A leading mayoral candidate in the Peruvian capital Lima has been cleared of murdering a journalist.

Daniel Urresti, a former minister and army general, was accused of ordering the death in 1988 of Hugo Bustios, who had been investigating rights abuses.

Prosecutors had called for a 25-year sentence. However, Mr Urresti always denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.

The acquittal comes just ahead of Sunday's municipal elections.

Two former soldiers were convicted of his murder. One of them accused Mr Urresti - who was then a military intelligence chief - of involvement.

Bustios was a correspondent for the national magazine Caretas in the highland town of Huanta, the centre for the guerrilla war between government forces and Shining Path rebels.

He was shot and then killed by a grenade while investigating abuses committed by both sides.

Mr Urresti went on to serve as Peru's interior minister between 2014 and 2015 and ran for the presidency a year later.

A woman has been appointed to run a Saudi Arabian bank in a first for women in the country.

Saudi businesswoman Lubna Al Olayan will chair a new bank being formed out of a merger between the Saudi British Bank (SABB) and Alawwal Bank.

The move comes amid a liberalisation of women's roles in a traditionally conservative society.

In June, Saudi women were officially allowed behind the wheel for the first time, after a driving ban was lifted.

Currently the head of a family conglomerate, Ms Olayan is seen as a trailblazer for Saudi women in the finance industry.

The US-educated financier topped the list of Forbes Middle East's Most Influential Women 2018.

The empowerment of Saudi women is seen as key to the kingdom's modernisation as part of an initiative led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman known as Saudi Vision 2030.

The merger between the SABB and Alawwal Bank creates the country's third biggest bank, with a capitalisation of £13.2bn ($17.2bn). British multinational bank HSBC will own part of the new entity.

Former The Walking Dead actor Scott Wilson has died, according to American TV network AMC.

The veteran actor played the character of Hershel Greene on the show from 2011 to 2014.

In a statement, AMC said that the character he played "lived at the emotional core of the show".

Colleagues and fans paid tribute to Wilson, who starred in around 30 episodes of the The Walking Dead in seasons two, three and four.

Kary Payton, who plays the character of Ezekiel in The Walking Dead, said: "The first time I met Scott Wilson, he gave me a big hug and said that this thing I had become a part of... was a family."

Wilson's character was killed off in series four of the show. But less than an hour before news of his death was made public, showrunner Angela Kang announced that the character of Hershel Greene would be making a reappearance during the forthcoming season nine.

Chris Hardwick hosts an after show, Talking Dead, on AMC and paid tribute to Wilson in a public Instagram post.

"I really will miss him and the gentle, compassionate eyes that gave Hershel so much soul," he wrote. "I am so sad to know that the world is without him tonight."

Wilson, who was born in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States, got his first major acting role in the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night.

His performance in the 1974 film The Great Gatsby was also well received.

But in recent years, it was Wilson's portrayal of farm-owner Hershel Greene in The Walking Dead, complete with full grey beard and ponytail, that will be remembered.

It's common wisdom that young children need plenty of time to snack, eat, run around and play every day.

But when Brindi Matava visited her five-year-old daughter's school in Kent, Washington, on Tuesday she was shocked to see children given just 12 minutes to eat their lunch.

"It was heartbreaking to watch and I left crying," Mrs Matava, 27, told the BBC. "I had been curious why she was coming home with a full lunchbox."

A spokesperson for the Kent School District told the BBC that children got 20 minutes for lunch and 15 minutes for play but that when Mrs Matava visited time had been cut short: "This can happen when classes arrive late to the lunch room or another class takes longer to clean up."

Another parent from Glenridge Elementary, Kristine Crawford, 34, posted the story on Reddit, prompting others to share concerns about their own children's schools.

"I can't imagine that their growing developing minds are functioning at full capacity," Mrs Crawford said.

Mrs Marina had been invited to join her daughter Adelaide for school lunch as a reward for being named star student but says she left horrified.

