last year - the worst quarterly performance since the country was reunified in 1990. Germany has had no housing bubble but has depended on exports to power growth.
With little sign of any rebound in global or European prospects, resistance to further cuts in eurozone interest rates has crumbled at the European Central Bank, which is widely expected to cut its main policy rate another half percentage point next month to 1.5 per cent - the lowest ever.
The ECB could soon follow the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England in taking additional "non-conventional" measures to boost the economy - for instance by buying corporate debt.
Meanwhile, the controversy over banking policy in the UK was stirred when Lloyds Banking Group said its newly acquired HBOS had suffered a £10bn ($14.4bn) loss in 2008, sending shares in the combined company down 35 per cent.
The HBOS merger was pushed through by Sir Victor Blank, Lloyds chairman, and Eric Daniels, chief executive, last year in a deal facilitated by Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, who waived competition rules. The HBOS loss suggested the bank would have had to be nationalised if it had not been rescued.
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JC Flowers under pressure on HRE
By Bertrand Benoit and James Wilson
Published: February 14 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 14 2009 02:00
The German government is putting new pressure on JC Flowers, the private equity group that holds about 24 per cent of Hypo Real Estate, by planning to adopt a bill to allow the expropriation of shareholders in the stricken mortgage lender as a prelude to its full nationalisation.
Yesterday, government officials met JC Flowers representatives for a second day of talks aimed at agreeing a negotiated state takeover of HRE.
The bill, which came close to being scrapped last week, would automatically expire within six months of its adoption. It is a concession to the Christian Democratic Union, the party of chancellor Angela Merkel, which is concerned about setting a precedent by expropriating shareholders.
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WestLB and Anglo Irish in dispute
By Megan Murphy
Published: February 13 2009 22:41 | Last updated: February 13 2009 22:41
WestLB, the German lender, is embroiled in a dispute with Anglo Irish Bank over alleged misrepresentation in the sale of $55m (£38.3m) worth of credit derivatives, in one of the first claims of its kind to come before the UK courts.
Lawyers have been predicting, almost since the dawn of the credit crunch, that disgruntled investors would launch a wave of mis-selling lawsuits over some of the more complex – and poorly performing – financial products they were sold.
To date, however, relatively few claims have been filed in London, as companies weigh the expense and reputational risk inherent in high-profile litigation.
The dispute between Anglo Irish, a specialist property lender that was nationalised by the Irish government in January, and WestLB raises the type of issues dozens of different companies will have been considering in the wake of the financial crisis.
The Irish bank says it purchased $55m “leveraged super senior” credit linked notes from a WestLB institutional salesman in September 2006 on the understanding that it would only hold the notes as a short-term investment.
According to a preliminary High Court judgment released yesterday, Anglo Irish claims it was assured that WestLB would buy back the notes at par value if they were not redeemed, in effect unwinding the transaction.
Following a downturn in the US and residential property market that affected the credit rating of the assets underlying the notes, Anglo Irish chose to redeem early, resulting in a net loss of about $43m, the bank claims.
Anglo Irish has taped records of most of the conversations with the WestLB salesman.
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Abramovich converts Chelsea loans to equity
By Roger Blitz, Leisure Industries Correspondent
Published: February 14 2009 04:52 | Last updated: February 14 2009 04:52
Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club, has converted half of his interest-free loans to the Premier League outfit into equity, a move the club hopes will answer critics who believe its financial structure is unstable.
The club, which sacked Luis Felipe Scolari as manager this week, said loans from its sole shareholder have now been reduced to £339.8m ($490m), and his equity has risen to £369.9m.
Chelsea has been accused by government ministers and Uefa, European football’s governing body, of living beyond its means because Mr Abramovich’s spending on transfers and salaries bears little relation to the club’s income.
The club has also vehemently denied that Mr Abramovich is looking for a buyer, and says it is moving towards self-sufficiency.
Bruce Buck, chairman, said the conversion meant “there should now be no doubt as to the owner’s commitment to the club and the stability of the company’s funding structure”.
Turnover for the 2007-08 season was up 11.9 per cent to £213.1m as Premier League clubs felt the benefit of the first year of the current TV rights deal. But though the size of losses fell by 12.2 per cent to £65.7m, they were inflated by combined compensation payouts of £23.1m to its two previous managers, Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant.
The club acknowledges that an expected payout of up to £10m for Mr Scolari and his staff will hit efforts to reduce losses further this season.
Wages rose from £132.8m to £148.5m, and make up 70.6 per cent of turnover, one of the highest ratios in the Premier League.
Peter Kenyon, chief executive, said it was targeting zero cash funding from Mr Abramovich at the start of next season, and to be neutral on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation by July 2010.
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US to 'press reset' on ties with Russia
By Daniel Dombey in Washington and Charles Clover in,Moscow
Published: February 14 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 14 2009 02:00
The US is drawing up plans to improve ties with Russia, including comprehensive government-to-government contacts, substantial nuclear arms cuts and a watered down commitment to the Bush administration's missile defence programme.
Officials say Washington's new stance indicates that the US will treat Moscow with respect, which they hope will make co-operation easier on such issues as Iran's nuclear programme.
The shift comes at a time when US policy towards many other parts of the world is still under review, highlighting the priority the new administration gives to the Russia dossier.
Joe Biden, vice-president, signalled Washington's intent at a conference last weekend when he declared that it was time for the US and Russia to "press the reset button" on their relationship. Contacts between the two sides are intensifying ahead of a meeting between presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in London in April, with Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, likely to meet Sergei Lavrov, her Russian counterpart, next month.
Diplomats say the US is seeking to establish regular contacts with Russia across the range of government departments, similar to Washington's strategic dialogue with China, rather than circumscribing the relationship to the departments of state and defence.
Officials from Mr Obama down have emphasised the importance of reaching an arms deal with Moscow to take the place of the Start I strategic weapons deal, which expires at the end of this year.
A senior US official told the Financial Times yesterday that the arms talks were "a way for the two governments to recast their relationship in a constructive way . . . There is widespread consensus in the US government that this is the way we ought to go".
Mr Obama said this week that it was important for the US and Russia to "lead the way" on non-proliferation, adding that he had spoken to Mr Medvedev about the importance of resuming negotiations on "reducing our nuclear arsenals in an effective way". Under a less binding treaty negotiated by former presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, both countries are due to reduce their deployed warheads to 1,700-2,200 each by 2012 and Mrs Clinton has promised to seek "deep, verifiable" further reductions.
Arms control groups and congressional Democrats such as John Kerry, Senate foreign relations committee chairman, want each side's total warheads cut to 1,000, but US diplomats emphasise the need to agree their position with the Pentagon.
Although many officials and analysts describe a US-Russian arms deal as a "low-hanging fruit", the agreement could be complicated by Moscow's objections to US plans to set up missile defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.
In a sign that their enthusiasm for the project has dimmed, US officials say the Obama administration will back missile defence as long as the technology is proved and is cost-effective - two provisos the Bush administration rarely emphasised. Mrs Clinton pointedly remarked this week that the US would "reconsider" the programme if Iran, whose missiles the system is intended to counteract, changed its behaviour. Some saw the statement as a bid for greater Russian pressure on Tehran.
However, analysts argue that the unpredictability of US-Russian relations has been underlined in recent days by Kyrgyzstan's declaration that it plans to close a US base in the country after Russia promised it more than $2bn in loans.
US officials say they hope the decision is not yet final, contrasting any supposed Russian push to expel the US from central Asia with an offer by Moscow to allow the transport through its territory of non-lethal aid to Nato troops in Afghanistan.
"There is still not a serious debate in Washington or Moscow about what a new partnership would be," said Dimitri Simes at the Nixon Centre in Washington. "But a strategic dialogue is the only smart way to proceed because all these issues are interconnected."
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Argentina offers new deal for international investors
By Jude Webber in Buenos Aires
Published: February 13 2009 11:53 | Last updated: February 13 2009 11:53
Argentina’s hopes of buying more time to service its debt and assuage fears of default could receive another boost in the coming days.
International holders of so-called Guaranteed Loans – issued in 2001 as Argentina lurched towards a $95bn default, the biggest sovereign default in history – will be invited to swap their bonds for new 5-year paper, with a 2 per cent capital reduction and a fixed 15.4 per cent rate for the first year and a variable rate after that.
The terms are identical to those offered last month to domestic Guaranteed Loan holders. Virtually all of them accepted, relieving the government of a $4.3bn (£3bn, €3.3bn) debt servicing headache in the next few years.
Official sources say the international tranche, for about $2.3bn, will prove trickier. Argentina’s country risk is now nearly 1,600 according to the JP Morgan EMBI+ index and ”much will depend on market conditions,” one official source said.
