Praising and burying Navalny

Plus Texas allows hairstyle punishment and Nvidia banks on AI [View this email in your browser]( [Brand Logo]( Navalny's long shadow, Texas hair wars and Nvidia's AI windfall   Good morning, America is back on the moon for the first time since 1972! Well, sort of. A company called Intuitive Machines successfully landed a lunar craft on the moon's south pole, after it was shot into space aboard a SpaceX rocket. NASA is the client that made this private moonshot possible, but it wasn't a NASA mission. The amazing engineering feat was a "giant leap forward for all of humanity," as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. But was it America's leap? On Earth, another American company had a leap of its own, as Nvidia's stock price soared on its AI chip dominance. But its most valuable chips are made in Taiwan. Big business is global. And now it's on the moon. Peter Weber The Week Digital     Today's INTERNATIONAL story Biden meets Navalny's widow, unveils sanctions What happened? President Joe Biden met with Yulia and Daria Navalnaya, the widow and daughter of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, in San Francisco to "express his heartfelt condolences" for Navalny's death in a Russian prison and to preview Friday's retaliatory "major new sanctions against Russia," the White House said. In Russia, Navalny's mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, said she was "secretly" shown her son's body, told his death was from "natural causes," and warned she could only bury him if she agreed to a "secret funeral." Who said what? "By law, they're supposed to give me Alexei's body immediately," but "instead, they are blackmailing me," Lyudmilia Navalnaya said. Russian President Vladimir Putin "is responsible for his death," Biden said. "We are not letting up." The commentary Biden's visit with Navalny's widow and the Kremlin's wrangling over his remains underscore "how pivotal a figure he is in Russian politics and around the world," and how nervous he makes the Kremlin — "even in death," The New York Time said. "It is hard to surprise us," said Navalny aide Ivan Zhdanov. But it's still shocking "a mother would be blackmailed with a rotting body in order to bring it to Moscow and bury it in secret." What next? The new sanctions on 500 targets aim to further "damage and isolate Russia's economy" after its Ukraine invasion and Navalny's death, the Times said. But so far Russia has "largely weathered the restrictions," thanks largely to record oil purchases by China, India and Brazil.   Advertisement by Betterment [Betterment is the automated investing app that puts your money to work](   Today's CULTURE story Texas judge OKs hair-based suspension of Black student What happened?A Texas judge on Thursday said the Houston-area Barbers Hill school district did not violate the state's CROWN Act when it punished junior Darryl George for refusing to cut his hair. The district said George's hair, worn in locs twisted and tied on the top of his head, would hang below his eyebrows, earlobes or shirt collar if worn down, breaching its grooming policy. How did we get here? Texas enacted its version of the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act in September, joining 23 other states. The law prohibits employers and schools from penalizing people due to hair texture or protective hairstyles associated with race, including Afros and locs. Texas District Judge Chap Cain III said the law does not specifically mention hair length. Who said what? The ruling "validated our position" that "the CROWN Act does not give students unlimited self-expression," Barbers Hill Superintendent Greg Poole said. Cain's interpretation makes no sense, said George's lawyer Allie Booker. "You can't make braids with a crew cut. You can't loc anything that isn't long." What next? Booker said she will appeal the ruling and seek a federal injunction to return George to class after months of in-school suspension and alternative schooling.     Today's Business Story Nvidia sees historic stock rise on AI chips success What happened? U.S. chipmaker Nvidia achieved the biggest one-day increase in value of any company in history, as investors clamored to buy into the growing artificial intelligence industry. Thursday's rally made Nvidia worth nearly $2 trillion, behind only Apple and Microsoft. Who said what? The world is at an AI "tipping point," said Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang as he delivered another heady sales forecast. Demand for the microchips that power AI is now "surging worldwide across companies, industries and nations." The commentaryNvidia's "journey to become one of the three most-valuable U.S. companies might have started at a Denny's in 1993," but it was turbocharged by its recent dominance of the AI chip market, The Wall Street Journal said. Nvidia's GPU chips, worth tens of thousands of dollars each, "are so valuable" they're delivered "by armored car" to some clients. What next? The rapid surge in technology stock values has "prompted fears of a bubble fueled by AI mania," Britain's Telegraph said. "What bubble?" countered Bloomberg. Nvidia's profits "are rising even more than its shares."   