Children were given 12 minutes instead of 20 to walk into the lunch room, collect their food and eat, she told the BBC.

"You could tell some kids were still hungry because as they were instructed to put food in the bins, they were trying to quickly put food in their mouths," Mrs Matava explained.

Uneaten food
The Kent School District policy of a 20-minute lunch break is shorter than some other schools. Elementary schools have an average lunch time of 25 minutes, according to a 2018 survey of 1,550 schools by the School Nutrition Association.

Mrs Matava doesn't believe that it was a one-off occurrence, saying her daughter's weight had decreased from 38 to 36lb (17 to 16kg) since she started school a month ago.

Mrs Crawford says the discovery explained some of her daughter's recent behaviour too:

"My daughter has been coming home with lots of uneaten food, saying she didn't have time to eat it. She has had lots of stomach pains since she started school."

Kent School District says it can take time for children in their first year of school to learn routines.

"As our youngest learners learn to get organised, leave the classroom, and transition to lunch we continue to work with them and our adults to ensure they receive adequate time for their meals and for recess," a spokesperson said.

"If any of our students do need more time and request it, our staff accommodate them."

The two mums say they worried about their daughters' educational prospects if they are not able to eat enough during the seven-hour school day.

Mrs Crawford believes the pressure on schools to maximise lesson time to meet demands of standardised testing is behind the brief lunch time.

Mrs Matava is worried that the lunch break is frequently cut short.

"How do we really know that they are getting the full time?" Mrs Matava asked.

"Even if it's happening once or twice a week, I don't think that this is good for our children.

"Adults by law have 30 minutes to eat their food, so why aren't these little children getting the same rights?"

Mrs Crawford says she and other concerned families are asking for a 40-minute lunch break (15 for play, 25 for lunch) that would allow for 20 minutes of "seated time" for children.

Around 40% of young adults cannot afford to buy one of the cheapest homes in their area even with a 10% deposit, according to a new research.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies said house prices in England have risen by 173% over two decades.

But average pay for 25-34 year-olds has grown by just 19% over the same period.

In 1996, 93% of those with a deposit who borrowed four and a half times their salary could purchase a home but that fell to 61% in 2016.

The IFS also said that higher rental costs - up from an average £140 a week to £200 a week in England - have "reduced the purchasing power of young adults' incomes" and made it harder to save for a deposit.

Onward, a think tank, has suggested that the government should give UK private renters a chance to buy their home by rewarding landlords who sell to long-term tenants.

It says buy-to-let properties should be eligible for 100% capital gains tax relief if sold to a sitting tenant who has lived there for three years.

Onward says the average gain per property would be £15,000, or £7,500 divided between the landlord and tenant.

'Inequality'
The centre right think tank estimates 88,000 households would be eligible to take up the relief each year, costing the Treasury around £1.32bn a year.

A spokeswoman for the Treasury declined to comment.

The IFS said that the proportion of 25-34 year olds who own a house has dropped from 55% two decades ago to 35%.

Meanwhile, the rate of homeownership for those aged between 65-74 years old has risen gradually to around 80%.

Polly Simpson, a research economist at IFS and a co-author of the study, said: "Many young adults cannot borrow enough to buy a cheap home in their area, let alone an average-priced one. These trends have increased inequality between older and younger generations."

The IFS said that it is key for the government to increase the supply of homes.

It said that planning restrictions, such as within the Green Belt, prevents the construction of new homes in response to demand.

"Without increasing supply, policies to help young adults get onto the housing ladder will continue to push up house prices - and potentially rents too, which would hurt those young adults who will never be able to buy their own home," it said.

The warning signs of type-2 diabetes may be detectable 20 years before the disease is diagnosed, researchers say.

Elevated fasting blood sugar levels and insulin resistance were seen in people years before they developed pre-diabetes, often a pre-cursor to type-2, a study found.

The findings suggest interventions to stop the disease in its tracks should begin far earlier in life, authors say.

Another study found type-1 diabetes may be misdiagnosed after the age of 30.

