UK touts and taxis clash as trade falls

UK touts and taxis clash as trade falls

By Bob Sherwood, London and South-East Correspondent

Published: May 1 2009 18:37 | Last updated: May 1 2009 23:47

Taxi drivers who face dwindling trade in the recession are mounting nightly co-ordinated operations against rogue minicab touts working outside West End nightclubs.

The black cab drivers are using radio networks such as Dial-a-Cab to target illegal touts, often summoning 30 cabs or more to converge on a club or restaurant and to form an impromptu taxi rank to take business away from the minicabs.

The tactic, operating up to six times a night for the past couple of weeks, has resulted in violent confrontations with touts and nightclub door staff.

“It’s taxi wars,” said Steve McNamara of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association. “It’s almost been a throwback to the clashes of the 1960s.”

The worst clash to date happened in Cornhill in the City. A black cab was rammed and a driver attacked, leading to a brawl after up to 200 cabs converged on the scene, he said.

Cabbies’ anger at illegal touts, who operate outside nightspots clad in high-visibility vests and brandishing clipboards, has intensified as trade has declined in the recession and London’s authorities have failed to get to grips with the problem.

Some companies have set up legitimate cab booking desks in clubs after a requirement for minicab offices to gain planning permission was scrapped. But it is illegal for so-called “clipboard johnnies”, who taxi drivers accuse of working in league with some door staff, to approach people on the streets to offer taxi services.

Mr McNamara said: “It has been very successful for drivers. They have been finding it quite lucrative.” He said the black cabs were cheaper than the minicabs, which can have a £25 minimum fare.

Brian Rice, chairman of Dial-a-Cab and the London Taxi Board, said: “It started off with Dial-a-Cab. Our members are self-employed and they can send messages by the data network.

“The touts are beginning to get a bit upset that licensed taxis are turning up and taking people home and that’s obviously led to some problems. But it’s a perfectly legitimate use of the network.”

The minicab industry has also criticised the touts, but it pointed out some of the operations linked to nightclubs were operating legally.

Steve Wright, chairman of the Licensed Private Hire Car Association, said the issue had come to a head as many cabbies had moved into the West End after corporate work dried up, while the downturn had increased the numbers of unlicensed minicabs on the streets.

Mr Wright, a Transport for London board member who on Friday attended a Scotland Yard meeting about the problem, warned against confrontations. “It solves nothing to be a vigilante and [to] take matters into your own hands ... It needs a broad church of people to resolve this issue.”

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A Greek in Africa

Published: May 1 2009 18:41 | Last updated: May 1 2009 18:41

May Day brings with it not only the first whiff of spring but a crop of strikes and protests – the canoodling season and the barricades.

The brave decision of Kenya’s women to launch a sex strike – to force the power-sharing combo of Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki to set aside their vicious back-biting in the interests of the country – perfectly captures the conjunction.

Not since Italians downed forks in a strike against the cost of pasta two years ago – crying Not a Penne More! – has protest so captured the imagination of the world.

The sacrifice made by the Italians, moreover, was not negligible by comparison: polls at the time, after all, showed half of them would rather forgo sex than pasta.

Yet, as readers of the original guide to sex strikes – Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata, in which the ladies of Athens withhold their favours from their menfolk in protest at the Peloponnesian war of the 5th century BC – will know, there is the issue of strike-breaking.

As one (female) Kenyan columnist put it: “Who is going to police it, and who will be keeping the score?”

She should not despair. In recent years there have been successful sex strikes in Turkey (against inadequate water supply), in Italy (against dangerous fireworks) and Colombia (against gangs; though an attempt to use the tactic against leftwing guerrillas failed).

Tactics are the critical thing. In the Aristophanes original, Lysistrata slyly caught the attention of squabbling Spartan and Athenian ambassadors by parading a sexy young woman named Reconciliation in front of them. Peace terms suddenly become eminently rational and they repair to the Acropolis for celebrations, Reconciliation in tow.

