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Newley's Notes

NN311: Blisteringly Fast Border Collies

Evan WSJ page one

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.

Sent as a newsletter July 10. Not on my list? Sign up here.

👋 Hi friends,

Image of the week, above:

Friday’s WSJ page one. More below…

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) 📰 Friday marked 100 days since our WSJ colleague Evan Gershkovich was wrongfully arrested in Russia for doing his job. We continue to keep his name front and center. You can read his reporting, and our stories about him, at WSJ.com/Evan.

2) 🧵 Bad news for Elon: Meta (FKA Facebook) launched Threads, a Twitter rival, and it’s already attracted 70 million users. (If you must know, I’m @Newley.)

3) ⚠️ A major new study from Denmark found heavy cannabis users were much more likely to be diagnosed later with clinical depression and bipolar disorder.

4) 🔥 Last week may have been the Earth’s hottest ever on record.

5) 📷 Here are the winners of this year’s Drone Photo Awards.

6) 🎳 GQ profiles Australian professional bowler Jason Belmonte, known for his two-handed roll.

7) 🎤 Nice collection of 2023 pop music party songs from around the world.

8) 😌 You may have heard of autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) videos, but are you familiar with “unintentional ASMR”?

9) 🍿 MovieSpoilers provides plot summaries – and endings! – of various films.

10) ⚽ The first female head coach of an English men’s professional soccer side is Hannah Dingley, recently appointed by Forest Green Rovers.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“Just watch this dog, he’s better than me.”

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“Do not consider painful what is good for you.” – Euripides

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Categories
Newley's Notes

NN310: Sailor the Speedy Border Whippet

Hong Kong sunset

Sent as a newsletter July 3, 2023. Not on my list? Sign up 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:

🇭🇰 A recent sunset here in Hong Kong.

My WSJ latest:

🥽 Just out, a story with my colleague Raffaele Huang: Zuckerberg’s Quest to Re-Enter China Faces Challenge: His Own Words <– Free link

The story begins:

HONG KONG—Mark Zuckerberg in late 2021 had a question for those working on Meta Platforms’ strategy for its virtual-reality headset: If Apple can sell iPhones in China, and Tesla can sell cars, why can’t we sell our devices there?

The question, posed on a video call, led to a push by Meta to restart its China business by selling its Quest headsets in the country, according to a person familiar with the matter, more than a decade after Facebook was blocked there.

The company held discussions with several Chinese tech companies and has made progress with videogame powerhouse Tencent Holdings, people familiar with the matter said. But the effort faces challenges, in part because Chinese executives worry that Zuckerberg isn’t seen as friendly to China, according to people familiar with the matter.

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) 🇷🇺 In last week’s NN I pointed to several stories about Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion against Putin. For more, check out this excellent WSJ documentary, available on YouTube: “Inside Prigozhin’s Wagner, Russia’s Secret War Company.”

2) 🤖 People may fear mass layoffs, but artificial intelligence just represents another another wave of automation, writes tech analyst Benedict Evans.

3) 📸 Here are the winners of this year’s Audubon Photography Awards.

4) 🍕 Is that a pizza depicted in a fresco from 79 A.D. that was recently discovered in Pompeii?

5) 🪧 Here’s a beautiful collection of street sign lettering in India.

6) 🌹 With crime, open drug use, and housing prices all rising, Portland, Oregon is losing its residents.

7) 🍴 The signature dishes at the world’s 150 most legendary restaurants.

8) 📞 What after work time was like for young people before cellphones.

9) 🗾 Everything you always wanted to know about amazing Japanese convenience stores.

10) 🐊 Extreme food, Taiwan edition: crocodile ramen.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“Sailor the Touchdown Dog Sets Record for the Longest Catch at a Live Sporting Event” (Thanks, Anasuya!)

