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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will increase spending on farming projects by 50 percent this year as surging food prices threaten starvation and social unrest in poor countries.

The world's largest charitable foundation will give grants for agricultural programs totaling about $240 million this year, up from $160 million last year, said Rajiv Shah, the foundation's director of agricultural development and a former adviser to 2000 Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore.

“We are ramping up activity,'' Shah said in a telephone interview yesterday from Seattle, where the foundation is based. “The focus will be on encouraging extra supply, which is one reason global food prices have climbed so high.''

New funding from Gates for agriculture in poverty-stricken countries comes as food prices soar around the world. The Gates programs aim to increase farm productivity, a task that has received less attention from larger aid institutions.

The proportion of global development aid devoted to agriculture is 4 percent, according to figures from the World Bank. The share of World Bank financing devoted to farming dropped to 12 percent in 2007, from 30 percent in 1980.

“The strength of the foundation is that because it is not constrained by politics, it can afford to take a longer view on food supply,'' said Ruth Levine, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, an aid research group in Washington. “They are working on research and activities that have been very under-funded'' by other groups, she said.

Boosting Output

The foundation plans to plow the additional funds into existing projects, including developing more resilient crops, training farmers and helping small producers gain greater access to markets for their goods, Shah said.

For the past two years, the group has invested in seeds that better resist disease and drought, particularly in Africa, where productivity lags behind other developing nations. The effort has already led to more disease-resistant maize varieties for East Africa and sweet potatoes fortified with extra vitamin A, Shah said.

As the global economy accelerated in the past five years, the number of people living on $1 or less a day declined by 150 million, according to the World Bank. Those gains may be reversed unless rich countries step up their donations, officials said.

Global food prices surged 57 percent last month from a year earlier, according to the United Nations, and the World Bank warns civil disturbances may be triggered in 33 countries.

Farm Subsidies

Governments from Guatemala to the Philippines to Indonesia are seeking to combat food inflation by curbing exports or removing import duties on basic food staples such as rice payday loans faxless online payday advances. Brazil called for an end to farm subsidies in developed countries that create price distortions and leave millions of agricultural producers in poorer nations unable to compete.

African countries are expected to be among the most vulnerable to rising food prices. About 70 percent of the continent's population works in farming, according to World Bank figures. Even so, Africa is dependent on foreign producers, importing a net $12.7 billion a year in food.

According to the Gates Foundation, 16 of the 18 most undernourished countries are in Africa.

“The challenge is to ensure that they can sell enough of their goods so that they have an economic incentive to use better techniques,'' Shah said. “We are helping them to meet formal food standards demanded by bigger food producing firms and also talking to these companies in order to link them up with smaller farmers.''

He declined to say which food companies the foundation is negotiating with.

Radio Waves

The Gates crop-improvement program encompasses 16 African countries that aim to give farmers access to better-quality seeds through a network of 9,000 seed dealers.

Gates is also funding projects to provide information through radio broadcasts to help train farmers in Mali, Ghana, Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania. The foundation is funding the development of hermetic storage technology to protect cowpea — one of the most important crops in West and Central Africa.

“Almost no country has achieved a rapid ascent from hunger and poverty without raising agricultural productivity,'' the foundation says on its Web site.

The charity, created in 1994 by the founder of Microsoft Corp. and his wife, focused initially on health and education. In May 2006 it created launched a drive for a “Green Revolution'' in Africa, in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation.

The Gates Foundation's agriculture staff has only about 35 employees, compared with about 250 staff working on agriculture at the World Bank, the Washington-based lender and grant-maker that's owned by its 185 member countries.

Last year the World Bank devoted $3 billion to agriculture projects.

“The sums of money might be small compared to the World Bank but they get a very big bang for their buck because they are focusing on long neglected areas,'' Peter Timmer, a visiting professor at Stanford University's Program on Food Security and the Environment. “They have chosen a perfect time to focus on this area.''

