Newley Purnell

Sent as a newsletter on Aug. 24, 2025. Not on my list? Sign up here. 👋 Hi friends, Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a newsletter containing my recent Bloomberg stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos. Image of the week, above: Hong Kong Harbor (1843), by Lt. Humphrey John Julian ✍️ I’m behind in sharing some of my recent work! First, I’m proud of this…

Former Staffers Say India’s Biggest IT Firm Was Gaming the US Visa System

That’s the headline on my most recent story, an exclusive out Tuesday with my colleague Eric Fan. It begins: The first time Donald Trump took over the White House, Anil Kini alleges that executives at India’s biggest outsourcing firm ordered him to take part in what he describes as a coverup. Kini, who was an IT manager working in Denver for Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, or TCS,…

Fired Americans Say Indian Firm Gave Their Jobs to H-1B Visa Holders

That’s the headline on my latest exclusive, out a few weeks ago. It generated a lot of reader interest, and was picked up by several news outlets in India and the U.S. It began:

India’s TikTok Ban Is a Cautionary Tale for the U.S.

I’m late in posting this, but that was the headline on a story my colleague Vibhuti Agarwal wrote last month. It began: <– 🎁 Gift link NEW DELHI—Gayatari Mohanty always wanted to be a dancer. But her father, who washes cars for a living, and her mother, a domestic helper, didn’t have enough money for lessons. So the 19-year-old New Delhi native taught herself. One day in 2019, Mohanty discovered…

Sent as a newsletter on April 8, 2024. Not on my list? Sign up here. 👋 Hi friends, Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos. Image of the week, above: ☔️ Rainy Hong Kong. Snapped today. Here are 10 items worth your time this week: 1) 👉 Good news: Homicides in many…

Sent as a newsletter on April 8, 2024. Not on my list? Sign up here. 👋 Hi friends, Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos. Image of the week, above: Friday March 29th marked one year since our WSJ colleague Evan Gershkovich was wrongly detained in Russia. This was…

Sent as a newsletter on March 5, 2024. Not on my list? Sign up here. 👋 Hi friends, Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos. Image of the week, above: 🇨🇳 I was delighted to participate in a Schwarzman Scholars alumni seminar panel here in Hong Kong on Friday. 📚 The…

Sent as a newsletter on February 15, 2024. Not on my list? Sign up here. 👋 Hi friends, Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos. Image of the week, above: ☀️ Sun, tree, shadows. Snapped recently here in Hong Kong. Here are 10 items worth your time this week: 1) 🇸🇦…

Sent as a newsletter on November 30, 2023. Not on my list? Sign up here. 👋 Hi friends, Welcome to the latest edition of Newley's Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos. Image of the week, above: 💪 Keep on hustling, Hong Kong! (Thanks, Kinan T!) My WSJ latest: I had an exclusive out Thursday with my…

That’s the headline on my newest story, an exclusive with my colleague Neil Western out Thurs. It begins: <– Gift link HONG KONG—Ian J. Stones, a British business executive, worked in China for four decades, including with big U.S. firms such as General Motors and Pfizer before setting up his own consulting firm. Then, in 2018, he disappeared from public view. Stones has been detained in China…

My 12 Favorite Photos of 2023

📸 Here are my 12 favorite photos from 2023, ranging from images I snapped here in Hong Kong to others in Macau, Bangkok, and Washington, D.C. I took most with my iPhone 12, and a few with my Fujifilm X100V — a camera I love but am still learning to make the most of. May your 2024 be full of memorable scenes!

That’s the headline on my newest story, which I wrote with my colleague Rachel Liang. It was out Tuesday. It begins: <– 🎁 Gift link Joey Jia witnessed the 2020 implosion of short-form video app Quibi and thought: I can do better. Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg’s high-profile but short-lived startup charged users $4.99 a month for slick content meant to appeal to a wide user base. Jia, a…

My favorite TV shows, movies, and music* of 2023

Following my post on the standout books I read this year, here’s the best of what I watched and listened to in 2023: 📺 TV — “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street” (Netflix) This documentary series reinforced for me not just how shocking his crimes were, but how much his victims suffered. — “Wham!” (Netflix) George Michael, Andrew Ridgeley, 80s pop music. What more do you need to know? — “Beckham”…

The Best Books I Read in 2023

Here's my annual rundown of the standout books I read this year. My nonfiction picks span the global semiconductor industry, equitable parenting, and – thanks to Netflix – the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. For fiction, I completed a trilogy by my new favorite spy thriller author and took in a sprawling Jonathan Franzen family saga. As ever, I prefer physical books over e-books. I like the…

Sent as a newsletter on November 30, 2023. Not on my list? Sign up here. 👋 Hi friends, Welcome to the latest edition of Newley's Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos. Image of the week, above: 🇹🇭 Work recently took me to Chiang Mai, Thailand. I caught up with an old buddy. And we ate some deliciously…

Sent as a newsletter on October 30, 2023. Not on my list? Sign up here. 👋 Hi friends, Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos. Image of the week, above: 🏃‍♂️ Members of our WSJ Hong Kong bureau participated in #IRunForEvan on Thursday – a jog to mark our colleague…

That’s the headline on my latest story, an October 21 exclusive with my colleagues Sam Schechner and Jeff Horwitz. It begins <– free link 🎁 After Hamas stormed Israel and murdered civilians on Oct. 7, hateful comments from the region surged through Instagram. Meta Platforms managers cranked up automatic filters meant to slow the flood of violent and harassing content. But still the comments kept…