The Kenyan sex strikers’ secret weapon may be the prime minister’s wife Ida Odinga, who has joined the strike. “Great decisions are made during pillow talk,” a strike co-ordinator says. “At that intimate moment [she can ask her] husband: ‘Darling, can you do something for Kenya?’”

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3M, Kimberly-Clark Among Few to Make Swine Flu Masks (Update2)
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By Carol Wolf

May 1 (Bloomberg) -- 3M Co. and Kimberly-Clark Corp. are among the few manufacturers that make respiratory masks sophisticated enough to ward off swine flu, exacerbating a shortage at retailers.

Only masks rated N95 or above, which can filter at least 95 percent of airborne particles, are effective at blocking the H1N1 virus, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. N95 respirators require sophisticated manufacturing techniques because they contain a filter often made of carbon, health officials said.

“If you are going to wear a mask, the N95 is the one, but it has to be fitted properly and is difficult to breathe from,” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association in Washington, in a telephone interview. Regular face masks are loose-fitting and block only large particles, he said in an April 29 interview.

Swine flu has been found in 11 countries and has killed at least 10 people as of May 1, according to the World Health Organization. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 109 cases in 11 states. No mask or respirator can completely halt the contagion, the Atlanta-based CDC said on its Web site.

Other manufacturers include Markham, Ontario-based Alpha Pro Tech Ltd. and Mine Safety Appliances Co. in Pittsburgh, which delivered truckloads of respirators to workers cleaning up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Not Enough Capacity

Cantel Medical Corp.’s Crosstex unit received requests for about 1 million N95 masks this week, about twice what it had available, Andrew Whitehead, a company spokesman, said April 30.

“There just isn’t enough capacity in the industry to supply everyone in the country with an N95,” he said. Little Falls, New Jersey-based Cantel had 2008 sales of $249.4 million.

With few manufacturers and high demand, retailers are running out fast. CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co., the two largest U.S. drugstore chains, are sold out on their Web sites and at some stores. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Home Depot Inc. are out of stock at many locations, and only a few types of the mask are still available through Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest online retailer.

“Whether we will be able to replenish the supply hasn’t yet been determined,” said Tiffani Washington, a Walgreen spokeswoman, said in an April 30 interview. CVS is working with suppliers to meet increased demand for masks, Michael DeAngelis, a company spokesman, said in an April 30 e-mail.

3M rose 28 cents to $57.88 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have risen less than 1 percent this year. Kimberly-Clark added 61 cents to $49.75 and has declined 5.7 percent this year.

3M Demand

3M hasn’t been able to fill all of its customer requests for the masks, Jacqueline Berry, spokeswoman for the St. Paul, Minnesota-based company, said in a telephone interview on April 29. She couldn’t say when the product would be available.

“We expect demand for these products to outpace supply for the foreseeable future,” Berry said in an April 30 e-mail.

Kimberly-Clark has increased production to “minimize potential disruptions,” Lance Latham, spokesman for the Dallas- based maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues, said in an e-mail April 29. He declined to provide further information.

Even with normal demand, it can take as long as six weeks to obtain the raw materials needed to make N95 respirators, said Al Millar, chief executive officer of Alpha Pro Tech, in an April 27 interview. Alpha Pro Tech has increased production and can meet customer demands, he said.

N95 respirators can range in price from $2 to about $30. Respirators used by emergency workers can cost $200 to $4,000, Deasy said. Other respiratory masks that will filter out the virus are the N99 and N100, according to the CDC. Masks are rated by the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, according to the CDC.

N95 respirators aren’t designed for children and won’t work effectively if worn by people with facial hair or unusual facial features, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“If you don’t know how to wear it right, you’re giving yourself a false sense of security,” said Benjamin of the health association.