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A lone U.S. entrepreneur is taking on the Goliath of Chinese big business in a pre-Olympics contest, claiming his rights to proceeds possibly worth millions from the state-of-the-art Olympic basketball arena complex.

The developers have in mind a huge shopping mall, office and hotel complex around the Wukesong Indoor Arena, one of the cornerstones of the newly formed $2 billion NBA China, once the Augusts Games are over.

Real estate expert Matthew Carberry, a Beijing resident, says in his complaint he was taken on to negotiate with the NBA on behalf of CAAC Real Estate Development Co. (ACRE) and Wukesong Culture and Sport Centre to set up a long-term business relationship between the NBA and the arena.

Basketball is likely to be one of the biggest drawcards of the Games with China’s many millions of NBA fans hoping that Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming can inspire the national team to victory at the 18,000-seat arena.

According to Carberry’s complaint, a copy of which was seen by Reuters on Sunday, he traveled overseas at least seven times, visiting more than a dozen U.S free credit report and score same day payday loans. cities to meet the NBA, view arenas and talk to stadium operating and ticket companies.

He says he put thousands of hours into the project involving more than 7,000 emails.

The result was a “cooperative agreement”, signed by NBA Commissioner David Stern and ACRE, in which the two sides became partners.

But since the agreement, he says, ACRE told him “the base for compensation” had been changed and its board of directors refused to pay “entire agreed compensation”. 

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The Bank of Israel cut its benchmark lending rate half a percentage point to the lowest ever as it seeks to limit the impact of the slowing global economy and curb the shekel's appreciation.

The rate charged to commercial lenders was reduced to 3.25 percent, a spokeswoman for the Jerusalem-based bank said today. Seven out of 13 economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a drop of half a point, while the rest were split evenly between those expecting a reduction of a quarter point, three quarters of a point and no change.

The latest economic forecasts point to a “more severe slowdown'' in the U.S. and other economies, the bank said in an e- mailed statement today, explaining its decision. It also cited the effect of the stronger shekel on curbing inflation and the need to keep the gap between domestic and U.S. rates from widening.

The cut was the second half-point reduction in as many months. Governor Stanley Fischer said in an interview last week that economic growth will probably ease to between 3.5 percent and 3.6 percent this year, down from 5.3 percent in 2007, to its slowest pace in five years.

Government Target

While the consumer price index has exceeded the government's target of 1 percent to 3 percent during the last three months, the bank's monthly survey of economists released last week forecasts inflation to slow to 2.4 percent in the next 12 months, helped by the appreciation of the shekel.

Fischer “is giving more emphasis to economic growth and less to inflation,'' said Ptachia Bar-Shavit, economist at Rehovot, Israel-based Financial Immunities Ltd. He forecast inflation at 2.5 percent to 2.6 percent this year paydayloans faxless payday advance.

The 12 percent appreciation of the shekel during the past 14 weeks will help cool inflation because home prices are linked to the dollar. The Israeli currency, which reached 3.3531 on March 13, its strongest against the dollar in 11 years, traded at 3.5200 at 6:55 p.m.

The shekel has shed about 5 percent after the central bank bought dollars March 13 and 14 — the first time since 1997 that it entered the forex market to influence the exchange rate. The Bank of Israel said March 20 that it would start buying dollars at a rate of $25 million a day to help increase reserves by as much as $12 billion over the next two years to $40 billion.

Fischer “was right not to relate too much to the shekel depreciation the last few days,'' Bar-Shavit said by telephone.

Fischer was probably concerned about further rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which on March 18 lowered its target rate by three-quarters of a point to 2.25 percent, Bar-Shavit said. The Fed may cut rates again, which Fischer will try to match to keep the differential at 1 percentage point, Bar-Shavit said.

The yield on the government's Shahar bond due in 2016 traded at 5.57 percent today before the decision. It fell as low as 5.32 percent March 20, it lowest since last July.

The bank increased rates three times in the second half of last year, raising it by a total of three-quarters of a percentage point after a depreciation of the shekel and higher world commodities prices creating a surge of inflation.

