FirstFT, the email briefing formerly known as The 6am Cut Asian stocks rallied after China last week cut rates for the first time in two years and renewed hopes for countering a slowdown. The Hang Seng index climbed 2 per cent in early trading while the Shanghai Composite rose 1.4 per cent. Analysts see the cut to the benchmark lending rate as the first in a run of easing measures: it will provide debt service relief rather than boosting GDP growth. There is doubt over whether the move will cut financing costs for smaller companies or whether it will continue to channel loans to big state-owned firms. The easing measures in China and Japan have also raised expectations that neighbouring Asian central banks will follow suit. Reuters, FT, Bloomberg, FT The world's most advanced cyber snooper The "Regin" malware is targeting Russian and Saudi Arabian telecoms companies, and is probably run by a western intelligence agency. King Carlsen reigns on Magnus Carlsen beat Biswanathan Anand of India in a closely fought contest over two weeks in Sochi to retain his crown as world chess champion. This has cemented the 23-year-old Norwegian's reputation as one of the best ever players as well as a fearsome fighting player. Samsung shake-up After a difficult year, co-chief executive and head of mobile JK Shin could be moved out of his role to be replaced by another co-CEO BK Yoon, who would also continue overseeing Samsung's home appliance and television business. BHP Billiton's cuts to the ore The resources group thinks it can reduce the cost of its iron-ore operations in Western Australia by 15 per cent, while squeezing coal producing costs in Queensland by 10 per cent. It will also becutting project investment in the hope of making $4bn of productivity-led gains by the middle of 2017. Israel pushes Jewish state law The draft law defining Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people has drawn heated reaction from Palestinians who say it is discriminatory and moderate Israelis who say it compromises the country's democratic character. US oil imports from Opec sink to 30-year low The Opec nations pump a third of the world's crude, but advances in hydraulic fracturing have propelled domestic US production to the highest level since the mid-1980s. Modi's hard slog over black money The Indian prime minister's campaign tounearth illicit funds stashed in tax havens such as Switzerland and Lichtenstein is unlikely to yield windfall gains. It's a big day for . . . Iran's nuclear programme Iran and the six world powers it has been negotiating with are not expected to reach a deal to lift US and EU sanctions by tonight's deadline. Iranian officials have said they are working on an alternative, which would see them looking to Russia and China for diplomatic and economic support. The German economy The Ifo business climate index continued to slip downin October, but it is expected to show the first improvement since May. The neuroscience of real-time translations Interpreters are coordinating various specialised parts of their brains when working, rather than using one highly developed part. (Either way, don't make their lives more difficult with wordplay: "Puns based on a single word with multiple meanings in the source language should generally not be attempted by interpreters, as the result will probably not be funny." Mosaic Science The game of life Sales of board games have risen for five years in a row and it's not just hipster nostalgia. People are starting to lose the ability to interact in a physical space and people are going to cafés for snakes and lattes to remedy that. The Atlantic Why the west and Ukraine should cut a deal with Putin Sanctions have proved an ineffective deterrent - boosting the regime's popularity andstrengthening Kremlin hardliners, who relish isolation. Obama's immigration plan is not that far-reaching The broader programme allows for the deportation of those who arrived after the beginning of the year and many are still not covered. Tech lobbyists have criticised the plan, saying it does not do enough to help them recruit foreign programmers and engineers. New Yorker $, FT No more Band Aids We should stop trying to save the world - big ideas aredestroying international development , says Michael Hobbes, a human rights consultant. Successful programs should be allowed to expand by degrees, not digits. Asian markets Nikkei 225 up +56.65 (+0.33%) at 17,358 Topix up +2.54 (+0.18%) at 1,400 Hang Seng up +469.33 (+2.00%) at 23,906 ASX 200 up +57.49 (+1.08%) at 5,362 US markets S&P 500 up +10.75 (+0.52%) at 2,064 DJIA up +91.06 (+0.51%) at 17,810 Nasdaq up +11.10 (+0.24%) at 4,713 European markets Eurofirst 300 up +28.53 (+2.10%) at 1,385 FTSE100 up +71.86 (+1.08%) at 6,751 CAC 40 up +113.02 (+2.67%) at 4,347 Dax up +248.58 (+2.62%) at 9,733 Currencies €/$ 1.24 (1.24) $/¥ 117.88 (117.71) £/$ 1.57 (1.57) €/£ 0.7912 (0.7901) Commodities ($) Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.48 at 80.84 Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.41 at 76.92 100 Oz Gold (Comex) at 1,198 Copper (Comex) at 3.04 10-year government bond yields (%) US 2.31% UK 2.05% Germany 0.77%