NN307: #IStandWithEvan

Sent as a newsletter April 5, 2023. Not on my list? Join here.

👋 Hi friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.

Image of the week, above:

Today marks one week since my WSJ colleague Evan Gershkovich was detained in Russia.

He is accused of espionage. The Journal vehemently denies the charges. President Biden, news organizations, rights groups and more are demanding his release.

His lawyers have now met with him in prison, our editor in chief, Emma Tucker, said in a note to staff yesterday.

“Evan’s health is good, and he is grateful for the outpouring of support from around the world,” she wrote.

“We continue to call for his immediate release,” and beyond legal avenues we’re working with the White House, State Department and relevant U.S. government officials, she said.

Please take a moment to read this excellent profile of Evan by my colleagues Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw: Evan Gershkovich Loved Russia, the Country That Turned on Him.

That story, like all of our updates and his previous reporting, are free to read. And we’ve set up a landing page for all of our coverage.

If you post about his situation on social media, please use the hashtag #IStandWithEvan, as I – and many others – have been doing on Twitter.

Editor’s note:

Newley’s Notes will fall silent for few weeks. See you in May!

My WSJ latest:

🇮🇳 My latest, an exclusive out last Wednesday: YouTube Looking Into Gandhi’s Claim Political Videos in India Suppressed

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) ⚖️ Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to criminal charges for allegedly paying hush money during his 2016 campaign, marking the first time a former president has faced criminal charges.

2) 🏠 An unprecedented housing phenomenon is taking shape in the U.S.: home prices are falling in the West and rising in the East.

3) 🛍️ Alibaba news: the online shopping titan is splitting into six independent companies that could pursue individual IPOs. (Oh, and co-founder Jack Ma reappeared in China after about a year overseas.)

4) 📱 “The Case for Banning Children from Social Media.”

5) 🐶 Pets aren’t just great companions; they promote familial health, too: Children with dogs and cats in the house are less likely to develop food allergies.

6) 🐻 The latest vending machine offering in Japan: bear meat.

7) ✈️ Here’s a website that shows you random overhead photos of airports.

8) 🏖️ Variety reports that the next season of one of my favorite TV shows, “The White Lotus,” may be set in one of my favorite countries: Thailand.

9) 🪐 The trailer for the new Wes Anderson movie, “Asteroid City,” starring Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and many more, is out.

10) 🎸 Video: the most popular song each month since January 1980.

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🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“Good boy trying to steal food from TV”

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💡 Quote of the week:

“Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in ten years.” – Unknown

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👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley