Author: ricardofrancois

When people recognize veteran journalist Miles O'Brien from his days covering aviation for CNN, they often thank him for his coverage of the Challenger space shuttle explosion.O'Brien has to politely correct these grateful fans. He was on the air on CNN for 16 straight hours to cover the crash of the space shuttle Columbia, which broke up in the skies over Texas on February 1, 2003, as it reentered Earth's atmosphere. The seven astronauts on board died after 16 days in orbit.The 1986 Challenger tragedy was a defining moment for Generation X, who witnessed it firsthand in their classrooms. Teacher…

Read More

Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Mexico has severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador and vowed to bring the Andean country before an international court after police stormed its embassy in Quito and arrested Ecuador's former vice president who was taking shelter there after being convicted of corruption.The ultra-conservative government of President Daniel Noboa ordered officers to enter the embassy buildings after Mexico's leftist administration granted asylum to Jorge Glas, who served as Ecuador's vice president from 2013 to 2018 and was later sentenced to 14 years in prison.Police…

Read More

Apple updated its App Store rules on Friday to allow emulators of legacy console games globally with the option to download titles. However, the company warned that developers are responsible for making sure they follow copyright rules. Android users already have access to a large number of emulators to play old classic games on their devices. Apple's update will likely encourage some of these developers to bring their emulators to the App Store. The company stated that these simulation apps must use an in-app purchase mechanism to offer digital items. With Apple having to adjust the rules of the App…

Read More

Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.A widely used screening test for prostate cancer overdiagnoses insignificant cases while still missing some of the most aggressive cancers, the largest study of its kind has revealed.The trial, which included more than 400,000 British men aged between 50 and 69, tested the effect of a blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which is typically used to decide when to send men with urinary symptoms for further testing.Half of the study participants received one invitation for a PSA test. After 15 years,…

Read More

India's central bank kept its key interest rate on hold for the seventh straight policy meeting on Friday as economic growth is expected to remain strong while inflation remains above the 4% target level.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesIndia's central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged for the seventh straight policy meeting on Friday as growth in the economy is expected to remain strong while inflation remains above the 4% target.The six-member Monetary Policy Committee kept the key lending rate at 6.5%, in line with expectations. The repo rate was raised by a total of 250 basis points between…

Read More

A California Highway Patrol officer fatally shot a man Friday outside a mall in Cerritos, authorities said.The accident happened around 4 p.m. at Los Cerritos Center, a large shopping center next to the 605 Freeway in southeastern Los Angeles County, according to Deputy Veronica Phantom, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.The man who was shot was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Phantom said.It is unclear what led to the shooting, and a spokesman for the Republican People's Party did not provide any information. KTTV reported that the shooting came after a CHP chase.Detectives…

Read More

Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Global fascination with Elon Musk's exploits explains the sudden interest in neurotechnology. This year, his startup Neuralink announced its first successful human trial. Noland Arbaugh, 29, who is paralyzed from the shoulders down, received a Neuralink neural computer interface, or BCI. Within days he was filmed playing Mario Kart with his mind. For now, trials are limited to patients. But Neuralink's $5 billion valuation envisions a future in which everyone can use a human-to-human communication interface (BCI). The idea of ​​using devices…

Read More

Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Rupak Ghose is previously a financial research analyst at Credit Suisse and Head of Corporate Strategy at ICAP/NEX.If Mark Twain were surveying Wall Street investment banks, would he say “Lies, damned lies and league tables”? My first job was on Wall Street more than two decades ago as a sell-side stock research analyst, and we were obsessed with league tables. We've been eagerly awaiting the release of our annual Institutional Investor Survey, and how we've fared to measure how much we've earned.Thanks…

Read More

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng before a dinner in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, on April 5, 2024. Pedro Pardo | AFP | Getty ImagesUS Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's comments on China's excess manufacturing capacity are aimed at reframing the “China threat” narrative and appear to create a pretext for more protectionist policies by the United States, Chinese state media said.China's official Xinhua news agency said in an editorial late on Friday evening that such comments seek to undermine China's domestic growth and international cooperation, and that Washington should focus on…

Read More

When IVP recently announced the closing of its 18th fund, I called Eric Liao, a longtime general partner at the growth-stage firm, to ask some questions. For starters, getting $1.6 billion in capital commitments from its investors right now might seem a lot more difficult than getting commitments during the frothy days of 2021, when IVP announced a $1.8 billion vehicle. She also wondered about succession at IVP, whose many bets include Figma and Robinhood, and whose founder and early investors still loom large over the company — figuratively and literally. A recent Fortune story noted that photos of company…

Read More