| In defiance of a Chinese government that devotes much of its energy to deciding what its citizens should think and do, protesters dodged censors and took to the streets in anger at Covid curbs and a lack of freedoms under Xi Jinping. The death of former President Jiang Zemin, remembered for a lighter touch, may give impetus to dissent. We delve into the peculiarities of a global slump in which many folks are thankfully keeping their jobs, and zero in on a country that went from stability to chaos in three short years. A child's tragic death raises hard questions about social media, and a storied American singer is fighting for transparency in the court system. Tiny homes may be helping Native Americans, while futuristic low-carbon, climate-proof housing is taking root in California. And as the weekend beckons, we have museum guides for Paris, Los Angeles and New York, plus advice on the best way to stroll around a city and enjoy the local architecture. Frustrated by years of Covid protocols and mourning the victims of a fire in Xinjiang, Chinese protesters in two dozen cities took to the streets last weekend in a shot across the bow to Xi Jinping's government. Authorities quickly responded, deploying police in force but also signaling that the harshest Covid curbs may have to go. Bloomberg's reporters detailed who these protesters are and how they managed to exploit cracks in China's Great Firewall to organize, share photos and stay ahead of Beijing's legion of censors.—Rebecca Choong Wilkins and Colum Murphy  At what's already a tense time for Chinese authorities, former leader Jiang Zemin has died aged 96. Jiang rebuilt relations with the West after the Tiananmen crackdown and supercharged growth. He was no political liberal, notably crushing the Falun Gong movement, but allowed more debate and exchanges of ideas with the West. The deaths of Chinese leaders have previously led to demonstrations of open dissent — including in 1989 — and the contrast between the Jiang and Xi eras add to perils for the current president.—Adrian Kennedy  |  Hardly a day goes by without another warning of recession as borrowing costs shoot up. But unlike previous downturns, this cycle is showing an unusual characteristic: unemployment remains low. While some sectors such as banking and tech are shedding staff, others are holding onto workers and even complaining of labor shortages. Much of it has to do with how the pandemic buckled the global economy and shifted attitudes to work. We ask how this riddle will play out: will joblessness take off or will this cycle rewrite textbooks? It's one of the big questions for 2023.—Enda Curran  Just three years ago, the World Bank classified Sri Lanka as an upper-middle-income country, alongside the likes of Turkey and Thailand. Now, it's in economic freefall, with conditions so severe that many of its 22 million people don't have enough to eat. The story of the island nation's financial collapse is a tale of political dysfunction, reckless spending, and above all corruption, with the ruling Rajapaksa family accused of pilfering billions of dollars of public money. And as one prominent Sri Lankan politician warns, "the worst is yet to come."—Matthew Campbell  TikTok is the most popular app in the world today, and its secret sauce is the mysterious algorithm feeding hyper-personalized content to its 1 billion users. Most videos are harmless and fun, but sometimes the algorithm ends up sending dangerous content to kids under 13 who are too young to legally be on social media and have lied about their age in order to access the app. Last year, nine-year-old Arriani Arroyo accidentally hanged herself at home in Wisconsin while trying a game called the blackout challenge. A wrongful-death lawsuit filed by her parents claims the algorithm sent the challenge to Arriani's phone. TikTok says it can't comment on pending litigation, but the challenge predates the platform and has never been a trend on the app.—Olivia Carville  Many US courts started putting proceedings online during the pandemic, and more people could become court watchers — advocates who observe courtrooms to foster accountability. One volunteer was famed singer-songwriter Fiona Apple, who watched bail hearings in Prince George's County, Maryland from her California home, helping advocacy group Courtwatch for its lawsuit challenging the county's pretrial detention practices. But the court recently turned video access off in favor of a spotty audio feed. So Apple is pushing for a permanent virtual video-access option, saying courts are purposely limiting transparency and that detained people are suffering as a result.—Sarah Holder  Last year, $20 billion in federal pandemic aid was allocated to Native American tribes in the biggest injection of funding in US history. The Suquamish Tribe outside Seattle is using most of its $21 million share to create more affordable housing near one of the most expensive US real estate markets. (Average Seattle home prices are about $950,000.) A casino opened in 1995 sparked an economic and cultural revival for the tribe. Now there are jobs and opportunities for tribal members — but few affordable places to live on a 'checkerboard' reservation where non-Native people also live. "Rents are too high and it's too expensive to buy," said Scott Crowell of Suquamish's tribal government. "The darned thing is, we've been priced off our own land."—Amy Yee  At first glance, Durango at Shadow Mountain looks like just another cookie-cutter subdivision of new homes sprawling across an arid valley in Menifee, California, a rapidly growing exurb 90 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Walk into a model home, though, and the possible future of low-carbon, climate-resilient housing comes into view. We take readers inside the first "microgrid community" in California, where every house has solar panels, a battery and heat pumps and access to a "community battery." When climate-driven blackouts strike, Durango can operate independently of the power grid, keeping the lights on.—Todd Woody  Bitten by the travel bug? Soak up spectacular culture by strolling through museums. Paris fashionistas are flocking to the wondrously weird clothing of the late Elsa Schiaparelli, along with exciting exhibitions of works by Claude Monet and Joan Mitchell. Los Angeles has Nubia: Jewels of Ancient Sudan at the Getty Villa and ephemera from the enigmatic Joan Didion at the Hammer museum. In New York, check out outrageously opulent kimonos at the Metropolitan Museum of Art or Alex Katz paintings at the Guggenheim. If you want some time outside, heed travel genius and architect Puru Das and check in with the local architecture school and see if students offer guided tours.—Chris Rovzar | 
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