Romney goes on offense, forcing Obama to defend record – An energetic Mitt Romney launched a series of attacks against President Obama here Wednesday night, calling into question the president’s record on the economy, health care and the deficit, and arguing that he would take the country in a fundamentally different direction. Obama sought to parry Romney’s criticisms, charging that his presidential rival favors a top-down approach to the economy that would reward the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the middle class and that the details of the Republican’s proposals don’t add up. [washpo]

Top cop: Officers hire guns out for crime – Some Western Cape police officers have sided with gangsters and other criminals, provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer said on Wednesday. He told the Cape Town Press Club that 87 officers were arrested in the last financial year alone for corrupt activities such as selling drugs to gangsters and participating in armed robberies. [news24]

CEO is a catch for Pick n Pay – Pick n Pay named the former head of Tesco’s UK business as its new chief executive yesterday as the country’s No 2 grocer struggles to regain market share and fend off competition from US giant Walmart. Shares of Pick n Pay rallied nearly 7% after it said Richard Brasher, a Tesco veteran of 25 years, will take over in February, ending a roughly seven-month search for a new chief executive. Brasher will take charge of a retailer that has lost market share to domestic rivals and is now facing further pressure from Walmart. [timeslive]

Motlanthe for president, says ANC Youth League – Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is the ANC Youth League’s choice for the position of ANC president, it has announced. t would nominate him for this post at the ANC’s elective conference in Mangaung in December, youth league spokesperson Khusela Sangoni-Khawe said. “We are calling on all our structures and ANC branches … to ensure that our generational [sic] mission is fulfilled and that … tried, tested and competent comrades are elected.” [mg]

NUM: Wage talks will reopen – Wage negotiations in the gold and coal mining industries will reopen under an agreement reached in a meeting between unions and the Chamber of Mines, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Wednesday. “The Chamber agreed to negotiate an increase for entry level workers, and adjustment or upgrading for operators, which includes rockdrill operators,” spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said in a statement. [iol]

Cosatu ‘shocked’ by pending e-toll announcement – The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Wednesday said it is shocked and baffled by government’s decision to announce the e-toll implementation date on Friday. The union federation also called on Gauteng motorists not to buy e-tags. In September, the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg overturned an order handed down by the North Gauteng High Court preventing the rollout of the controversial project. [ewn]

New BEE codes will hit equity dodgers – Companies COMPANIES that have less than a 10% black shareholding will be punished harshly by the new black economic empowerment (BEE) codes of good practice, owing to strong lobbying by black business formations. Although the government’s express purpose in reformulating the codes was to move away from shareholder transactions, which have distorted BEE policies, strong lobbying to make the ownership element compulsory held sway. [bdlive]

Turkey strikes Syrian targets after cross-border mortar bomb kills five – Turkey’s military have struck targets inside Syria in response to a mortar bomb fired from Syrian territory which killed five Turkish civilians, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said in a statement. The mortar fired from the Syrian side into the region of Akçakale sparked an urgent round of meetings with military chiefs and led the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmed Davagotlu, to formally complain to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon. [guardian]

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IMF: Global recovery ‘will take at least six more years’ – The global economy will not be back in “decent shape” until at least 2018, the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist has warned. The eurozone’s stricken nations will have to become more competitive while Germany and the stronger members must let prices and wages inflate, Olivier Blanchard said in an interview with Hungarian website Portfolio.hu. He added that Japan and the US need to deal with soaring public borrowing and high national debt. [telegraph]

Gary Glitter ‘raped girl, 13, in Savile’s BBC dressing room’ – Gary Glitter raped a girl of 13 in Sir Jimmy Savile’s BBC dressing room, it was claimed last night. The attack in the 1970s allegedly took place as Savile was himself groping a 14-year-old in the same room. A third star – a household-name entertainer who still performs – was also abusing a schoolgirl, according to the claims. They were made by Karin Ward, a former pupil of the Surrey school where Savile is accused of preying on under-age girls. She waived her anonymity to tell an ITV documentary screened last night how the Jim’ll Fix It star was in cahoots with pop paedophile Glitter. [dailymail]

