Ryanair to abolish check-in desks

17:16 GMT, Saturday, 21 February 2009
Ryanair to abolish check-in desks
Ryanair aircraft

Ryanair has confirmed it plans to close all of its airport check-in desks by the end of the year in a bid to reduce the cost of its flights.

From the start of 2010, all Ryanair passengers will need to check in online in order to confirm their flights.

Officials at the Irish airline said that by reducing its costs at airports, savings would be passed on to passengers through lower fares.

The carrier said that 75% of its passengers already checked in online.

Spokesman Stephen McNamara said the airline saw the move as the "logical next step" in an effort to pass on savings to passengers through reduced fares.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary told the Daily Telegraph that passengers will be able to leave their luggage at a bag drop but otherwise everything will be done online.

"Ultimately, we want just one in five people to check in luggage," he said.

The carrier said that 97% of passengers booked online already and 75% used the internet to check in.

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22:52 GMT, Friday, 20 February 2009
Serbs ordered to pay for mosques
Map

Serb authorities in Bosnia-Hercegovina have been ordered to pay $42m (£26m) to local Muslims for the destruction of mosques during the Bosnian civil war.

All 16 mosques in Banja Luka, the main town of the Serb-run Republika Srpska, were destroyed in the 1992-1995 war.

A lawyer for the area's Muslim community said the local court verdict was of historic importance.

Hundreds of religious buildings were destroyed in the conflict, in which about 100,000 civilians were killed.

The local court ruling came nine years after the Bosnian Islamic Community sued the Bosnian Serb government and Banja Luka city authorities for the destruction of the shrines in 1993.

The Islamic Community said more than 1,000 of its objects were destroyed or damaged during the war.

"For us, what is far more important than material compensation is that for the first time Republika Srpska has taken complete responsibility for the destruction of the mosques," SRNA news agency quoted the Islamic Community's lawyer Esad Hrvacic as saying.

The Dayton peace agreement signed in 1995 created two semi-state entities: Republika Srpska for the Serbs, and the Bosniak-Croat Federation for Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Croats.

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20:21 GMT, Saturday, 21 February 2009
Africa border opens for Gaza aid
British convoy bound for the Gaza Strip in Morocco, 19 February 2009

The border between Morocco and Algeria, closed for almost 15 years, has been temporarily reopened for an aid convoy heading towards the Gaza Strip.

The convoy of 99 vehicles, which left from the UK loaded with medicine, food, clothes and toys, crossed into Algeria near the Moroccan town of Oujda.

The frontier was shut in 1994 after Morocco accused Algeria of involvement in an attack on a hotel in Marrakech.

The convoy is due to cross from Egypt to Gaza in early March.

It left London last week, led by British member of parliament George Galloway. Its 5,000-mile route also includes France, Spain, Tunisia, and Libya.

The Gaza Strip is facing a humanitarian crisis following Israel's recent three-week offensive.

Though the Morocco-Algeria crossing was opened for the convoy, there is little sign ordinary people will be able to travel overland between Morocco and Algeria any time soon, the BBC's James Copnall reports from the Moroccan capital, Rabat.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries have long been poor, and disagreements are currently focused on the disputed territory of the Western Sahara.

Morocco considers the region its own, while Algeria supports the Polisario Front independence movement.

The border closure also has economic consequences, our correspondent says.

According to some estimates, the Maghreb has the lowest rate of internal trade of any region in the world.

Morocco recently asked for the border to be reopened, but Algeria has yet to agree.

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15:56 GMT, Friday, 20 February 2009
Saab aims to survive without GM
Saab Turbo X

Carmaker Saab, which is owned by General Motors, has had its application to enter a reorganisation process approved by a Swedish court.

An administrator has been appointed to handle the process. Saab is seeking to create a fully independent business.

GM has said that it wants to sell Saab. There had been concerns about the loss-making carmaker after the Swedish government rejected GM's call for aid.

GM took a 50% stake in Saab in 1989 and gained full ownership ten years later.

Any restructuring would need the approval of Saab's creditors, who meet on 6 April.

Expressions of interest

"Today is the beginning of a new chapter in Saab's history," said Jan Ake Jonsson, Saab's managing director.

He also said that several companies had expressed interest in Saab, though he declined to name any.

"Even though we have not been actively searching for new partners, we have had many knocking on our door showing interest in Saab," he said.

He also revealed that creating a separate unit of Saab and German carmaker Opel, also owned by GM, had not been discussed.

"[GM] oversaw the destruction of the Swedish car company's soul"
Stephen Pope, Cantor Fitzgerald

Separately, the German government said that it had not received an official application for a state guarantee from carmaker Opel.

The government was waiting for a plan from Opel on its future before making any decisions, a government spokesman said.

Government aid

Despite turning down GM's request for support, a senior Swedish government official has said the government has not ruled out providing loan guarantees to Saab following its restructuring.

"It is not the case that we have closed the door to that. That will depend on what the plans look like," Joran Hagglund, state secretary at the Swedish Industry Ministry, told the Reuters news agency.

Sweden said last year that it would provide up to 25bn Swedish crowns in aid to its auto industry to help it through the economic crisis.

Mr Jonsson said Saab expected to be given access to the state funds.

Saab said in a statement that the reorganisation was "the best way to create a truly independent entity that is ready for investment".

In a restructuring plan submitted to the US Treasury this week, GM had said it planned to make Saab an independent business by the start of 2010.

Loss-making

Sales at Saab in 2008 were down 25% on the previous year.

Saab 9-3 Saloon

The Swedish carmaker has not made a profit since 2001. In 2007 it made an operating loss of 2.19bn Swedish crowns ($248m; £175m), according to regulatory filings.

It estimates its losses in 2008 at around 3bn Swedish crowns and expects a similar loss this year, filings also revealed.

Stephen Pope, chief global strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, believes GM "oversaw the destruction of the Swedish car company's soul".

"Just look at the current '93' [model] as an example," he said. "The '93' is just a Saab body skin placed on top of the Vectra from Opel/Vauxhall."

Protection from creditors

The reorganisation process is the Swedish equivalent of going into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, providing protection from creditors.

Saab has plans to launch three new models over the next year and a half.

"Reorganisation will give us the time and means that help get these products to market while minimising the liquidity impact of Saab on GM," Mr Jonsson said.

Saab said funding for the restructured company would need to be secured during the three-month reorganisation process and would be sought from both public and private sources.

During that period, the company is not allowed to pay off any debts accumulated before the reorganisation was declared.

Supplier concerns

Saab employs about 4,100 people in Sweden. Thousands more work for suppliers to the company.

Responding to concerns from Saab's supplier base, GM Europe said it would establish "a viable mechanism for the timely payment of suppliers' claims towards Saab".

GM added that it hoped the gesture would encourage suppliers to support Saab's efforts to reorganise into an independent business.

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01:42 GMT, Friday, 20 February 2009
Agents find billionaire Stanford
Sir Allen Stanford - file photo 11/06/2008

FBI agents in the US state of Virginia have served Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford with civil legal papers from the US financial watchdog, the SEC.

Sir Allen, who disappeared from public view on Tuesday when he was accused by the SEC of an $8bn (£5.6bn) fraud, is believed to be in the Richmond area.

The SEC filed a civil case in court describing the case as a "fraud of shocking magnitude".

He is not in custody and has not been charged with any criminal violations.

But officials from the US justice department, which handles criminal prosecutions, have made clear they are proceeding with their own investigation.

SEC COURT DOCUMENT

Read the allegations filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in full [6.5MB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said that FBI agents, acting at the request of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), had served the papers on Sir Allen in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

The Texan cricket impresario is accused of luring investors with promises of improbable and unsubstantiated high returns on certificates of deposit and other investments.

The SEC needed to serve the papers to ensure that he turned in his passport and was made aware of the proceedings against him, the BBC's Richard Lister reports from Washington.

'Very depressed'

Stressing that Sir Allen had not been arrested, Mr Kolko said he did not know if he had actually surrendered his passport.

Map Giving few details, he said that agents from the FBI's office in Richmond, Virginia, had "located and identified Stanford Financial Group chairman Allen Stanford in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area".

The papers were served about 1345 local time (1845 GMT) on Thursday as Sir Allen sat in a car, and the authorities do not believe he had been purposely hiding from them, an unnamed law enforcement source told the Associated Press.

ABC News quoted one of the billionaire's lobbyists, Ben Barnes, as saying that Sir Allen had been "very depressed".

STANFORD'S FINANCIAL EMPIRE

* The first Stanford company was founded in Texas in 1932 by Lodis B Stanford, Sir Allen Stanford's grandfather
* Stanford Financial Group is a complex worldwide network of affiliated financial services companies
* The group reports it has over $50 billion in assets
* Stanford International Bank is an Antigua-based affiliate with $8.5bn in assets and 30,000 clients around the world. Sir Allen Stanford is a chairman and sole shareholder

Sources: Corporate websites, Securities and Exchange Commission

He had sought to end a federal manhunt for him by directly approaching officials at the US justice department, Mr Barnes added.

Sir Allen's father, James Stanford, told AP in Mexia, Texas, that he hoped the allegations against his son were untrue.

"I have no earthly knowledge of it," said the 81-year-old, listed as chairman emeritus and a director for Stanford Financial Group.

"I would be totally surprised if there would be truth to it. And disappointed, heartbroken."

Asked what advice he would give his son, he said: "Do the right thing."

States intervene

Earlier, Peru and Venezuela became the latest countries to intervene in local banks controlled by the Stanford group.

Peru's securities regulator suspended local operations of the Stanford Financial Group for 30 days and Venezuela said it would take control of Stanford Bank Venezuela.

Panama, Ecuador and Antigua also took action after the accusations against Sir Allen were reported.

Regulators were hoping to calm customers worried about investments as queues of worried investors have formed at banks associated with him in the US, the Caribbean and Latin America.

A civil court judge in the US has frozen the assets of Sir Allen and those of the Stanford Group, its Antigua-based subsidiary Stanford International Bank (SIB), and another subsidiary, investment adviser Stanford Capital Management.

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21:27 GMT, Friday, 20 February 2009
Anglo American to cut 9,000 jobs
Los Bronces copper mine in Chile

Mining giant Anglo American has said it is to cut an additional 9,000 jobs as the global economic downturn hits demand for raw materials.

The losses come on top of the 10,000 job cuts that Anglo's South African unit, Anglo Platinum, had already announced earlier this month.

The job cuts follow similar moves at rivals Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

Anglo also announced a 3% fall in 2008 pre-tax profit to $8.57bn (£6bn) and warned that 2009 would be tough.

A spokesman said the job cuts would be across the group's operations, which are mainly in South Africa, South America and Australia.

"The world economy faces an unprecedented level of uncertainty"
Cynthia Carroll, Anglo American chief executive
See Anglo American's share price

Anglo Platinum to cut 10,000 jobs

Mining companies have seen a dramatic turnaround in their fortunes as the downturn hits home.

A boom in the price of metals and other commodities, sustained by China's once insatiable demand for raw materials, has to come to end.

Unprecedented uncertainty

Cynthia Carroll, Anglo's chief executive, said that the effects of the economic downturn "were difficult to overstate".

"The world economy faces an unprecedented level of uncertainty," she said.

"The outlook remains poor in the near term, with expectations for continuing volatility and weakness in commodity prices."

She added that the board had decided to halt dividend payouts to shareholders to conserve cash. The credit crunch has made financing harder to obtain.

Both prices and demand for nickel, platinum, iron ore and coking coal, used in steel production, had declined significantly, the company said.

Anglo American's downbeat assessment of the industry's prospects hurt the share prices of other mining firms.

Rio Tinto shares ended 10% down, while Xstrata fell 11%.

Anglo American shares ended 17% lower at 1027 pence.

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【疑惑の濁流】「オレがキヤノンの窓口だ！」　鹿島を手玉のブローカーが誇示した「財界総理」の“後ろ盾” (1/5ページ)
2009.2.22 18:00
このニュースのトピックス：週末プレミアム
キヤノン関連施設工事をめぐる脱税事件で、「大光」のグループ会社の家宅捜索に入る東京地検の係官ら＝２月１７日午前、東京都千代田区キヤノン関連施設工事をめぐる脱税事件で、「大光」のグループ会社の家宅捜索に入る東京地検の係官ら＝２月１７日午前、東京都千代田区

