Your Thursday Briefing: DeSantis’s Presidential Run

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Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, entered the presidential race yesterday, filing documents to declare his candidacy. DeSantis will announce the start of the campaign on Twitter, in a conversation with Elon Musk, which will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern (8 a.m. in Sydney; 6 a.m. in Hong Kong).

For some insight into the Republican primary race, we spoke with Trip Gabriel, who covers politics for The Times.

What’s at stake in the Republican contest?

trip: The Republican primary is a referendum on Donald Trump. And DeSantis has long been seen as the Republican candidate who wants Trumpism without the chaos.

But even though DeSantis is Trump’s closest rival — really, the only serious one right now — he’s fallen about 30 points behind Trump in Republican polls since the start of the year.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Trump’s second term will emphasize American democracy more than at any point in modern history, including the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump now calls the riots, which sought to reverse the results of the Presidential Election of Biden, “a good day.” Most of his followers have extremist and authoritarian tendencies.

What is DeSantis’ strategy?

At its most basic, DeSantis will make an electability argument: Trump risks another defeat, because suburban swing voters hate him.

DeSantis will be on the record as governor of Florida, where he has implemented policies to the right of Trump on abortion and other culture war issues. And at 44, DeSantis could be a generational contrast to Joe Biden, who is 80 years old.

Concerts, stand-up comedy shows and musical performances across the country were suddenly canceled last week – some just minutes before the show.

Acting on culture represents an exploration of China’s heavily censored creative landscape. China’s supreme leader, Xi Jinping, has demanded that artists align themselves with the Communist Party’s goal of promoting a nationalist vision of Chinese identity.

Details: Authorities in Beijing last week fined a comedy studio about $2 million after one of its stand-up performers was accused on social media of jokingly insulting the military. Hours after the punishment was announced, organizers in other major cities canceled stand-up shows and music performances also began to disappear. Many of the canceled shows were supposed to feature foreign performers or speakers.

Background: Stand-up has gained popularity in the country in recent years as a rare medium for limited barbs about life in contemporary China, and officials have noticed.

related: US intelligence agencies and Microsoft in February detected computer code linked to a Chinese hacking group in telecommunications systems in Guam. The discovery raised alarm because Guam would be an important part of the US military’s response to an invasion or blockade of Taiwan.

The soul singer’s explosive vocals and energy made him an unforgettable performer and one of the most successful recording artists of all time.

Her solo album “Personal Dancer,” released in 1984, delivered three big hits: the title track, “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 year. The album sold five million copies and spawned a touring career that made him a worldwide phenomenon.

Turner spent his last years in Switzerland, where he died. “I had a bad life,” she told The Times in 2019, speaking from her chateau. “I just keep going.”

Chin-Kee, a character in the award-winning graphic novel “American Born Chinese,” confronts negative racial stereotypes by exaggerating them. As the new series adapted from the book arrives on Disney+ this month, the feat will translate the story to the screen without spoiling it.

Today is the 60th anniversary of Africa Day, an opportunity to challenge the negative ideas that still dog this rich continent. There is no one way to celebrate. In some countries, it is a public holiday. On the other hand, it is a day of concerts, food and fashion exhibitions. Here are some ideas:

Read from the past: Chinua Achebe changed African literature in 1958 with “Things Fall Apart,” a book that defined modern storytelling. Achebe challenged the simplistic representation of Africa in books like Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.”

Dance in modern times: Afrobeats artists have sold out venues in the US, and the thunderous beats of the amapiano have infiltrated dance clubs in Europe. These genres, and the viral social media dances they’ve created, show a fun and young side of the continent.

Watch the future: If superhero movies are a vision of the future, the future of Africa appears to be female. And these heroines kick butts and take names. “Supa Team 4,” the latest African animated project, follows four teenage girls who fight crime in the 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 in South Africa, the series premieres on Netflix this July. —Lynsey Chutel, author of Briefings based in Johannesburg

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