opinion | Apple’s opposition to unlocking shooter's iPhone is all for show—and that’s a good thing

In an open letter released early Wednesday morning, Apple has refused a court order to unlock an iPhone belonging to Syed Rizwan Farook, the shooter in the San Bernardino mass shooting. Although its opposition to the FBI is largely for show, Apple is right in taking a principled stance against the government.

analysis | Why your hull insurance policy doesn’t actually cover main engine breakdown.

Here’s a quick way to tell if you’re part of the maritime industry. Read the below and ask yourself: Does any of it make sense to you?

If you have better luck reading Egyptian hieroglyphs, congratulations. Your sanity is intact, you lead a fulfilling life, and you probably have a full head of hair to boot. If it does make sense, you have my sympathy: you’re one of the poor guys dealing with the wonderful world of maritime claims.

Here’s an excerpt from the TAYLOR form, a standard hull insurance policy.

Try to stay awake.

“This insurance also covers loss of or damage to the vessel named herein directly caused by: Breakdown of motor generators or other electrical machinery and electrical connections thereto, bursting of boilers, breakage of shafts, or any latent defect in the machinery or hull, (excluding the cost and expense of replacing or repairing the defective part);”

Maritime claims handlers will recognize it as “the bit in the policy that provides coverage for breakdown of the main engine.”

But here’s the thing: it doesn’t actually provide coverage for main engine breakdown.

Companies that for years have incorporated the standard TAYLOR 1953 (Rev. 70) into their policies—the boilerplate used by insurance policies around the nation—have been writing policies of hull insurance that may not provide coverage for engine breakdown.

analysis | Stocks fall as oil prices slide amidst investor gloom on China and world economy. Here’s why.

Stock markets around the world have fallen sharply today, after nervous investors triggered a rout following a slide in oil prices and continued contractions in the Chinese economy. The panic was exacerbated by lingering market jitters over a weak start to the new year. The basic explanation is quite simple: oil, China, and fear.

analysis | The Korean Conundrum: why the peninsula remains intractable

It’s a routine that would verge on the comical if so many lives weren’t at stake. North Korea threatens nuclear destruction in the hopes of extracting concessions out of its neighbors, forcing them to ignore, react to, or placate the pariah state. Last Wednesday, North Korea announced it had detonated its first hydrogen bomb in its fourth nuclear test, and while this claim has been disputed by U.S. officials, the blast—whatever it used—was powerful enough to register as a magnitude 5.1 seismic event. But amidst the sorties, calls for sanctions, and saber speaker rattling, the world by and large shrugged its shoulders.

Kim Jong Un might be a lot of things, says the world. But he’s not crazy enough to provoke a war he knows he’ll lose. The theory of Mutually Assured Destruction proves it: two countries find themselves in an intractable situation. Each wants to achieve its desired outcome, but neither country wants to go to war because they have the power to utterly destroy each other. Any other action would leave the countries in a worse state than before. (This is called a Nash equilibrium.) The upshot of all this is that neither side would be incentivized to start a conflict as it would be irrational.

Thing is, MAD rests on a few assumptions: neither party wants to back down, both parties have things to lose, and both parties implicitly wish to survive.

opinion | SEALs cover-up reveals high level mismanagement

The New York Times has reported on allegations of a cover-up by the Navy SEALs after the beating of Afghan locals resulted in death to a detainee under murky moral circumstances. The report has rightfully stoked outrage and debate about our control of the armed forces. These are, after all, the very men and women we expect to uphold the finest qualities in America, the vanguards of the liberty and democracy we enjoy every day.

But in spite of the clear need for safeguards and accountability to prevent this disgrace from recurring, the allegations have revealed a deeper mismanagement of resources at a higher level.

analysis | OnePlus USB-C cables faulty, no recall issued

It’s never wise to take a fire hazard lightly.

Mobile phone manufacturer OnePlus has offered to refund customers who purchased their USB-to-type-C cable after a flaw was discovered that could cause damage to the power source, potentially resulting in an electrical fire. The cable, which shipped with its OnePlus Two phone in July this year and was also sold as a standalone accessory, was not standards compliant, and a blog post by the company recommended against using it for anything other than charging its own device.

news | SCORES DEAD AS FRANCE DECLARES EMERGENCY FOLLOWING PARIS ATTACKS

France has declared a state of emergency late Friday evening following a string of deadly attacks in Paris that have left more than 100 dead, multiple sources have reported. The attacks included scores dead at a concert venue following a hostage situation, shootings at two restaurants in the 10th and 11th arrondissements, and explosions near the Stade de France soccer stadium. The AFP has reported a total of seven attacks throughout the city.