　従業員わずか十数人の地方業者が、ゼネコン最大手「鹿島」（東京）を手玉に取る－。鹿島の裏金などを受領したとされるコンサルタント会社「大光」（大分市）グループの脱税事件は、そんな歪（ゆが）んだ“力学”を浮き上がらせた。所得隠しの総額は約３４億円にのぼるが、なぜこれほど巨額の不正蓄財が可能だったのか。背景にあったのは「財界総理」の威光。大手精密機器メーカー「キヤノン」（東京）会長で、日本経団連会長も務める御手洗冨士夫氏の存在だ。複雑な事件の構図をひもといていくと、巧妙な“口利きビジネス”の実態も見えてくる。

　
完工式に堂々の最前列

　「金を持ってきてくれ。持ってこないなら、次の工事はないぞ」

　大分市にある鹿島の大分営業所。平成１５年に鹿島が大分市のキヤノン関連工場造成工事を受注した後、こんな電話が頻繁にかかってきた。

　電話の主は、大光社長の大賀規久容疑者（６５）＝法人税法違反（脱税）容疑で逮捕。「次の工事」とはキヤノン関連の工事を指していた。鹿島側はその都度、大賀容疑者の要求に応じて裏金を運び続けた。

　一方、大賀容疑者は工事現場にも頻繁に顔を出し、怒鳴り声を上げた。

　「この見積書ではだめだ。もっとコストを上げてもう一度持ってこい！」

　見積書はキヤノンに提出するもので、本来はコンサル業者の大賀容疑者に見せる必要のないものだ。

　「これ以上は高すぎるのでは…」

　担当者が恐る恐る反論を試みるが、「次の工事はないぞ」と、いつもの言葉が返ってきた。仕方なく、要求通りにかさ上げした見積書を提出すると、キヤノンに承認された。

　そして完工式。出席した鹿島の幹部は異様な光景に驚いた。

　「最前列に、鹿島本社のトップらと並んで、大賀容疑者と下請け業者が陣取っていた。鹿島の支店幹部らは、その後ろに座らされた。下請けが元請けよりいい席に座るなんてありえない」

　地方のコンサル業者と鹿島の力関係は、完全に逆転していたのだ。

　
舞台は８５０億の大プロジェクト

　今回の事件では、９日にコンサル会社「浪速コンサルタント」（大阪市）の社長、難波英雄容疑者（６１）ら５人、１０日に大賀容疑者ら７人、１７日にも１人の計１３人が逮捕され、脱税事件としては異例の展開となっている。

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武田家の位牌など盗まれる　山梨の寺院で
2009.2.22 18:21

　２２日午前１０時ごろ、山梨県笛吹市石和町の寺院「成就院」の住職から、「仏像が盗まれた」と県警笛吹署に届けがあった。同署が窃盗事件として調べている。

　同署の調べでは、本堂西側の窓ガラスが割られ、中から武田信玄の先祖で１５世紀前半に当主だった武田信重の位牌（いはい）のほか、２０～３０センチの仏像約１０体が盗まれていた。いずれも文化財指定はされていないという。

　寺院は普段無人で、住職が１５日に寺を訪れた際は異常はなかった。

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金の延べ板２枚と現金１２４０万円盗まれる　栃木の男性宅
2009.2.6 16:13

　栃木県下野市の無職男性（６７）宅の金庫から５日に現金約１２４０万円と重さ約１キロの金の延べ板２枚（時価約５００万円相当）が盗まれたことが下野署の調べで６日、分かった。

　同署によると、男性宅は３人暮らし。５日は３人とも外出中で、午後８時ごろに仕事から帰宅した次女が金庫が開けられていることに気づき、１１０番した。帰宅時には１階の窓が開いていたという。

　金庫は居間の押し入れの中にあったが、壊された形跡はなく、ダイヤル式の鍵を開けられていた。

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「北方四島に本籍」１７０人超　１６年以降急増、択捉が最多
2009.2.22 16:31

　ロシアに実効支配されている北方四島に本籍を置く日本人が、平成１６年以降急増し、昨年末に１７３人となったことが２１日、分かった。以前から可能だった歯舞群島に加え、昭和５８年からは国後、色丹、択捉の３島にも本籍を移せるようになり、元島民や返還運動関係者以外でも転籍する人が増えている。