'Intervene much earlier'
The Japanese study, carried out between 2005 and 2016, looked at the body mass indexes (BMIs), fasting blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity of 27,000 non-diabetics, who were aged between 30 and 50 and were mostly men.

Insulin resistance occurs when cells of the body do not respond properly to the hormone insulin and can lead to a variety of health problems.

A higher BMI is a well known risk factor for type-2 diabetes.

The study followed participants until they were diagnosed with type-2 diabetes, pre-diabetes - where blood sugar levels are abnormally high - or the end of 2016, whichever came first.

Over the study period, 1,067 new type-2 diabetes cases were diagnosed.

Researchers found these people had had increased fasting blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, along with higher BMIs, up to 10 years before diagnosis.

A similar pattern was observed in those who went on to develop pre-diabetes - the same kind of warning signs, albeit to a lesser degree, had been detectable more than a decade before they were diagnosed.

Because most people who develop type-2 diabetes first go through a pre-diabetes stage, researchers say it means the warning signs of the condition may be detectable more than 20 years before an actual diagnosis.

Dr Hiroyuki Sagesaka, from Aizawa Hospital in Matsumoto, Japan, who led the research, said: "Because trials of prevention in people with pre-diabetes seem to be less successful over long-term follow-up, we may need to intervene much earlier than the pre-diabetes stage to prevent progression to full blown diabetes.

"A much earlier intervention trail, either drug or lifestyle-related, is warranted."

Diabetes UK said about a million people in the UK were thought to have type-2 diabetes and not yet know it.

But the charity points out that pre-diabetes does not have to develop into type-2 - people can usually make lifestyle changes to prevent this.

Diabetes UK added: "Knowing your risk at any point in time is of course helpful in avoiding or preventing a diagnosis of type-2 diabetes.

"Whether you're at increased risk of type-2 diabetes or not, everyone should be encouraged to live a healthier lifestyle by eating better and moving more."

The research is being presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference and published in The Journal of Endocrine Society.

Separately, people who develop type-1 diabetes later in life are at risk of being misdiagnosed with the type-2 version of the disease, research suggests.

This small study indicated 39% of people diagnosed with type-1 diabetes after the age of 30 were not immediately given insulin.

Type-1 diabetics need to be given insulin immediately, while those with type-2 can often treat the condition by improving their diet and exercising more.

Dr Nick Thomas, from the University of Exeter, who led the research, said: "Getting the right diagnosis is important for these patients to receive the right education and treatment."

A report alleging that Apple and Amazon had data stolen by Chinese spies has been strongly disputed by both tech firms.

Apple and Amazon have both responded publicly to claims made by Bloomberg Businessweek which described the cyber-attack.

"There is no truth to these claims," said Apple's statement.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it had "no reason to doubt" Apple and Amazon's assessments.

Bloomberg has yet to respond to a BBC request for a comment about the repeated denials from Apple and others.

Earlier it said: "We stand by our story and are confident in our reporting and sources."

Full disclosure
Published on 4 October, Bloomberg's story alleges that Chinese spies managed to insert chips on servers made in China that could be activated once the machines were plugged in overseas. The servers were manufactured for US firm Super Micro Computer Inc.

The story suggested that Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Apple were among 30 companies, as well as government agencies and departments, that used the suspect servers.

Shares in Chinese tech firms including Lenovo and ZTE fell sharply following the publication of the Bloomberg report.

The news agency's story, which Bloomberg said resulted from a 12-month investigation, relied on unnamed and unidentified sources which, it said, included insiders at both Amazon and Apple.

Bloomberg linked to the denials given to it by the tech firms and Super Micro Computer when it approached them with its evidence.

Now Apple has published its statement in full on its media site saying it had "repeatedly explained" to Bloomberg reporters that they were wrong.

Apple said it had conducted "rigorous internal investigations" based on the evidence given to it by Bloomberg reporters and had found "absolutely no evidence" to support their claims.

It said: "On this we can be very clear: Apple has never found malicious chips, 'hardware manipulations' or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server."