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大物市長が逮捕されたワケ…贈賄業者の内紛でタレ込み、千葉市汚職事件 (1/5ページ)
2009.5.2 17:06
このニュースのトピックス：衝撃事件の核心
鶴岡容疑者がノートに書いた容疑を否定するメッセージを掲げる弁護士鶴岡容疑者がノートに書いた容疑を否定するメッセージを掲げる弁護士

　旧自治省（現総務省）出身の元キャリア官僚で、自他ともに「地方自治のプロ」と認める千葉市長、鶴岡啓一容疑者（６８）＝５月１日付で辞職＝が収賄容疑で逮捕された千葉市汚職事件。現役市長の衝撃的な逮捕劇は贈賄業者からのたれ込みで始まった。「初当選前から深い関係にあった」（警視庁捜査員）贈賄業者が、市長を裏切ったのはなぜか。そこには業者のある“事情”があった。「潔白」を訴えながら市長を辞職した鶴岡容疑者は留置施設で、差し入れてもらった姜尚中さんの著書『悩む力』を読み耽る日々を送っているという。

贈賄側のキーマンに使途不明金…

　政令市長が収賄容疑で逮捕されるのは、ゼネコン汚職事件で平成５年に仙台市長が逮捕されて以来。それだけに慎重な捜査を進めてきた警視庁捜査２課は、逮捕容疑となった現金１００万円のわいろを授受した日時と場所を特定している。場所は市長応接室だった。

　なぜ、捜査２課は受け渡しの詳細な様子まで把握できたのか－。

　捜査２課に今回の汚職事件の端緒となる情報がもたらされたのは昨年のこと。きっかけは、鶴岡容疑者に現金を渡したとされる土木建築業「東起業」（東京都江東区）の元千葉支店長に、多額の使途不明金が発覚したことだった。

　千葉県内の建設業関係者によると、元支店長は約３０年前から同社千葉支店で勤務。一貫して営業畑を歩み続けており、地元の業界では知られた人物だった。

　同県選出の元国会議員の「秘書」と記した名刺を持ち歩き、発注元にリベートを提供して仕事を取る“剛腕”ぶりを発揮して営業実績を上げたという。

　「（リベートは総額で）５、６０００万円使っちゃった。発注者にリベートが必要なときだってあるだろう」

　親しい県内業者にはこう豪語したこともあったという。

　だが、使途不明金の存在が明らかになった昨年初めに東起業経営陣とトラブルになった末に退社した。問題発覚を契機に、同社内では内紛が勃発（ぼっぽつ）したのだ。

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中国共産党　弱まる宗教制御　仏教寺院ｖｓ地方政府　世論は僧侶支持　 (1/2ページ)
2009.4.19 23:38
このニュースのトピックス：中国

　【北京＝矢板明夫】中国各地で３月以降、仏教寺院と地方政府が衝突する事件が相次いでいる。当局側が推進する土地開発計画による宗教活動の妨害や僧侶への人権侵害など原因はさまざまだが、多くの民衆が寺院側を支持していることが特徴だ。中国では、経済の自由化にあわせて宗教への信仰が拡大しており、「無神論」を原則とする共産党の求心力の低下を示す事態といえそうだ。

　香港紙、大公報などによると、陝西省扶風県で３月２０日、中国４大仏教聖地の一つ、法門寺の僧侶と地元の仏教信者数百人が土地開発業者と衝突し、建設中の観光公園の壁を押し倒す事件が発生した。

　観光公園は地域活性化計画の一環として地元政府が整備を進めているもの。同寺を含む周辺のいくつかの観光スポットをレンガの壁で囲み、地方政府が年間１００万人超の参拝客から１人１８０元（約２７００円）の入場料を徴収しようとしたことから騒動に発展した。

　このニュースがインターネットを通じて広がると、僧侶らを応援する書き込みが殺到した。「共産党は金のために何でもする。バチが当たって地獄に落ちるに違いない」といった厳しい意見もみられた。

