FRANKFURT, Germany, Nov. 26--Some of Germany’s best-known and highly respected companies, including Siemens and Volkswagen, have hit the headlines this week in corruption scandals that threaten to tarnish Germany’s squeaky clean business reputation, AFP said.
Perhaps by far the most spectacular was engineering giant Siemens in a vast embezzlement scandal--with possible links to the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha--that shocked even the most hard-nosed observers.
Prosecutors have arrested a total of seven Siemens employees, both current and former, amid allegations they diverted 200 million euros (260 million dollars) of company money into overseas slush funds to pay for major contracts.
The arrests were made after more than 200 police officers, tax inspectors and investigating magistrates raided about 30 offices and homes of Siemens employees and seized some 36,000 documents.
A report in the reputable daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Friday claimed that one of the men admitted paying massive bribes to the regime of late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.
The newspaper said the former employee told investigators it was common to pay sweeteners in Africa to secure contracts and that he had acted as a middleman, channeling between 75-100 million euros a year to Nigeria through bank accounts in Austria in the 1990s.
Abacha is suspected of having looted about 2.2 billion dollars when he ruled Africa’s most populous nation from 1993 until his death in 1998.
The extent of the Siemens scandal surprised even the most seasoned investigators.
Siemens promised to get tough on wrongdoers and immediately suspend any employees where suspicions of illegal behavior had hardened.
A long-running corruption probe at auto giant Volkswagen also returned to the spotlight this week with the arrest of the former head of the group’s general works council, Klaus Volkert.
The scandal centers on the alleged payment of extravagant bonuses and illegal perks--including visits by prostitutes--to members of VW’s works council in return for their approval of painful and unpopular restructuring measures.
Another company to hit the headlines was E.ON, Germany’s biggest power supplier, which was accused by the EU Commission in Brussels of interfering in a price-fixing probe.

Rabat, Morocco capital

RABAT, Morocco, Nov. 26--Morocco is officially enjoying an economic boom this year, with the state predicting that growth will leap to 7.3 percent from just 1.8 percent in 2005.
But while some economists are hailing the upturn, others are skeptical about the rosy outlook presented by a government with an eye on next year’s general election.
They warn that continued growth will depend on the fortunes of the North African country’s key agricultural sector. And in these days of global warming, that farming sector depends on the vagaries of increasingly unpredictable weather.
The kingdom of Morocco has in recent months attracted significant foreign investment. The tourist industry has sparked particular interest, with United Arab Emirates groups EMAAR and Dubai Holdings pouring nine billion dollars into the sector.
Major infrastructure projects are flourishing--in roads, in low-cost housing to replace slum dwellings and in bringing power to the countryside. Energy Minister Mohamed Boutaleb says the electricity grid will be extended to cover 89 percent of the largely rural country by the end of 2006.
“Morocco is well on the road to sustainable growth,“ said Abdelali Doumou, professor of economics at Casablanca University.
Average economic growth was 4.7 percent between 2001 and 2006, compared to 3.0 to 3.5 percent in the 1990s, he noted.
The huge infrastructure projects and the halving of Morocco’s foreign debt to 11 billion euros (14.4 billion dollars) over the past seven years are contributing to national wealth, he told AFP.
Other economists are less enthusiastic, though. The state planning commission (HCP) recently announced that the number of jobless people in Morocco--a country of 30 million--had just dropped below the one-million mark for the first time in 13 years. Officially, unemployment now stands at 7.7 percent of the active population, as opposed to 11.1 percent a year ago.
“The figures have been massaged,“ protested Najib Akesbi, economics professor at the Hassan II Agronomy Institute in Rabat.
“How can you say the poverty rate and unemployment rate are falling when Morocco’s Human Development Index in the United Nations Development Program report for 2005 is stagnant? The country was classed 124th (in 2005) and 125th the previous year.“
Akesbi acknowledged that “privatization of the air transport sector and the ’Azur’ plan for the tourist industry are positive points“. But, he cautioned, “Growth is volatile because it depends on climatic conditions and these are changing.“

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26--The US Secret Service is working with police in the former Soviet republic of Georgia to investigate an international counterfeiting operation that produces fake $100 bills that have been seized in the United States and Israel, Reuters quoted the Washington Post as reporting on Sunday.
The counterfeiting operation, based on the separatist enclave of South Ossetia, has produced more than $20 million in fake bills that have been transported to the United States and Israel, according to investigators cited by the Post.
The counterfeit notes have been passed at numerous businesses in Baltimore, Maryland; New York City; Buffalo, New York; and Newark, New Jersey, the newspaper said. It said the notes have also surfaced in Georgia and neighboring Russia.
The Post said the number of notes produced in the region and passed in the United States has increased dramatically in recent years.
It cited unidentified senior officials, US diplomats, US court documents and a recent report to Congress.
The presence of a major international counterfeiting ring in an area of the former Soviet Union where territorial status remains unresolved 15 years after the collapse of communism offers a stark example of how organized crime has flourished in the region, sometimes through neglect and sometimes with the suspected involvement of government officials, it said.
“Counterfeiting is not the only headache for us if you’re talking about criminality in South Ossetia,“ Ekaterine Zguladze, Georgia’s deputy interior minister, told the Post.
“You also have drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, robbery, kidnapping. And our opportunity to fight criminals in there is very limited.“
White House spokesman Alex Conant referred queries on the matter to the Secret Service, where the duty officer was not immediately available to comment.