It added that it was not operating under any "gag order" or any other confidentiality restriction that stopped it sharing information.

Amazon published a blog that also said the spy chip story was "untrue" saying it had never found "modified hardware or malicious chips" on its systems.

The NCSC responded to questions about the alleged spy chip attack by saying it was aware of media reports but had "no reason to doubt the detailed assessments made by AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Apple".

It urged anyone with "credible intelligence" about the allegations to get in touch.

Just a couple of years ago it seemed Virtual Reality (VR) was finally going to become an important feature in all of our lives.

But on Tech Tent this week we ask whether it's time for the VR industry to get real - and admit that most people aren't yet ready to spend time in virtual worlds.

Billions of dollars have been invested in VR by the likes of Sony, Facebook's Oculus division and HTC, whose Vive system was at one stage predicted to revive the ailing company's fortunes.

But so far, sales of headsets have proved disappointing and I've yet to hear anyone rave about the VR game they were playing last night - it seems the revolution may have to be postponed again.

But a Finnish start-up founded by refugees from Nokia thinks it knows what the problem is - virtual reality just isn't real enough. Varjo has developed a high-end headset promising human eye resolution and aimed at business users - it will be priced at an eye-popping level, somewhere between €5,000 (£4,400) and €10,000.

When the Varjo team came into Tech Tent HQ, I got a demo and was impressed by the realism of the experience. I was first shown an artist's studio where you could almost smell the paint and breathe in the dust - it was captured by taking more than 2,000 photos.

Then I was moved into an aircraft cockpit, again a very real representation and with more obvious applications as a training environment - because that's where Varjo thinks VR can thrive.

"VR of today has been meant for gaming, taking you to different worlds, not for practical purposes," one of the firm's founders, Urho Konttori, tells us.

He says plenty of companies are trying to use VR for training but are hampered by the fact that headsets are just too low resolution, so people soon get bored with the experience.

We saw a prototype - Varjo aims to release its headset by the end of this year and is hoping for interest from the automotive, aerospace and architecture industries.

It is realistic enough to know that far bigger companies will be racing to provide similar high-resolution experiences but is confident Varjo has a head start and some protection from imitators: "We patented the hell out of everything we do," says Mr Konttori with a grin.

Still, both Varjo and the wider VR industry have a lot to prove. As a new form of entertainment, virtual reality has proved about as enticing to consumers as 3D television. Perhaps like 3D printing it is destined to find a profitable niche in the workplace rather than at home.

Default passwords such as "admin" and "password" will be illegal for electronics firms to use in California from 2020.

The state has passed a law that sets higher security standards for net-connected devices made or sold in the region.

It demands that each gadget be given a unique password when it is made.

Before now, easy-to-guess passwords have helped some cyber-attacks spread more quickly and cause more harm.

The Information Privacy: Connected Devices bill demands that electronics manufacturers equip their products with "reasonable" security features.

This can mean a unique password or a start-up procedure that forces users to generate their own code when using the gadget for the first time.

The bill also allows customers who suffer harm when a company ignores the law to sue for damages.

Writing on tech news site the Register Kieren McCarthy said the law was "a step forward" but also a "massive missed opportunity".

A bigger problem than poor passwords was the creation of devices that could not be updated, he said.

California should have added clauses that required manufacturers to take a more rounded approach, he said, to limit how much access malicious hackers can get to all kinds of devices.

Many recent cyber-attacks have taken advantage of the default and easy-to-guess passwords on the devices found in millions of homes and offices.

In late 2016, Twitter, Spotify, and Reddit were among sites taken offline by an attack that took advantage of poor passwords on lots of net-connected gadgets including webcams and other so-called smart home hardware.

An attack by malware known as VPNFilter is currently targeting home routers and is believed to have infected more than 500,000 devices.

Ed Sheeran's ÷ is the most-requested album on Amazon's voice-activated speakers, the company has revealed.