The market is expecting the swap late this week or early next but no firm date has been announced. In recent days, officials have floated a 40 to 50 per cent acceptance level.
The Guaranteed Loans are linked to Argentina’s inflation rate, which is widely suspected of having been underreported by the government for the past two years.
Underblown inflation could make a swap attractive, but Guaranteed Loans are highly illiquid. What could tip the balance for some doubting loan holders is the prospect of a far more vibrant market in the new bonds.
Economists believe Argentina will manage to avert default this year, when some $21bn of capital and interest falls due. But with government revenues falling and its access to international markets closed since 2001 amid legal suits from the holders of defaulted bonds now owed $29bn plus interest, many remain concerned about 2010.
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Swiss banks go back to basics
5 hours 44 mins ago
AFP Hui Min Neo
* Print Story
Swiss bankers are going back to the basics of cosy and discreet relationships with their clients after disastrous forays into the brash and boastful world of American investment banking, analysts say.
However, the Swiss banking flagships could still be in for a rocky ride this year amid unsettled financial markets and a deepening global economic crisis.
To the dismay of Switzerland, the biggest bank UBS this week posted annual losses for 2008 reaching almost 20 billion francs (17 billion dollars, 13 billion euros) -- the largest in the country's corporate history.
Meanwhile the second biggest bank, Credit Suisse, lost 8.2 billion, its worst on record.
Both blamed their investment bank units for the damage, and both are aggressively cutting back on those divisions.
At the same time, UBS said it would now refocus "on its Swiss core business, on the large scale and strengths of its international wealth management franchise in Switzerland and on the growth potential of its onshore business globally."
While most of the 5,300 job cuts at Credit Suisse would come from investment bank, the group said it added 340 wealth management "relationship" managers in 2008.
"Basically what they are saying is that we are going to go back to the core business of wealth management for international clients and retail banking within Switzerland," said Arturo Bris, a finance professor at the Swiss business school IMD.
Big Swiss banks offer such wealth management services to locals clients with assets of at least 250,000 Swiss francs, but for those outside Switzerland, it is understood that the entry level is much higher.
But the big banks are now not only showing special attention to these clients, some regular retail banking clients in Switzerland who have not received personal calls from their banks in years have also in recent days received calls offering appointments to "discuss their needs."
A UBS spokeswoman said she could not discuss individual cases but said that such calls are a "normal part of the financial advising business."
She acknowledged that it is "possible that such needs for customer feedback are bigger now."
The shift back to a more personalised banking service marks an end to the high-risk driven world of investment banking that the biggest Swiss banks, particularly UBS, began focusing on about four years ago.
UBS sought in 2005 to boost profits by expanding its investment banking business, particularly pushing into US mortgage-backed securities and structured credit and commodities businesses.
The returns came quickly in the boom years. UBS's investment bank unit reported its "most profitable year ever" in 2006, with a 15 percent jump in pre-tax profit as revenues in equities and investment banking soared.
But high profits were fueled by high risks, and the trend began to reverse in 2007, leading to the bank's historic first annual loss.
As the contagion spread from subprime mortgage papers to other types of derivatives, major investment banks began to crumble, with the collapse of Lehman Brothers arguably the darkest hour for the industry.
Analysts say the worst may be over for major Swiss banks, given that they have reduced risks.
"At least they have cleaned up their house," said Bris.
But even if they are returning to the typical brand of Swiss banking, they would still face hurdles.
Manuel Ammann, who is director of the Swiss Institute of Banking and Finance, also said: "You can argue that for the large Swiss banks with investment bank divisions, the worst is over as they have reduced their risks considerably."
But he noted that for general Swiss banks, 2009 could still be difficult "as revenues would be affected by the economic downturn and weak stock markets."
Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Andreas Venditti also said he expected "challenging market conditions due to the sharp economic weakness."
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Bolivia's Morales searching for European partners
11 hours 40 mins ago
AFP
* Print Story
Bolivian President Evo Morales heads for Russia and France starting Sunday in hopes of generating more investments and strategic partners for Latin America's poorest country, also home to rich energy reserves.
In France and Russia alike, the exuberant socialist leader, Bolivia's first indigenous president, needs to reassure investors.
Just 10 months before critical presidential elections, Morales must also validate the economic dynamics ushered in by a new constitution enacted in early February that defines Bolivia as a socialist state. The landmark referendum gave far greater powers, land and revenue to the indigenous majority from which Morales hails.
In Russia from Sunday to Monday, Morales hopes to reinforce cooperation in the production of natural gas, Bolivia's biggest resource at 1.34 billion cubic meters (47.32 billion cubic feet), the second-largest reserve in Latin America after Venezuela.
Russian energy giant Gazprom already has a presence in Bolivia, following the signing of agreements in 2008.
Bolivia, the third largest producer of cocaine worldwide, also seeks to develop crucial ties with Russia for its counternarcotics efforts. Morales, a staunch opponent of Washington, created his own agency to combat drug trafficking after booting the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) late last year.
"Meetings are planned with Russian and European Union authorities in order to recognize and share this responsibility" in combating drug traffickers, said Bolivian diplomatic chief David Choquehuanca.
On Tuesday, Morales is to meet President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris to "examine trade negotiations between the Andean Community (CAN) and the European Union," a government spokesman said in La Paz.
Bolivia has not participated in free trade negotiations with the European Union, due to the lack of consensus with other Andean bloc countries -- Columbia, Peru and Ecuador -- currently in bilateral talks with Brussels.
During his visit, Morales will therefore talk up opportunities in the exploitation of lithium, an abundant resource in Bolivia. He has indicated he wanted to "accelerate investments" in the soft metal that is used for electric car batteries.
Several foreign companies, including France's Bollore, have indicated their interest in exploiting the huge Salar de Uyuni, a salt desert measuring some 12,000 square kilometers (7,456 square miles) in southeastern Bolivia that is home to a third of global lithium reserves.
Morales, a former union leader, has often declared that La Paz must maintain "absolute control" over its natural resources, scaring off more than one investor by his radical moves such as the nationalization of oil and gas production.
In Europe, the socialist leader hopes to present himself as a pragmatic and respectable business partner.
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Ecuador pressures Spanish, French oil firms
11 hours 44 mins ago
AFP
* Print Story
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa on Saturday ordered the collection of oil windfall taxes owed by Spain's Repsol-YPF and Perenco of France.
He said he anticipated possible friction with the firms' governments over the measure.
"Since they have not paid their taxes on extraordinary gains (due to the high price of crude) I have ordered an act of coercion on Repsol and Perenco," Correa said in his weekly address, using the term for legal action that could lead to a freeze on the companies' assets.
"This country will not put up with outside elements that want to tell us what to do or not do," Correa said.
The leftist leader, who has aligned himself over the past year with socialist President Hugo Chavez of oil-rich Venezuela, did not reveal the amount of taxes owed by the two firms operating in the South American OPEC member nation.
He indicated that Repsol-YPF -- which extracts some 48,900 barrels per day (bpd) -- and Perenco (25,600 bpd) "have caused us to lose time" in renegotiating contracts with the firms, without bringing any additional gains to the state.
The firms have largely refused to comply with a government order to pay up to 99 percent of revenues above a benchmark price for crude.
Correa implemented the windfall tax hike shortly after taking office in early 2007, but has since reduced the margin to 50 percent amid renegotiations with foreign oil firms.
Correa, who in the past has threatened to end deals with foreign companies as a negotiation strategy to improve the terms for the state, is struggling to find a way to pay for programs after oil prices crashed.
The order to collect the windfall tax "is going to create friction with the governments of France and Spain, which strongly defend their multinational companies ... but here we will make them respect our sovereignty," he said.
Correa added that when oil prices were "extremely high we did not see two pennies of these gains while they lined their pockets."
Ecuador is the smallest member of OPEC with a production average of 506,000 bpd.
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Nationalising Lloyds Not Ruled Out
Yesterday, 01:31 pm
SkyNews Sky News
* Print Story
The Chancellor Alistair Darling has refused to rule out nationalising the troubled Lloyds Banking Group.
Mr Darling was speaking after the company warned of £10bn in annual losses at HBOS, which it rescued with Government backing last year.
The taxpayer already owns 43% of the group after pumping £17bn into the two banks, and was left with paper losses of more than £2.5bn at one stage on Friday as Lloyds' shares tumbled by 40%.
Speaking from the G7 finance ministers summit in Rome, Mr Darling said if the Government had not stepped in to help bring Lloyds and HBOS together, HBOS would have failed and the whole of the UK banking system could have collapsed.
But asked on two occasions by BBC2's Newsnight whether he could rule out nationalisation of the Lloyds Group, Mr Darling did not do so.
Instead, he responded: "I said in January there is a range of options that we will be deploying, a range of levers that can be pulled to help all banks, because I have made it very, very clear that the integrity of the banking system is very, very important."