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” – William James

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Categories
Journalism Tech

Zuckerberg’s Quest to Re-Enter China Faces Challenge: His Own Words

Zuckerberg China Tencent Meta VR

That’s the headline on my newest story, out Monday with my colleague Raffaele Huang. It begins:

HONG KONG — Mark Zuckerberg in late 2021 had a question for those working on Meta Platforms’ strategy for its virtual-reality headset: If Apple can sell iPhones in China, and Tesla can sell cars, why can’t we sell our devices there?

The question, posed on a video call, led to a push by Meta to restart its China business by selling its Quest headsets in the country, according to a person familiar with the matter, more than a decade after Facebook was blocked there.

The company held discussions with several Chinese tech companies and has made progress with videogame powerhouse Tencent Holdings, people familiar with the matter said. But the effort faces challenges, in part because Chinese executives worry that Zuckerberg isn’t seen as friendly to China, according to people familiar with the matter.

In recent years the Meta founder has accused China of stealing technology and taken aim at ByteDance, the Chinese owner of video-sharing platform TikTok. That has undermined a charm offensive Zuckerberg undertook in Beijing in 2016 and bolstered negative views of the entrepreneur in Beijing, the people said.

Officials’ perceptions of Zuckerberg could add uncertainty should Meta and its partner seek licenses and approvals for their products and services in China, some of the people said.

Click through to read the rest.

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Newley's Notes

NN309: Bounding Belgians

WSJ page one Modi India economy

Sent as a newsletter June 26, 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:

On Thursday’s WSJ page one: my latest, a story with my super-sharp colleague Niharika Mandhana. The headline: Modi’s Vision for India Rests On Six Giant Companies. ⬅️ Free link. It begins:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi says this is India’s decade. That claim rests heavily on a handful of dominant conglomerates.

Increasingly aligned with Modi’s priorities, the roughly half-dozen mega-firms—which include Reliance Industries and Adani Group, helmed by two of Asia’s richest tycoons—have the ability to raise vast sums of capital, and the experience and political connections to navigate India’s byzantine bureaucracy. Capitalizing on government subsidies and privatization plans, they are executing projects with a scale and speed that have eluded India in the past.

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) 🇷🇺 Shot: You no doubt saw the dramatic events in Russia over the weekend. The headline on on a story by my colleagues Yaroslav Trofimov and Thomas Grove sums it up: Putin’s War on Ukraine Backfires, Leading to Wagner Uprising at Home.

2) 🤷‍♂️ Chaser: Anne Applebaum, in The Atlantic, looks at how the the Russian population — including military leaders — stepped aside to allow Wagner’s advances: “After spending years cultivating public apathy, the Russian president found his people indifferent to his fate.”

3) ⚠️ And one more: “Wars abroad have a way of unleashing uncontrollable political processes at home,” Joshua Yaffa in the New Yorker, writes of Putin’s weakness.

4) 🇧🇷 A look at the unending popularity in Brazil of the Australian-themed Outback Steakhouse.

5) 📍 How maps change the way we perceive the world.

6) 🍿 There’s a trailer out for “3 Body Problem,” based on the popular sci-fi novel by Liu Cixin. Coming to Netflix in January.

7) 🚶‍♀️The surprising new hotspot for walkable communities in the U.S.: the South.

8) 🔥 Max Park, a 21-year-old from Cerritos, Calif., solved a Rubik’s cube in an astonishing 3.13 seconds, a new world world record.

9) 👀 One for the morbidly curious: a Wikipedia page listing condemned prisoners’ last meals around the world.

10) 📖 “Harvard Scholar Who Studies Honesty Is Accused of Fabricating Findings.”

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“That’s incredible!”

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.” — Neil Postman

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Categories
Newley's Notes

NN308: Persistent Pups

License plate Lehman chapter 11

Sent as a newsletter June 19, 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:

A Hong Kong vanity plate for the finance buffs and economic historians out there: September 15, 2008.

Yes, that’s the day Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.