It's hardly surprising: The record was the UK's best-seller last year, shifting more than 2.5 million copies.

Hit records by George Ezra, Adele and Dua Lipa also feature in the Top 50, which was released to coincide with National Album Day.

But a closer look at Alexa's most-popular albums reveals behaviour that may concern the music industry.

When people use voice commands to stream music, they consistently ask for songs they already know, with new artists largely frozen out of the picture.

For instance, Ed Sheeran accounts for three of the top five most-requested records; while there are multiple entries in the Top 50 for stars like Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Little Mix, and Katy Perry.

Just eight of Alexa's top 50 albums were released this year, and only two of those were debuts - Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy and Anne-Marie's Speak Your Mind.

By contrast, the Official Charts Company says 16 of this year's best-selling albums are new releases, with three debuts in the Top 40.

The Alexa chart highlights a known problem with voice-activated listening - that there's a significant barrier to discovering new music.

"If you're looking at Spotify on your phone or your computer a lot of stuff is presented to you, so you might go, 'Oh, so-and-so's got a new album out, I'll give that a go'" says Mark Sutherland, editor of Music Week.

"But if all the decision-making is put upon you, and you have to tell Alexa what to choose, then inevitably you're likely to go for tried-and-trusted, more familiar music."

Amazon Music's head of programming, Alex Luke, acknowledged the problem at last week's Music Week Tech Summit in London.

"It's one of the things we've realised as we've been forging this path into voice - discovery is a challenge for unknown artists," he said.

Notably, albums like Michael Jackson's Thriller, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell are well-represented in Alexa's most-requested list; upending the convention that streaming services favour current hits over the classics.

Compilation albums were excluded from the chart, Amazon said, otherwise The Greatest Showman soundtrack would have topped the list.

The issue of music discovery is a big concern for record labels and musicians alike; especially as voice-activated speakers are one of the UK's fastest-growing consumer products.

About 5 million UK adults now have a smart speaker at home, according to Ipsos Mori; while research from the US says that 90% of owners use the devices listen to music at least once a week, and they are poised to overtake mobile phones as the most common way of accessing their favourite songs.

Amazon is the market leader, with its Alexa-enabled devices accounting for about 65% of all smart speakers sold in the UK.

However, says Sutherland, "the most commonly-asked question to Alexa is 'play music'".

"So until Alexa evolves to the stage where she suggests things to you, instead of you suggesting things to her, it's going to be hard to get people to say, 'Alexa, play me this person. I'm not sure who they are or what the record is called because it's brand new'.

"That's an unlikely scenario in your kitchen."

Amazon hopes to encourage listeners to try new music through its "Weekly One" feature - which promotes a new song by an emerging artist every week.

There's also a UK Rising playlist that showcases new music; and a feature that allows users to request "the most popular songs in Manchester" and other UK cities.

For now, though, Ed Sheeran reigns supreme.

Tens of thousands of people have signed up to a new service from two mobile-only banks designed to help problem gamblers. One former addict says this "gambling block", available on the banks' apps, helped him beat his addiction.

"I'd be setting my alarm to wake up at 4am to do a first bet," says Danny Cheetham, who began placing bets in his early 20s.

"I'd plan my route to work so I could call in to a bookies which opened early for commuters."

Danny, who is now 29, found himself betting in bookies, on slot machines and online. He gambled a lot on football, which he doesn't even like.

He began relying on overtime from work and on payday loans. In the course of eight years, Danny, who's from Stockport, estimates he lost more than £50,000.

He sunk into depression and moved in with his dad as he could not afford to pay rent.

It was the death of his mum Christine in 2015 that he says was the turning point for him - but he was not able to kick his habit until he signed up to a gambling block with his bank, Monzo. The so-called challenger bank is a mobile-only version of a traditional bank.

Once the block is activated by the customer, it can spot any transaction that person might try to make with bookmakers - either online or in a shop - by using merchant category codes. It instantly stops the transaction from happening, before any money has left that customer's account.