He added: "What we have got to do now is for banks - whether or not we have got shareholdings in them - to identify the problems, they have got to reveal them so we have got more openness than in the past and put those bad assets out of the system.
"Until we do that we will continue to find that banks will not lend to businesses, to families, to people who want to buy homes."
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said: "It looks increasingly as if Lloyds HBOS will now go into majority public ownership, followed inevitably by nationalisation."
Sky News business correspondent Joel Hills said while no sudden announcements on the future of the bank were imminent, nationalisation was a question that the government "can't rule out".
Despite the HBOS announcement, Lloyds TSB is expected to make pre-tax profits of around £1.3bn for 2008.
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日本、追加対策が急務 成長率、主要国最大の低下も
【ローマ＝河浪武史】日米欧の主要7カ国（Ｇ７）財務相・中央銀行総裁会議が14日、内需拡大や雇用創出へ迅速な財政出動で合意したことで、日本も追加景気対策の検討が緊急課題になる。16日に発表になる2008年10―12月期の実質国内総生産（ＧＤＰ）は10％前後の大幅なマイナス成長の見通しで、主要国で最も急激な景気の落ち込みに直面している。国会では来年度予算案の審議中だが、Ｇ７合意の国際協調の足並みを乱さないためにも、政府・与党は前倒しで追加策の検討を迫られる。
金融危機が実体経済に波及する「負の連鎖」が世界に広がる中で、主要国の景気悪化は急激だ。10―12月期の実質成長率は米国が年率換算でマイナス 3.8％と27年ぶりの落ち込みを記録。ユーロ圏も年率でマイナス6％前後と、1999年の通貨統合後、最大の減少率となった。(11:15)
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債権の時効、統一検討 法務省、人身被害の賠償は延長
法務省は債権を請求できる期限を示す「消滅時効」が債権の種類によって異なる現状を改め、統一する方向で検討に入った。現行の債権法は部分的な手直しはあったものの、根幹部分は制定から100年以上が経過。社会の変化や経済活動の多様化に対応できていないとの批判が根強かった。同省は2011年の通常国会に民法改正法案を提出することを目指し、抜本改正へ作業を進める。
消滅時効は債権の権利行使が可能になる時点から10年が原則。ただ、実際の商取引などで多く使われる時効については10年より短く設定されている例も多い。法務省は消滅時効のバラツキを改め、3年などに統一する方向だ。殺傷事件や公害、薬害などで人身被害を受けた場合の損害賠償請求権の消滅時効は、延長する方向で検討する。
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いすゞ、中南米事業を強化 メキシコでトラック生産
いすゞ自動車は中南米での事業を強化する。メキシコで今春から中型トラックの現地生産を始める。当初は年間600台程度から始め段階的に引き上げる。チリ向けには工場を閉鎖した提携先の米ゼネラル・モーターズ（ＧＭ）に代わってピックアップトラックの出荷を開始、年間3000台の販売を目指す。世界同時不況で中南米でもトラック販売は低迷しているが、インフラ投資向けなど潜在需要は大きいと判断した。
メキシコ中部クアウティトランにノックダウン（部品の現地組み立て）工場を建設し、今春から生産、出荷を始める。投資額は数億円で、いすゞが全額出資する。積載量4トンクラスの中型トラックを生産する。(14:03)
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ホテル予約に人工知能 産総研がシステム開発
独立行政法人の産業技術総合研究所（茨城県つくば市）は人工知能を利用し、宿泊客の要望をいれながら利益率向上を狙えるホテル予約システムを開発した。周辺の相場や割引率などから最適価格を算出すると同時に、宿泊客の選択肢を増やし客室の稼働率を上げる。利益率を1.5倍以上に引き上げることが可能という。
システムの名称は「融通予約」。産総研のサービス工学研究センターが人工知能を組み込んだ予約システムとして開発した。過去の販売履歴などをシミュレートし、空き室や料金など複雑な条件を瞬時に判断する。割引率や空室率、人気度に応じて最適な相場価格を設定する。全国チェーンのビジネスホテルなどへの導入を見込む。(11:56)
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ゼネコン各社、海外の収益改善急ぐ
大手ゼネコン（総合建設会社）各社は相次ぎ海外工事の収益改善に乗り出す。大成建設は2009年春以降、中東やアフリカなどに目立つ不採算工事が多い地域での新規受注を停止する。清水建設は工事を管理する外国人社員を増やし、コスト削減につなげる。世界景気の悪化で海外工事の採算は一段と厳しくなると判断、管理を徹底する。
大成建設は政府開発援助（ＯＤＡ）案件で経験を積んだ東南アジアなどに経営資源を集中させ、中東やアフリカ諸国などで採算が合わない国での営業をやめる。赤字が予想される案件向けに専門の対策チームを新設。現地の弁護士の助言を受けながら工事の追加金請求、代金回収にあたる。(07:00)
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ＧＭ、破産法も選択肢 再建計画、米紙報道
【ニューヨーク＝小高航】米紙ウォールストリート・ジャーナル（電子版）は14日、米ゼネラル・モーターズ（ＧＭ）が政府に提出する経営再建計画の中で、米連邦破産法11条（日本の民事再生法に相当）の適用申請を選択肢の1つに盛り込む見通しだと報じた。破産法に基づく再建で必要な金融支援を政府に求めるとしている。一方、複数の米メディアはＧＭの計画提出が17日の締め切りに間に合わない可能性を指摘した。
ウォール紙はＧＭが再建計画の中で、追加の政府支援による再建という従来の方針に加え、破産法の適用を申請する際の資金援助という新たな選択肢を盛り込むと報じた。ＧＭはこれまで一貫して破産法の申請を否定。ただ、米新車販売の激減など再建を巡る経営環境は悪化しており、ＧＭのワゴナー会長らも態度を軟化させているという。
再建計画には、北米で10以上の工場閉鎖を含む大規模なリストラ策が含まれる見通し。ＧＭは債権者や全米自動車労組（ＵＡＷ）との交渉を続けているが、債務の株式化の比率を巡り債権者の反発が続いている。(14日 23:17)
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北ガス、ＬＮＧ供給拡充急ぐ 新基地テコに攻めの営業
北海道ガスが石狩湾新港地域で、道内初となる液化天然ガス（ＬＮＧ）の大型基地の建設を急いでいる。需要増を見越し、稼働時期の1年前倒しを決定。供給力を武器にエネルギー市場でのシェア拡大を目指す。ただ、ガス調達先の多様化や家庭用営業の強化など課題も多い。約400億円の巨額投資を生かせるかは稼働まで4年弱の成否にかかっている。
「北海道全体のエネルギー供給基盤にする」。今月3日、石狩市内で開かれたＬＮＧ基地の講演会。北ガスで原料調達を担当する前谷浩樹マネージャーは、企業関係者ら200人超の参加者を前に力を込めた。
基地は昨年8月に着工。石狩湾新港の土地約10万平方メートルに18万キロリットル用の貯蔵タンク1基を設けるほか、外航船の受け入れバースや出荷設備などを整備する。当初は2013年12月に稼働する計画だったが、今年1月に前倒しを決め、準備を急ぐ。
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地方公務員、「心の病」で休職が10年で４倍 07年度調査
全国の地方公務員のうち、2007年度に「心の病」で長期間休んだ人は10年前の約4倍に増えていることが14日、総務省の外郭団体の調査で分かった。同省は「職員定数の削減で、1人当たりの負担が大きくなっているためではないか」としている。
調査は、都道府県と政令指定都市、県庁所在市、それ以外の人口30万人以上の33市のほか、各都道府県から2市2町村を抽出して計318自治体を対象に、地方公務員安全衛生推進協会が実施。警察官や教職員を除く一般職のうち「精神および行動の障害」で1カ月程度以上休んだ職員数などを聞いた。
その結果、1997年度は調査対象80万695人で心の病の長期休職は1977人と0.25％だったが、2007年度は対象が76万322人に減ったのに1.03％の7823人に増加。大けがや疾病なども含む長期休職者全体の42.71％が心の病だった。〔共同〕(07:00)
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都心23.9度、小田原は夏日 105カ所で２月の最高気温
日本列島は14日、北海道付近の低気圧に向かって南から暖気が流れ込み、全国で3月から7月並みの陽気となった。静岡市や神奈川県小田原市は気温が25度を超える夏日に。北海道から宮崎県までの全国105カ所（速報値を含む）で2月の観測史上最高を記録した。
気象庁によると、午後にかけて各地で気温が上昇。静岡市の清水で26.8度、神奈川県の小田原で26.1度といずれも7月上旬並みになった。東京都心も午後2時すぎに今年最高の23.9度を記録。2月の記録を更新した105カ所のうち86カ所で最高気温が20度を上回った。
北日本の太平洋側を中心に強風も吹き荒れ、午後2時ごろに北海道えりも岬で最大瞬間風速35.5メートルを観測。北海道や秋田県などでは雨量も多く、16地点が24時間降水量で過去最大を記録した。(14日 20:56)
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学中の大学院研究生、キャバクラ４店舗経営し御用