　戸籍事務を扱う根室市によると、歯舞群島を除く３島へ転籍した人は１５年末までで計６８人だったが、１６年に「『北方領土』上陸記」の著者、上坂冬子さんが国後島に移したことを機に増加。同年末までに９０人、昨年末には計１３２人となった。島別では、最も遠方の択捉島が７０人と最多で、国後島は４３人、色丹島は１９人。

　歯舞群島には４１人が本籍を置く。４島への転籍は、国内の通常の移転と同じ手続きででき、転籍者の旧本籍地は全国各地に及ぶという。

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Monsanto and Hillary Clinton's Redemptive First Act as Secretary of State

* By Linn Cohen-Cole
Op-Ed News, February 9, 2009
Straight to the Source

For those who hope Obama will bring something different to the world, we must first see clearly what is happening, and make demands of him that are profound, not show.

Liberals are pleased he may appoint a White House farmer to plant an organic garden. That is empty show.

Meanwhile corporations like Monsanto are moving rapidly to take control of food supplies ... and democracies, including ours. www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/1/192127/2714/736/691835

Obama chose Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State. We cannot know what deals were struck to make her stop her destructive campaigning long after it was apparent she had lost. But we do know that Mark Penn, CEO for Burson-Marsteller, one of the world's large PR firms representing Monsanto.
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=392
advised her for years and ran her campaign. And when she showed up again, by Obama's side, suddenly so did a man named Michael Taylor ... also again.


MIchael Taylor is a Monsanto lawyer Bill Clinton once put in charge of the FDA where he approved Monsanto's rBGH. Hillary was back, andObama was putting Taylor on his transition team. www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_15710.cfm

Using the transition team's advice, Obama appointed Tom Vilsack to head the USDA, overriding 20,000 opposing "grassroots" emails. The objection to Vilsack? His deep Monsanto connections.

www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_15573.cfm

Hillary Clinton's connections to Monsanto go way back the Rose Law Firm where she worked. Rose represents Monsanto, Tyson, and Walmart -the world leaders in genetic engineering, animal production and industrialized food. She received favors there, as did Bill. In office, Bill's USDA immediately and significantly weakened chicken waste and contamination standards, easing Tyson's poultry-factory expansion, www.financialsense.com/editorials/engdahl/2006/0828.html , and his USDA head, Espy, was indicted for bribes, money laundering, and much more, with Tyson was the largest corporate offender.

What happened specifically with Monsanto?
Bill appointed Michael Taylor head of the FDA and put other Monsanto employees in as US Agricultural Trade Representatives, onto International Biotechnology Consultive Forums, and more ...

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France's Genetically Modified Ban PDF Print E-mail
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Posted by Truth About Trade & Technology
Thursday, 19 February 2009
The Wall Street Journal
February 16, 2009 Science isn't a concern when greens try to block biotech crops and goods.
From today's Wall Street Journal Europe.

French food-safety authorities have finally owned up to the fact that a form of genetically modified corn isn't dangerous. Now it's up to the rest of the EU to make sure Paris doesn't keep using junk science to ban the crop.

Reversing an earlier decision, the food agency known by its French initials AFSSA concluded recently that Monsanto's MON 810 corn poses no health risks. The change of heart corrected not only an error of science but one of intellectual honesty: Twelve of the 15 scientists who wrote the original report protested that politicians had misused their work. Yet AFSSA didn't deign to make its latest findings public until Le Figaro published a story about them.

Predictably, Prime Minister Francois Fillon promised to maintain the government ban on GM crops as a "precaution." The European Commission has criticized France's unscientific stance, and today an EU panel of experts will consider a proposal to force France and Greece to overturn their bans on MON 810. The issue could be punted to a March 2 meeting of environment ministers, who in the past have been loath to force national capitals to accept biotech seeds and products.

Hiding behind the "precautionary principle"—which holds that we should avoid any activity that might, in the future, somewhere, have some sort of not-so-perfect effect on, well, something—is not only bad science. It's also contrary to what farmers want. Despite fear mongering about "frankenfoods," biotech planting in Europe rose by 21% last year from 2007, according to CropLife International, an industry lobbying group. Even so, the Old Continent is quickly being left behind when it comes to GM crops, which are gaining in popularity from Egypt to Uruguay to China.

