Financial Markets and Economy
The big geopolitical risk markets are missing (Yahoo Finance)
A giant global disruption is looming. It’s not the demise of the European Union, or Trumpian trade wars. It’s North Korea, the world’s most menacing nation.
North Korea isn't a country investors usually look at, but it has been on people's minds amid rising geopolitical risk.
And so, it's interesting to consider how markets assess the risk of a country like North Korea without either hysterically overreacting in the short-term or waving the risk off completely, especially given that any turbulence could have a spillover effect into both emerging and developed markets such as China and South Korea.
Fairholme Fund May Face Liquidity Risks, Morningstar Says (The Wall Street Journal)
Investors have pulled more than $16 billion from the Fairholme Fund over the past six years, raising concerns about possible liquidity risks if the outflows accelerate, fund tracker says.
Here's Why Robust U.S. Job Market Isn't Producing Better Pay (Bloomberg)
Growth in Americans’ wages has been leveling off lately, contrary to expectations that a steadily falling jobless rate will quickly lead to a sustained acceleration.
Women who work in the French private sector see their pay reduced by 3% every time they have a child, according to new research from Université Paris-Saclay.
Private Equity's Gravity-Defying Fee Bonanza (Bloomberg)
One corner of the investing world is surprisingly immune to the widespread trend of shrinking management fees: private equity.
Yale's Faith Not Shaken by Stirring of Low Fees (Bloomberg)
As Bloomberg’s Janet Lorin reported on Sunday, Yale University’s endowment hit back at “fee bashers” in its recently released 2016 annual report.
U.S. Urges China to Open Trade After Sparing It Manipulator Tag (Bloomberg)
The Treasury report said that for a decade China engaged in one-way, large-scale interventions to hold down the currency, and then only allowed it to strengthen gradually — a practice that imposed “significant and long-lasting hardship on American workers and companies.”
Fracking comes to the Arctic in a new Alaska oil boom (The Conversation)
Arctic lands and waters hold irresistible allure for global oil companies. Despite opposition from environmental groups and President Obama’s 2016 ban on drilling in federal Arctic waters, exploration in Alaska has revealed massive new volumes of oil.
Companies
Struggling Tech Giant LeEco Loses Global Corporate Finance Head (Bloomberg)
LeEco Inc.’s global head of corporate finance is leaving, according to a person familiar with the matter, the latest sign of retrenchment by the Chinese technology giant.
The chairman of HSBC believes there needs to be "a huge public policy debate" on the proper use of data in finance.
United made a major change to ensure the nightmare of Flight 3411 doesn't happen again (Business Insider)
On Friday, United Airlines announced that all crews traveling on board its aircraft should be booked 60 minutes ahead of the time of departure.
Technology
Pop quiz: Do you know where you ate dinner on September 9, 2016? And how long did it take you to get to work on Thursday, February 23, 2017? Where were you on the afternoon of March 9, 2015?
Android Phones Are Safer Than You Think, Says Google's Head Of Android Security (Digital Trends)
Barely a week goes by without a new headline about a freshly uncovered vulnerability or new malware affecting millions of devices.
This Is the Dawn of Brain Tech, But How Far Can It Go? (Singularity Hub)
What distinguishes Elon Musk’s reputation as an entrepreneur is that any venture he takes on comes from a bold and inspiring vision for the future of our species.
Google AI Program Can Now Create It's Own Unique Cat Doodles (Digital Trends)
Google’s AI can now identify your rough sketches — but the research team is also teaching computers to draw their own doodles. On April 13, the Google research team shared their latest work involving a neural network capable of drawing its own sketches, currently being called Sketch RNN. Unlike AutoDraw, Sketch RNN is a recently published research paper and is not yet available to the public.
The Best Wi-Fi Router (for Most People) (The Wire Cutter)
After more than 250 total hours of research and testing, we recommend the TP-Link Archer C7 (v2) router for most people. We’ve tested it against nearly 30 other routers over the past two years, and it’s still our favorite.
Drones And Robots Wove The University Of Stuttgart's Otherworldly New Pavilion (Digital Trends)
If you want evidence of the innovative technology-related work being carried out at Germany’s University of Stuttgart, all you have to do is take a stroll around campus. That’s where the university recently unveiled a new carbon-fibre pavilion, named the ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2016/7.
The app on this performance sedan tells you when your teen is speeding (Venture Beat)
The fast and the furious? That’s the situation that comes to mind when your teen driver punches the accelerator on your new sedan … and you get furious.