栃木県警は１３日までに、留学生でありながらキャバクラを経営したなどとして入管難民法違反（不法就労助長など）の疑いで、宇都宮市、中国籍の宇都宮大大学院研究生（２９）ら８人を逮捕した。
同容疑者のほかに宇都宮大の日本人男子学生３人を含む男女７人も逮捕されたが、同日までに処分保留で釈放された。
調べでは、同容疑者は宇都宮市でキャバクラを経営、中国人の女子留学生をホステスとして働かせるなどした疑い。２００６年１２月から今年１月まで、宇都宮市内でキャバクラ４店舗を経営していたという。
宇都宮大は「誠に遺憾で申し訳ない。厳正に対処したい」とコメントした。
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ホテル業界にも“トヨタショック”稼働率は最低レベル
御三家も苦戦…
ホテル不況が深刻だ。都心の一流ホテルでは主な収入源を宴会収入に依存してきたが、昨年後半からの不況以降、主要顧客だった官庁、企業、団体などのパーティー需要が激減。鳴り物入りで参入した外資系ホテルも、お得意様の外国人ビジネスマンや外資系の日本法人の利用が軒並み減少。客室、宴会場ともに過去最低レベルの稼働率なのだという。
ホテル御三家の一つ、帝国ホテル（東京・日比谷）の１月の客室稼働率は５９．６％で、１９８６年以来の低水準を記録。同じく御三家のホテルオークラ東京（虎ノ門）は４５％、ホテルニューオータニ（紀尾井町）も３７％と、軒並み最低水準となった。
激減の原因は外国人観光客の減少と国内企業の出張費削減。高級ホテルだけでなく、ビジネスホテルも苦戦中だ。
「もともと１月は稼働率が下がる時期。御三家クラスは分母となる客室数自体が多いですが、それにしてもこの少なさは異常。インターネットや携帯電話予約限定で半額以下の格安プランを設定したり、旅行代理店と提携した女性限定プランなどで需要喚起を狙っても、旅行や出張の需要自体が激減しては手の打ちようがありません」（大手ホテル営業担当）
宴会部門も大苦戦だ。ホテルの収入は宿泊、レストラン、宴会が三本柱。中でも宴会は収益率が高く、長年大きな収入源となってきた。かつてはホテルの全売り上げの半分近くを占めた時期もあるが、現在は３割程度に低迷。帝国ホテルでさえ、バブル後のある年の年間売上比率は宿泊２０％、レストラン１７％、宴会３１％程度だという。
【本社ロビー会見に激震】
そんななか、ホテルの営業担当者たちを震撼させたのが、過去最大級の赤字を記録したトヨタ自動車が都心の指定ホテルの大宴会場で行っていた記者会見や決算発表をとりやめたこと。先月２０日の社長交代会見は本社ロビーにパイプ椅子を置いて行い、今月６日の決算発表も本社大会議室で開催した。
「ただでさえ企業の宴会場需要が減っている中、『あのトヨタでさえ…』と他の企業が追随してしまう可能性がある。頼みの婚礼需要も、折からの“ジミ婚ブーム”に加え、少子化、晩婚化でカップル自体が減っている。さらに、ハウスウエディングや海外ウエディングにも客を奪われ、回復の見込みはありません。（宴会収入比率は）ピーク時には４５％以上を占めていたのに」（前出の営業担当者）
続々と日本に上陸した有名な外資系ホテルも状況は同じだ。
「リーマンショックがとどめを刺した。一部のセレブ需要は根強いものの、稼働率は年間最高でも採算ラインぎりぎりの６０－７０％台。ただ、ホテルの運営会社は実務を担当しているだけで、業績悪化で困るのは経営母体の不動産会社や投資ファンド。国内ホテルより危機感は希薄かもしれません」（旅行会社社員）
高級ホテルに年間６５泊以上する世界のビジネスエグゼクティブによる最新人気ランキングでは「パークハイアット東京」（新宿）が２位に食い込んだ。日本のホテルは頑張っているが、セレブ人気だけでは、ホテル不況は解消されない。
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インドネシア産ＬＮＧ購入、４分の１に ６社が契約更新（1/2ページ）
2009年2月13日22時28分
関西、中部、九州の３電力と大阪ガス、東邦ガス、新日本製鉄の６社は１３日、インドネシア政府系石油ガス会社（プルタミナ）と、液化天然ガス（ＬＮＧ）の購入契約を更新した。契約では１１年以降、購入量が現在の４分の１に減らされる。各社は購入先をオーストラリアやロシアなどに分散していく方針だが、綱渡りの面もある。
６社は現在、毎年１１９７万トンを買う契約を締結しているが、今回更新した契約では１１年～１５年が年３００万トンと４分の１に。さらに１６年～２０年は年２００万トンになる。
現在の契約は７３年と８１年の２度にわたり締結したが、それぞれ１０年１２月と１１年３月に切れるため、０４年から更新に向けた交渉を続けていた。
日本の０７年度のＬＮＧ輸入量は６８３２万トンで、世界の取引量の４割を占める世界最大の輸入国。その輸入量の２割にあたる１３６１万トンがインドネシアからで、最もシェアが高い。だが、インドネシア政府は、天然ガス産出量が減ったことを受けて輸出より国内向けを優先。すでに数年前から出荷量は、契約量より１～２割減らされていた。
このため、各社は新たな購入先の確保に力を入れてきた。最もインドネシアに依存しているのは関西電力。０７年度の購入量５７９万トンのうち、約半分の２８３万トンを頼る。１０年から西オーストラリアの洋上のＬＮＧ開発計画「プルート」から１７５万～２００万トンを買う契約を既に結んでいる。しかし、プルートは現在、液化設備などを建設中で、まだ完成していない。関電の森詳介社長は「建設の進み具合には常に気にかけている」と気をもんでいる。
中部電力も約４割、九州電力も約半分をインドネシアから購入している。両社とも、すでに契約している国から買う量を増やしたり、開発中のプロジェクトで利権を獲得したりすることを検討している。６社の大半は開発プロジェクトが多いオーストラリアや、近く出荷が始まる予定のロシアの「サハリン２」からの購入を狙っている。
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大手メーカー、副業容認相次ぐ 減産の中「例外的措置」（1/2ページ）
2009年2月15日9時12分
大手製造業を中心に、社員の副業を認める企業が相次いでいる。不況で働く時間が短くなり、減った給料分を社員がよそで補えるようにするためだ。「本業に支障が出る」と原則禁止してきた企業は「例外的な措置」と強調するが、「こうした動きは広がる」と専門家はみている。
東芝は、約１万６７００人に副業を認めることにした。２～３月に一時帰休を実施する四日市工場（三重県四日市市）や大分工場（大分市）、深谷工場（埼玉県深谷市）といった半導体や液晶の製造工場と本支社の関連部署が対象だ。０９年３月期の純損益は２８００億円の赤字を見込んでいる。
３３万台を減産する見通しの三菱自動車では、岡山県倉敷市の水島製作所の従業員約４０人が１月から副業を始めている。この製作所の広報担当者によると、減産方針が示された昨年末以降、従業員から「副業は可能か」という問い合わせが相次いだ。生産ラインが止まる日が増え、給料が減るので住宅ローンの返済や子どもの学費の支払いに不安を持ったのが理由だった。製作所独自で、「やむを得ないケース」と判断し、約６０人に副業を認めたという。
同社は「あくまでも副業は原則禁止」という立場で、今後も副業を認めるかどうかを検討している。
０９年３月期の連結業績が２００億円の純損失となる見通しの富士通。半導体を製造する子会社の４工場で、生産調整が始まった１月から、上司の承認があれば副業を認めることにした。対象は計５４５０人。
各工場の１日の勤務シフトを４班２交代から６班３交代に変えたことで、１人あたりの労働時間は単純計算で３分の２に減ったという。富士通広報室の担当者は「例外的な措置」と話し、申請した人はわずかという。
副業解禁について、日本商工会議所の岡村正会頭（東芝会長）は２月５日の定例会見で「変則的だが緊急避難型のワークシェアリングのひとつ」という考えを示した。さらに、「製造業のほかでも厳しい状況は同じ」とも話し、副業解禁が広がる可能性があると指摘した。
連合雇用法制対策局は「雇用調整の方法として個別労使で協議して決めたもので、あくまで例外的な取り扱いと受け止めている」と説明、現状を静観する考えだ。
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不況に強い食パン・アメ・インスタントめん 決算堅調
2009年2月14日20時40分
世界同時不況下で電機や自動車メーカーなどの業績が大きく落ち込むなか、売り上げや利益を堅調に伸ばしている食品メーカーがある。消費者の節約志向が強まるなか、安めの商品や定番商品を強化していることが強みのようだ。
山崎製パンが１２日発表した０８年１２月期連結決算は、菓子パンの売上高が前期比５．９％増、串だんごなどの和菓子も７．７％増と好調で、営業利益は２５．１％増の２５８億円に。飯島延浩社長は「食品は日常生活に密着しており、不景気の影響をさほど受けない。品質を高めたもの、価格の安いものが売れる」と分析する。主力製品は値下げでお手ごろ感を打ち出し、０９年１２月期も増収増益をねらう。
ビスケットなどが好調なブルボンは、０９年３月期の連結業績予想を上方修正し、営業利益は従来予想の約１．５倍の２６億円を見込む。アメやグミなどをつくるカンロも０９年１２月期はほぼ前期並みの売り上げや利益をめざす。カンロの小林繁樹副社長は「昨秋以降の売り上げは前年を上回っている。高価な商品を買わなくなった反動なのかも」。
東洋水産も店頭価格が１００円程度の即席めんや、家庭でつくる生めんが売り上げを押し上げており、やはり０９年３月期の単体ベースの営業利益や純利益を上方修正した。
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ＡＩＧ、皇居のぞむビル売却へ 米政府融資返済のため
2009年2月13日21時31分
米保険大手アメリカン・インターナショナル・グループ（ＡＩＧ）が東京・丸の内のＡＩＧビル（地上１５階、地下４階）の売却を決めた。築後３５年だが、皇居をのぞむ超一等地にあり、売却額は１０億ドル（約９００億円）程度を想定している。売却益は米政府から受けた融資などの返済にあてる。
このビルはＡＩＧ傘下のアリコジャパンとＡＩＵ保険の登記上の本社所在地だが、半分以上はテナントに貸している。大理石と御影石でつくられたロビーがあり、「ＡＩＧの日本での存在感の象徴だった」（保険業界関係者）という。
米証券大手メリルリンチがアドバイザーになり、売却作業を進めている。
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14:06 GMT, Saturday, 14 February 2009
Major reshuffle in Saudi Arabia
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has sacked two powerful religious officials in a wide ranging shake-up of the cabinet and other government posts.