Many of the same groups that oppose genetically modified goods in spite of the science support CO2 restrictions because of the supposedly settled science of global warming. We guess science is king only when the greens say it is.

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Food companies pledge to avoid GM beet sugar PDF Print E-mail
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Posted by Truth About Trade & Technology
Thursday, 19 February 2009
Food Navigator
February 17, 2009 By Caroline Scott-Thomas, 17-Feb-2009

Over 70 companies have vowed not to use or sell genetically modified beet sugar by signing a registry set up by food safety, environmental and corporate watchdog organizations on Saturday.

The first GM sugar beet crops – which were Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar beets – were harvested in the fall, but signatories of the Non-Genetically Modified (GM) Beet Sugar Registry have said they are worried about a lack of knowledge about the long-term health and environmental impacts of GM beet sugar. The Center for Food Safety (CFS) added that one of the reasons for creating the registry is to give consumers a choice about whether they eat foods containing GM sugar in the absence of mandatory labeling for GM foods.

Jeffrey Smith, director of the Institute for Responsible Technology – one of a dozen sponsors of the registry – said: “We need to avoid the all-too-common situation of finding out a product is harmful after it has been approved and widely distributed. Requiring that GM foods be labeled is the only protection consumers have if they want to avoid eating GM foods.”

CFS asserted that the US Environmental Protection Agency increased allowable levels of herbicide residue on GM sugar beet roots “at the request of Monsanto.”

Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar beets are modified so that the crop is resistant to the company’s Roundup-brand herbicide, allowing farmers to quickly kill weeds without killing the crop.

No one from Monsanto was available to comment prior to publication.

Contamination concerns

CFS has also said that the recent mercury contamination of high fructose corn syrup has made companies particularly nervous about the introduction of unlabeled GM beet sugar to the US food supply.

It said: “The registry shows the food industry’s increasing apprehension about the government’s ability to adequately regulate food production technologies.”

Tom Stearns, president of High Mowing Organic Seeds, which has also sponsored the registry, expressed concern that GM sugar beets would cross-pollinate with related crops such as chard and table beets, meaning that the issue could affect other foods and food ingredients.

“Overseas markets have already rejected other GM products, so the economic future of many of our nation’s farmers is being needlessly risked,” he said.

The registry has been signed by 73 grocery chains and food producers so far, documenting a pledge to “seek wherever possible to avoid using GM beet sugar in our products” and urging the sugar beet industry to avoid using GM beets.

A full list of companies that have signed the registry is available here .

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02.18.2009 1:16 pm
Germany next to nix Monsanto’s GM corn?
By Jeffrey Tomich
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Bloomberg News reports that Germany’s Agriculture Minister was quoted in today’s Berliner Zietung saying the government may revoke a license for the cultivation of Monsanto Co.’s genetically modified corn because of lack of demand.

According to the country’s farmers’ association, about 6,600 acres of MON 810 corn have been planted in Germany, Europe’s largest market. The corn is used for animal feed.

Germany passed legislation a year ago to overturn a 10-year freeze on sale of the seeds that had been put in place by the Social Democrat-Green Party coalition government. Under the agreement, Monsanto must monitor fields where the corn is grown for environmental impacts and the spread beyond approved areas, the story says.

A report based on that monitoring is to be published March 31 with a decision to follow by the Agriculture Ministry.

Creve Coeur-based Monsanto is quoted in the story as saying it hopes the decision is based on “scientific facts,” not politics.

It was just Monday that the EU experts failed to reach a consensus on whether to force Greece and France to lift bans on Monsanto’s insect-resistant corn. The two countries are the only members of the 27-country EU that don’t allow the crop.

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GM crops grow, Australia misses out
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
By David Leyonhjelm

Australia’s share of the global genetically modified crop area was 0.2 per cent in 2008, according to a report by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA).

The report found that 13.3 million farmers in a record 25 countries (three more than 2007) planted 125 million hectares of biotech crops last year, an increase of 9.4 per cent. The two billionth cumulative acre of biotech crops also was planted in 2008, just three years after the first billionth acre, a milestone that required a decade to reach.

