2022.04.23北京的官员将一所学校关闭了一周

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A Russian missile strike on Odessa killed at least five people, including a three-month-old baby, according to a Ukrainian official. In Mariupol, Russia continued to attack a steel plant being used as a refuge for the city’s last remaining defenders. A planned civilian evacuation from the city was cancelled amid the violence. Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed to have killed two more Russian generals and wounded a third near Kherson.

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said that Russia will not stop at invading Ukraine and intends to attack other countries. In his nightly address Mr Zelensky cited the comments of Russia’s Major General Rustam Minnekayev, who said that Russia aims to seize all of southern and eastern Ukraine and open a route to Transnistria, a separatist region of Moldova. Moldova’s foreign ministry expressed “deep concern” over the comments.

Canada’s finance minister said that the G20, a club of mostly rich countries, cannot function with Russia as a member. This week International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington have been marked by protests against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the United Nations secretary-general, António Guterres, announced that he will meet Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow next Tuesday.

Officials in Beijing closed a school for a week after around nine students tested positive for covid-19. The cases raised fears of a wider outbreak, and potentially a lockdown, in China’s capital. Shanghai, which has been under a strict lockdown, reported 12 new covid-19 deaths on Friday, up from 11 the day before. Until recently the government had been claiming that no one had died from the virus in the city since March. Officials are censoring dissatisfaction expressed by Shanghai residents online.

New evidence suggested that Republican lawmakers were closely involved in trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election. According to a former White House aide, representatives Scott Perry, Louie Gohmert, Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz, among others, attended meetings in December 2020 to discuss how Donald Trump might hold on to power.

Reliance, an Indian conglomerate, called off a $3.4bn deal to buy shops from fellow conglomerate Future. Future’s creditors had blocked the deal. Amazon, which is trying to build its own retail presence in the country and wanted some of Future’s assets itself, had also sought to disrupt it. Future may now face bankruptcy proceedings.

The European Union agreed on new digital regulations that mean online giants like Google and Meta (previously Facebook) will have to do more to police illegal content on their platforms. If they don’t they risk fines of billions of dollars. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, called the Digital Services Act a “historic” piece of legislation.

Word of the week: wanghong, a Chinese word roughly meaning “viral” or “internet famous”, with a hint of tackiness. Read the full story.


The battle for Donbas

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
The next phase of Russia’s war in Ukraine began on April 18th, with heavy shelling and probing attacks along the frontlines in Donbas, a contested region in the country’s east. On Friday a Russian general said that the aim was not just to seize Donbas in its entirety, but to establish control over Ukraine’s southern coastline all the way to Moldova.

That looks like a stretch. According to American officials Ukraine now has more tanks in the country than Russia does, thanks to supplies of old T-72s from eastern European NATO countries. The battle for Donbas will play out on more open terrain than around Kyiv, the capital, meaning traditional artillery duels and armoured clashes. “The fighting will be very intense,” says a senior NATO official. “It will look a lot like world war two.”

A boxing scandal

PHOTO: REUTERS
In boxing, the build-up to the fight can be as breathless as the brawl itself. Yet the mood has been muted ahead of the World Boxing Council heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte, two Britons, on Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London.

The explanation lies in America’s imposition of sanctions on Daniel Kinahan, the Irish co-founder of MTK Global, a boxing agency that represents more than 300 fighters, including Mr Fury. Mr Kinahan has been accused of overseeing a “murderous” drug cartel, a charge he denies. Mr Fury has said Mr Kinahan’s presence in boxing is none of his business.

Several other promoters have faced similar allegations. In fact, boxing has a long, sour history of association with crime. It does not help that the sport has four governing bodies, each pursuing its own interests. A single one would have more incentive to maintain the reputation of the sport as a whole.

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“The Northman” cometh

PHOTO: ALAMY
Robert Eggers specialises in stylishly weird, horror-tinged historic dramas. That might explain why the American writer-director’s first two films, “The Witch” (2015) and “The Lighthouse” (2019), were cult favourites rather than box-office smashes. His third, an action-packed, star-studded revenge epic is more of a crowd-pleaser.

Alexander Skarsgard plays Amleth, a brooding Viking prince who plots retribution after his uncle (Claes Bangs) murders the king (Ethan Hawke) and marries the queen (Nicole Kidman). The plot, and the hero’s name, may ring a bell: Mr Eggers and his co-writer, Sjón, an Icelandic poet, borrowed their story from the same Norse legend that inspired “Hamlet”. Indeed, “The Northman” has Shakespearean elements, including a soothsaying witch (Björk) and the skull of a jester (played by Willem Dafoe). But be warned: not even “Titus Andronicus” contains as many graphic, grisly murders.