One of the dismissed men was the head of the controversial religious police force. The other was the country's most senior judge.
The king also appointed the country's first-ever female minister and replaced the head of the central bank.
Correspondents say such government reshuffles are rare in Saudi Arabia.
King Abdullah, who came to power in 2005, has for a long time had the reputation of a reformer - and the latest appointments have the makings of one of the biggest shake-ups in Saudi public life for many years.
The BBC's Arab affairs analyst Bob Trevelyan says the pace of change has been slow in the four years of the king's reign.
Despite the shake-up, our correspondent says the kingdom remains an absolute monarchy and real political change is not on the agenda.
Feared organisation
The sacked head judge, Sheikh Salih Ibn al-Luhaydan, caused controversy last September when he said it was permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV channels which broadcast immoral programmes.
Sheikh Salih Ibn al-Luhaydan said some "evil" entertainment programmes aired by the channels promoted debauchery.
Our correspondent says the sheikh may well be paying the price for airing his opinions.
The shake-up also affected the feared religious police organisation, known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
Sheikh Ibrahim al-Ghaith has lost his job as head of the commssion, which enforces Saudi Arabia's conservative brand of Islam, Wahhabism.
The commission has wide powers to search for alcohol and drugs, to crack down on prostitution and ensure shops are closed during prayer times.
But our correspondent says the religious police have been widely criticised recently over allegations of brutality - the kind of comments that could never have been made publicly a few years ago.
Meanwhile, Norah al-Faiz now holds the most senior official position a woman has held in Saudi Arabia. She has been appointed to the newly-created post of deputy education minister for women's affairs.
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03:47 GMT, Friday, 13 February 2009
Bleak forecast on fishery stocks
By James Morgan
Science reporter, BBC News, Chicago
North Sea cod and herring
The world's fish stocks will soon suffer major upheaval due to climate change, scientists have warned.
Changing ocean temperatures and currents will force thousands of species to migrate polewards, including cod, herring, plaice and prawns.
By 2050, US fishermen may see a 50% reduction in Atlantic cod populations.
The predictions of "huge changes", published in the journal Fish and Fisheries, were presented at the AAAS annual meeting in Chicago.
Marine biologists used computer models to forecast the future of 1,066 commercially important species from across the globe.
"The impact of climate change on marine biodiversity and fisheries is going to be huge," said lead author Dr William Cheung, of the University of East Anglia in the UK.
"We must act now to adapt our fisheries management and conservation policies to minimise harm to marine life and to our society.
"We can use our knowledge to improve the design of marine protected areas which are adaptable to changes in distribution of the species," he told the conference.
Sinking feeling
The world's oceans are already experiencing changes in temperature and current patterns are changing due to climate change.
Prawn processing plant in Nuuk, Greenland To quantify the likely impact on sea life, Dr Cheung and his team developed a new computer model that predicts what might happen under different climate scenarios.
While scientists have made projections of climate change impact on land species, this is the most comprehensive study on marine species ever published.
"We found that on average, the animals may shift their distribution towards the poles by 40km per decade," said Dr Cheung.
"Atlantic cod on the east coast of the US may see a 50% reduction in some populations by 2050."
The invasion of new species into unfamiliar environments could seriously disrupt ecosystems, the researchers warn.
Some species will face a high risk of extinction, including Striped Rock Cod in the Antarctic and St Paul Rock Lobster in the Southern Ocean.
Sea-saw
But of course, as fish migrate polewards, fishermen in some areas will see their stocks increase.
The model predicts an increased catch in the North Sea - benefiting fishermen from Nordic countries.
But fishermen in tropical developing countries will suffer major losses in catch.
The socio-economic impact could be devastating, according to another study published recently in the same journal.
Thirty-three nations in Africa, Asia and South America are highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change in fisheries, according to scientists from the World Fish Centre.
Of these, 19 were already classified by the United Nations as "least developed" because of their particularly poor socioenomic conditions.
"Economically, people in the tropics and subtropics likely will suffer most, because fish are so important in their diets and because they have limited capacity to develop other sources of income and food," said Edward Allison, director of policy, economics and social science at WorldFish.
"We believe it is urgent to start identifying these vulnerable countries, because the damage will be greatly compounded unless national governments and international institutions like the World Bank act now to include the fish sector in plans for helping the poor cope with climate change."
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10:39 GMT, Saturday, 14 February 2009
Light 'could detect Parkinson's'
Brain
A light as bright as a million-watt bulb could help identify early signs of Parkinson's disease, British researchers have said.
The Keele University team told a conference that a "super-microscope" could spot changes in brain cells before the disease destroyed them.
Keele's Dr Joanna Collingwood said that the technique was "pioneering".
She told the American Association for the Advancement of Science patients could be treated sooner as a result.
'Early diagnosis'
Dr Collingwood said the team had been using a synchrotron - or Diamond Light Source (DLS) - at Harwell, Oxfordshire.
The device is a large doughnut-shaped particle accelerator, the size of five football pitches, which fires particles at just below the speed of light, focusing them into a beam less than a single cell in diameter.
It allows researchers to to observe iron levels in individual brain cells, which are affected by Parkinson's.
Dr Collingwood told the AAAS conference in Chicago: "We have been able to investigate human tissue with such precision that metal ions, particularly iron levels, in and around individual cells can be mapped.
"The technique is pioneering in that it does not change the distribution or form of the metals in the tissue being studied."
She said she hoped that the team's work could help doctors detect early signs of Parkinson's using MRI.
"Early diagnosis is key because we know that by the time a typical individual presents with the symptoms of the disease, chemical changes have already caused significant cell death of vulnerable motor neurones," she added.
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Monsanto is Putting Normal Seeds Out of Reach
* GM Watch, February 12, 2009
Straight to the Source
1. The great seed monopoly
2. The Multiple Ways Monsanto is Putting Normal Seeds Out of Reach
NOTE: Two pieces on the ruthless concentration of corporate power in the seed industry that's allowing Monsanto to drive up costs and aggressively undercut the rights of farmers.
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1. The great seed monopoly
Extracts from ETC Group's report 'Who Owns Nature?'
http://www.etcgroup.org/en/materials/publications.html?pub_id=707
In the first half of the 20th century, seeds were overwhelmingly in the hands of farmers and public-sector plant breeders. In the decades since then, Gene Giants have used intellectual property laws to commodify the world seed supply - a strategy that aims to control plant germplasm and maximize profits by eliminating Farmers' Rights.
Today, the proprietary seed market accounts for a staggering share of the world's commercial seed supply. In less than three decades, a handful of multinational corporations have engineered a fast and furious corporate enclosure of the first link in the food chain.
The world's largest seed company, Monsanto, accounts for almost one-quarter (23%) of the global proprietary seed market.
The top 3 companies (Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta) together account for $10,282 million, or 47% of the worldwide proprietary seed market.
ETC Group conservatively estimates that the top 3 seed companies control 65% of the proprietary maize seed market worldwide, and over half of the proprietary soybean seed market.
Based on industry statistics, ETC Group estimates that Monsanto's biotech seeds and traits (including those licensed to other companies) accounted for 87% of the total world area devoted to genetically engineered seeds in 2007.
"The lack of competition and innovation in the marketplace has reduced farmers' choices and enabled Monsanto to raise prices unencumbered." - Keith Mudd, Organization for Competitive Markets, following Monsanto's decision to raise some GM maize seed prices by 35%.
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2. The Multiple Ways Monsanto is Putting Normal Seeds Out of Reach
By Linn Cohen-Cole
http://tinyurl.com/db7fnf
People say if farmers don't want problems from Monsanto, just don't buy their GMO seeds.
Not so simple. Where are farmers supposed to get normal seed these days? How are they supposed to avoid contamination of their fields from GM-crops? How are they supposed to stop Monsanto detectives from trespassing or Monsanto from using helicopters to fly over spying on them?
Monsanto contaminates the fields, trespasses onto the land taking samples and if they find any GMO plants growing there (or say they have), they then sue, saying they own the crop. It’s a way to make money since farmers can’t fight back and court and they settle because they have no choice.
And they have done and are doing a bucket load of things to keep farmers and everyone else from having any access at all to buying, collecting, and saving of NORMAL seeds.
1. They’ve bought up the seed companies across the Midwest.
2. They've written Monsanto seed laws
In Illinois, which has such a seed law, Madigan, the Speaker of the House, his staff is Monsanto lobbyists.
3. Monsanto is pushing anti-democracy laws (Vilsack's brainchild, actually) that remove community control over their own counties so farmers and citizens can't block the planting of GMO crops even if they can contaminate other crops. So if you don't want a GM-crop that grows industrial chemicals or drugs or a rice growing with human DNA in it, in your area and mixing with your crops, tough luck.
Check the map of just where the Monsanto/Vilsack laws are
4. For sure there are Monsanto regulations buried in the FDA right now that make a farmer's seed cleaning equipment illegal (another way to leave nothing but GM-seeds) because it’s now considered a "source of seed contamination." Farmer can still seed clean but the equipment now has to be certified and a farmer said it would require a million to a million and half dollar building and equipment … for EACH line of seed. Seed storage facilities are also listed (another million?) and harvesting and transport equipment. And manure. Something that can contaminate seed. Notice that chemical fertilizers and pesticides are not mentioned.
You could eat manure and be okay (a little grossed out but okay). Try that with pesticides and fertilizers. Indian farmers have. Their top choice for how to commit suicide to escape the debt they have been left in is to drink Monsanto pesticides.
5. Monsanto is picking off seed cleaners across the Midwest. In Pilot Grove, Missouri,
So, after demanding that seed cleaners somehow be able to tell one seed from another (or be sued to kingdom come) or corrupting legislatures to put in laws about labeling of seeds that are so onerous no one can cope with them, what is Monsanto's attitude about labeling their own stuff? You guessed it - they're out there pushing laws against ANY labeling of their own GM-food and animals and of any exports to other countries. Why?
http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/02/15/monstersanto-in-kansas/%20
We know, and they know, why.
As Norman Braksick, the president of Asgrow Seed Co. (now owned by Monsanto) predicted in the Kansas City Star (3/7/94) seven years ago, "If you put a label on a genetically engineered food, you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it."
And they've sued dairy farmers for telling the truth about their milk being rBGH-free, though rBGH is associated with an increased risk of breast, colon and prostate cancers.
http://www.keepmainefree.org/suesuesue.html
I just heard that some seed dealers urge farmers to buy the seed under the seed dealer's name, telling the farmers it helps the dealer get a discount on seed to buy a lot under their own name. Then Monsanto sues the poor farmer for buying their seed without a contract and extorts huge sums from them.
Here’s a youtube video that is worth your time. Vandana Shiva is one of the leading anti-Monsanto people in the world. In this video, she says (and this video is old), Monsanto had sued 1500 farmers whose fields had simply been contaminated by GM-crops. Listen to all the ways Monsanto goes after farmers.
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/pubs/CFSMOnsantovsFarmerReport1.13.05.pdf
Do you know the story of Gandhi in India and how the British had salt laws that taxed salt? The British claimed it as theirs. Gandhi had what was called a Salt Satyagraha, in which people were asked to break the laws and march to the sea and collect the salt without paying the British. A kind of Boston tea party, I guess.
Thousands of people marched 240 miles to the ocean where the British were waiting. As people moved forward to collect the salt, the British soldiers clubbed them but the people kept coming. The non-violent protest exposed the British behavior, which was so revolting to the world that it helped end British control in India.
Vandana Shiva has started a Seed Satyagraha - nonviolent non-cooperation around seed laws - has gotten millions of farmers to sign a pledge to break those laws.
http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=Shiva
American farmers and cattlemen might appreciate what Gandhi fought for and what Shiva is bringing back and how much it is about what we are all so angry about - loss of basic freedoms.
The Seed Satyagraha is the name for the nonviolent, noncooperative movement that Dr. Shiva has organized to stand against seed monopolies. According to Dr. Shiva, the name was inspired by Gandhi’s famous walk to the Dandi Beach, where he picked up salt and said, “You can’t monopolize this which we need for life.” But it’s not just the noncooperation aspect of the movement that is influenced by Gandhi. The creative side saving seeds, trading seeds, farming without corporate dependence–without their chemicals, without their seed.
” All this is talked about in the language that Gandhi left us as a legacy. We work with three key concepts.”
” (One) Swadeshi…which means the capacity to do your own thing–produce your own food, produce your own goods….”
“(Two) Swaraj–to govern yourself. And we fight on three fronts–water, food, and seed. JalSwaraj is water independence–water freedom and water sovereignty. Anna Swaraj is food freedom, food sovereignty. And Bija Swaraj is seed freedom and seed sovereignty. Swa means self–that which rises from the self and is very, very much a deep notion of freedom.
“I believe that these concepts, which are deep, deep, deep in Indian civilization, Gandhi resurrected them to fight for freedom. They are very important for today’s world because so far what we’ve had is centralized state rule, giving way now to centralized corporate control, and we need a third alternate. That third alternate is, in part, citizens being able to tell their state, ‘This is what your function is. This is what your obligations are,’ and being able to have their states act on corporations to say, ‘This is something you cannot do.’”
” (Three) Satyagraha, non-cooperation, basically saying, ‘We will do our thing and any law that tries to say that (our freedom) is illegal… we will have to not cooperate with it. We will defend our freedoms to have access to water, access to seed, access to food, access to medicine.’”
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Shocked and Disappointed with Oxfam America
* GM Watch, February 7, 2009
Straight to the Source
NOTE: Two letters of protest to Oxfam America over its cosying up to Monsanto at this upcoming event: http://www.asiasociety.org/events/calendar.pl?rm=detail&eventid=19354
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Subject: Shocked and disappointed
From: Claire Robinson
To: Oxfam America
Dear all:
I was impressed by the Oxfam briefing paper of Oct 2008, Double-Edged Prices: Lessons from the food price crisis, which heavily criticised big food and agribiz companies, in particular Monsanto, for cashing in on the global food crisis. To me, it typified the clear-sighted stance Oxfam has traditionally taken on GM and agribiz firms and their activities.
So what on earth is Oxfam America doing providing a platform (The Global Food Crisis: Time for Another Green Revolution?, New York) for a Monsanto Vice President - Kevin L. Eblen, Monsanto's former Director of Mergers and Acquisitions, now Monsanto's "Public Policy and Sustainability Lead", WITH NO PRETENCE OF BALANCE IN THE DEBATE?
And there's the guy from Gates Foundation, which has awarded $5.4 million to political and lobbying designed to break down regulatory resistance to GM crops in Africa.
As for IRRI, their annual reports from 1963-1982 show grants from a whole array of US and European chemical corporations including Monsanto, Shell Chemical, Union Carbide Asia, Bayer Philippines, Eli Lily, Occidental Chemical, Ciba Geigy (later part of Novartis Seeds which is now part of Syngenta), Chevron Chemical, Upjohn, Hoechst, and Cyanamid Far East.