The eight leading GM crop adopters each cultivated more than 1 million ha, with India narrowly displacing Canada as the fourth-largest in the ranking.

The planted area in the EU grew 21 per cent with Spain, Czech Republic, Romania, Portugal, Germany, Poland and Slovakia all growing GM crops. A new biotech crop, herbicide-tolerant sugar beet, was planted in the United States and Canada for the first time.

Most notably, in 2008 biotech farming began in the African nations of Egypt and Burkina Faso. Egypt planted 700 hectares of Bt maize and Burkina Faso planted 8,500 hectares of Bt cotton. They join South Africa, which since 1998 has been growing biotech cotton, maize and soybean.

Soybeans remained the predominant GM crop, representing 53 per cent of the global GM crop area. GM maize accounted for 30 per cent, cotton 12 per cent and canola 5 per cent. Other GM crops cultivated were papayas, carnations, poplars, squash and alfalfa.

By the end of the second decade of commercialisation in 2015, ISAAA predicts that 200 million hectares of biotech crops annually will be planted in a total of 40 countries.

ISAAA says that in addition to aiding in issues of food security, biotech crops have an important role in lessening the environmental impact and improving the sustainability of production. It estimates forty-three million additional hectares of land would have been required to create the production gain of 141 million tonnes generated by biotech crops.

Biotech crops have already substantially reduced agriculture’s environmental footprint by reducing pesticides, saving on fossil fuel use and decreasing carbon dioxide emissions and soil loss through less ploughing.

The development of drought-tolerant crops has enormous potential to increase yield where water is limiting. Drought tolerant maize is expected to be available in the US in 2012, or earlier, and in sub-Sahara Africa by 2017.

Australia has grown GM cotton and carnations for over a decade but other crops face substantial regulatory and political opposition. In 2008 GM canola was finally grown commercially in NSW and Victoria and there are signs it may be approved in WA, but the crop continues to be banned in Tasmania and SA.

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崩壊前夜の新聞業界
ついに始まった「コスト削減の嵐」
MONEYzine編集部 2009年02月22日 13:00
給料 年収 平均年収 新聞 毎日新聞 給与 新聞業界 朝日新聞

　高給で有名な大手新聞社。しかし売上や広告費が減っているなかで、ビジネスモデルの限界が囁かれている。

　新聞業界のビジネスモデルは崩壊寸前だ。パソコンや携帯電話などからインターネットによって情報を取得し始めた若者を中心に新聞離れが進んでおり、購読者の減少とともに広告費も縮小傾向、さらに用紙代の上昇や金融危機も業界による不況も深刻な影響をおよぼしている。

　昨年末には産経新聞社と毎日新聞社が2008年9月の中間連結決算で、営業赤字に転落したことが明らかとなったが、全国紙・地方紙を問わず、売上は右肩下がりだ。近年では夕刊の廃止や休刊も相次いでおり、すでに毎日新聞社が北海道内での夕刊を昨年8月末に、東北地方で最も長い歴史を持つ秋田魁新報や、創刊62年の夕刊紙「名古屋タイムズ」も昨年休刊に踏み切ったほか、鹿児島県の地方新聞である南日本新聞（鹿児島市）も1934年から続いていた夕刊を今月末をもって休刊すると発表している。

　相次ぐ夕刊廃止の要因は、収益の2本柱である購読者数と広告費が減少だ。広告出稿は10年前の水準より2割ほど減少しており、電通の調査によると 07年の新聞広告費は、9462億円（前年比94.8％）と推定されており、2年連続で1兆円を下回り、広告費の減少傾向は歯止めがきかなくなっている。

　これまで大手新聞社は「高給軍団」として大手総合商社や金融機関と同等か、もしくはそれを上回る年収を得ていた。減収が続く現在でも朝日新聞社の社員の平均年収は1329万円、日本経済新聞社1304万円と国内の全業界でもトップレベルを保っている。読売新聞社については平均年収は非公表だが、部数では1000万部を突破し全国紙トップで、年収も同等水準であると推測される。

