Inhalt:

Gross domestic product fell an annualized 1.5 percent in the final three months of last year compared with the third quarter, according to the median estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Statistics South Africa will publish the report at 11:30 a.m. in Pretoria tomorrow.

Recessions in the U.S., Europe and Japan, which together buy 60 percent of South African exports, are undermining mining and manufacturing production and adding to job losses in a country where unemployment is 23 percent.

"If we run our cars on biofuels produced in the tropics, chances will be good that we are effectively burning rainforests in our gas tanks," she said. "When trees are cut down to make room for new farmland, they are usually burned, sending their stored carbon to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. That creates what's called a carbon debt," Gibbs said. "This is because the carbon lost from deforestation is much greater than the carbon saved from using the current-generation biofuels."

The fall-off will strike just as 2 billion more people are added to the world's population, according to the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP), which says cereal yields have stagnated worldwide and fish catches are declining.

The report concluded that the Earth's temperature is likely to rise between 1.1C and 6.4C by 2100, depending on future global carbon emissions. "We now have data showing that from 2000 to 2007, greenhouse gas emissions increased far more rapidly than we expected, primarily because developing countries, like China and India, saw a huge upsurge in electric power generation, almost all of it based on coal," Field said. The next report, which Field will oversee, is due in 2014 and will now include future scenarios where global warming is far more serious than previous reports have suggested, he said.

The report — jointly released by the UN Environment Programme and the Asian Institute of Technology — studied the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM), Indus and Helmand river basins, all of which span multiple countries within the region.
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Extreme population growth in the basins over the last century has put pressure on the region's water resources, while around two-thirds of the Himalayan glaciers that feed the basins are receding. Additionally, groundwater levels in the GBM and Indus basins are declining at a rate of two to four metres per year due to intense pumping.

In India alone the amount of water per head has decreased from 4,000 to 1,869 cubic metres in the last twenty years.
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"The per capita availability of freshwater is declining, and contaminated water remains the greatest single environmental cause of human illness and death," he says.

The models predict temperature increases of 2–7 degrees Celsius, depending on location and scenario, for the entire tropical South America region.

Most strongly affected will be the tropical Andes, home to 99 per cent of the world's tropical glaciers. These provide the surrounding region with a steady supply of water, retaining much of the precipitation falling at high elevation and eventually — when the snow melts — releasing it to feed river streams.

The study also showed that each additional fast food restaurant in the neighborhood increased the chance of stroke by 1 percent. The results of the research were presented at the International Stroke Conference in San Diego on Thursday.

"Among the many ills of fast food is an extremely high sodium content," said Katz, who was not affiliated with the study. "A highly processed fast food meal may provide a full day's sodium requirement, or more.

"Sodium is a contributor to hypertension, hypertension is a contributor to stroke."

For example, Morgenstern said, such neighborhoods may have fewer parks and green spaces for exercise. They may have a higher level of air pollution -- another determinant of an increased stroke risk. Or they could be poorer areas, with more crime and other stressors that could bump up stroke risk among inhabitants.

That change is not just a reflection of the financial crisis or the recession. The decline in credit ratings has been remorseless over the past couple of decades. In 1987 just 38.1% of issuers in the American bond market were rated as speculative, or “junk”. In 2007 junk-bond issuers made up most of the market for the first time. The number of lowly-rated CCC issuers has almost tripled over the past 21 years.

“Based on container flow for January-February, exports volume this year may decline by between 20%-30%. Non-oil and gas exports are expected to fall,” Ms Pangestu said at the weekend.

By the time it ended, after five days of rolling combat, opium worth more than £50m had been found hidden behind high walls of |purpose-built factories and storehouses. It was one of the biggest single finds of drugs caches. The operation also highlighted the new role for British troops since Nato’s controversial decision to extend its remit to embrace counter-narcotics. It was a move opposed by many commanders concerned about creating another enemy – disgruntled poppy farmers.

In 2008, cannabis cultivation was reported in 14 provinces namely Badakhshan, Badghis,
Baghlan, Bamyan, Day Kundi, Farah, Hilmand, Kandahar, Khost, Kunduz, Laghman,
Nangarhar, Uruzgan and Zabul. The highest cultivation was reported in Uruzgan, followed by
Kandahar, Hilmand and Nangarhar. The average price of cannabis at the end of July was
USD$ 56/kg.

Cannabis prices have been increasing in the last two years and reached US$ 56/kg in July
2008. Farmers growing cannabis may earn the same net income per hectare as farmers who
grow opium, or even more, because cultivating cannabis is less labour intensive than opium.

Though the opium survey does gather some data on cannabis cultivation, no estimates can be
provided in this preliminary report. It is clear, however, that cultivating cannabis is becoming
increasigly lucrative. When this is considered in conjuction with the fact that all the emphasis
is put on reducing opium, there is a great risk of farmers switching to cannabis.

Army Gen. David McKiernan also predicted that the bolstered numbers of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan — about 55,000 in all — will remain near those levels for up to five years.

Still, McKiernan said, that is only about two-thirds of the number of troops he has requested to secure the war-torn nation.

