https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-taps-former-senator-jeff-flake-us-ambassador-turkey-2021-7

Biden taps former GOP Sen. Jeff Flake to be US ambassador to Turkey amid growing tensions with Erdogan

President Joe Biden has nominated former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake to be the US ambassador to Turkey.

If confirmed for the ambassadorship in the Senate, Flake would assume the role at a time when US-Turkey relations have hit a historic low. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian approach to leadership has strained the dynamic between Washington and Ankara in recent years.

Flake, who retired from the Senate in 2019, is among the most high profile ambassador nominees put forward by Biden so far.

"Given the strategic importance of the United States' relationship with our long-time NATO Ally, the Republic of Turkey, I am honored and humbled by the trust President Biden has placed in me with this ambassadorial nomination," Flake said in a Medium post on Tuesday. "This is a pivotal post at an important time for both of our countries."

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/300356782/us-company-selling-guns-covered-in-legolike-bricks-sets-off-a-furore

About a week ago, a company in Utah in the US that makes custom modifications to firearms debuted what it described as a fun new product: A kit that encases Glock handguns in what looks like red, yellow and blue Lego blocks, refashioning lethal weapons to look exactly like children's toys.

“We have been building guns out of blocks for the last 30 years and wanted to flip the script to aggravate Mom,” Provo-based Culper Precision explained on its website.

https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3140955/guangdong-plans-build-regional-data-centre-shenzhen-coverage-hong-kong

China’s southern Guangdong province has tasked its tech hub Shenzhen with building a big data centre for the Greater Bay Area, which includes Hong Kong and Macau, to help the “orderly circulation” of data in the region, according to a data plan published by the Guangdong government on Sunday.

The provincial government also said that it will look into what it calls a Greater Bay Area “data custom”, which will be responsible for reviewing, evaluating and regulating cross-border data flow.

Data development plans involving the Greater Bay Area are slated for completion by the end of 2022, although the provincial government has not provided further details.

The city governments of Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhuhai will take the lead on big data efforts, the notice said, and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC)’s Guangdong provincial arm, along with other local government departments, will provide support.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/two-senior-disney-executives-retiring-as-the-bob-iger-era-ends-1.1628576

Bloomberg) – Two longtime Walt Disney Co. executives announced they were retiring at end of the year, part of a caravan of senior people leaving the entertainment giant as the departure of Executive Chairman Bob Iger looms.

Alan Braverman, the company’s 73-year-old general counsel, and Zenia Mucha, its 65-year-old head of corporate communications, both announced they wouldn’t renew their contracts on Tuesday – with both scheduled to work their last day on Jan. 1.

The departures give new Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek a chance to further field his own leadership team at the world’s largest film-and-TV company.

The two executives started their careers with the company at the ABC TV network, with Braverman beginning in 1993 and Mucha in 2001. They each are known as staunch defenders of the Disney brand.