　重慶市にある著名な寺院、温泉寺でも３月末に類似した事件が起きた。同寺を訪れる大勢の参拝客に目を付けた地元政府が周辺地域の観光リゾート化を計画。複数の温泉ホテルを建設し、風俗業者を入居させるとの情報が広まり、僧侶たちが猛反発した。

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統計・土地台帳などの行政情報、政府がネット公開計画

　政府は全国に埋もれている行政情報の「再生」に乗り出す。3年以内に統計情報や土地台帳、美術品などの情報を電子化し、インターネットで幅広く検索・閲覧できるようにする。電子化する過程で情報管理業務を見直し、無駄の削減にも役立てる。

　これまで保存されている行政情報を一般の国民が活用する機会は少なく、情報公開も進んでいなかった。政府は必要な行政情報を電子化・保存したうえで、世界に発信する「ナショナル・デジタルライブラリー構想」を策定。各省庁に有益な情報の選別作業に取りかかるように指示した。(15:22)

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Buffett dispenses gloom at Berkshire fest

Yesterday, 10:09 pm
Reuters Jonathan Stempel and Lilla Zuill

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Warren Buffett told a record crowd at a sombre annual meeting of his Berkshire Hathaway that first-quarter operating profit fell and the company's book value declined 6 percent, as the recession hurt many of the company's businesses and investments. Skip related content
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Operating profit fell about 12 percent from a year earlier to $1.7 billion (1.14 billion pounds), as most of Berkshire's businesses were "basically down," Buffett told an estimated 35,000 people at the meeting in downtown Omaha.

The decline in book value results in part from falling stock prices and higher losses on derivatives contracts, and comes on top of a 9.6 percent decline last year, the biggest drop since Buffett began running the company in 1965.

Buffett acknowledged that Berkshire will probably lose money on derivatives tied to the credit quality of junk bonds, though he still expects to make money on a much larger and longer-term derivatives bet that stock prices will rise.

Berkshire's cash stake fell to about $22.7 billion on March 31 from $25.5 billion at year end, Buffett said. Berkshire expects to report results on May 8.

The outlook punctuated a meeting that had a decidedly more serious and sombre tone from years past as many investors expressed worries about the economy, Berkshire's investments, and how long the 78-year-old Buffett plans to stay on the job.

Half the questions were pre-screened by journalists, providing a tougher and more substantive dialogue with Buffett and his 85-year-old vice chairman, Charlie Munger.

Berkshire's stock has fallen 39 percent since December 2007, but Buffett said no stock buybacks are planned because Berkshire's share price is not "demonstrably below" the company's intrinsic value. Profit fell 62 percent last year.

Buffett offered a gloomy forecast for parts of the economy and Berkshire itself, saying some units are laying off workers as managers "look at the reality of the current situation."

He also said massive federal efforts to stimulate activity could pay off, at a possible cost of higher inflation.

"It has been a very extraordinary year," Buffett said. "When the American public pulls back the way they have, the government does need to step in.... It is the right thing to do, but it won't be a free ride."

DERIVATIVES

Buffett said housing prices have yet to stabilise broadly, that retailers may be under pressure for a "considerable period of time," and that he would not buy most U.S. newspaper companies "at any price."

He also said that in insurance, which comprises about half of Berkshire's operations, the earnings power "was not as good last year as normal" and "won't be as good this year."

Buffett had transformed Berkshire from a failing textile maker into a company with close to 80 businesses that sell such things as Geico car insurance, paint, ice cream and underwear.

Buffett is often considered the world's greatest investor, but recent missteps have prompted speculation the world's second-richest person has lost his touch.

Berkshire still has three internal candidates to replace him as chief executive, including one the board could appoint immediately if the occasion arose.

Buffett said the four candidates to replace him as chief investment officer failed in 2008 to outperform the Standard & Poor's 500, which fell 38 percent that year.

But he said the candidates' performance has been "modestly to significantly better than average" over 10 years, and that he was confident they could repeat that in the next 10 years.

