Author: franperez66q@protonmail.com

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.I first wrote about Manchester’s skyscrapers a decade ago. Shortly after covering a planning application for a 64-storey residential behemoth, I stood looking down Deansgate towards the spot where it would loom. People won’t know what’s hit them, I thought. What followed was not just one tower but a brand-new skyline. A gleaming forest of glass that sprouted seemingly from nothing in a city best known for its football and its 1980s and ’90s music heyday. Today, it is the backdrop for Prime Minister…

During a medieval siege, a trebuchet scored a chance hit one unlucky defender. A small boulder slammed into his upper back at close to 300 kilometers an hour, smashing bones and crushing him beneath its weight. The man’s skeleton lay beneath the chapel of Scotland’s Stirling Castle, along with the remains of several other people who had clearly died violent deaths. But this one, known to us only as Skeleton 150 (or as “trebuchet guy” in your faithful correspondent’s notes), stood out even among that battle-damaged crowd because most of his upper body had been shattered. According to University of…

Writer E. Jean Carroll arrives at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where former U.S. President Donald Trump will arrive to ask a federal appeals court to overturn a $5 million jury verdict finding him liable for sexually assaulting and defaming her, who accused Trump of raping her nearly three decades ago, in Manhattan, New York, U.S., September 6, 2024. Adam Gray | ReutersThe Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s latest Hail Mary attempt to overturn a federal civil jury’s verdict finding him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.The court’s decision was revealed in…

Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., speaks to members of the media following the company’s “Japan AI Ecosystem” reception in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, July 16, 2026. Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesNvidia on Monday said it will provide the credit and compute for a new artificial intelligence data center for OpenAI in Ohio.The credit will support an initial 4.25 gigawatts of computing capacity with the option for an additional 3.75 gigawatts. Capacity is expected to come online in phases in 2028.SB Energy will build and manage the datacenter at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike City,…

So nearly half a decade after the onset of the Ukraine War, the Western launch market has not changed much. Ariane 6 has made a difference for Europe, but for the rest of the commercial launch industry, a holding pattern remains as Falcon 9 backstops all. What about the next generation? Vulcan and New Glenn are heavy lift rockets, but beyond them, a new generation of US medium-lift vehicles is in development. The smallest is Stoke Space’s Nova rocket, which is intended to be fully reusable with a capacity of up to 7 tons to low-Earth orbit. Stoke’s chief executive,…

Wall Street’s so-called “fear gauge” has fallen to its lowest level of 2026 so far, reflecting relative market tranquility in a year marked by geopolitical turbulence — but the calm appears unlikely to last. Strategists warn that rock-bottom volatility, fresh stock market all-time highs and unresolved geopolitical risks are converging just as markets enter the historically stormy mid-August-to-mid-October stretch.The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE)’s Volatility Index, or VIX, measures expected market volatility over the next 30 days using S&P 500 option prices. A key tracker of stock market volatility, the index moves lower the calmer markets appear.With the S&P up…

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is seen in the U.S. Capitol after a meeting in the office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., March 26, 2026.Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty ImagesIf New Mexico created the blueprint for taking on Meta, California could determine the company’s fate when it comes to critical changes at Facebook and Instagram. Opening arguments begin Tuesday in the trial that California Attorney General Rob Bonta is co-leading against Meta, following a litany of allegations that the company fostered addictive behavior in teens and children. The jury was seated last week in Oakland’s…

The Campaign for Real Ale has previously said that pubs are being “lost forever to conversion or demolition as developers look to cash in on the desirable locations and unique architecture of pubs and social clubs”.The British Beer and Pub Association and UKHospitality have also campaigned against pub closures, with both largely blaming tax rises and other costs.Allen Simpson, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “The biggest issue facing hospitality businesses is costs like VAT and business rates pushing pubs out of business in the first place.”Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, he said: “The reality is it’s quite difficult to…

A firefighting helicopter prepares to drop a load of water during a fire at Russian e-commerce firm Wildberries’ logistics complex near the town of Podolsk, outside Moscow on August 16, 2026.Tatyana Makeyeva | Afp | Getty ImagesRussia launched an attack overnight targeting Ukraine’s port infrastructure in the southern region of Odesa, authorities said Monday, after one of Ukraine’s largest aerial attacks of the war.The strikes in the Izmail district resulted in a civilian Togo-flagged vessel being damaged, with four people injured, according to Oleh Kiper, governor of southern Ukraine’s Odesa region. Izmail, which is situated close to the Romanian border,…

Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with a person posing as the chief of staff to US President Donald Trump.Downing Street has declined to comment on the security breach, first reported by Politico.Politico reported that officials said Burnham communicated with the person claiming to be Susie Wiles “before becoming suspicious that the contact was illegitimate” and claimed only a “few messages” were exchanged.A government spokesperson said: “We do not comment on national security matters.”It is understood the communication between Burnham and the person posing as Wiles was in the form of messages and there was no conversation between the two.”No…