Office of Fair Trading clears Alexander Lebedev as Independent buyer

OFT decides not to investigate potential purchase of Independent titles by London Evening Standard proprietor

Mark Sweney

Alexander Lebedev has moved a step closer to taking control of the Independent newspapers after the Office of Fair Trading said it would not investigate the deal over competition issues.

It is understood that Lebedev, who also owns 75% of the London Evening Standard, has been locked in discussions over issues including Independent News & Media's £35m printing contract and a deal around office space that the two companies share in Kensington.

Last month INM and Lebedev lodged a submission with the Office of Fair Trading that began the process of checking whether any competition issues might stand in the way of a deal. The OFT called for comments by 11 March and has until 26 April to issue a ruling.

However the OFT has announced today that the Lebedev takeover of the Independent has not been found to qualify for a competition investigation, effectively giving the green light on competition grounds.

To qualify for the OFT to launch an investigation the merged company's UK turnover must be £70m or hold more than a 25% share of supply in the UK. The proposed Lebedev/INM deal did not reach either threshold.

According to city sources, senior executives at INM are desperate to be able to announce the sale of the Independent and Independent on Sunday to shareholders when it reports financial results for 2009 next Wednesday.

Part of the deal with bondholders-turned-shareholders, who own 46% of INM after agreeing a rescue package to repay €200m (£173m) debt last year, is to secure a deal to offload the loss-making papers as soon as is practically possible.

Lebedev and his advisors have been on the hunt for an editor, afterdropping former Radio 4 Today editor Rod Liddle who was first choice, with former BBC director general Greg Dyke and Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman suggested as candidates.

It is understood that the Lebedev camp is keen to have an editor in place in time to stamp a mark on media coverage related to the general election, which is widely expected to be held in May.

It is also thought that any plans to take the Independent free, at least in London, have been put on the back burner. It is understood that there is a desire to see if the daily title can be brought to profitability by maintaining the existing model – a price cut is thought to be one option after takeover. If the current business plan failed to turn around the titles, more radical models would be implemented.

The Guardian

Woman ordered to quit 92-year-old mother's home

By Stephen Howard, Press Association

A court today ordered a 60-year-old woman to leave the home of the 92-year-old mother she has not spoken to for eight years.

In what a Court of Appeal judge described as a "most unfortunate and regrettable dispute", Eileen Cook took out a possession order against her only daughter, Pauline Thomas and her husband, Wyndham, 76.

Mrs Cook had occupied the south end of Tredawdy Farm, Llangrove, near Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, while the couple lived at the other end.

Lord Justice Lloyd, dismissing the couple's appeal over the possession order, said: "The parties have fallen out and have not been on speaking terms since about 2002".

He said Mrs Cook and her late husband moved to the 19-acre farm in 1959 and there was a "complete rift" between the daughter and her parents in 1990 when she married.

But there was a reconciliation in 1995 when the couple attended Mr Cook's funeral and they moved to a mobile home on the farm.

When the caravan was badly damaged in a storm, they moved into the farmhouse, took over the duties of the farm and repaired farm buildings.

Lord Justice Lloyd said the couple were claiming that on four occasions they were given to understand by Mrs Cook that they would inherit the property.

But in 2002 they fell out again and the couple then found out that they had been written out of Mrs Cook's will and the farm would go to a nature charity.

"Since that date ... they have continued to live in the house, but have not been on speaking terms".

In 2008, the couple were given six months to leave the farm which was backed by a court order a year later.

Lord Justice Lloyd said the couple had carried out some restoration work at the farm but that this was done for their own benefit and convenience.

He said he agreed with the county court judge that none of the assurances given by Mrs Cook amounted to a firm commitment that they could stay at the farm.

The Independent

UN body tells China to avoid floating its currency

By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER | AP

GENEVA: A UN agency urged China on Tuesday to reject Western pressure to float its currency, defending Beijing as a leader in stimulating domestic demand and the global economy.

In a policy brief, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, or UNCTAD, starts with the iconoclastic argument that market forces have caused “currency chaos” in the world and that international control of exchange rates would be better.

Leaving currencies to irrational market forcers “will not help rebalance the global economy,” and a Chinese decision in this direction would risk an economic shock akin to the one Japan suffered in the 1990s, it said. That, in turn, could destabilize the entire world economy.

The argument counters the advice of many economists, who say that China keeps its currency artificially low against the dollar to promote exports. This line of thought blames the currency control for the large and worrisome imbalances in the economic relationship between the US and China: Americans import and borrow too much, while the Chinese export and save too much.

China recently surpassed Germany as the world's top exporter, and many lawmakers in the US and Europe want the Asian power to at least raise the peg of its tender, the yuan, to the dollar or face sanctions for being a currency manipulator.

The sentiment was reinforced Tuesday by a bipartisan group of US senators, who said they would outline a new proposal for stiff penalties on Chinese goods, if the government fails to realign its currency.

US Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican, told Fox Business Network on Tuesday that the United States should label China a currency manipulator and prepare a case for the World Trade Organization.

“I think we have waited too long,” Grassley said. “I would want the president to order our trade representative to start preparing a case for the WTO. And then I would have to start looking at some legislation, if China does not reply appropriately.” He urged Beijing to act as a responsible member of the international community.

“I am tired of China crying. We are a 400-year-old society; they are a 5,000-year-old society. They are very mature,” Grassley said. “I expect China to start acting like adults, instead of crying like children”. But China has repeatedly rejected US calls to ease currency controls, with Premier Wen Jiabao denying over the weekend that the yuan was undervalued. He said foreign pressure was unhelpful, and that Beijing planned to reform its exchange rate system, but that the currency would be kept at a “stable and balanced” level.

Critics say the yuan is undervalued by up to 40 percent, giving China's exporters an unfair price advantage.

UNCTAD said focusing on China's fixed rate ignores the larger problems that are hampering economic growth.

“Indeed, 'markets' were permitted to manipulate currencies in a way that made some sovereign governments and central banks look like penniless orphans,” said the agency, which has railed for years against US-style liberal economics.

It referred to the role of money speculation, price confusion and trade distortion in the global economic crisis, and said fluctuating exchange rates were a threat to international commerce and a likely alibi for rich-world nations ready to raise tariffs or enact other protectionist barriers to shield flagging industries from international competition.

Newfound confidence in the Brazilian real and the Hungarian forint could lead to overvaluation that hampers exports and saps growth in those countries, UNCTAD said.

And for China -- where private consumption is rising at “breakneck speed” and labor costs are surging -- dropping the yuan's peg to the dollar would mean an accelerated loss of competitiveness with dangerous consequences for the world. This would be unfair because China “has done more than any other emerging economy to stimulate domestic demand.” “Expecting that China will leave its exchange rate to the mercy of totally unreliable markets and risk a Japan-like appreciation shock ignores the importance of its domestic and external stability for the region and for the globe,” UNCTAD said.

The UN body's prescription: a world regulator of exchange rates to limit deviation and stabilize currencies.

UNCTAD acknowledged that such a system would entail “major political commitments and be fraught with technical difficulties,” an understatement considering that there is no global monetary overseer with the power to overrule national central banks and governments on key economic decisions such as interest rates, money supply and lending rules.

Arab News

Canadian dollar nears parity, but can it last?

‘Certainly I think it's a little more sustainable now than in the past,' says Scotia Capital currency strategist Sacha Tihanyi

Michael Babad and Jeremy Torobin

Globe and Mail Update

The Canadian dollar (CAD/USD-I0.990.0050.55%) cracked the 99-cent U.S. mark Wednesday, inching ever closer to parity with the U.S. currency as traders bet on a strong Canadian recovery and continued fiscal prudence from the Harper government.

“Wayne Gretzky would be proud,” said Eric Lascelles, chief Canada macro strategist at TD Securities, referring to The Great One's hockey jersey number.

The loonie, which climbed past 99 cents and then fell back slightly, has now shot higher in 12 of the last 13 trading days.

Economists credit the economy, Ottawa's fiscal projection and firm commodity prices for the attractiveness of the loonie. Also at play are expectations in the markets that the Bank of Canada will hike interest rates before the Federal Reserve, which pledged again Tuesday to hold its benchmark rate at its historic low near zero for an extended period.

The dollar is on its way to parity with the greenback, said Scotia Capital currency strategist Sacha Tihanyi, but just when that happens “depends on whether we get that speculative push”.

For businesses that must factor in costs, the dollar is effectively there, added Beata Caranci, director of economic forecasting for Toronto-Dominion Bank.

With parity in sight, the question now becomes whether it can last. When the dollar last eclipsed the U.S. currency a few years ago, it hit $1.10 (U.S.) in September, 2007, before tumbling back down and hovering around parity for around 10 months. It hasn't hit parity since July, 2008. How long will it last this time?

Scotia Capital, for one, forecasts that the dollar will hit parity by June – the end of the second quarter this year, climbing to about $1.02 by the end of the third quarter, about $1.03 by the end of the year and about $1.05 by the end of 2011, assuming the U.S. economy rebounds robustly in the next two years and commodity prices remain firm.

“Certainly I think it's a little more sustainable now than in the past,” Mr. Tihanyi said, though that depends on sustained foreign demand, particularly in the United States.

Canada's “fundamentals” support that view, he said, citing stronger domestic demand in Canada, recovering exports, better employment prospects, the attractiveness of Canadian assets and a fiscal regime that is “the envy of the G7”.

Some other observers, while agreeing with the attractiveness of the economy and the world view of Canada, don't believe parity can last beyond a matter of months.

“Parity is still a bridge too far, at least, to last,” said Mr. Lascelles of TD Securities , noting that oil prices (CL-FT82.911.211.48%) aren't as high as in the past and, even if the Bank of Canada boosts rates before the Fed moves, it will not remain ahead for too long.

It's a challenge to peg the fair value of a currency, Mr. Lascelles added. And based on purchasing power parity, “for prices to be equivalent between Canada and the U.S., 85 cents is your actual exchange rate, but in a world of imperfect trade, it's quite possible for other factors to dominate, and that's what's happening right now”.

Ms. Caranci noted that the last time the dollar topped the greenback, the move hurt exports, in turn dampening economic growth prospects and knocking the currency down again. So, she added, parity this time around might last a couple of quarters, but likely not longer.

The Globe and Mail

Merkel calls for efforts to shed more light on child abuse

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants more openness about child abuse by Catholic priests in Germany, but ruled out a specific inquiry into the Church. Meanwhile, the pope is to address Irish Catholics on similar issues

Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for more details to be made public about the sexual abuse of children within the Roman Catholic Church, but insisted that any crimes that have taken place reflect a wider problem in society.

In a speech to parliament Merkel ruled out the idea of a specific investigation into the clergy. She agreed with clerics such as the head of Germany's Catholic Church, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, that abuse should be treated as a wider issue.

"We all agree that sexual abuse against children is a despicable crime," said Merkel. "There is only one way for society to come clean and that is truth and clarity about everything that has happened.

"Even if the first cases we've heard about are from the Catholic Church, it doesn't make any sense to limit this to one group," said Merkel. "It's happened in many parts of society".

Since the beginning of the year,  more than 150 cases of sexual abuse in Catholic institutions have come to light, dating as far back as the 1950s.

No complete compensation

Merkel said that the victims who have come forward could never be adequately compensated for what had happened.

"Their lives run differently than if this had not happened to them in their early years," she said. "It accompanies them throughout life".

"There never will or can be complete recompense".

Merkel added that questions about compensation and changes to the law to bring perpetrators to justice still needed to be addressed.

Under Germany's present statute of limitations, such crimes cannot be prosecuted more than 10 years after the victims turn 18.

Conference to include victims

Merkel welcomed plans for a "round table" conference next month on improving the protection of children in society as a whole. This will include victims, teachers, social service representatives and Catholic and Protestant leaders.

Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, from the Free Democrat party, also welcomed the all-encompassing talks. Previously, she had called for an additional specific forum to be set up on abuse by Catholic clergy.

Meanwhile in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI said that he would sign a pastoral letter to Roman Catholics in Ireland about a pedophile priest scandal and subsequent cover-up in that country.

Speaking at his weekly general audience on Wednesday, the pontiff voiced "deep concern" and said he would sign a letter "dealing with this painful situation" on Friday.

"I ask all of you to read it for yourselves, with an open heart and in a spirit of faith. My hope is that it will help in the process of repentance, healing and renewal," the pope said.

mz/rc/KNA/AFP/Reuters/dpa

Editor: Susan Houlton

Deutsche Welle

Gordon Brown admits evidence at Iraq inquiry was wrong

Nico Hines and Philippe Naughton

Gordon Brown has been forced into a humiliating retreat in his battle against the retired generals who accuse him of giving disingenuous evidence on military funding to the Iraq inquiry.

The Prime Minister told the House of Commons that he now accepted that his evidence had been wrong. He admitted that defence spending “did not rise in real terms” in every year under the Labour government and said he had written to Sir John Chilcot to clarify his mistake.

“I do accept that in one or two years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms,” Mr Brown told MPs at Prime Minister's Questions.

In fact, it fell in three separate years, according to figures compiled by the House of Commons library — four years if 1997/98 is included, although the financial year had already started when Labour came to power.

Two of those years — 2004/05 and 2006/07 — were while Britain had troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Throughout his testimony before inquiry, Mr Brown repeatedly insisted that military spending had increased in every year since 1997 and claimed that all urgent operational requests were met immediately.

His claims were greeted by incredulity amongst ex-servicemen including General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, the former Chief of Defence Staff and Admiral Lord Boyce, the former defence chief. They accused him of giving deliberately misleading evidence to the inquiry.

Mr Brown's admission follows the publication of figures in the Commons Library that directly contradict his claims.

Mr Brown admitted that his evidence was incorrect in a response to Tony Baldry, the Conservative MP for Banbury.

“Yes. I am already writing to Sir John Chilcot about this issue,” he told the House.

David Cameron congratulated Mr Baldry for extracting an admission from Mr Brown.

"In three years of asking the Prime Minister Questions I don't think I've ever heard him making a correction or retraction,” he said. “Perhaps, on the day when he has to admit that he can't get his own figures right we shouldn't have to put up with him talking about Conservative policy".

Former military commanders had accused Mr Brown of misleading the inquiry when he appeared to blame the military for failing to equip the Armed Forces properly.

Admiral Lord Boyce said: “He’s dissembling, he’s being disingenuous. It’s just not the case that the Ministry of Defence was given everything it needed”.

As the bitter row over equipment and funding escalated, Labour backbenchers appeared to suggest that remarks by retired military officials criticising Mr Brown were motivated by party political affiliations.

Asked how Mr Brown, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer for a decade, could have got the figures wrong, his spokesman said today: “Budgets are pretty complex.

“This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, budget in the UK Government.

“One has to accept that the broad direction and the increase in defence spending has been absolutely clear and significant over the last 13 years”.

The spokesman insisted that Mr Brown had “taken the first opportunity” to tell MPs about his mistake - but repeatedly refused to say when the PM first became aware of it.

He had not done so at Prime Minister's Questions last week because he was not asked “the kind of direct question” posed today by Mr Baldry, he explained. “I don’t think the Prime Minister has ever had anything to hide on this.”

A research note prepared by the House of Commons Library in October last year showed defence expenditure had fallen in real terms in four financial years since Labour came to power in 1997: 1997/98 (-2.2 per cent); 1999/2000 (-0.4 per cent); 2004/5 (-0.7 per cent); and 2006/7 (-0.1 per cent).

The average annual increase between 1997 and 2009 was 2.7 per cent, it said, but noted that “this figure is likely to have been distorted by current operations”.

Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said the Prime Minister had repeatedly mislead Parliament over the issue.

“This is a humiliating climbdown for Gordon Brown as his attempt to rewrite history has failed and his fantasy figures have been exposed.

“He has made repeated and fundamentally false claims, misleading Parliament, the public and, worst of all, the armed forces and their families.

“I was pleased that Sir John Chilcot did not rule out calling Gordon Brown back in front of the Iraq Inquiry and it is now crystal clear that the Prime Minister has some serious explaining to do”.

Times Online