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Oil fell nearly $2 to around $100 a barrel on Monday, extending last week’s deep losses as funds sought to lock in first-quarter profits and Saudi Arabia reassured consumers of its plans to boost supply.

U.S. light crude for May delivery fell $1.70 to $100.14 a barrel in Globex electronic trading by 12:18 a.m. EDT. Prices dropped by almost $9, about 8 percent, last week as investors fled the commodities complex on fears that gains had been overdone, giving a lift to the beleaguered dollar in the process.

London Brent crude fell $1.46 cents to $98.92.

“I think there’s still a lot of profit taking in the market and that is pushing down oil prices. The U.S. dollar is also bouncing back from major currencies, so that’s adding to the downward pressure,” said Tetsu Emori, a Tokyo-based fund manager at Astmax Co Ltd.

“The market could also be reacting to comments from Saudi Arabia.”

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it was working to expand its oil production and refinery capacity in order to maintain world economic growth, reaffirming its vow to invest tens of billions of dollars in new wells and infrastructure creditreports payday advance.

“The kingdom will work with OPEC countries, other producers and consuming countries towards oil market stability and to avoid the effects of harmful speculation,” the Supreme Council of Petroleum and Mineral Affairs said in a statement following a visit by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.

Washington has said it wants Saudi Arabia to help raise OPEC production to ease prices, but the producers’ cartel has resisted pumping more crude due to fears of weakening demand. 

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Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Tuesday the United States will not soon lift its embargo on Cuba despite Fidel Castro’s resignation.

Asked by reporters at the State Department if Washington planned to change its Cuba policy now that Castro has stepped down, Negroponte replied: "I can’t imagine that happening anytime soon." He declined further comment.

In Rwanda, President Bush expressed hope that the end of Fidel Castro’s presidency will launch a transition to democracy in Cuba after nearly 50 years of ironclad, communist rule.

Long a target of U.S. criticism and sanctions, the ailing Castro, 81, announced he would not accept a new term.

"What does this mean for the people in Cuba?" Bush said at a news conference during his trip to Africa. "They’re the ones who suffered under Fidel Castro. They’re the ones who were put in prison because of their beliefs. They’re the ones who have been denied their right to live in a free society. So I view this as a period of transition and it should be the beginning of the democratic transition in Cuba."

Bush said he anticipates debate about Cuba’s future, and that some people will say "Let’s promote stability."

"In the meantime, political prisoners will rot in prison and the human condition will remain pathetic in many cases," he said cash advance loan payday loan.

Bush noted that he had met with the families of some of prisoners, and that their release should be the first step of any transition to democracy.

"It just breaks your heart to realize that people have been thrown in prisons because they dare speak out," he said.

While Bush expressed hope for democratic change, Castro’s decision appeared to position his brother, Raul, 76, to succeed him as president.

"The international community should work with the Cuban people to begin to build institutions that are necessary for democracy," Bush said.

"Eventually, this transition ought to lead to free and fair elections — and I mean free, and I mean fair — not these kind of staged elections that the Castro brothers try to foist off as true democracy," Bush said.

"The United States will help the people of Cuba realize the blessings of liberty," Bush said. 

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European finance ministers said France should aim to balance its budget by 2010, criticizing President Nicolas Sarkozy's government for pushing back its target by two years.

“It is key for all of us, it gives a clear signal that Europe as a whole has a common position,'' Austrian Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer said of the 27 European Union nations' pledge last year to cut their budget deficits to zero by 2010. His German counterpart, Peer Steinbrueck, said large EU states should be “role models'' on the bloc's budget rules.

They spoke in Brussels ahead of a meeting of euro-area finance ministers, who will debate Sarkozy's move to delay balancing the French budget until 2012, abandoning the 2010 pledge made by his predecessor. France's budget deficit is set to widen to 2.7 percent of gross domestic product next year from 2.6 percent this year, according to European Commission forecasts, close to the EU limit of 3 percent of GDP cash til payday loan cash advance now.