My WSJ latest:

I’ve had a couple of stories out since my last dispatch, both touching on Hong Kong and big tech.

The first, earlier this month: 32 YouTube Videos Cited as Court Is Asked to Ban ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ Protest Anthem <– Free link

The lede:

Government officials in the financial center are seeking a court order to block the dissemination online of a popular pro-democracy song, the first major legal challenge to U.S. tech companies such as Google over politically sensitive content on their platforms.

And the second, out last week: American Tech Giants Are Slowly Cutting Off Hong Kong Internet Users. <– Free link

It began:

Bit by bit, American tech giants are shutting out users in Hong Kong, where moves by authorities to thwart online dissent are shifting the target from individuals to platforms such as Google’s YouTube.

As they say: watch this space.

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) 🗞 How a graduate student at the College of Charleston discovered the largest known slave auction in the U.S.

2) 🪐 One of Saturn’s moons contains all of the elements needed for life.

3) 🏃‍♂️ More and more research shows that, even compared to other lifestyle factors, ample exercise is the key to longevity.

4) 📹 A profile of YouTuber Mr. Beast – real name: Jimmy Donaldson – whose philanthropic stunts have gained him more than 150 million subscribers.

5) 🗣 South Florida is home to a new dialect of English.

6) 🧼 A look at the company culture and corporate performance of Dr. Bronner’s, which clocked $170 million in revenue last year.

7) ⭐ Dozens of the world’s most popular self-help books, boiled down to 11 core teachings.

8) 💧 Big rain + big snowfall this year = amazing waterfalls in Yosemite.

9) 📖 RIP, Cormac McCarthy.

10) ⚽ Here is a lovely story about an over–80 soccer league in Tokyo.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“He’ll keep doing this until you give him belly rubs.”

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“People who think they have writer’s block don’t have writer’s block. They have fear of bad writing. If you show me all your bad writing, sooner or later you’re going to have to show me some good writing.” – Seth Godin

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Categories
India Journalism

Modi’s Vision for India Rests On Six Giant Companies

Modi’s Vision for India Rests On Six Giant Companies

That’s the headline on my newest story, a piece with my colleague Niharika Mandhana that ran on Thursday’s page one.

It begins:

NEW DELHI–Prime Minister Narendra Modi says this is India’s decade. That claim rests heavily on a handful of dominant conglomerates.

Increasingly aligned with Modi’s priorities, the roughly half-dozen mega-firms—which include Reliance Industries and Adani Group, helmed by two of Asia’s richest tycoons—have the ability to raise vast sums of capital, and the experience and political connections to navigate India’s byzantine bureaucracy. Capitalizing on government subsidies and privatization plans, they are executing projects with a scale and speed that have eluded India in the past.

Among their ventures: A new airport for Mumbai, designed by the firm founded by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid to look like a lotus flower, which is scheduled to start opening next year after the Adani Group took it over. When completed, it’s expected to connect to high-speed rail and handle 90 million passengers annually—only slightly fewer than Atlanta’s main airport, the world’s busiest, last year.

After spending more than $45 billion to build out telecommunications networks, Reliance Industries — a petrochemicals, textiles and retail juggernaut — is constructing factories to make solar panels and batteries for energy storage to position India as a credible alternative to China. It has pledged $75 billion in green-energy spending over the next 15 years.

The 155-year-old Tata Group, which took control of the formerly state-owned Air India last year, recently placed one of the largest orders in aviation history for 470 new aircraft. The salt-to-steel-to-software behemoth, which owns British automaker Jaguar Land Rover, is forging ahead with producing electric vehicles, military transport aircraft, smartphones and telecom hardware, with plans to invest $90 billion in India over five years.

Half a dozen conglomerates now control or have major stakes in 25% of India’s port capacity, 45% of cement production, a third of steel making, nearly 60% of all telecom subscriptions, and more than 45% of coal imports. An analysis by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy, a research firm, shows that a quarter of all new investment proposals by private companies since 2014 have come from the companies.