Following Apple, Microsoft may finally bring tabs to Windows apps like File Explorer (Venture Beat)
Months after Apple made it possible to open multiple versions of apps like the Finder in a single window, Microsoft has begun testing out tabs in Windows apps such as File Explorer, according to a new report.
Politics
For White America, It's 'Happy Days' Again (Rolling Stone)
Two recent news stories crossed like ships in the night, without much public discussion of how they were related.
Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a review of all agreements between the Justice Department and local police departments around the country.
Trump lawyers have a new argument to fight a lawsuit filed by protesters injured at a campaign rally (Business Insider)
Lawyers for President Donald Trump are arguing he should be immune from a civil lawsuit that alleges he encouraged supporters to rough up protesters at a campaign rally in March 2016.
Conservative and liberal watchdogs are railing against Trump over concealed White House visitor logs (Business Insider)
News of the Trump administration's move to keep White House visitor logs secret has prompted criticism from conservative and liberal groups. The administration cited "grave national-security risks and privacy concerns" on Friday as reasons to keep the logs under wraps.
Traditional political parties have been struggling to gain traction in 2017 as French voters are — like voters in many other nations — tired of the status quo.
Trump plans to nominate Scott Garrett, critic of Export-Import Bank, to head agency (The Wall Street Journal)
President Donald Trump said Friday he would nominate former congressman Scott Garrett, who has supported closing the U.S. Export-Import Bank, to head the credit agency.
With Marches, Progressives Enter The Tax Reform Debate (Newsweek)
Tens of thousands of Americans are expected to turn out for Tax Day marches Saturday to protest Donald Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns.
Meet the liberal hero who hasn’t given up on Trump (Politico)
Sherrod Brown sat down to talk trade at a union hall this week, in the city that makes the Jeep he drives, wearing a suit stitched 10 miles from his Cleveland house, and looked right at home.
Putin And Trump's Tense Week: Four Takeaways From Rex Tillerson's Visit To Moscow (Newsweek)
Donald Trump hoped he could “get along with Russia.” But four months into his presidency, both Washington and Moscow acknowledge that trust between the two world powers has only eroded further, particularly after the U.S. cruise missile strike April 7 against Russia’s ally, Syria.
Health and Biotech
Treating Epilepsy’s Toughest Cases (Scientific American)
Like many people with epilepsy, Richard Shane, 56, has some problems with memory. But he can easily recall his first seizure, 34 years ago. “I was on the phone with my father, and I noticed that I started moaning, and I lost some level of consciousness,” Shane says.
Life on the Home Planet
The U.S. Military Bombed ISIS In Afghanistan, But The Taliban Are Winning The War (Newsweek)
The U.S. military's decision to drop its largest conventional weapon Thursday on positions held by the Islamic State group (ISIS) in Afghanistan came as a surprise to many who noted that the jihadists had only managed to instigate a low-level insurgency in the Central Asian nation.
China says North Korea tension has to be stopped from reaching 'irreversible' stage (Reuters)
China said on Friday tension over North Korea had to be stopped from reaching an "irreversible and unmanageable stage" as a U.S. aircraft carrier group steamed toward the region amid fears the North may conduct a sixth nuclear weapons test.
Boston to Mark 4th Anniversary of Deadly Marathon Bombing (Associated Press)
Bostonians are marking the fourth anniversary of the deadly Boston Marathon attacks.
Quiet remembrances have been planned Saturday to remember the victims. Three spectators were killed and more than 260 others wounded when two bombs planted near the finish line exploded on April 15, 2013, spraying shrapnel into the crowds.
Gunfire Erupts Near Australian Pacific Island Refugee Camp (Bloomberg)
Papua New Guinea authorities are investigating an incident involving residents and military personnel that involved gunfire near the Manus Island detention center, according to an Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection spokeswoman.
On April 13, the US military dropped a school bus-size munition nicknamed the "mother of all bombs" on a network of ISIS-held caves and bunkers in northeastern Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon.
U.S. Launches Qualification Tests for Upgraded Nuke Bomb (Associated Press)
Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are claiming success with the first in a new series of test flights involving an upgraded version of a nuclear bomb that has been part of the U.S. arsenal for decades.
Powerful Earthquake Rocks Underwater Divers In The Philippines (The Huffington Post)
A group of scuba divers exploring the ocean near the Philippines found themselves in a shaky situation on April 8 when a magnitude 5.7 earthquake rocked the sea floor below them.