Apple’s iPad Mini Reportedly Already in Production – It hasn’t been a month since the iPhone 5 announcement, and already we’ve moved on to the next great Apple rumor. This time it’s the unannounced and slightly smaller iPad Mini. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, mass production of the yet-to-be-announced iPad Mini started last month. The 7-inchish tablet would be Apple’s answer to the growing market for 7-inch slates that is currently dominated by Amazon and Samsung. Executives at component makers told the WSJ that the new tablet will have a 7.85-inch screen, slightly larger than the seven-inch screens found on the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7. [wired]

Giant marijuana farm discovered on Chicago’s South Side – Chicago cops busted up one of the largest pot growing operations in the city’s history, a two football field-sized plot housing some plants “as big as Christmas trees,” authorities said. A police chopper discovered the sprawling field nestled in some wetlands on the city’s South Side on Tuesday, authorities said. There were more than 1,000 plants, which cops said carried a street value of between $7 and $10 million. “The plants are pretty big. They’re as big as Christmas trees,” Chicago police Lt. Michael Ryle told local television station WGN. “Some of the plants are as tall as 10 feet.” [nydaily]

Black mamba venom is ‘better painkiller’ than morphine – A painkiller as powerful as morphine, but without most of the side-effects, has been found in the deadly venom of the black mamba, say French scientists. The predator, which uses neurotoxins to paralyse and kill small animals, is one of the fastest and most dangerous snakes in Africa. However, tests on mice, reported in the journal Nature, showed its venom also contained a potent painkiller. [bbc]

Stunning Entries From The National Geographic Photo Contest – National Geographic is currently accepting photo submissions for its annual National Geographic Photography Contest. Over 20,000 photos by professional and amateur photographers from 130 countries competed in three categories – people, places and nature – last year. The top winner will be selected among the finalists in these groups and will be awarded $10,000 among other coveted prizes. [bizinsider]

Watch the full debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney – The following is a completed transcript of President Obama and Mitt Romney’s remarks at the first presidential debate in Denver on Oct. 3, 2012. Jim Lehrer: Good evening from the Magness Arena at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado. I’m Jim Lehrer of the PBS NewsHour, and I welcome you to the first of the 2012 presidential debates between President Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee. [nytimes]

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COMING UP TODAY

Maya On Money – Maya On Money is a finance feature, hosted by Maya Fisher-French. She will be teaming up with the Just Josie lunch show at 12h30 every Thursday, to bring us simple and useful finance tips. [mayaonmoney]

Swedish Idol Winner, Ola With Bailey Schneider – Ola Nils Håkan Svensson, professionally known simply as Ola, is a Swedish artist and songwriter. Ola has so far released three albums and 11 singles. Eight of his releases have been number one on the Swedish album and single charts, and many have sold both gold and platinum. He joins Bailey Schneider from 14h00-15h00 today for his first hour long interview. [baileyschneider]

FRESH PODCASTS

Biz Innovate With Mariette Du Toit-Hembolt – Mariette promotes Cape Town as a tourist destination in many countries around the world. With Cape Town being a long haul destination at the tip of the African continent, it’s quite challenging in travel, which is why we need to work harder to make that decision easier for travelers. Listen to the podcast where Bob and Dan chatted to Mariette about what the perception of Cape Town as a tourist destination is, and how she is trying to turn the tide, to get more of just 1% of the world’s travelers here. [podcast]
“Klein Saterdag” With Sports Illustrated’s Sckalk Jonker – Host Tank Lanning had Sports Illustrated’s features writer Schalk Jonker in studio for the hour long “Klein Saterdag” rugby talk show. From Schalk’s best and worst pieces, why he thinks there is still space for a monthly magazine in today’s digital landscape, the Bok side to play the All Blacks, the game plan used by the Boks, the Coenie Oosthuizen selection, the Kings and resultant “Lions on loan fiasco” and of course the odd tune, including Schalk’s choice of Johnny Cash. [podcast]