“France not only asked for a couple of more years to balance its budget, it also uses growth projections that are very unrealistic, effectively placing themselves outside the EU rules,'' Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos said in The Hague before traveling to Brussels. “When bigger countries do not follow the rules, that is very damaging for the confidence in Europe.''

The EU relaxed the budget rules, which are in the Stability and Growth Pact, in 2005, easing penalties for noncompliance.

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U.K. retail sales rose at the slowest pace since March 2006 and house prices declined for the first quarter in seven years, adding to the case for the Bank of England to cut interest rates again.

Revenue at stores open at least 12 months increased 0.3 percent from a year earlier in December, the British Retail Consortium said in London today. Home values fell 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter, the first drop since 2000, according the HBOS Plc, the country’s biggest mortgage lender.

Signs of slower economic growth prompted the Bank of England to reduce the benchmark interest rate from a six-year high last month after borrowing costs rose because of the collapse of the U.S. subprime-mortgage market. Retailer Next Plc says business is already slowing, and HBOS said today the Bank of England will need to cut rates twice more this year.

“It’s now incumbent on the bank to act quickly to ensure that the pain to consumers is kept to a minimum,” Kevin Hawkins, director general of the BRC, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Past rate increases “are still working through. The pain will get sharper for everyone.”

Retail sales in the 13 countries sharing the euro fell 0.5 percent in November, the second month of declines, data from the European Union’s statistics agency showed today.

House Prices

HBOS said today house prices rose 1.3 percent in December from November, snapping three months of declines. That was the worst stretch since 1995. The pound rose as high as $1.9828 today and traded at $1.9753 as of 11:55 a.m. in London.

Some analysts said the house-price increase masked a wider property market slowdown. Merrill Lynch & Co. economist Nick Bate said “we would not read much into any month’s data” and Nick Parsons, head of market strategy at NAB Capital in London, said “I simply do not believe the numbers.”

The December gain also contrasts with other reports. Prices fell 0.5 percent last month, Nationwide Building Society said Dec. 28, and mortgage approvals fell to a three-year low in November, according to Bank of England data.

“There isn’t as much activity this time of year, we can see these ups and downs in the monthly changes as the year ends,” said Martin Ellis, chief economist at HBOS, in an interview no fax payday loans payday loan online. “It’s reinforcing our view that we’re heading for a more subdued market.”

Credit Conditions

Tighter credit conditions may discourage homebuyers and household spending. U.K. banks plan to make fewer loans to consumers and companies in the first quarter, according to the central bank’s quarterly survey on credit conditions, published last week.

Higher mortgage rates and gasoline prices will also leave consumers with less money to spend. Banks increased the cost of home loans fixed for two years in November, Bank of England data show. Gasoline prices stayed close to November’s record of $7.82 a gallon last month, according to AA Motoring Trust Trading Ltd.

John Lewis Partnership Plc, owner of the largest U.K. department-store chain, said today it expects the business climate to be “challenging” this year. Next, Britain’s third- largest clothing retailer, said Jan. 3 that U.K. same-store sales won’t rise in 2008 and Jessops Plc, a camera retailer, said revenue fell 21 percent in the seven weeks ended Jan. 6.

Sales of clothing and footwear declined for a third month in December while revenue from food, drink and cosmetics increased, today’s BRC report showed. The lobby group, which represents 80 percent of U.K. retailers, conducted the survey from Nov. 25 to Dec. 29.

Scope to Wait

While 10 of the 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News forecast an interest-rate cut as soon as this week, the Bank of England has scope to wait.

Growth in U.K. service industries from banks to airlines unexpectedly accelerated last month. In November, retail sales rose the most in three months as stores lowered prices, the statistics office reported Dec. 21. Inflation was slower than economists predicted that month and unemployment fell to the lowest since 1975.