Advertisement by Betterment [Betterment is the automated investing app that puts your money to work](   On this day February 23, 1945 U.S. soldiers raise an American flag atop Mount Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, as World War II's Pacific battle nears its end. A picture of the flag-raising, taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, has since become one of the most iconic images in history.     TODAY’S newspaperS ['Fly me to the moon']( Friday's front pages celebrate the successful moonshot of Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lunar lander, and few more prominently than the Orlando Sentinel. "Fly me to the moon," the Sentinel said, counting the 18,700 days since the U.S. was last on the lunar surface. The New York Times says the private mission provides "hopes for a new era of easier travel of our solar system," while The Washington Post says the landing was a "nail-biter." The Houston Chronicle takes the local angle: "Houston company's craft lands on moon." ► [See the newspaper front pages](     It's not all bad Piece by piece, a gigantic puzzle has come together at the Springville Senior Center in Utah. Regulars there spent four months working on the 60,000-piece puzzle after the center's director thought it would be a good idea for them to have a group project. Puzzles can help with cognitive ability and, in this case, also curb loneliness. "There was a feeling of community spirit in putting it all together," participant Ruth Nielsen told The Washington Post.     Under the radar [How Tehran became the world's nose job capital]( A sharp rise in cosmetic surgery procedures is alarming doctors in Iran, with mostly female clients citing insecurities fueled by social media for their nips and tucks. In the global ranking of cosmetic procedures, the Islamic Republic jumped from 18th in 2016 to 12th in 2022. About 320,000 surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in 2022, said Isaps, with rhinoplasties (nose jobs) the most common. In 2013, Iran had the highest rate of nose jobs in the world, said The Guardian, as mostly female patients rushed to reduce the size of their noses and "make the tip point upward." Tehran boasted more rhinoplasty procedures per person than Los Angeles, an ITV report said in 2016. Iran's repressive and brutal regime has pushed back, however. In 2018, Iran's parliament threatened to imprison and flog citizens opting for "un-Islamic" cosmetic surgeries. The country was "rocked by a number of horror stories about surgeries gone wrong," said The Telegraph. But Iran has also emerged as a "leading hub for medical tourism," said the Tehran Times. People are attracted to the country's weak regulations, low costs and perceived expertise in rhinoplasty and other plastic surgeries. In 2022, 8.5% of cosmetic surgery clients came from outside Iran, said the Iranian Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgeons — about 1.2 million people from 164 countries, one official said.     Tall tale Regrettable fashion… A G-string almost came between Australian equestrian Shane Rose and the Paris Olympics. Rose wore three costumes during a recent showjumping event, including a G-string known as a mankini. Equestrian Australia received a code of conduct complaint, and Rose had to stop competing until an investigation was finished. He has been cleared of wrongdoing but does not plan on sporting a mankini again. "I've never worn a G-string before, and I can't recommend it to anyone," he said to The New York Times.     Later today Nvidia has made its microchips indispensable for Silicon Valley's AI boom, but AI has its limits. Today's Evening Review will explore how artificial intelligence can (and, importantly, cannot) help with air traffic control. We also have a "chilling" book appreciation and a look at the coming student loan changes. Thanks for reading, Peter     Morning Report was written and edited by Catherine Garcia, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek. Image credits, from top: POTUS/X; Kirk Sides / Houston Chronicle via Getty Images; Justin Sullivan / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images   © Future US, Inc • [theweek.com]( [Unsubscribe from this newsletter]( [Privacy Policy]( The Week is published by Future US, Inc. 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