1 US hit by massive data breach (Tom Bateman on BBC)
Chinese hackers are suspected of carrying out a "massive breach"
affecting the data of millions of US government workers, officials said. The
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed that almost four million current
and past employees have been affected. The breach could potentially affect
every federal agency, officials said.
Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said the attack was thought to originate in China. The Chinese
embassy in Washington warned against "jumping to conclusions".
It is the scale of what the OPM calls a "cyber
intrusion" in April this year that is breathtaking - the records of four
million former and current government employees may have been breached. The
agency is contacting all of those potentially affected, offering to insure them
against identity fraud. Of even greater concern may be the fact that security
clearance information on government officials could have been targeted.
3 South Africa drops out of top 40 mining list
(Johannesburg Times) The Top 40 mining companies in the world lost $156
billion‚ or about 16% of their combined market value‚ in 2014. The prolonged
downswing in commodity prices has forced companies to fight hard to implement
various measures to improve free cash flow. A major focus was on reducing
costs.
This is according to Mine: PwC’s 12th annual review
of the top trends in the global mining industry. This year saw no companies in
South Africa from the Top 40 list – “the first time a company from this
traditional mining heavyweight has not been part of our analysis‚ and a far cry
from the five companies included in our 2004 first edition of Mine‚” PwC said.
The report analysed 40 of the largest listed mining
companies by market capitalisation. Two of the three new entrants in this
year’s Top 40 were Chinese companies and one was North American. Commodity
prices remained under pressure‚ as iron ore‚ coal‚ and copper took another
tumble in 2014. Gold prices were
volatile‚ but remained relatively steady compared to prior years‚ it noted.
Iron ore was hardest hit in 2014‚ with prices falling by half as a result of
oversupply and a negative short-term demand outlook.
On the positive side‚ “lower crude oil prices and a
stronger US dollar are proving beneficial for miners by helping to lower
operating costs”. A slowdown in China’s economic growth‚ to around 7% from
double-digit growth in recent years‚ is expected to weigh on the industry in
the months to come. China accounts for as much as 40% to 50% of global
commodity demand.
3 Try telling Sepp Blatter we live in a
post-American world (Natalie Nougayrede in The Guardian) The Fifa corruption
investigation stands out not only as a momentous event for football fans and
sport overall. It also comes as a thunderbolt in international relations. First,
the notion of a multipolar world has taken a hit. Here we have one power – the
US – calling the shots. Vladimir Putin has complained about US interference,
but mainly because he’s worried about the prospects for the 2018 World Cup in
Russia. No one has taken his cue, nor has he been able to save Sepp Blatter.
Second, we have been reminded that some rules do
carry weight. The reach of the US justice department is such that no one can
ignore the criminal charges it has brought nor pretend that it can be business
as usual. In a global environment, it turns out that there is no free-for-all,
and acts can have serious global consequences.
Third, soft power is back. What the Harvard
professor Joseph Nye coined as “soft power” – the ability to get your way
without resorting to armed force, through influence and persuasion – had come
to look like a somewhat quaint ineffective concept. That may no longer be the
case. The Fifa-Blatter empire has been brought down without a shot being fired.
If this says something about the future, there is cause to rejoice – and worry.
The rejoicing is obvious. There may not be much
consensus in the world today, but fighting corruption is something everyone
agrees on. Equally, if soft power is back, who could possibly complain? Those
who do not have much hard power might see an opportunity.
Europe lacks a joint army but does have influence –
and it is right that Europe is increasingly using that influence: sanctioning
Russia over its armed aggression against Ukraine, putting pressure on
dictatorships, and waging anti-trust campaigns against big players such as
Microsoft, Gazprom or Google. And China worries many with its sabre-rattling in
Asia, but it could also be applauded for its Silk Road strategy of developing
infrastructure along land and maritime trade routes all the way to Europe.
But there are reasons to worry. American power in
the Fifa case has been applied through the extraterritorial dimension of US
legislation. There is far from a consensus about this globally. But it will be
harder to cast this American extraterritorial legalistic power as a solution to
global woes, simply because it runs counter to multilateralism. It sets rules,
but unilaterally. It brings progress in the Fifa case, but will be hard to
duplicate beyond football.
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