Marc Rabinov, a shareholder from Melbourne, Australia, who said he was attending his 13th meeting, called succession a "big problem." But he added: "They are very good at being able to assess character, and that's the most important thing about who replaces him."

Much of the worry about Berkshire has focussed on Buffett's use of derivatives in making long-term bets on the direction of stocks and junk bonds, and which have so far resulted in billions of dollars of paper losses.

While Buffett still expects the contracts tied to equity stock indexes to make money, he said "we have run into far more bankruptcies in the last year than is normal."

He said he now expects the contracts tied to credit defaults, which mature between 2009 and 2013, will show a loss before investment income, and perhaps after as well.

Buffett distinguishes his derivatives from others, given that he collects billions of dollars of premiums upfront to invest and posts little collateral. He called other derivatives "a danger to the system. There is no question about that."

CONFIDENCE IN BANKS

Buffett expressed confidence in Wells Fargo, one of Berkshire's biggest investments, saying it has "by far the best competitive position" of any large U.S. bank.

He noted that Wells Fargo shares fell below $9 earlier this year, and that at that price, "If I had (to) put all of my net worth into stock, that would be the stock." The bank's shares closed Friday at $19.61.

Buffett added that if he wanted to turn Berkshire into a bank holding company, "I would love to buy all of US Bancorp, or I would love to buy all of Wells."

He also defended Berkshire's roughly 20 percent stake in Moody's, and said the credit rating agency "made a huge mistake" but was not alone in failing to foresee the housing and credit crisis. He also said "the rating agency business is probably still a good business."

Buffett also said Berkshire can weather its recent loss of its "triple-A" credit ratings from Moody's and Fitch ratings. "The 'triple-A' is not going to be material to Berkshire," he said, "but it still irritates me."

While declining to name candidates to replace him as chief executive officer and chief investment officer, Buffett said "it would be impossible" to replace Ajit Jain, who runs much of his insurance businesses and whom investors believe is a CEO contender. "We won't find a substitute for him," Buffett said.

Buffett also said that while Berkshire is less nimble than when it was smaller, "our sustainable competitive advantage is we have a culture and business model that people would find very, very difficult to copy."

Munger added that "the stupidity in the management practices of the rest of the corporate world" will likely benefit Berkshire in the future.

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Moroccan airline rules out offer over Air Senegal

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AFP

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Royal Air Maroc has rejected the latest Senegalese offer over Air Senegal, which has ceased operations amid a dispute between Dakar and majority shareholder RAM, officials said Saturday. Skip related content
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The offer had come out of talks in Dakar over the last three days between Senegalese and Moroccan civil aviation experts to find a way out of a crisis.

RAM had rejected a proposal from the Senegalese side RAM executive Habiba Laklalech told the Moroccan news agency MAP.

It was not acceptable that the Senegalese side wants to oblige RAM to subsidise the relaunch of Air Senegal to the tune of at least 300 million dirhams (27 million euros), said Laklalech.

Royal Air Maroc (RAM) holds 51 percent of Air Senegal while the Senegalese government controls 49 percent.

After an escalating dispute about money and control over the company RAM suddenly announced on April 24 that Air Senegal was stopping all operations, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

The row intensified earlier this month when a Senegalese court ruling banned RAM from withdrawing from the Senegalese carrier. RAM is appealing the decision.

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European Union wants to control the Internet!
01.05.2009 Source: URL: http://english.pravda.ru/world/europe/107483-euinternet-0

Vote in the European Parliament on May 5, 2009

Do not let the European Parliament close the Internet ... It will not come back!

Act now!

Access to the Internet is not unconditional

All those who have a website, a blog as well as those who use Google or Skype, all those who like to express their views freely, investigating in a way understood to be for personal issues, professional or academic, all that shopping online, making online friends, listening to music or watching videos ...