Weekend profile: Cecilia Alemani, curator of the Venice Biennale

PHOTO: ANDREA AVEZZU
She may be the first Italian woman to curate the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale, but Cecilia Alemani’s tastes range far beyond her own country. Her show, which opens on Saturday, takes its title—“The Milk of Dreams”—from a children’s book by Leonora Carrington, a British surrealist painter who lived in Mexico City. The exhibition features well over 200 artists from 58 countries, ranging from Brazil to Zimbabwe. Most have never been seen in Venice before.

Ms Alemani, the grand-daughter of an art-history teacher, grew up wanting to be an archaeologist. But at 17, working on a dig, she discovered that it was “less Indiana Jones and more forced labour”. Instead she studied philosophy and aesthetics in Milan, and went on to work at a gallery there. But finding the Italian art world hidebound and hierarchical, in 2003 she moved to New York and completed a degree in curatorial studies at Bard College.

Ms Alemani soon caught the eye of museum directors. In 2008, still in her early 30s, she was tapped to run an exhibition space in the former Dia Centre, in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighbourhood. She later worked for the Frieze Art Fair. Since 2011 she has organised exhibitions at the High Line in New York, featuring artists as diverse as El Anatsui, Faith Ringgold and Ed Ruscha. Rather than navigate an institution, Ms Alemani likes working as an independent curator. This, she told an interviewer, offers a “sense of freedom…coupled with a rigid self-discipline and a good dose of independence.”

Her Biennale explores the relationship between humans, technology and nature, and foregrounds women artists, who make up 80-90% of those on display. Ms Alemani won the Venice job in January 2020, just before covid-19 hit. The pandemic delayed the Biennale by a year. Rather than constrain her, though, it offered new questions to interrogate. What, Ms Alemani asks, is our responsibility towards each other and the planet? What would life look like without us? Her show is steeped in history, even as it scours the world in search of what artists are thinking about humanity’s future.


The winners of this week’s quiz

Thank you to everyone who took part in this week’s quiz. The winners, chosen at random from each continent, were:

Asia: Lena Bodewein, Singapore

North America: Tania Lopez, Veracruz, Mexico

Central and South America: Martin Whittle, São Paulo, Brazil

Europe: Arvid Skaugen, Hamburg, Germany

Africa: Ailsa Green, Choma, Zambia

Oceania: Virstine Yazdanparast, Lane Cove, Australia

They all gave the correct answers of mulled, Neil Patrick Harris, rum, “Vanilla Sky” and Lewis Hamilton. The theme is Hebridean islands: Mull, Harris, Rum, Skye and Lewis.

Mexico’s president on the back foot

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Handing back control of Mexico’s electricity sector to a state-owned company was meant to be part of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s legacy. But on April 17th he failed to secure the legislative supermajority he needed to amend the constitution and prioritise power generated by the state. Though he may still get some piecemeal energy reforms enacted, the defeat was a big blow.

The setback also throws into doubt two other constitutional amendments that Mr López Obrador wants to make in the last two years of his six-year term, both of which require supermajorities. One is to put the National Guard, a militarised police force he created, under the control of the defence ministry. Enough opposition lawmakers may yet be won over for that. But Mr López Obrador’s hopes of changing Mexico’s electoral system, and the body that presides over it, now seem unlikely to pass. Like Mexico’s energy sector, Mr López Obrador’s agenda now faces great uncertainty.

What is past is prologue.

William Shakespeare




据一名乌克兰官员称，俄罗斯对敖德萨的导弹袭击至少造成5人死亡，包括一名3个月大的婴儿。在马里乌波尔，俄罗斯继续攻击一家钢铁厂，该厂被用作该市最后剩下的保卫者的避难所。在暴力事件中，计划中的平民撤离该市的行动被取消了。与此同时，乌克兰声称在赫尔松附近又杀死了两名俄罗斯将军，并打伤了第三名将军。

乌克兰总统沃洛基米尔-泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelensky)说，俄罗斯不会停止入侵乌克兰，并打算攻击其他国家。泽伦斯基先生在他的夜间讲话中引用了俄罗斯少将Rustam Minnekayev的评论，他说俄罗斯的目标是夺取整个乌克兰南部和东部地区，并开辟一条通往摩尔多瓦分离主义地区德涅斯特河的路线。摩尔多瓦外交部对这些评论表示 "深切关注"。

