Global Courant 2023-05-25 02:02:47
DeSantis enters the presidential race
Florida governor Ron DeSantis entered the presidential race yesterday and filed paperwork to announce his candidacy. DeSantis will announce the start of his campaign on Twitter, in a conversation with Elon Musk, which will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern Time (8 a.m. in Sydney; 6 a.m. in Hong Kong).
For more insight into the Republican primary, we spoke to Trip Gabriel, who covers politics for The Times.
What’s at stake in the Republican battle?
Trip: The Republican primary is essentially a referendum on Donald Trump. And DeSantis has long been seen as the nominee for Republicans who want Trumpism without the chaos.
But while DeSantis is Trump’s closest rival — really the only serious one for now — he’s trailed Trump by about 30 points in Republican polls since the start of the year.
It is no exaggeration to say that a second Trump term would stress American democracy more than at any time in modern history, including the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. election, “have a nice day.” His followers largely embrace his extremist and authoritarian tendencies.
What is DeSantis’ strategy?
Most fundamentally, DeSantis will make an electoral argument: Trump risks another defeat because suburban voters hate him.
DeSantis will be on his record as governor of Florida, where he has enacted policies to Trump’s right on abortion and other culture war issues. And at 44, DeSantis may be a generational contrast to Joe Biden, who is 80.
The show is canceled in China
Concerts, stand-up comedy shows and music performances across the country were abruptly canceled last week — some just minutes before show time.
The crackdown on culture points to growing scrutiny in China’s already heavily censored creative landscape. China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, is demanding that artists join the Communist Party’s aims to promote a nationalist vision of Chinese identity.
Details: Beijing authorities last week fined a comedy studio about $2 million after one of its social media stand-up artists was accused of insulting the military in a prank. Hours after the punishment was announced, organizers in other major cities canceled their stand-up shows and music performances also began to disappear. Many of the canceled events would feature foreign performers or speakers.
Background: Stand-up has become popular in the country in recent years as a rare medium for limited barbs about life in contemporary China, and officials have taken notice.
Related: U.S. intelligence agencies and Microsoft discovered computer code linked to a Chinese hacking group in telecommunications systems in Guam in February. The discovery caused alarm because Guam would be an important part of any U.S. military response to an invasion or blockade of Taiwan.
Tina Turner dies at age 83
The soul singer’s raspy vocals and explosive energy made her an unforgettable performer and one of the most successful performers of all time.
Her solo album ‘Private Dancer’, released in 1984, spawned three massive hits: the title song ‘Better Be Good to Me’ and ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’, which won three awards at the 1985 Grammy Awards, including record of the year. The album sold five million copies and began a touring career that made her a worldwide phenomenon.
Turner spent her later years in Switzerland, where she died. “I had a horrible life,” she told The Times in 2019, speaking from her castle. “I just kept going.”
THE LAST NEWS
Asia Pacific
Chin-Kee, a character in the award-winning graphic novel American Born Chinese, confronts ugly racial stereotypes by exaggerating them. As a new series adapted from the book arrives on Disney+ this month, translating the story to the screen without debunking it will be an achievement.
SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICA
Happy Africa Day
Today marks the 60th anniversary of Africa Day, an opportunity to denounce the negative attitudes that still haunt this wealthy continent. There is no one way to celebrate. In some countries it is a public holiday. In others, it’s a day full of concerts, food fairs and fashion. Below are a few ideas:
Read from the past: Chinua Achebe changed African literature in 1958 with ‘Things Fall Apart’, a book that defines modern storytelling. Achebe challenged the simplistic representations of Africa in books such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
Dance in the present: Afrobeats artists are selling out in venues across the US, and banging amapiano beats have infiltrated dance clubs in Europe. These genres, and the viral dance on social media they have produced show a cheerful, youthful side of the continent.
Look to the future: If superhero movies are a vision of the future, Africa’s future seems female. And these heroines kick each other and take names. “Supa team 4”, the latest African animation project, follows four crime-fighting teenage girls in a futuristic Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Created by Zambian writer Malenga Mulendema, designed by Cameroonian artist Malcolm Wope and produced by Triggerfish, an animation studio based in South Africa, the series will premiere on Netflix in July. —Lynsey Chutel, a briefing writer from Johannesburg
