Graphic Video: Wagner Chief Prigozhin Was in Deadly Jet Crash, Russia Says

 

Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led an abortive mutiny two months ago that shook President Vladimir Putin's rule, was on a private jet that crashed Wednesday killing everyone aboard, Russian aviation authorities said. Part of the video in this report is graphic. It is unverified video of the jet that crashed. Bloomberg's Kailey Leinz reports.

Inside China's Accelerating Bid for Chip Supremacy

 Right now the world is dependent on Taiwan for silicon semiconductors called chips, which give devices like iPhones their functionality. This reliance has the U.S. and China both racing for technological independence.

How China Lost Patience with Its Loudest Billionaire

The sudden cancellation of Ant Group’s IPO shocked investors, but Beijing's slapdown of Jack Ma was years in the making. And Alibaba and Ant aren't the only tech firms under scrutiny by Chinese regulators.
 

A Day In Life In Beijing Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Bloomberg's reporter Peter Martin shows us how daily life is being impacted in Beijing as coronavirus outbreak hits China. The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak reached 910, higher than during SARS, and one estimate put the mortality rate from the disease at 1%. Britain reported four more cases, warned of an imminent threat to public health and tightened quarantine rules. Globally, 40,626 have been infected so far.

Inside China's High-Tech Dystopia

Hello World Shenzhen, Bloomberg Businessweek’s Ashlee Vance heads out into a city where you can't use cash or credit cards, only your smartphone, where AI facial-recognition software instantly spots and tickets jaywalkers, and where at least one factory barely needs people. This is the society that China's government and leading tech companies are racing to make a reality, with little time to question which advancements are net positives for the rest of us.

Bloomberg: Beijing To Start 'Rating' Every Citizen By 2020

The first season of The Orville an episode titled Majority Rules.  The Orville is sent to investigate the disappearance of two anthropologists. What they discover is a society where the rule of law is dependent on the wider public's opinion. Accomplished through electronic badges worn by the populace.  During the mission Lt. John Lamar is filmed dry humping or dancing with a statue which turns out to be the hero and founder of the planets society.  John is arrested and instead of being put on trial. He must conduct an apology tour.

While fictional, how far are we from such a society?  Thanks to Beijing that future will arrive in 2020.  Given the amount of control the Communist party asserts of the citizenry one has wonder whether the public will accept this type of repression?

China’s plan to judge each of its 1.3 billion people based on their social behavior is moving a step closer to reality, with Beijing set to adopt a lifelong points program by 2021 that assigns personalized ratings for each resident.

The capital city will pool data from several departments to reward and punish some 22 million citizens based on their actions and reputations by the end of 2020, according to a plan posted on the Beijing municipal government’s website on Monday. Those with better so-called social credit will get “green channel” benefits while those who violate laws will find life more difficult.

The Beijing project will improve blacklist systems so that those deemed untrustworthy will be “unable to move even a single step,” according to the government’s plan. Xinhua reported on the proposal Tuesday, while the report posted on the municipal government’s website is dated July 18.

     

How Japan’s Bullet Trains Changed Travel

Today high-speed trains are comparable to air travel in price and door-to-door speed for shorter journeys. But decades ago locomotives faced fierce competition from air planes and private cars. Then came Japan’s bullet trains.