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China Has Thousands of Navalnys, Hidden From the Public

29Feb

By Benjamin HallNo Comments

Business

China Has Thousands of Navalnys, Hidden From the Public

After watching “Navalny,” the documentary about the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, a Chinese businesswoman messaged me, “Ren Zhiqiang is China’s Navalny.” She was talking about the retired real estate tycoon who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for criticizing China’s leader, Xi Jinping.After Mr. Navalny’s tragic death this month, a young dissident living in Berlin posted on X, “Teacher Li is closest to the Chinese version of Navalny.” He was referring to the rebel influencer known as Teacher Li, who used social media to share information about protests in China and who now fears for his life.There are others: Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who died in government custody in 2017, and Xu Zhiyong, the legal scholar who is serving 14 years in prison on charges of s...

E.U. Border Agency Is Too Weak to Prevent Migrant Boat Disasters, Watchdog Finds

28Feb

By Benjamin HallNo Comments

World

E.U. Border Agency Is Too Weak to Prevent Migrant Boat Disasters, Watchdog Finds

Eight months after hundreds of migrants died in a capsizing on the Mediterranean, investigators said Wednesday that the European Union’s border agency lacks the ability to prevent future maritime disasters.The investigation by a E.U. watchdog office into the border agency, Frontex, was prompted by the deaths of more than 600 men, women and children who drowned off the coast of Greece last June under the eyes of dozens of officials and coast guard crews.“Frontex includes ‘coast guard’ in its name, but its current mandate and mission clearly fall short of that,” the head of the E.U. watchdog agency, Emily O’Reilly, said on Wednesday. “If Frontex has a duty to help save lives at sea, but the tools for it are lacking, then this is clearly a matter for E.U. legislators.” After the capsizing of ...

¿Qué podemos esperar de la segunda temporada de Constelación de Apple TV+?

28Feb

By Benjamin HallNo Comments

Entretenimiento

¿Qué podemos esperar de la segunda temporada de Constelación de Apple TV+?

Hasta el momento, Apple TV+ no ha revelado muchos detalles sobre Constelación temporada 2. Sin embargo, podemos especular sobre algunas posibilidades basadas en la primera temporada: La historia: Es probable que la segunda temporada continúe la historia de los personajes principales, Joanna y Errol, y su viaje a través del multiverso. Nuevos personajes: Es posible que se introduzcan nuevos personajes para agregar complejidad a la trama y explorar nuevos universos. Mundos: La serie ya ha mostrado una gran variedad de mundos en la primera temporada, y es probable que la segunda temporada nos lleve a aún más lugares increíbles. Misterio: La primera temporada dejó algunas preguntas sin respuesta, y es probable que la segunda temporada explore estos misterios con más profundida...

Lead-Tainted Applesauce Highlights Failings in Food Safety System

28Feb

By Benjamin HallNo Comments

Health

Lead-Tainted Applesauce Highlights Failings in Food Safety System

The tainted applesauce might have gone unnoticed for even longer had it not been for a family in North Carolina.Early last summer, Nicole Peterson and Thomas Duong were alarmed by their young children’s blood-lead levels in a routine screening. Within weeks, the levels had doubled.Ms. Peterson said the couple worked with the local health department as they tried to determine what could be hurting their children. We “weren’t sleeping and we’re not eating — like this is driving us crazy,” said Ms. Peterson. She and her husband are suing Dollar Tree, where they bought the applesauce, and WanaBana, a U.S. distributor led by Austrofood officers.A Dollar Tree spokeswoman said the company is committed to the safety of the products it sells. Austrofood said that it had relied on its supplier’s cer...

NFL Scouting Combine: What we’re following for all 32 teams in Indianapolis

28Feb

By Benjamin HallNo Comments

Sports

NFL Scouting Combine: What we’re following for all 32 teams in Indianapolis

Draft season kicks into high gear this week at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis as teams will put prospects under a microscope during private interviews, news conferences and workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium.Quarterbacks always dominate conversations at the combine, and this year will be no different with USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels expected to be among the first handful of picks come April. But a stellar wide receiver group, headlined by Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., LSU’s Malik Nabers and Washington’s Rome Odunze, will also draw plenty of interest this week.Beyond the draft prospects, new head coaches, led by the Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh, and GMs, including the Commanders’ Adam Peters, will be in the spotlight. And the futures of quar...

28Feb

By Benjamin HallNo Comments

Technology

Apple Kills Its Electric Car Project

Apple has canceled its plans to release an electric car with self-driving abilities, a secretive product that had been in the works for nearly a decade.The company told employees in an internal meeting on Tuesday that it had scrapped the project and that members of the group would be shifted to different roles, including in Apple’s artificial intelligence division, according to a person briefed on the discussion, who requested anonymity because the announcement was not public.As part of the restructuring, Kevin Lynch, an executive who had been involved in the car project, will report to John Giannandrea, the company’s head of artificial intelligence strategy, the person said.Apple declined to comment. The news that Apple was ending its car plan was reported earlier by Bloomberg.Though Appl...