Million of Europeans depend on the Internet either directly or indirectly as part of their lifestyle. To take it away, to limit it, to restrict it or to condition it will have a direct impact on what we do. And if a small business depends on the Internet to survive, making it inaccessible in a period of crisis in which we can survive cannot be good.

Therefore we know the Internet is threatened with extinction by the new laws that the European Union wants to propose at the end of April. Secondly, under these laws, service providers, that is companies that provide us with the Internet, PT, Zon, Clix and many others, will be able to legally limit the number of websites we visit, besides being able to limit the use or subscription for any services that we want from any site.

People will have the kind of internet packages similar to those on the current television. It will be advertised with many "new services," but they will be exclusively controlled by the Internet provider, with access options for sites highly restricted.

This means that the Internet will be packaged up and your ability to access and post content will be severely restricted. It will create packages of accessibility on the Internet that are not adapted to the actual use that we give to the Internet today.

The reason is simple...

Today the Internet allows exchanges between persons who are not controlled or promoted by an intermediary (the state or a large enterprise), and this situation in fact improves people’s lives, but it forces the large corporations to lose power, control and profits. And it is for this that these enterprises force the "friendly" politicians to act before this situation.

The excuse is the piracy of movies and music, but the real victims will be all of us, democracy and cultural independence and information for the citizen.

Recently, they came up with the idea that the piracy of videos and music promotes terrorism (http://diario.iol.pt/tecnologia/mapinet-internet-pirataria-terrorismo-crime-tvi24/1058509-406) so that it is unthinkable to a common citizen not to agree with the new laws...

Think about the way the Internet is used! What would it mean if freedom of choice was removed?

Nowadays, the Internet is about life and freedom. It is to shop online, to book tickets for cinema, holidays, we learn new things, seek employment, we access our bank and we do commerce.

But it is also about fun things like dating, chat, inviting friends, listening to music, seeing humor, or even to have a second life.

It helps us to express ourselves, we innovate, we collaborate, we share, and it helps us to have new ideas and to prosper ... all without the help of intermediaries.

But with these new laws, providers of Internet will choose where we will do everything, that is if they will allow us to.

In the case of the sites that we visit, or that we have created, they will not be included in these packages offered by these enterprises, nobody will be able to find them.

If we are owners of a site or a blog and we are not rich or have powerful friends, we will have to close.

Only the big ones will prevail, with the excuse that the small ones do not generate sufficient traffic to justify being included in the package.

We will keep on having Amazon, FNAC or the financial site, but few more.

The free Internet phone calls certainly will finish (if it passes as already happens in some countries of Europe) and small business and discussion groups will disappear, especially those most interesting, which can and want to share their knowledge freely with the world.

If we do nothing we will almost certainly lose our freedom and the free use of the Internet.

The proposal in the European Parliament risks our future because it is about to become a law, a law almost impossible to reverse.

Many people, including deputies of the European Parliament who will vote positively, do not have the least idea of what this can mean, or do not notice the brutal implications that these laws will have on the economy, society and freedom. These measures are wrapped up in a thing called "Packet of Telecom's" disguising these laws as something that is only relative to the telecommunications industry.

But in truth, it is not only all about the passing of laws on the future use of the Internet. Freedom is being deleted from the map.

In these proposed laws, there are included rules that oblige the Telecoms to inform citizens of the conditions in which access to the Internet is supplied. It seems to be a good thing, in the name of transparency, but it is just a diversion to be able to say that they can limit our freedom of access to the Internet, that they will only inform us of that.

The future of the Internet is in play and we need to act in order to save it.

Tell the European Parliament that you would not like these alterations to be voted on.

Remember that the European elections are in June and that the Internet still gives us some freedom so that we can observe and judge their actions in the Parliament.

Know that you are not alone in this fight ... As you read this, hundreds and hundreds of other organizations are working to ensure that this message reaches the right people. Thousands of people are also contacting their members in this direction. Help yourself to it exactly, collaborate and do what you can for this cause ...