加拿大财政部长说，20国集团是一个主要由富国组成的俱乐部，有俄罗斯这个成员就无法发挥作用。本周国际货币基金组织和世界银行在华盛顿举行的会议上出现了反对俄罗斯入侵乌克兰的抗议活动。与此同时，联合国秘书长安东尼奥-古特雷斯宣布，他将于下周二在莫斯科会见俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔-普京。

在大约9名学生对covid-19检测呈阳性后，北京的官员将一所学校关闭了一周。这些病例引起了人们对中国首都更广泛的疫情以及可能的封锁的担忧。一直处于严格封锁状态的上海，周五报告了12例新的柯维德-19死亡病例，比前一天的11例有所增加。直到最近，政府一直声称自3月以来，该市没有人死于这种病毒。官员们正在审查上海居民在网上表达的不满情绪。

新的证据表明，共和党立法者密切参与了试图推翻乔-拜登的选举。据一位前白宫助手说，代表斯科特-佩里、路易-戈默特、吉姆-乔丹和马特-盖茨等人在2020年12月参加了会议，讨论唐纳德-特朗普如何守住权力。

印度企业集团信实(Reliance)取消了一项34亿美元的交易，从同业企业Future手中购买商店。Future的债权人曾阻止了这项交易。亚马逊正试图在印度建立自己的零售业务，并希望自己拥有Future的一些资产，它也曾试图扰乱这一交易。Future现在可能面临破产程序。

欧盟就新的数字法规达成一致，这意味着谷歌和Meta（之前的Facebook）等网络巨头将不得不采取更多措施，对其平台上的非法内容进行监管。如果他们不这样做，他们将面临数十亿美元的罚款。欧盟委员会主席Ursula von der Leyen称《数字服务法》是一项 "历史性 "立法。

本周词汇：Wanghong，一个中文词汇，大致意思是 "病毒 "或 "网络名人"，带有一丝俗气。阅读全文。


顿巴斯之战

照片。GETTY IMAGES
俄罗斯在乌克兰的战争的下一阶段于4月18日开始，在该国东部有争议的地区--顿巴斯的前线进行了猛烈的炮击和探测攻击。周五，一位俄罗斯将军说，其目的不仅仅是夺取整个顿巴斯，而是要建立对乌克兰南部海岸线的控制，一直到摩尔多瓦。

这看起来是一种延伸。据美国官员称，由于东欧北约国家提供的老式T-72坦克，乌克兰现在在国内拥有的坦克比俄罗斯多。顿巴斯之战将在比首都基辅周围更开阔的地形上进行，这意味着传统的炮火对决和装甲冲突。"战斗将非常激烈，"一位北约高级官员说。"它看起来很像第二次世界大战。"

拳击丑闻

照片。REUTERS
在拳击比赛中，比赛前的准备工作可能和比赛本身一样令人窒息。然而，周六在伦敦温布利体育场举行的泰森-富里和迪廉-怀特这两个英国人之间的世界拳击理事会重量级冲突之前，气氛一直很平静。

原因在于美国对丹尼尔-基纳汉的制裁，他是MTK Global的爱尔兰联合创始人，MTK Global是一家代表300多名拳手的拳击机构，其中包括弗瑞先生。Kinahan先生被指控监督一个 "杀人 "的贩毒集团，他否认了这一指控。富里先生说，金纳汉先生在拳击界的存在不关他的事。

其他几位推广人也面临类似的指控。事实上，拳击运动与犯罪有一段长期的、酸楚的联系。这项运动有四个管理机构，每个机构都在追求自己的利益，这并没有帮助。一个单一的机构将有更多的动力来维护整个运动的声誉。

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"北方人 "来了

照片。阿拉米
罗伯特-埃格斯（Robert Eggers）擅长拍摄时尚怪异、带有恐怖色彩的历史剧。这或许可以解释为什么这位美国作家兼导演的前两部电影《女巫》（2015年）和《灯塔》（2019年）是粉丝的最爱，而不是票房大卖。他的第三部，一部充满动作、明星云集的复仇史诗，更像是一部群众喜闻乐见的作品。