Does Oxfam International support Oxfam America's apparent support for GM, an unsafe, economically and agronomically risky, and fundamentally anti-poor and unsustainable technology?
Unless I see Oxfam distancing itself from the GM and agribiz companies and corporate-backed bodies represented at this event, this will be the end of my lifelong support for this hitherto heroic organisation.
Sincerely
Claire Robinson
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Subject: Re: The Global Food Crisis: Time for Another Green Revolution?
From: Jonathan Matthews
To: Oxfam America
Dear Oxfam
I'm writing to protest at the second program in Oxfam America's co-organized Food Crisis Series - The Global Food Crisis: Time for Another Green Revolution? (New York, Feb 20 2009)
I am totally at a loss to understand how Oxfam of all organisations could provide a platform for Monsanto and its supporters to argue they have the answers to the global food crisis when - to a very considerable degree - they are the cause of the current crisis.
A 2008 World Bank report concluded, as have many others, that increased "biofuel" production is the major cause of the increase in food prices. Monsanto has been at the very heart of the ethanol lobby and is part of the Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy (AAFE) - a big agribiz lobby group launched to keep the ethanol mandates in place and to counter criticisms that "biofuels" take land from food production and are directly contributing to the crisis that has led to rising food prices and which has put lives and livelihoods at risk around the world.
Monsanto, of course, has profited spectacularly from the food crisis that it's helped to create. This has included engaging in massive price hikes for its seeds and herbicides. At the same time it's used the crisis as a PR springboard to promote its business via renewed claims that it has the answers to poverty and hunger.
As Daniel Howden, Africa correspondent of The Independent newspaper, succinctly put it, "The climate crisis was used to boost biofuels, helping to create the food crisis; and now the food crisis is being used to revive the fortunes of the GM industry."
It's use of the crisis as a PR platform is now being assisted by Oxfam America. This despite the fact that the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) concluded, after a thorough sifting of the evidence, that GM crops are not a critical part of the solution to the problems arising from poverty, hunger and climate change.
Prof Denis Murphy, head of biotechnology at the University of Glamorgan in Wales has hit the nail on the head, "The cynic in me thinks that they're just using the current food crisis and the fuel crisis as a springboard to push GM crops back on to the public agenda. I understand why they're doing it, but the danger is that if they're making these claims about GM crops solving the problem of drought or feeding the world, that's bullshit." And now Oxfam America has slapped its logo right across the BS by co-organizing an event at which every speaker is a well known GM promoter.
The new green revolution a la Monsanto will lead to more food crises, not fewer.
Yours truly
Jonathan Matthews
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Source: Russia hopes to become full member of financial G8 in 2009
ROME, Feb 13 (Prime-Tass) -- Russia hopes to become a full member of the "financial G8" later this year, a source with the Russian delegation at a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of leading industrial nations in Italy told Prime-Tass on Friday.
At present, Russia fully participates in Great Eight (G8) meetings on political and economic issues. However, it only has an observer status at the club's meetings of finance ministers and central bank governors.
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America's last dominant industry starts to leave
13.02.2009 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/107104-america_dominant_industry-0
America has begun the initial steps to final outsourcing of it's last dominant industry. As before, a recession is the key to making the move. Even as we speak, the oil/gas and oil/gas services industries, always a US dominated industry, has begun mass layoffs. From Schlumberger to Baker to Halliburton and dozens of smaller firms, tens of thousands of jobs are either already gone on being shoved into the guillotine.
America has always been the dominant player in the oil/gas services field as it had led the way, back in the late 1800s, in oil and later gas exploration and exploitation. Oil services companies do everything that it takes to deliver the product to their clients, the major private and national oil companies. This includes everything from locating deposits, up to 10km under the ground, to drilling to them, to developing the wells and managing production, to transferring the product to refineries and storage facilities. As such, these companies employ an immense amount of technology and industry.
As oil/gas exploration moved to the far corners of the world, it made more sense to move at least some of the manufacturing closer to the international customers. However, the business units, engineering departments and quality personnel were almost all exclusively employed in America. This will be no more.
As with other formerly dominant industries, such as light manufacturing, IT, textiles, etc, a recession was used as the knife to finally do in the workers. IT is a prime example. While outsourcing was a force that was picking up steam throughout the 1990s, it was not until 2003, the year after the tech bubble bust of 2002 (and a short recession) that IT outsourcing finally took off. The companies involved, used the bust to lay off hundreds of thousands of tech workers around the US and Britain, sighting low profits or debt. The public as a whole accepted this, as part of the economic landscape and protest were few, especially with a prospect of the situation turning around. However, shortly after the turn around in the economy, it became very clear that there would be no turn around in the IT employment industry. Not only were companies outsourcing everything they could, under the cover of the recession, they had shipped in tens of thousands of work visaed workers who were paid on the cheap.
A similar process had already begun in the oil/gas services and oil/gas industries and has now begun it's initial acceleration into a full removal of the American worker from those positions. Regardless of the layoffs, work still has to be done, so new hires will be done in cheaper countries, where much of the manufacturing is already located. Once a subsection of a team or a new office is set up, it will become much easier to rationalize the movement of whole departments.
Worst of all, this is not a process that takes long to complete. In truth, the IT landscaped went through its total metamorphoses in less than 3 years and the recession, and thus excuse, were tiny compared to this one. America/British IT went from begging locals to work, due to the high demand for employees to having 700+ resumes on a single job opening with in a mere 24 hours. The situation has never changed.
So what is in store for America's energy industry future? For the owners, higher profits, when demand goes back up. For the workers? The same hell of unemployment that the rest of the US/UK now enjoys.
Stanislav Mishin
The article has been reprinted with the kind permission from the author and originally appears on his blog, Mat Rodina
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Russia
Russian gypsies denied 'baby-money' to buy new caravan
17:52 | 13/ 02/ 2009
Print version
KALININGRAD, February 13 (RIA Novosti) - A group of gypsies in Russia's westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad has been denied a federal subsidy for a new caravan, local officials said on Friday.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced at the end of last year that so-called 'baby-money,' a payment of 267,500 rubles ($7,700 at the current exchange rate) for families with two or more children could be used from the start of 2009 to help pay off mortgages or improve living conditions.
Before this, the payouts, which were introduced in 2007, could only be used after children reached the age of three.
The gypsies filed a request for the sum saying that they needed it to buy a new caravan to house the group's many children. However, local authorities said the money could not be granted to them as a caravan was not recognized as official accommodation under Russian law.
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Wreckage of two satellites in orbit poses serious threat to others
13:12 | 13/ 02/ 2009
Print version
KOROLYOV (Moscow Region), February 13 (RIA Novosti) - The remnants of the U.S. and Russian satellites that collided on Tuesday poses a serious threat to other satellites on the same orbit, a Russian Mission Control official told journalists on Friday.
"800 kilometers is a very popular orbit for remote Earth sensing and telecommunications satellites," said Vladimir Solovyov, head of the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
"There are a lot of communications satellites there, many of them still in operation. There are 66 Iridium series satellites alone on that orbit. The cloud [of debris] from the collision is a serious threat to them," he said
Tuesday's collision of a U.S. Iridium satellite and the defunct Russian Cosmos-2251 approximately 800 kilometers (500 miles) above Siberia was the first time such an incident has occurred.