The Internet is as much yours as it is theirs ...

Spread this message as much as possible...

You also can write to your deputies...

These are our deputies in the European Parliament:

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputados_de_Portugal_no_Parlamento_Europeu _ (2004-2009)

or

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/search.do;jsessionid=69ADF04943C000194117E9C7032EEC31.node1?country=PT&language=PT

For more information about the law:

http://www.laquadrature.net/en/telecoms-package-towards-a-bad-compromise-on-net-discrimination

http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Telecoms_Package

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecoms_Package

http://www.blackouteurope.eu/

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UK slides down tax-friendly rankings

By Sharlene Goff in London

Published: May 1 2009 20:29 | Last updated: May 1 2009 20:29

The UK is rapidly sliding down the ranks of the world’s tax-friendly destinations as new higher rates mean entrepreneurs and business owners could be better off in traditional offshore havens and many other countries around the world.

Figures compiled for the Financial Times by Deloitte show that for a business owner earning £250,000 the UK will soon be more expensive than Ireland, the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Germany, as well as Jersey and Switzerland.

The fading appeal of the UK reflects the new 50 per cent rate of income tax that will catch people earning £150,000 or more from next April and its high rate of national insurance for employers.

“When these charges are added together, individuals may think the UK is not an attractive place to do business,” said Bill Dodwell, partner at Deloitte.

He did, however, point out that the UK does have low corporate tax and a competitive business environment.

“Tax in the UK has got to such a level that they can go beyond the usual offshore locations,” said Mike Bussey, chief executive of Arbuthnot Latham, the private bank.

Switzerland remains the most popular choice for wealthy clients looking to avoid the UK’s higher taxes.

But advisers said Singapore and Dubai, with low income tax and attractive breaks for businesses, were becoming more viable options.

Mr Bussey said some clients felt a line had been crossed with the most recent tax increases.

“There has been a fundamental change in the perception people have of the UK as a friendly place for entrepreneurs,” he said.

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UBS rejects US tax authority's push for offshore account names

By Haig Simonian in Zurich

Published: May 1 2009 03:00 | Last updated: May 1 2009 03:00

UBS yesterday defended itself against attempts by the US Internal Revenue Service to extract names of thousands of American customers holding offshore accounts, telling a federal court that matters should be resolved via talks between Bern and Washington.

The beleaguered Swiss bank was responding to a legal challenge by the IRS to reveal the names of up to 52,000 accounts as part of the US administration's efforts to combat tax evasion.

The world's biggest wealth manager agreed in February to pay $780m to settle criminal charges by the IRS that it had assisted in tax evasion.

But a separate civil action demanding details of the bank's American offshore clients remained pending, with UBS having until April 30 to respond.

In a 50-page submission to the federal court in Southern Florida, UBS presented itself as the victim of a broader dispute over bank secrecy between the US and Switzerland.

The bank argued this should be resolved through intergovernmental negotiations, rather than attempts to coerce a private company.

The submission came as the bank revealed Raoul Weil, formerly head of wealth management, was no longer employed.

Mr Weil was last year indicted by the US authorities of conspiracy to assist in tax evasion, and subsequently declared a fugitive from justice.

The bank said Mr Weil, who has denied the charges, had left to concentrate on his defence.

UBS's court submission, backed by comments from legal and constitutional experts, is based on arguments that issues relating to information about its US offshore clients are covered by the Switzerland-US double taxation treaty.

The bank argues any attempts to access information should be conducted via the treaty, rather than through separate court action.

UBS also notes that, in the single precedent, when the IRS used similar tactics to extract customer information from Bank of America's Hong Kong branch, this was rejected by the courts.

Swiss officials have acknowledged the IRS, which has until June 30 to respond, will maintain the pressure.

The tax authority's highly publicised crackdown on undeclared accounts has already prompted people to come forward voluntarily and declare guilt to mitigate any penalties.