Robert H. Scales, a retired Army two-star general who visited southern Afghanistan last October as a military adviser, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that he agrees there is essentially a stalemate in that area, which is a traditional stronghold for the Taliban movement. But he said that does not mean U.S. and allies forces are losing.

The venue, which costs $9 million a year to maintain, is expected to be turned into a shopping mall in several years, its owners announced last month.

"These are like New York prices, but we are Chinese. We don't have that kind of money," said Zhang Huizhan, a 55-year-old businessman who owns a Chinese furniture factory. He has been looking for five years for an apartment for him and his wife within their budget of $150,000.

The average salary in Beijing is less than $6,000 a year.

Turned away by banks caught in the credit crunch, Roger, like many Chinese businessmen, borrows from pawn shops instead. In this case, he paid off the loan a few days later when a customer made payment on a big steel purchase.
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An auto dealer pawned his downtown apartment against a 4 million yuan ($585,000) credit line to secure funds for his business. A real estate developer gave his unsold properties as collateral to get an emergency loan while waiting to secure bank funds. And a construction company owner hocked his villa to get a loan to pay workers' salaries.
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"About 90 percent of small businesses in Shanghai fail to get bank loans," Wang said. "The problem is more severe during a weak economy."
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The Chinese government has eased monetary policy and urged banks to lend, with January lending showing a record pace of growth. Yet most new loans are directed at the country's 4 trillion yuan economic stimulus plan and state-owned companies.

We are not offering loans at the moment because of the economic situation.
That is the message when you call to get a Citibank Denmark ‘quick and easy loan.’

The Bank has just closed itself for what banks are best: lending money. And it is still uncertain when Citibank will start lending money again, writes Ekstra Bladet Netsite, eb.dk.

Finn Ostrup who is a professor of Finance at Copenhagen Business School, believes that Citibank Denmark’s American owner, Citigroup, is about to go bankrupt.

“Citigroup would have gone bankrupt in December, unless they had been helped by the U.S. Government.

“They are still threatened with bankruptcy, and I think that is why they will not lend more money,” says Finn Ostrup to Ekstra Bladet.

For Danish Citibank customers bankruptcy could be a hard blow.

“If Citibank terminates loans, they might not be paid back right away,” says Finn Ostrup.

“If that happens, customers may try to obtain money elsewhere. But if Citibank does not have the option of canceling loans, customers will have no problems,” he says.

Ekstra Bladet tried all day to get a comment from the responsible representatives from Citibank, but failed.

Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein sind mit jeweils rund 30 Prozent an der Bank beteiligt. Für 2008 hat das Institut ein Minus von 2,8 Milliarden Euro ausgewiesen, nun will es 1100 Stellen streichen. Schleswig-Holsteins Ministerpräsident Peter Harry Carstensen (CDU) sagte nach dem Treffen: "Jetzt geht es darum, zügig und konstruktiv die erforderlichen Entscheidungen herbeizuführen."

Nach Informationen des "Hamburger Abendblatts" hat der Bund im Verlaufe des mehrstündigen Gesprächs damit gedroht, die HSH Nordbank zu schließen, falls beide Länder nicht bis Dienstag das Rettungspaket auf den Weg bringen.

The IBOA, which represents over 20,000 workers in Ireland's financial sector, said staff at banks had been facing growing abuse.

"We are seeing this kind of abuse not just in the working day but even socially in the evening," said IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick.

"Many of our members now are saying that they are reluctant to go out in the evening or indeed to identify themselves as bank workers," he told public broadcaster RTE.

Here is the breakdown of sales by individual categories:

    * Clothing: 44.0% of total sales, down 11.9%
    * Personal Effects: 13.0% of total sales, down 12.5%
    * Miscellaneous Goods: 11.9% of total sales, down 13.2%
    * Household Goods: 4.5% of total sales, down 10.2%
    * Food: 21.4% of total sales, up 0.7%
    * Services: 0.9% of total sales, up 0.5%
    * Other: 1.6% of total sales, up 11.7%
    * Gift Certificates: 2.2% of total sales, down 13.4%

Ivars Godmanis lost the support of two coalition parties for tough economic reforms designed to rescue a country where output plummeted by 10.5 per cent in the last quarter of last year — a decline so steep that it fulfilled the definition of a depression.

Production dropped to 2.685 million barrels a day, from 2.957 million barrels a year earlier, Pemex, as the Mexico City- based company is known, said today in a statement. Pemex extracted 772,000 barrels a day from Cantarell, the world’s third-largest field, a decline of 38 percent from a year earlier.

The West African country’s Finance Ministry should acquire equities and hold them until the stock market rebounds, Wadada said in a phone interview from Abuja, the capital, on Feb. 20.