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兄弟子２人が元親方否定「罰だと思った」
大相撲時津風部屋の序ノ口力士、時太山（当時１７＝本名・斉藤俊さん）が０７年６月に暴行死した事件で、傷害致死罪に問われた元親方の山本順一被告（５８）の第２回公判が１３日、名古屋地裁で開かれた。証人として、書類送検された兄弟子２人が出廷。時太山死亡当日（２６日）を「通常のけいこ」とする同被告の主張を、真っ向から否定した。
現役力士の２人は着物にまげ姿で現れた。先に証言台に立った力士（２９）は、かつての師匠の言い分をバッサリ切り捨てた。ぶつかりげいこには鍛錬と罰の意味があるとし、時太山へのけいこを「罰の方だと思いました」と証言。自身も加わった２５日夜の暴行も「『鉄砲柱に縛っておけ』と言われた。（親方が）ずっと怒っていたのは無関係でないと思います」と、同被告の意をくみ取った行動とした。
しかも事件直後、同被告が２５日に時太山をビール瓶で殴って負傷させたことを「腕時計が当たったことにしよう」と、隠ぺい指示があったことも明かした。証言中、同被告はみけんにシワを寄せながら目を閉じ、２人の目線は最後まで合わず。力士は手錠に腰縄で退廷する元師匠を、後ろからじっと見詰めていた。
一方、続いて出廷した別の力士（２８）は圧倒された様子。まっすぐ前を見る同被告の視線を意識したのか、同じく証人出廷した兄弟子の裁判時と食い違う証言もあった。裁判官に「兄弟子３人の時とどちらが話しやすかったか」と聞かれた力士は「３人の時の方が…」。歯切れが悪く、核心を突くことはできなかった。
次回は２４日から３日連続で公判予定。執行猶予付き有罪判決が下された兄弟子３人をはじめ、かつての弟子が続々と証言台に立つ。この日も法廷内で笑みがこぼれるなど余裕のある元親方に、弟子の証言が効くのか。真実は１つしかない。
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おかみさんまで…口止め工作していた時太山事件
スポーツニッポン2009年2月14日（土）06:00
大相撲時津風部屋の序ノ口力士、時太山（ときたいざん、当時１７、本名・斉藤俊＝たかし＝さん）が暴行を受けて死亡した事件で、傷害致死罪に問われた前時津風親方の山本順一被告（５８）に対する公判が１３日、名古屋地裁で行われた。
この日は傷害致死容疑で書類送検された時津風部屋の現役力士２人が証人として出廷。２９歳の三段目力士は、宿舎で斉藤さんをビール瓶で殴打した山本被告が「額のキズは腕時計が当たったことにしよう」と口裏合わせをしたと主張した。
さらに、部屋のおかみさんでもある山本被告の妻から「ビール瓶で叩いたことを（警察に）言ったら、親方が逮捕されてしまうから言わないで」と口止めされたと証言。夫婦ぐるみでの隠ぺい工作も明らかになった。
かつての師弟が久しぶりに対面したこの日の公判。「ぶつかり稽古は罰だった」「（親方の指示に逆らうことは）できません」など、自分に不利な証言に山本被告は不満そうに眉をひそめ、稽古場の図面がモニターで再現されると、急に背筋を伸ばして含み笑いするなど不気味な雰囲気。審理は２４日に再開され、２５日からは有罪が確定した３人の兄弟子が証人として登場する。
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元弟子が元親方否定「ぶつかりげいこは罰」
大相撲時津風部屋の序ノ口力士、時太山（ときたいざん）＝当時１７歳、本名斉藤俊（たかし）さん＝の暴行死事件で、傷害致死罪に問われた元親方山本順一被告（５８）の公判が１３日、名古屋地裁（芦沢政治裁判長）で開かれ、傷害致死容疑で書類送検された現役力士２人が証人として出廷し「ぶつかりげいこは罰。親方の指示は（拒絶）できません」と証言した。
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初公判となった１２日の罪状認否で「ぶつかりげいこは制裁目的ではない」などと起訴事実を否認した山本被告だったが、一夜明けて元弟子２人に真っ向から否定された。
最初に証人として出廷した力士（２９）は、０７年６月２５日に山本被告が斉藤さんを正座させ、ビール瓶で足や額などを殴ったシーンを証言。その後、けいこ場のてっぽう柱に縛った場面では「元親方から『逃げ出さないように縛っておけ』と指示があった」と、親方の指示を明言した。
翌２６日の朝げいこ後のぶつかりげいこについても「かわいがりには２種類あるが、このぶつかりげいこは罰だった」と、親方の証言を完全に否定。検察側が「親方の指示にはぜったい逆らえないのか」と問うと「できません」と答えた。
さらに、ぶつかりげいこ後に風呂の窓から「元親方が斉藤くんのお腹を棒で押しているところを見た」とも証言。さらに山本被告がビール瓶で斉藤さんの額にけがを負わせた点について、山本被告から「腕時計が当たったことにしよう」と隠ぺい工作を持ちかけられたことも明らかにした。
午後から証人に立った力士（２８）は、ぶつかりげいこの際に木の棒で斉藤さんを殴打したことを証言したが「元親方から木の棒を（自分の方に）投げられびっくりしました。これで叩けという意味だと思った」と、親方の“指示”であるとした。
力士２人はまげ姿で入廷。被告人席に座る山本被告とは一切視線を合わすことなく、足早に証言台の前に立った。山本被告はじっと目をつぶったままで元弟子の証言を聞いていたが、午後には少し身を乗り出すように前かがみになって力士を見詰める場面もあった。次回公判は２４日から始まるが、２５日にはすでに有罪判決を受けた元兄弟子らが出廷予定。暴行の指示の有無をめぐっての“全面対決”が待ち受ける。
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現役兄弟子「罰だと思った」 時太山さん暴行死第２回公判
2009年2月14日 紙面から
大相撲時津風部屋の序ノ口力士、斉藤俊さん＝当時１７歳＝の暴行死事件で、傷害致死罪に問われた元親方の山本順一被告（５８）の第２回公判が１３日、名古屋地裁で開かれた。既に有罪が確定した兄弟子３人とは別のちょんまげをつけた現役の兄弟子２人（傷害致死容疑で書類送検）が検察、弁護側双方の証人として出廷し、兄弟子（２９）は「罰としてのぶつかりげいこだ、と思った」と証言。被告人席に座る山本被告とは目を合わさなかった。
死亡直前のぶつかりげいこについてこの兄弟子は「斉藤君が（相撲を）続ける、続けない、とあいまいな態度を取ったことへの罰だと思った」と述べた。斉藤さんが死亡前夜、兄弟子たちに宿舎裏手で殴られていたことを目撃したが、「それまで親方に怒られていたので、（外への）連れ出しは勝手にできない、と思った」と証言した。この兄弟子は、斉藤さんが新潟に戻る予定だった前夜に山本被告から、「あす帰さなければいけない。今逃げると困るので、てっぽう柱に縛り付けておけ」と指示されたという。検察側の「親方の指示には絶対逆らえないのか」の問いには「できません」と答えた。
別の兄弟子（２８）は、山本被告が斉藤さんをビール瓶で殴り、額にけがを負わせた時に「腕時計が当たったことにしよう」と同被告から“裏工作”を持ち掛けられたことを証言した。山本被告は１２日の初公判で「兄弟子に指示したことはない」などと起訴事実を否認。弁護側も「兄弟子たちが自分たちの判断で暴行を加えた」と共謀関係を否定している。
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元時津風親方とおかみさんの隠ぺい工作を暴露…力士死亡事件第２回公判 現役力士が証言
大相撲時津風部屋の序ノ口力士、時太山（本名・斉藤俊さん、当時１７歳）が暴行を受け死亡した事件で傷害致死罪に問われた元親方の山本順一被告（５８）の第２回公判が１３日、名古屋地裁（芦沢政治裁判長）で開かれ、検察側の証人として時津風部屋に所属する現役力士が出廷。事件直後に山本被告と妻が、ビール瓶で殴打したことの隠ぺい工作を謀っていたことを暴露した。
出廷したのは、今回の事件で暴行に関与し書類送検された２人の三段目力士。このうち２９歳の力士は事件直後に山本被告の妻が若い力士を集め「親方がビール瓶で叩いたことは警察には黙っていてちょうだい。親方は逮捕されちゃうから」と告白した。さらに、山本被告も後日に「ビール瓶のことは言うな。腕時計が当たったことにしておこう」と明かした。かつての師匠が見つめる法廷で元親方夫妻による隠ぺい工作を暴露した。
また、力士は斉藤さんが亡くなった当日に行われた「かわいがり」と言われる長時間のぶつかりげいこについて「強くするためと罰もある」と制裁目的が含まれていたことも証言した。裁判は２４日に再開され、逮捕された兄弟子３人が検察側の証人として出廷する。
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おかみさんまで…口止め工作していた時太山事件
大相撲時津風部屋の序ノ口力士、時太山（ときたいざん、当時１７、本名・斉藤俊＝たかし＝さん）が暴行を受けて死亡した事件で、傷害致死罪に問われた前時津風親方の山本順一被告（５８）に対する公判が１３日、名古屋地裁で行われた。
この日は傷害致死容疑で書類送検された時津風部屋の現役力士２人が証人として出廷。２９歳の三段目力士は、宿舎で斉藤さんをビール瓶で殴打した山本被告が「額のキズは腕時計が当たったことにしよう」と口裏合わせをしたと主張した。
さらに、部屋のおかみさんでもある山本被告の妻から「ビール瓶で叩いたことを（警察に）言ったら、親方が逮捕されてしまうから言わないで」と口止めされたと証言。夫婦ぐるみでの隠ぺい工作も明らかになった。
かつての師弟が久しぶりに対面したこの日の公判。「ぶつかり稽古は罰だった」「（親方の指示に逆らうことは）できません」など、自分に不利な証言に山本被告は不満そうに眉をひそめ、稽古場の図面がモニターで再現されると、急に背筋を伸ばして含み笑いするなど不気味な雰囲気。審理は２４日に再開され、２５日からは有罪が確定した３人の兄弟子が証人として登場する。
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