Bank of England policy makers predict economic expansion of about 2 percent this year following 3 percent growth in 2007. They will make their next interest-rate decision on Jan. 10 after all nine of them voted to reduce borrowing costs last month to 5.5 percent. It was the first unanimous decision for a cut since the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
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Czech energy group CEZ will take out a one-year loan to finance the acquisition of a 7% stake in Hungarian oil and gas company MOL. According to Spokesperson Eva Novakova, CEZ is currently looking into financing requirements to determine the size of the loan, Czech commercial bank Ceska Sporitelna said in its daily report.

As reported earlier, CEZ and MOL have agreed to form a strategic alliance and build several power plants in cooperation with each other. The agreement specifies the terms on which CEZ is to acquire a 7% stake in MOL.

According to the latest news, CEZ is expected to finance the transaction with a loan extended by three commercial banks: ING Groep NV, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka no teletrak payday loans. –>. The interest on the one-year loan is Euribor+17bp, which is currently 4.8%.

The announcement is good news for investors as CEZ’s debt rate is very low compared with the industry average, thus the company may optimize its capital structure with a new loan. The size of the loan is not expected to exceed EUR 560 million.
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More than 27,000 Floridians are expected to get restitution checks from Ameriquest Mortgage Co. as part of a nationwide settlement, state officials said Thursday.

The California-based company signed the settlement with 49 states and the District of Columbia, agreeing to provide $295 million in consumer restitution and to make sweeping reforms of practices that the states say amounted to predatory lending.

Checks are being mailed this week. Claims forms were sent to eligible consumers in July.

Affected Floridians will each receive about $780, according to the Florida Attorney General’s Office and the Office of Financial Regulation.

Under the settlement, consumers who opted to receive the restitution payments relinquished their right to file lawsuits related to the loans covered by the settlement.

However, consumers who participated in the settlement did not give up any claim they may otherwise raise if their home goes into foreclosure.

Florida had the second-largest number of claimants after California, which had 44,000 and ahead of Texas, which had 20,000.

Sandi Copes, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill McCollum’s office, said about 60 percent of those eligible responded to the state’s request for claims involving Ameriquest loans.

The 2006 settlement resolved allegations that Ameriquest and its affiliates misrepresented or did not adequately disclose the terms of home loans, such as whether a loan carried a fixed or an adjustable rate; charged excessive loan-origination fees and prepayment penalties; refinanced borrowers into improper or inappropriate loans; or improperly inflated appraisals used to qualify borrowers for loans.

The settlement included Ameriquest’s parent company, ACC Capital Holding Corp., with subsidiaries Town & Country Credit Corp online payday advance. –>. and AMC Mortgage Services Inc., formerly known as Bedford Home Loans.

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From 2005 to 2006, Wells Fargo increased its total number of small business loans of $100,000 or less by 27 percent in Alaska, according to the latest Community Reinvestment Act data. Wells Fargo was the top small-business lender in Alaska, with 5,753 loans of $100,000 or less for a total of more than $151 million in 2006, a 20.6 percent increase in dollar volume over 2005. Wells Fargo is the top lender to small businesses in Alaska’s low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, with 620 loans of less than $100,000 for a total of $17.3 million, a 12 percent increase in dollar volume over 2005.

The national small-business lending market totaled $126 billion in 2006, with Wells Fargo holding steady as America’s top small-business lender for the fifth consecutive year http://easy-quick-payday-loans.com. With an 18 percent year-over-year increase in its 2006 lending, Wells Fargo extended $21 billion to small-business owners nationwide in loans of less than $100,000, according to the 2006 CRA data.

Body shop colors itself green

Driven Auto Body, 5011 Spenard Road, said it has received a Green Star Award. Green Star is a nonprofit organization that encourages businesses to practice waste reduction, energy conservation and pollution prevention. The body shop uses water-borne paints, which reduce toxins in comparison to other paints, and dries the paint using an air flow system rather than baking, which saves on energy. The painter is also exposed to fewer toxins. The shop has also instituted a recycling program that results in significant reduction of waste going to the city landfill. Driven Auto Body is owned by Kevin Stalder.

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