If a customer is tempted to place a bet in the heat of the moment, there is a 48-hour cooling-off period before the block is switched off. There is also a daily limit on cash withdrawals.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
Gambling addiction: The facts

430,000 problem gamblers in Britain
Two million people "at risk"
Harm can include higher levels of physical and mental illness, debt problems, relationship breakdown and, in some cases, criminality

Source: Gambling Commission

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Monzo CEO Tom Blomfield says the block was introduced because customers asked for it.

"We have a team of people who work with vulnerable customers and they were getting this feedback quite often" he says.

More than 25,000 customers have signed up to the bank's block since it went live in June.

"Not all of those were problem gamblers [but] about 8,000 people did have a history of gambling," says Mr Blomfield.

"We've... seen a 70% decline in their gambling transactions so [it's made] a really big impact."

Another challenger bank, Starling, is offering a similar type of block. It's gained 20,000 users since its launch in June.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is calling on the big five high street banks - Lloyds, Santander, HSBC, RBS Group and Barclays - to offer the same type of service.

Doctor Henrietta Bowden-Jones told BBC Radio 4's Money Box: "If you are unable to access funds, this type of gambling block can save people's homes and their families."

The banks say protecting vulnerable customers is a priority and they are always looking at new ways to do that.

The Gambling Commission is talking to financial institutions about how to improve protection for problem gamblers.

Three years on from taking his first steps to beat his gambling addiction, Danny says he is happy.

"And I've actually got money in the bank which I never thought I'd have," he says.

"I'm well on target to being debt-free by my 30th birthday, which is my next one, and I just don't feel depressed or helpless like I used to."

He says he can now think about his future and - although he will have a bad credit file for up to six years - he says this will give him time to save for a deposit for his own place.

"I just don't feel like it's an endless battle any more."

The US unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest rate since December 1969.

Figures from the Department of Labor also showed the US economy created 134,000 jobs during the month, fewer than were expected.

Significant jobs growth was seen in professional and business services, healthcare and construction.

Average hourly earnings rose at an annual rate of 2.8% in September, down from 2.9% in August.

Employment data for July and August were also revised to show an additional 87,000 jobs were created than first reported.

Hurricane Florence, which battered the US East Coast in mid-September, was cited by the Labor Department as a factor for some employment changes, specifically leisure and hospitality, which lost 18,000 jobs in the period.

The Labor Department said it was "impossible to quantify" the hurricane's net effect on employment.

Jake Robbins, from Premier Asset Management, said low unemployment is driving wages higher.

"Employers are finding it harder to recruit and having to pay more when they do," Mr Robbins said.

Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, predicted that the jobless rate will fall as low as 3.25% by this time next year, strengthening the case for the US Federal Reserve to keep raising interest rates.

"No one at the Fed thinks unemployment near 3% is sustainable," Mr Shepherdson said.

Both economists predict the US Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates well into 2019, as better-paid US workers spend more and increase inflationary pressures.

Trade war ignored
The escalating trade war between the US and China does not appear to have affected hiring in factories.

The data showed manufacturing jobs continuing to multiply in September, with 18,000 added, reflecting a gain in durable goods industries. In 2018 so far, manufacturing has added 278,000 jobs.

Washington last month slapped tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, with Beijing retaliating with duties on $60 billion worth of U.S. products. The United States and China had already imposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of each other's goods.

Jobs in professional and business services rose by 54,000 in September and has increased by 560,000 over the year.

Healthcare employment rose by 26,000 in September. For 2018 so far, healthcare jobs have increased by 302,000.
The figures for Greece are higher, but Italian yields are markedly above the rest of the eurozone, including those countries such as Ireland and Spain that have had bailouts. There have also been impacts on the euro and the share prices of the country's banks.

What is the Armageddon scenario?
There are two. One is a default by the Italian government - a failure to repay debts as they come due. The other is leaving the euro.

Both possibilities were clearly in view at various stages with Greece. But the eurozone came through it. The size of the Italian economy and the government's debt burden mean that it would be much harder to deal with.