Switzerland last month buckled to mounting pressure from abroad by agreeing to accept international standards on tax transparency.

The government has said it will negotiate new double taxation treaties and talks with the US began this week.

Hans-Rudolf Merz, the Swiss finance minister, has argued the new position should be recognised by the US.

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Saudis three years away from age of the train

By Andrew England and Abeer Allam in Riyadh

Published: May 1 2009 03:00 | Last updated: May 1 2009 03:00

For two years engineers and construction workers from round the world have braved the north-eastern desert of Saudi Arabia, tackling mountains of sand and the whims of stubborn camels.

Their task is to lay more than 2,400km of track to connect remote mines with a new industrial city in the east, as well as passenger and freight links between Riyadh and the Jordanian border town of Haditha.

The SR20bn ($5.3bn, €4bn, £3.6bn) project - the north-south line - is one of three separate developments intended to create a railway network for Saudi Arabia estimated to be costing $25bn.

In spite of being home to the world's largest proved oil reserves and being more than three times the size of France, the kingdom has just two railway lines - single tracks that cross the desert between Riyadh and Dammam, capital of the oil-rich east. But that is to change as the government taps into the hundreds of billions of petrodollars it accumulated during the oil boom.

"We have the money [from] the second boom, and clearly the intention of the government is to invest in infrastructure and you can see it in ports, in highways, railways and dams," says Rumaih Alrumaih, the deputy chief executive for operations at the Saudi Railways Organisation, a recently created entity that is overseeing the development of the north-south line.

Throughout the 1990s the economy stagnated and the government was saddled with huge debts and budget deficits as oil prices fell. With its new-found wealth, it has unveiled a $400bn programme, covering schools, roads and power plants.

The rail network is seen as an important element of the nation's economic ambitions and critical to easing the burden of overloaded roads.

"It will have a huge economic effect and it's not only economic, it's social . . . the interstates [highways] changed the feel of the US because you are making transport easy," Mr Alrumaih says.

A second rail line is to run between Dammam and Jeddah, linking east to west, the Red Sea to the Gulf, avoiding the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden and saving 10 shipping days. That project - Landbridge - has been delayed and is yet to get off the ground, but the government plans to award a 50-year build, operate and transfer concession for the line. Four consortia of Saudi and international groups are competing for the contract.

The third project is the Haramain high-speed rail link between Mecca and Medina via Jeddah - a key route for Muslims who make the pilgrimage to Islam's holiest cities. A SR6.8bn contract for the first phase of construction was awarded in March to the Al Rajhi Alliance, which includes Saudi and Chinese groups.

It is hoped the first phase of the north-south line - connecting phosphate and bauxite mines to Ras Az Zawr on the east coast - will be complete next year; while freight and passenger lines that will run from Riyadh north to the Jordanian border are supposed to be finished by 2012, Mr Alrumaih says.

Contracts worth SR12bn have been given to a mix of Chinese, Saudi, Australian, US and French companies. A further SR8bn worth of

contracts have yet to be awarded for the final phase of construction into Riyadh, as well as passenger stations and trains, workshops and maintenance buildings.

But it has been testing work. In places the track has to be elevated to prevent it from sinking in the sand and disgruntled farmers have had to be appeased as the line cut through family land.

Mr Alrumaih says: "This kind of desert has never been crossed by rail - sandy desert of this size and -magnitude."

And then the camels need accommodating. Engineers have built bridges that appear natural to the environment to lure the rangy beasts to cross from one side of the track to the other.

"Camels have an attitude problem. They are stubborn because they won't go through the tunnels; they refuse," Mr Alrumaih says. "They are very proud and they have to see the sky every single minute of the day so you have to provide them with the crossings."

Mr Alrumaih sees the rail connections as opening new lines of communication through Jordan, Syria and Turkey, creating an import-export network with Europe. It is also hoped the line linking Jeddah and Dammam will serve neighbouring Gulf states, with talk of a Gulf-wide network in the future.