THE SNP’s Westminster leader has criticised delays in inquiries into the deaths of 14 servicemen killed in an Afghanistan plane crash a year ago.

Angus Robertson said the wait for the Ministry of Defence inquiry and a coroner’s inquest was a “disgrace”.

Dates have still to be set for the publication of the board of inquiry’s findings and a coroner’s inquest into the deaths.

The Nimrod MR2 came down near Kandahar on 2 September last year, killing 12 crew from 120 Squadron based at RAF Kinloss in Moray. A Royal Marine and an army soldier also died. The tragedy was the biggest loss of British military personnel since the war on terror began.

Mr Robertson said:

“Everybody’s thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives. They are having to wait far too long to receive answers to many questions. A

12-month wait is a disgrace.

“Publication dates have been put back and put back and the Ministry of Defence should get on with it.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The RAF apologises for the delay

. The findings will be released as soon as possible.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said all inquests took “some time”.

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S&P Equity Research continues to have a positive fundamental outlook on the and recommends overweighting it, despite recent volatility and negative price performance. Scott Kessler, Standard & Poor’s group head for technology coverage, thinks the stocks have been reflecting the potential for a U.S. recession. However, he also believes the sector should continue to benefit from longer-term trends, such as strong international demand, notable new products and upgrade cycles, and a likely growing corporate focus on productivity in light of economic uncertainties.

Further, Kessler believes that tech sector merger-and-acquisition activity among strategic partners will continue, despite the credit crunch, reflecting healthy fundamentals and prospects, strong corporate balance sheets, and ample opportunities to generate related shareholder value. Consolidation Opportunities

“We expect acquisitions to be driven by the pursuit of growth opportunities, greater diversification, and cost savings,” he says. “We also believe strategic buyers are well positioned to capitalize on compressed valuations and less competition from would-be financial purchasers like private equity firms.”

Kessler noted that he has been encouraged by a number of proposed M&A deals announced in mid-December, largely in semiconductors and semiconductor equipment, whose stock prices “have been hit hard of late.” He thinks the deal flow, which ranged in size from $300 million to $1.7 billion, “underscores that companies believe fundamentals are decent and/or poised to improve, and valuations are attractive” and he thinks both acquirees and acquirers could benefit in the current environment. Deals in Progress

Here are S&P equity analysts’ reactions to some recently announced deals in the chip industry:

AMIS Holdings («www.businessweek.com»; ranked hold; $9) agreed to be acquired by rival ON Semiconductor («www.businessweek.com»; ranked buy; $8) for $915 million in stock Dec. 13. S&P equity analyst Angelo Zino says the deal is favorable for AMIS. The deal is scheduled to close in the first half of 2008, subject to approvals. Zino maintained his hold opinion on AMIS, while S&P technology equity analyst Clyde Montevirgen maintained his buy opinion for ON Semiconductor.

Montevirgen notes how ON Semiconductor identified up to $50 million in potential pretax cost synergies in 2009. ON also expects the deal to add to EPS as it exits 2008, before amortizations and share buybacks. Specific opportunities include rationalization of $10 million to $20 million in capital expenditures, interest expense savings, and tax benefits.

On Dec. 12, Zino also reiterated his buy ranking on Teradyne («www.businessweek.com»; ranked strong buy; $11) on the announcement that the chip-equipment maker agreed to acquire Nextest («www.businessweek.com»; $12) for $325 million in cash, net of cash received. Then, on Dec. 13, he upgraded the shares to strong buy.

“We view the deal as favorable, as we believe Teradyne has been looking to progress into higher-growth, adjacent markets,” Zino pointed out. Teradyne expects the deal to be slightly accretive to earnings, before purchase accounting impacts. Zino sees the deal closing in the first quarter of 2008, pending approvals.

Also Dec. 12, S&P equity analysts Montevirgen and Clara Van Der Elst reiterated their buy opinion on chipmaker STMicroelectronics («www.businessweek.com»; ranked buy; $15) after it agreed to acquire Genesis Microchip («www.businessweek.com»; $8) for $336 million.

“We believe that the deal, subject to approvals, could be accretive in the second year after the acquisition close. Although we anticipate notable pricing pressure in the digital TV chip market, we see the deal providing high-growth opportunity and product synergies,” the analysts said in a note.

On Dec. 11, Zino reiterated his hold opinion on the shares of Lam Research («www.businessweek.com»; ranked hold; $45) after it agreed to acquire SEZ Group, a supplier of single-wafer clean technology, for $568 million in cash.

“We think the combined company will offer competitive advantages, as Lam establishes a presence in clean technology, adding to its already dominant position in the etch market,” Zino said. He expects the deal to close in the March, 2008 quarter, subject to approvals.

(12-27) 06:49 PST BERLIN, Germany (AP) —

Losses to insurers from natural disasters nearly doubled this year to just below $30 billion globally after an unusually quiet 2006, a leading reinsurer said Thursday, from winter storms in Europe, flooding in Britain and wildfires in the U.S.

Munich Re warned that climate change could mean a growing number of weather-related catastrophes in coming years.

“The trend in respect of weather extremes shows that climate change is already taking effect and that more such extremes are to be expected in the future,” board member Torsten Jeworrek said in a statement. “We should not be misled by the absence of megacatastrophes in 2007.”

While losses soared in 2007, the figure was far short of the $99 billion Munich Re recorded in 2005 Д when Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans.

The world’s second-largest reinsurer put total economic losses this year_ which includes losses not covered by insurance Д from natural disasters at $75 billion (52 billion euros) Д a 50 percent increase from last year’s $50 billion, but far below the 2005 figure of $220 billion.

The costliest disaster for insurers was a Jan. 18-19 winter storm, dubbed Kyrill in German-speaking countries, which killed 49 people, caused transportation havoc, damaged property and tore down power lines across a broad swath of northern Europe.

The storm resulted in insured losses of about $5.8 billion (4 billion euros) and total economic losses of some $10 billion (6.9 billion euros), Munich Re said. Germany accounted for more than half the total.

Two bouts of flooding in Britain, in June and July, each led to insured losses of some $3 billion (2.1 billion euros) and total economic losses of $4 billion (nearly 2.8 billion euros), Munich Re said.

Wildfires in the United States in October caused insured losses of $1.9 billion (1.3 billion euros), while a mid-April U.S. winter storm resulted in losses of $1.57 billion (nearly 1.1 billion euros), the company said.

This year’s costliest Caribbean storm, August’s deadly Hurricane Dean, placed seventh overall, with insured losses of $1 billion (690 million euros).

“The relatively low losses can be explained by the tracks of the hurricanes Д no major hurricanes reaching the US mainland, as in 2006,” Munich Re said in a statement.

Munich Re said the year’s deadliest natural disasters by far were November’s tropical cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, which killed some 3,300 people; and flooding in South Asia from July to September, which accounted for 3,000 lives. Neither ranked among the year’s 10 costliest in terms of insured losses.

The company said that, in all, 950 natural disasters were recorded this year Д up from 850 last year, and the highest figure since the company started keeping systematic records in 1974.

“All the facts indicate that losses caused by weather-related natural catastrophes will continue to rise,” Munich Re’s Jeworrek said.

Jeworrek said his company was “ready to deal with this,” but noted that higher insurance premiums and tax-financed infrastructure repairs would result in higher costs for society as a whole, and said that “speedy international action is needed.”

Munich Re is a reinsurer, meaning it offers backup policies to companies writing primary insurance policies. Reinsurance helps spread risk so that the system can handle large losses from natural disasters.

(This version CORRECTS short headline to show losses for insurers globally.)