But neither is on the horizon with Italy. Although government borrowing is getting more expensive it is much cheaper than the levels seen as triggering the need for a bailout. Italy did get into that territory in the worst phase of the eurozone crisis, but is not close to that now.

There are people in Italy that want to leave the euro, and there is significant sympathy for the idea in the coalition parties. But it is not government policy.

The controversy surrounding the Italian government's spending plans has led to continued nervousness on the financial markets.

The budget set out by the country's coalition government last month - which involves greater spending than previously planned - had already sent Italian share prices lower and knocked the value of the euro.

The cost of government borrowing for Italy, represented by the yield (or interest rate) on its bonds (the debt issued by the Italian government), has been rising, demonstrating that investors are getting twitchy.

Markets are concerned that the government's plans mean the country is heading for a stand-off with the European Commission.

Why is the Italian government's financial situation back in the news?
The government that took office after an election in March this year wants to be able to deliver on campaign spending promises. To do that it needs to borrow more than its predecessor was planning.

The government's ambitions to spend more are set against the sober backdrop of Italy's persistently weak economic growth record.

The determination to deliver on their election promises and that weak growth has once again raised questions about the sustainability of the country's debts.

There could also be legal action taken by the European Commission.

What exactly do they want to do?
The coalition government wants to reduce the retirement age, as well as increase spending on welfare and infrastructure. They want to finance it with more borrowing.

How much more?
The plan sent to the European Commission by the last government envisaged borrowing this year equivalent to 1.6% of annual national income (GDP), declining to 0.9% and 0.2% over the next two years.

That would be a budget that is very nearly in balance by the end of the decade.

The coalition is still wrangling over the figures for later years, but for 2019 they are aiming for 2.4%.

But isn't the upper limit for deficits under EU rules 3% of GDP? So what is the problem?
Yes, but there is another rule that total accumulated debt should be no more than 60% of GDP.

Italy has more than twice that amount. One way to get that total debt figure down is a lower deficit.

Couldn't Italy get the debt burden down with stronger economic growth?
In principle, yes. Stronger growth means GDP rises more rapidly so debt as a percentage of GDP declines. But Italy's problem has been one of persistently weak growth. The economy this year is slightly smaller than it was in 2005.

It is this growth problem that lies at the root of the strains on the government finances. Deficits were quite large in some years in the 2000s, but the figure has been 3% or less since 2012.

The debt burden has risen in the last few years because growth has been so weak.

How big is the debt?
In cash terms it's the biggest government debt in the EU at €2.3 trillion ($2.6tn; £2tn). The debt burden as a percentage of annual economic activity is second only to Greece in the EU at 132%.

What about the Italian banks?
Still a problem. Capital Economics, the London consultancy says the banks "remain the country's weakest link".

They own more than a quarter of Italian government debt, so they would be hit hard by a default. Even the rise in bond yields, which means the value of the bonds falls, is bad news for them. They also have high levels of problem loans.

The banks would also be vulnerable o renewed speculation that Italy might leave the eurozone. Deposits would almost certainly be pulled out of Italy in that situation as account holders wanted to avoid having their money converted into a new (or restored) national Italian currency.

That said, the Italian banks have a lot more capital than they did a few years ago which means they have more capacity to absorb losses. And the prospect of Italy quitting the euro has receded.

Have the financial markets been hit?
The starkest impact has been in the bond market, where the government's debt is traded.

The yields on those bonds give some idea of the government's likely future borrowing costs. They rose sharply in the past week.
 

Shares in Chinese tech giants Lenovo and ZTE have fallen sharply after a media report that Beijing had inserted spying devices into US computers.

Unnamed US national security officials, quoted by Bloomberg, said microchips were found in gadgets used by US government agencies.

Lenovo's shares fell more than 15%, while ZTE lost more than 10%.

Lenovo said it did not source parts from Super Micro, the firm at the centre of the allegations.

ZTE has declined to comment.

According to the report, Super Micro is said to have supplied servers that allegedly contained the malicious hardware.

Tiny chips on its server circuit boards had been used to siphon off data, the news agency said.

Super Micro has rejected Bloomberg's claims, calling them "untrue".

Apple and Amazon have also denied that their computer systems were among those reportedly containing the devices.

ZTE is one of China's leading state-owned companies and has long laboured under suspicions that the use of its equipment and services poses a security threat to Western nations.

In July, Washington lifted an order that blocked ZTE from doing business with US companies.

Lenovo is the world's biggest maker of desktop computers, having bought IBM's loss-making PC unit in 2005.

In 2014, it acquired another chunk of IBM, snapping up its low-end server business.

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A federal court in Virginia has granted Megaupload's request to keep the civil lawsuits filed by the music and movie companies on hold until April next year. Since all crucial data on Megaupload's servers are safely preserved, the MPAA and RIAA have no objections against the stay, which is caused by slow progress in the criminal case.

Well over six years have passed since Megaupload was shut down and it’s still unclear how the criminal proceedings will unfold.

Aside from Andrus Nomm’s plea deal, progress in the criminal proceedings has been slow.

Kim Dotcom and his former colleagues are currently fighting a legal battle in New Zealand to prevent their extradition to the US, for which the final decision has yet to be issued.

While all parties await the outcome, the criminal case in the United States remains pending. The same goes for the civil cases launched by the MPAA and RIAA in 2014, more than four years ago.

Since the civil cases may influence the criminal proceedings, Megaupload’s legal team previously managed to put these cases on hold, and last week they requested another extension.

This is not the first time that such a request had been made. There have been several extensions already, which caused some issues.

There were previously concerns that the long delays could result in the destruction of evidence, as some of Megaupload’s hard drives were starting to fail. However, after the parties agreed on a solution to back-up and restore the files, this is no longer an issue.

“With the preservation order in place, and there being no other objection, Defendant Megaupload hereby moves the Court to enter the attached proposed order, continuing the stay in this case for an additional six months,” Megaupload’s legal team informed the court this week.

Without any objections from the MPAA and RIAA, U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady swiftly granted Megaupload’s request to stay both lawsuits until April next year.

And so that wait continues…

Order to stay

https://torrentfreak.com/images/megauploaddelay.jpg

Source: Torrentfreak.com

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U.S. government agrees with Apple and Amazon, says their servers were not compromised by China

Last week, we told you about a report from Bloomberg that accused the Chinese of inserting "spy chips" inside servers that were delivered to major tech companies like Apple and Amazon. Apple denied the report, and said that Bloomberg is confusing an event that took place in 2016 when the company found an infected driver on a single Super Micro server in one of its labs. Apple's investigation found that this was the result of an accident and was not an attack on the firm. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a statement on Saturday that says it is aware of the original Bloomberg report that discusses a "technology supply chain compromise." The statement adds that DHS has no reason "at this time" not to believe the statements from companies like Apple, Amazon and Supermicro denying the existence of the tiny spy chips.

According to Bloomberg's original report, microchips the size of a sharpened pencil tip (see image at the top of this article) were embedded on motherboards built by Taiwan-American firm Supermicro. The boards were used on servers owned by U.S. tech firms, and the chips reportedly allowed the Chinese to obtain data on the compromised equipment.

 

"The Department of Homeland Security is aware of the media reports of a technology supply chain compromise. Like our partners in the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre, at this time we have no reason to doubt the statements from the companies named in the story. Information and communications technology supply chain security is core to DHS’s cybersecurity mission and we are committed to the security and integrity of the technology on which Americans and others around the world increasingly rely. Just this month – National Cybersecurity Awareness Month – we launched several government-industry initiatives to develop near- and long-term solutions to manage risk posed by the complex challenges of increasingly global supply chains. These initiatives will build on existing partnerships with a wide range of technology companies to strengthen our nation’s collective cybersecurity and risk management efforts."-Department of Homeland Security"

 

For its part, Bloomberg is still sticking with its story.