亚历山大-斯卡斯加德(Alexander Skarsgard)饰演的阿姆莱思(Amleth)是一位忧郁的维京王子，在他的叔叔(Claes Bangs)谋杀了国王(Ethan Hawke)并娶了王后(Nicole Kidman)后，他策划了报复。这个情节和主人公的名字可能有印象。埃格斯先生和他的联合编剧，冰岛诗人Sjón，从启发《哈姆雷特》的同一个北欧传说中借用了他们的故事。的确，"北方人 "有莎士比亚的元素，包括一个会占卜的女巫（比约克）和一个小丑的头骨（由威廉-达福扮演）。但请注意：即使是《泰特斯-安德罗尼克斯》也没有包含这么多生动、恐怖的谋杀案。

周末简介。威尼斯双年展策展人Cecilia Alemani

照片。ANDREA AVEZZU
她可能是第一位策划威尼斯双年展主要展览的意大利女性，但塞西莉亚-阿莱马尼的品味远远超出她自己的国家。她的展览将于周六开幕，其标题 "梦之乳 "来自Leonora Carrington的一本儿童读物，她是一位居住在墨西哥城的英国超现实主义画家。这次展览有来自58个国家的200多位艺术家，从巴西到津巴布韦。大多数人以前从未在威尼斯出现过。

Alemani女士是一位艺术史老师的孙女，她从小就想成为一名考古学家。但在17岁时，她在一次挖掘工作中发现，那是 "少了印第安纳-琼斯，多了强迫劳动"。相反，她在米兰学习哲学和美学，并在那里的一家画廊工作。但她发现意大利的艺术世界是封闭的、等级森严的，2003年她搬到了纽约，在巴德学院完成了策展研究学位。

Alemani女士很快引起了博物馆馆长的注意。2008年，她还在30岁出头，就被邀请在曼哈顿切尔西社区的前迪亚中心管理一个展览空间。后来她又为弗里兹艺术博览会工作。自2011年以来，她在纽约的高线组织展览，展出的艺术家包括El Anatsui, Faith Ringgold和Ed Ruscha。Alemani女士喜欢作为一个独立的策展人工作，而不是驾驭一个机构。她告诉采访者，这提供了一种 "自由的感觉......加上严格的自律和良好的独立性"。

她的双年展探讨了人类、技术和自然之间的关系，并突出了女性艺术家，她们占了展出作品的80%-90%。阿莱马尼女士在2020年1月赢得了威尼斯的工作，就在covid-19袭击之前。大流行病使双年展推迟了一年。不过，这并没有限制她，而是提供了新的问题来审视。Alemani女士问道，我们对彼此和地球的责任是什么？没有我们的生活会是什么样子？她的展览充满了历史气息，甚至在全世界范围内寻找艺术家对人类未来的思考。


本周测验的获胜者

感谢所有参加本周测验的人。从各大洲随机选出的获奖者是。

亚洲。Lena Bodewein，新加坡

北美洲。塔尼娅-洛佩斯，墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州

中美洲和南美洲。马丁-惠特尔，巴西，圣保罗

欧洲。Arvid Skaugen, 德国汉堡

非洲。Ailsa Green，赞比亚乔马

大洋洲: Virstine Yazdanparast, 澳大利亚Lane Cove

他们都给出了正确的答案：麦芽糖、尼尔-帕特里克-哈里斯、朗姆酒、"香草天空 "和刘易斯-汉密尔顿。主题是希伯来群岛。穆尔、哈里斯、朗姆酒、斯凯岛和刘易斯。

墨西哥总统背水一战

照片。GETTY IMAGES
将墨西哥电力部门的控制权交还给一家国有公司，本应是总统安德烈斯-曼努埃尔-洛佩斯-奥布拉多的遗产的一部分。但在4月17日，他没能获得修改宪法和优先考虑国有电力所需的立法机构超级多数。尽管他可能仍然会得到一些零星的能源改革，但这次失败是一个很大的打击。

这一挫折也使洛佩斯-奥布拉多先生希望在其六年任期的最后两年进行的另外两项宪法修正案受到质疑，这两项修正案都需要获得超级多数票。其中一项是将国民警卫队（他创建的一支军事化警察部队）置于国防部的控制之下。足够多的反对派立法者可能会因此而被说服。但洛佩斯-奥布拉多先生希望改变墨西哥的选举制度，以及主持选举的机构，现在看来不太可能通过。与墨西哥的能源行业一样，洛佩斯-奥布拉多先生的议程现在面临着巨大的不确定性。

过去的事情就是序幕。

威廉-莎士比亚