Licking his wounds after last week’s midterms, market capitalization losses for his companies SpaceX and Tesla, and the announcement of his Cybertruck’s discontinuation, Elon Musk has found his latest venture. The tech billionaire hopes to get a foothold in telecommunications by acquiring one of the U.S.’s most notable mobile phone companies.

‘Play’ for the US market
Musk wants SpaceX to acquire Boost Mobile via a deal with parent company EchoStar, according to The Washington Post. Marketed to low-income customers, Boost is one of the country’s largest budget-friendly cellular companies, and a deal with SpaceX could result in Musk “gaining access to its network, which it leases from AT&T and T-Mobile,” said the Post. Such access would “allow Musk to make a play for a U.S. wireless market that equity research firm MoffettNathanson estimates is worth $235 billion.”

Musk’s Boost venture comes after he approached AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon about “buying capacity on their networks,” said TechCrunch. All three carriers declined. Together, these companies have about 100 million subscribers, far more than Boost. 

SpaceX was already making moves in this space. Last year, it “acquired wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar” and “recently purchased a portfolio of low-band spectrum licenses,” said The Verge.

‘Unparalleled ground coverage’
Despite Musk’s status as a controversial figure given his exorbitant wealth and unprecedented government access under Trump, some experts say there could be upsides to this deal. A joining of SpaceX and Boost would “combine SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband network with new mobile antennas, fiber connections and other ground infrastructure,” said Bloomberg, possibly bringing about “unparalleled ground coverage that makes wireless dead zones a thing of the past.”

Not everyone is enthusiastic about the deal’s prospects. It would “support Musk’s ambition to turn his business empire into an artificial intelligence powerhouse,” said Bloomberg, by giving him a platform through which to create future tech at a time when anti-AI sentiment has reached a fever pitch.

Musk may also face challenges in building out the network he desires. SpaceX would “likely ​need to invest heavily in ground infrastructure, customer ​service, handset subsidies and promotions — costly areas of the wireless business where the Big Three already ​have extensive operations,” said Reuters.

“The only thing I worry about is that people will forget Hong Kong,” said jailed pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong shortly before being sentenced to another 10 years behind bars, in letters seen by The Guardian. “Amid competition and struggles between great powers,” people will “forget the countless ordinary, unknown people in different places who have paid a price for their beliefs.”

What happened to Wong?
The 30-year-old has been imprisoned since 2020 and was due for release in January, but that prospect was shut down after he pleaded guilty to foreign collusion, his second conviction under Beijing’s national security law. Wong had used an underground network and sought to “draw the attention of foreign countries” to bolster his cause, said High Court Judge William Tam during sentencing. 

Wong is the only activist prosecuted twice under the law, which has been used to “quash dissidence and lock up journalists,” said The Telegraph. Beijing imposed it in 2020 after “huge and often violent pro-democracy protests” that “convulsed the international financial hub,” said CNN. 

What challenges lie ahead?
Since the national security law took effect, “civil groups have disbanded,” some “independent media outlets have been shut down,” and “most pro-democracy figures are either in jail or in exile overseas,” said CNN. The movement now faces the challenge of preserving its networks and identity without the street mobilization that once defined it.

Wong’s extended sentence reflects how dramatically Hong Kong has changed since the mass demonstrations of 2014 and 2019. Activism may shift overseas, but diaspora divisions, declining international attention and pressure on activists’ families threaten to hamper the movement. Younger Hong Kong citizens may also develop different ideas about political participation, given the personal and professional risks.

Yet campaigners argue that activism can extend beyond elections and demonstrations and preserve collective memory, cultural identity, historical narratives and freedom of expression. Hong Kong’s democratic future looks difficult, they say, but not necessarily hopeless. Its aspirations will not disappear simply because its political organizations have been dismantled.

People release balloons and doves during a ceremony marking Cambodia’s 73rd Independence Day at the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh. The ceremony, attended by government officials, diplomats and citizens, marks the country’s independence from France in 1953.
Kith Serey / EPA / Shutterstock

As their interests expand and reading skills improve, children are lucky that literature evolves alongside them. These are the best chapter books for young readers transitioning to more complex stories.

‘Amelia Bedelia Means Business’ (2013)
Parents and grandparents might remember the bumbling Amelia Bedelia from Peggy Parish’s original books. Her nephew, Herman Parish, continued that legacy of literary humor and idiom fiddling with a series of chapter books tailored to young readers that starts with this one. ($7, Greenwillow Books)

‘Meet Yasmin!’ (2018)
Feisty second-grader Yasmin gets creative to solve everyday problems, with help from her Pakistani American family. The “colorful illustrations, short chapters” by author Saadia Faruqi, and an “approachable amount of text” create “a win-win,” said The Every Mom. ($3, Picture Window Books)

‘The Princess in Black’ (2015)
Princess Magnolia lives the royal life, but she also secretly transforms into the Princess in Black, a monster-fighting dynamo hiding her identity from the nosy Duchess Wigtower. This action-packed series for young readers, by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, is “great for read-aloud or beginning readers,” said Common Sense Media. ($18, Candlewick Press)

‘Pug Blasts Off: A Branches Book’ (2019)
Kyla May’s “Diary of a Pug” is another series popular among younger readers today. This installment introduces kids to Baron von Bubbles, aka Bub, the self-proclaimed world’s cutest pug. It’s part of Scholastic’s Branches line of early chapter books “designed for those ready to read independently,” said Scholastic, helping them “transition from leveled readers” to chapter books. ($8, Scholastic)