Europe
British Labour party planning new qualifications
Ed Miliband, leader of the UK’s Labour party and main opposition, will use his speech at his party’s annual conference in Manchester today to announce a new qualification for those that do not go to university. The new qualification, to be called the technical baccalaureate, will be taken at 18 and will be intended to transform the lives of the “forgotten” 50% of young people in England who do not progress to higher education. He will also vow to reform apprenticeships by giving businesses more control, and to boost his own profile by discussing his background and values – on personal leadership he routinely polls behind Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, despite the fact his party polls ahead of the government. The Conservatives accused Mr Miliband of “playing catch up” with their own vocational reforms. Remember to follow IPF on Twitter for live updates from Labour’s 2012 conference via Gareth Lewis.
Georgian President admits electoral defeat
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has admitted his party has lost Georgia’s parliamentary election in a live TV announcement this morning. He said the Georgian Dream bloc of his main rival, billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, had won yesterday’s election. The result will mean the first democratic transfer of power in Georgia’s post-Soviet history: Mr Saakashvili had led the country since the 2003 “Rose Revolution”. He will remain in power until presidential elections next year, but under agreed reforms the parliament and prime minister will acquire greater powers than him after that election. Mr Saakashvili, a pro-Western leader, has warned that the Georgian Dream bloc will distance Georgia from the West and seek closer relations with Moscow. Russia defeated Georgian forces in a brief war in 2008.
North America
White House confirms cyber attack on ‘unclassified’ network
An unnamed official confirmed to US media yesterday that the White House was the target of a cyber-attack, but says the breach hit an unclassified network and there was no indication any data had been removed. The White House would not say if the hackers were linked to the Chinese government, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon on Sunday. The administration described the attack as an attempt at spear-phishing, which typically works by sending legitimate-seeming emails with malicious links or attachments. “We have mitigation measures in place”, said the White House official, off the record. Cyber-attacks from Chinese-linked hackers have been an increasing concern among US government offices, with US intelligence officials publicly accusing China of systematically stealing American data for its own gain in November 2011, a year in which Google blamed Chinese hackers for a large-scale phishing effort on its Gmail accounts, including those of senior US government officials and military personnel.
JP Morgan Chase sued over Bear Stearns mortgage securities
The New York Attorney General has sued JP Morgan Chase for allegedly defrauding investors who lost more than $20bn on mortgage-backed securities sold by investment bank Bear Stearns. JP Morgan bought Bear Stearns in March 2008. It said it will contest the allegations. This is the first action to be taken by a working group created by US President Barack Obama to examine the causes of the 2008 financial crash. JP Morgan said: “the NYAG civil action relates to Bear Stearns, which we acquired over the course of a weekend at the behest of the US government. This complaint is entirely about historic conduct by that entity.”
Latin America
Brazil deploys troops to Rio favelas ahead of election
The Brazilian army and navy have deployed thousands of troops to some of Rio de Janeiro’s poorest areas ahead of municipal elections on Sunday. The troops will ensure the vote proceeds peacefully in high-risk areas where drug traffickers and vigilante groups are still active, according to authorities. The local elections are taking place in more than 5,000 cities across Brazil, with nearly 140 million people over 16 registered to vote in Sunday’s first round. A second round will be held on 28 October in cities where the leading mayoral candidate fails to get a majority of valid votes. Many of Rio’s poorest districts have been occupied by soldiers and police ahead of the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, with the deployments displacing and pressurising the drug lords that had previously dominated the favelas.
Asia and Russia
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei to lose design firm licence
Officials in China are revoking the business licence of government-critical artist Ai Weiwei’s company for failing to re-register. Mr Ai has said it is impossible to re-register his firm, Fake Cultural Development, because officials had confiscated necessary documents. He plans to appeal, and said he was being punished for criticising the government. The move follows his failed bid last week to challenge a tax evasion fine of 15 million yuan ($2.4 million), initially imposed in 2011 just after his release from three months of detention. Mr Ai lost an appeal against the fine in July and a Beijing court last week rejected his challenge to that decision. He has said he will not pay the remainder of the fine. Mr Ai is a high-profile critic of Communist Party rule.
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