Die ausschließlich in Osteuropa tätige Wiener Bank Raiffeisen International teilte am Donnerstag mit, im Vorjahr den Nettogewinn trotz der Finanzkrise von 840 Mio. Euro auf 982 Mio. Euro gesteigert zu haben. "Diese vorläufigen Geschäftszahlen liefern einen eindeutigen Beweis dafür, dass unser Geschäftsmodell auch in einem außerordentlich schwierigen Marktumfeld funktioniert", sagte Raiffeisen-Chef Herbert Stepic. Bereits in der Vorwoche hatte die Erste Bank einen Nettogewinn von 860 Mio. Euro für 2008 bekannt gegeben.
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"Offenbar haben die Märkte entschieden, dass Osteuropa die Subprime-Region in Europa ist, und nun suchen Investoren so schnell wie möglich den Ausgang", sagt Christensen.

Hans Redeker, Devisenexperte bei BNP Paribas, erwartet, dass in Osteuropa 20 Prozent des Kreditengagements abgeschrieben werden müssen. Gegen diese Sicht wehren sich nun Österreichs Banken. "Diese Meinung teilen wir in diesem Extrem ganz bestimmt nicht", sagte Erste-Bank-Chef Andreas Treichl.

In einer Aussendung versicherte die OeNB am Donnerstag, dass Österreichs Banken "über eine zufriedenstellende Kapital- und Liquiditätsausstattung verfügen".

Wie Ministerin für Gesundheitswesen und Soziales, Tatjana Golikowa, am Mittwoch mitteilte, übertreffen die heutigen Zahlen die frühere Jahresprognose von 1,6 Millionen Arbeitslosen, auf deren Grundlage die Haushaltsbereitstellungen für das Arbeitslosengeld berechnet wurden, bereits um 200 000.
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Wie der Vizeminister für Gesundheitswesen und Soziales Maxim Topilin seinerseits mitteilte, kann die Zahl der registrierten Arbeitslosen 2009 rund 2,2 Millionen betragen.

Nach Schukows Worten haben mehr als 1000 Betriebe gemeldet, solche Beschäftigte zu haben. "Die Zahl solcher Beschäftigten hat per 11. Februar bereits 920 000 erreicht und somit in der letzten Woche um 100 000 zugenommen", sagte Schukow.

Premier Putin verwies darauf, dass solche Bürger in eine komplizierte Situation gerieten, weil sie kein Arbeitslosengeld beanspruchen könnten.

Serbia is also negotiating for 510 million dollars in assistance from the European Union as well as 300 million dollars from the World Bank, Bajec said.

Pedro Pérez, President of the G-14, estimates the new build housing inventory at 700,000 properties, though other sources claim that there are more than 1 million new homes on the market, mainly flats.

The fund said it expected that remittances -- which according to its estimates account for 45 percent of the country's GDP -- could decline by 30 percent this year.

The government has implemented an energy rationing scheme, leaving the country with severe energy shortages.

The Statistics Office don’t produce detailed information on the month by month movements in GDP, but using the raw data they do provide I have calculated the monthly growth rates, and have produced the chart below, which gives a pretty clear idea of what has been happening.

Naftogaz hat bereits Schulden von mehr als 3,2 Mrd. Euro. Die Europäische Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung (EBRD) kündigte an, die ukrainische Wirtschaft mit 1,3 Mrd. Euro zu unterstützen.

The data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) marks a further decline from December, when production fell by 47.5pc compared to a year earlier.
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The figures, which also show a 59.9pc fall in the production of commercial vehicles, cap a pitiful week for the industry. On Monday, 850 jobs were cut at BMW's Mini factory near Oxford, prompting employees to pelt management with fruit. The following day GKN, which makes car parts, axed 564 jobs "entirely due to the dramatic and sustained reduction in customer orders".

At least, the Bank of England should be happy. They are very anxious to keep inflation alive and well in the UK.

“It’s madness that the government can simply rewrite bond documentation,” said Richard Thomson, a credit analyst at Henderson Global Investors in London. “We are very disappointed. It’s bad news for Bradford & Bingley bondholders and it’s bad for the bank capital market.”

The changes may mean that credit-default swaps covering the debt may not be triggered if the bank defers interest payments, making the contracts worthless, Frieser said. Default swaps typically pay out if a borrower fails to meet debt obligations or is restructured.

Under the plan adopted in principle by the governing board of the L.A. Department of Water and Power, homes and businesses would pay a penalty rate -- nearly double normal prices -- for any water they use in excess of a reduced monthly allowance.
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The rationing scheme is expected to take effect in May unless the City Council acts before then to reject it -- a move seen as unlikely since Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for the measure under a water-shortage plan last week.

That measure cut citywide water use by about 25 percent, DWP spokesman Joseph Ramallo said.

The DWP board also voted unanimously to restrict lawn sprinkler use to two days a week, as urged by the mayor. Outdoor irrigation accounts for 40 percent of residential water use in the city, DWP officials say.

The ABI fell off a 2nd cliff in late 2008, and that will show up later in 2009.

This is just more evidence that non-residential investment in structures will decline sharply this year.

This puts that annual rate of decline over the last three months at an incredible 26.7 percent. The rate of capacity utilization in manufacturing is now 68.0 percent, far lower than at any point since 1987, when the current series began. This rate of utilization is almost certainly lower than the troughs of 1981-82 recession, and will certainly fall lower in the months ahead.