　だがその高給も売上や広告費が減っているなかでは保つのが難しくなってきている。毎日新聞社や産経新聞社は社員の平均年収が1000万円を下回っており、今後も大幅に上昇していくことは考えにくい状況だ。また朝日新聞社他、大手3社も書籍の出版部門などを本体から次々と切り離し、子会化することで人件費の削減に取り組み、生き残りを図っている。子会社となった部門は新しい給与体系となり、ボーナスは軒並み減額され、また子会社に入社する新入社員にはそれまで新聞社本体が提供してきた高給や昇給システムは採用されにくいのが現実だ。

　とくに全国紙は国内に販売店を多数配置しているため販売コストが非常に高いのにもかかわらず、売上減少に対応できずにいる。以前から業界内でも「新聞社のビジネスモデルはいずれ崩壊する」と将来を危惧する声も出ているが、これといって事業を回復させる明るい材料もなく苦しんでいる。新たな戦略が打ち出せないまま各社が取り組み始めたのが「コスト削減」だ。大手マスコミといえば経費を贅沢に使えるイメージもあるが、10年前に約2000億円あった広告収入がほぼ半減してしまった朝日新聞社ではタクシーチケットの撤廃や出張費、記者クラブ費などの取材費の一部カット、夜食の運用の見直しや社内行事の中止などで200億円のコスト削減を目標にしているといわれる。売上が減る中で、事業を維持するため経営陣も必死だが、コスト削減とともに既存のビジネスモデルを脱却しないことには、状況を打破するのは困難な状況だ。

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赤字なのに平均年収トップのテレビ業界 「高給のカラクリ」
MONEYzine編集部 2009年02月08日 13:00
給料 年収 収入 TBS フジテレビ テレビ業界 CM 日本テレビ テレビ東京

　広告収入の減少でテレビ業界が不振に陥っているが、それにもかかわらずなぜ民放キー局5社の社員は年収1000万円を悠々と突破できるのだろうか。

　景気低迷の影響でテレビCMによる収入の落ち込みが目立ち、テレビ業界が不振に陥っている。とくに化粧品・飲料・自動車などのCMの稼ぎ柱の収入が前年を下回り、民放キー局5社の08年9月中間連結決算では、ほとんどの局の純利益が大幅に減少した。日本テレビとテレビ東京は何十年ぶりとなる赤字を計上する事態となり、TBSも4日に発表した08年12月中間連結決算で、純利益が前年同期比72.1％減の53億7900万円と大幅に落ち込んでしまった。

　収益が大幅に減り、危機感を増しているテレビ業界では番組制作費が軒並み削減傾向で、現場からは「予算がどんどん削られていく」と悲鳴が聞こえてくる。テレビ東京の人気番組『たけしの誰でもピカソ！』も広告収入に対しタレントのギャラが高く、収支が合わないため今年3月いっぱいで打ち切られる予定だ。

　不況の影響が深刻なテレビ業界だが、それでも国内トップクラスといわれる彼らの高給は今のところ維持されているようだ。各局の平均年収を見てみると、TBSの社員は 1550万円とテレビ業界トップ、次点はフジテレビの1534万円、そして日本テレビの1405万円、テレビ朝日 1322万円、テレビ東京 1226万円と続く。国税庁の「民間給与実態統計調査」などの統計では2007年のサラリーマンの平均年収は440万円程度だから、大手テレビ会社の社員には一般の会社員の3倍近くの給料が支給されていることになる。それにしても赤字の会社にもかかわらずなぜテレビ会社の社員は年収1000万円を悠々と突破できるのか。

　高給の理由としてよく語られるのが放送業界が持つ利権だ。放送局を開設するには免許が必要で、大規模な地上波放送の場合、日本では総務省が電波をわりあてないと参入できない。このためテレビ業界は新規参入がすくなく、既得権益化しているのではないかとしばしば指摘されている。また問題となっているのがテレビ業界の中で生じている格差だ。民放キー局5社の正社員なら高給が約束されるが、下請け制作会社社員の給料は月給20万円にも満たないケースも多い。また地方テレビ局との格差も顕著で秋田テレビやとちぎテレビの社員の給料は、TBS社員の半分にも満たない水準だ。

　今後業績が悪化し続ければさすがに民放キー局5社の高給も下がっていくのだろうが、その前段階で広告収入の減少のしわよせが下請け制作会社に来ているというのがテレビ業界の現実だ。