Mention the Asian property boom and most people automatically think of Hong Kong or Shanghai. But not Ulan Bator, where gold fever and uncomfortable traditional housing are sending house prices through the roof.
Billboards advertising luxury housing developments with names such as “Marshall Town“, “Regency Residence“ and “Japan Town“ are appearing all over the Mongolian capital.
They can be seen around Sukhbaatar Square, the historic centre of the city, next to posters advertising cashmere, moisturizing creams or the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the Mongol empire.
Growing numbers of cranes rise up from the mountainous landscape that surrounds this city, the capital of one of the world’s poorest countries, but one that is enjoying strong economic growth thanks to resources such as copper and gold.
There may not be any skyscrapers here yet, but the buildings are certainly getting taller. The national opera will soon be overshadowed by a tower being built next to it. The symbol of the property boom, it will house a five-star hotel, part of the Shangri-La chain. Hilton and Hyatt are also planning to set up in Ulan Bator.
“The property market is undergoing a revolution, with too much demand and too few apartments,“ said Christophe de Gruben, director of real-estate company Mongolian Properties.
“One of the main reasons for this upheaval is mining speculation, big foreign companies bringing a growing number of expatriates who want modern accommodation,“ added De Gruben, whose company opened in 2002.
As a result, apartments with a monthly rent of more than 1,000 dollars have begun appearing in a country where the average monthly wage is around 100 dollars. Average property prices are up 18 percent a year, according to Mongolian Properties.
The other factor is similar to the one that caused Hong Kong’s property market to boom 20 years ago, when thousands of residents abandoned boats for apartments, the expert continued.
Of the million inhabitants of Ulan Bator, some 60 percent still live in yurts, Mongolia’s traditional housing.
Many of them dream of more comfort, but most are too poor to be able to fulfill that dream and there is a shortage of social housing.
As a result, the property revolution has caused much anger, with critics accusing the authorities of selling land to commercial developers rather than looking after the population.
“The politicians are violating human rights and children’s rights,“ said S. Ganbaatar, a Mongolian economist and activist.
“Not long ago, under the socialist era, there were 700 playgrounds for children in the city, and now where are they? The mayor and the prime minister make money because children cannot fight,“ added Ganbaatar, one of many campaigners who say corruption is blighting Mongolia’s nascent democracy.
The mayor, Trodt Batbayar, of the ex-communist MPRP party, did not deny that the city was undergoing an upheaval, but insisted he was working for the public good and respecting individual freedoms.
“The migrant population increases every year. In other countries, when you move, you make preparations. Here, with our nomadic tradition, people don’t give you any notice before turning up with their yurt on their car. When they find somewhere they like, they stay there. That is their right and we cannot go against it,“ said the mayor in an interview with AFP.
Asked about the vast majority of inhabitants for whom the price of homes was too high, Batbayar said there was a program to build 40,000 apartments in 2007.
“Low-cost loans will ensure they are accessible to those who earn little,“ he said, giving short shrift to speculation in opposition newspapers, which have accused the mayor’s office of trying to profit from the project.
Mongolia is the largest fully landlocked country typically classified as being a part of East Asia, though it is sometimes considered as being a part of Central Asia instead. It is bordered by Russia to the north and the People’s Republic of China to the south. Its capital and largest city is Ulaanbaatar.
At 1,564,116 square kilometres, Mongolia is the nineteenth largest country in the world. However, the country contains very little arable land as much of its area is covered by arid and unproductive steppes with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Approximately 30 percent of the country’s 2.8 million people are nomadic or semi-nomadic.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov. 26--Just two months after its election victory, Sweden’s new centre-right government is struggling to convince Swedes to accept reforms to their cherished welfare state, as its popularity in the polls plunges.
After a rocky start in power following a tax scandal that led to the resignation of two cabinet ministers and a debate over Foreign Minister Carl Bildt’s share portfolio, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt’s government is again in the firing line for its planned reform of Sweden’s unemployment insurance scheme.
The country’s main trade unions have called for demonstrations across the country on December 14 to protest against the project, aimed at raising Swedes’ premiums for unemployment insurance while decreasing payouts to the jobless.
A bill was recently presented to parliament and will be submitted to a vote on December 20. If passed, it will go into effect on January 1.
While official figures put the jobless rate at 4.6 percent in October, experts say that a fifth of Swedes of working age live on state subsidies, either claiming unemployment, sick leave or early retirement payments or are on government retraining schemes.
Reinfeldt’s government has made it a top priority to reduce the generous subsidies to give Swedes more incentive to work. But the proposal has been a bitter pill to swallow for many people, and the government has paid with its popularity.
The proposed unemployment insurance scheme “will lead to pressure on low wages in Sweden“ and push people to accept low-paying jobs, ultimately leading to a widening gap between the rich and poor in society, the Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) chief economist Dan Andersson told AFP.
The government has meanwhile said the scheme will save 10 billion kronor (1.1 billion euros, $1.44 billion), to be used to finance a first wave of income tax cuts.
Despite the anger the bill has stirred up, the prime minister remains firm in wanting to get Swedes back to work.

GENEVA, Nov. 26--Switzerland voted in a binding referendum Sunday on whether to give economic aid to the EU’s 10 youngest members, an initiative alternately described as neighborly goodwill and a bribe to keep poor Eastern European workers out of Switzerland, AP said.
Under the government-sponsored law, Switzerland would spend 1 billion Swiss francs (US$800 million; 620 million euros) over five years on the eight Eastern European and two Mediterranean countries that joined the bloc on May 1, 2004.
Some 4.8 million voters are eligible to vote. Recent surveys indicate a majority in favor of the spending plan, but a large undecided vote could change the outcome.
Opponents argue that approving the law, which allows the government to authorize more funds over the next 10 years, could set a dangerous precedent for future demands from Brussels.
Switzerland is not part of the EU, but benefits from close bilateral ties with the bloc.
Backers say the funds will help reduce income gaps in Europe and ultimately benefit the Swiss economy by strengthening Eastern European economies that promise to be important future trading partners. It will also prevent low-wage Eastern Europeans coming to rich Switzerland to work for less than the Swiss, supporters say.