“This is the period where it’s not the mad rush of entrepreneurs going out to build new capacities, to become great entrepreneurs—this is the era of great concentration,” said Mahesh Vyas, CMIE’s managing director.

Click through to read the rest.

Categories
Hong Kong Journalism Tech

American Tech Giants Are Slowly Cutting Off Hong Kong Internet Users

WSJ American Tech Giants Are Slowly Cutting Off Hong Kong Internet Users

That’s the headline on a story I had out at the beginning of last week.

It began:

HONG KONG—Bit by bit, American tech giants are shutting out users in Hong Kong, where moves by authorities to thwart online dissent are shifting the target from individuals to platforms such as Google’s YouTube.

Alphabet-owned Google, San Francisco-based OpenAI and Microsoft have limited access to their artificial-intelligence chatbots in recent months in the global finance and business hub. In OpenAI’s case, the restriction puts Hong Kong and mainland China alongside North Korea, Syria and Iran.

While none of the companies have given reasons, observers say they could be exposed to risk if the chatbots spew out content that violates a national-security law imposed by China nearly three years ago. The law criminalizes many types of criticism of the government and Beijing.

Google, OpenAI and Microsoft declined to comment on why they restricted use in Hong Kong, but said they are working to bring their services to new locations in the future.

Last week, Hong Kong’s Department of Justice sought a court order to block online dissemination of a popular pro-democracy anthem, “Glory to Hong Kong.” The order cited 32 videos on YouTube of the song, which has lyrics that the government says contain a slogan that amounts to advocating secession. It is the first major legal challenge to American tech companies over politically sensitive Hong Kong content.

At a hearing on the request on Monday, national security judge Wilson Chan said the court would resume deliberation on July 21.

The moves add to a slow creep of tech giants treating Hong Kong more like a city in mainland China. Apple has joined with China’s Tencent to filter suspicious websites, with users complaining it temporarily blocked access to legitimate sites such as Twitter rival Mastodon. Disney has declined to offer on its streaming service two episodes of “The Simpsons” that it worried could run afoul of the national-security law, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Some fear that Hong Kong’s largely unfettered internet is being nudged closer to China’s, which is strictly censored by a system known as the Great Firewall and has had no access to foreign social-media services such as Twitter and Facebook since 2009.

“We don’t have the Great Firewall yet, but companies aren’t offering their services,” said Heatherm Huang, co-founder of Hong Kong-based tech company Measurable AI, which analyzes online shopping data for financial firms. “Overall, it’s a sad story,” he said.

Click through to read the rest.

Categories
Hong Kong Journalism Tech

32 YouTube Videos Cited as Court Is Asked to Ban ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ Protest Anthem

YouTube "Glory to Hong Kong"

That was the headline on a story that ran earlier this month. (I’m late in posting it here.)

It began:

HONG KONG—Government officials in the financial center are seeking a court order to block the dissemination online of a popular pro-democracy song, the first major legal challenge to U.S. tech companies such as Google over politically sensitive content on their platforms.

The Department of Justice applied to the city’s High Court for an injunction banning the broadcasting or distribution—including on the internet and any media accessible online—of the song “Glory to Hong Kong,” the government said Tuesday. The date for a court hearing hasn’t been set.

While the legal action doesn’t name any specific companies, Google has been swept up in a controversy over the song as authorities move to stifle dissent using a national security law imposed by China in the city almost three years ago. The government’s application for the court order includes links to 32 videos on Google’s YouTube related to the song.

Categories
Hong Kong Photos

Image of the Day: Rainy Hong Kong

🇭🇰 A pic I snapped this morning. ☔️

Man with umbrella in Hong Kong
Man with umbrella in Hong Kong

Categories
Newley's Notes

NN307: #IStandWithEvan

Evan Gershkovich

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.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“Good boy trying to steal food from TV”

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

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

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley