2022.04.26Twitter的董事会接受了Elon Musk提出的收购

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Twitter’s board accepted an offer from Elon Musk to buy the social network and take it private for about $44bn. Mr Musk said he wants to “make Twitter better” and ensure free speech is protected on the platform. Jack Dorsey, the site’s founder and former CEO, endorsed the purchase. In a series of tweets, he described Twitter as the “closest thing we have to a global consciousness”, and said, “Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness”.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said on state television that he regards NATO as engaging in a “proxy war” by providing weapons to Ukraine—and that the danger of escalating into a nuclear exchange is “real, serious”. After a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, Antony Blinken, America’s secretary of state, said Russia is trying to brutalise Ukraine but that its war effort seems to be failing. In Germany Lloyd Austin, the American defence secretary, will host talks with more than 40 countries on providing more arms to Ukraine.

The secretary-general of the United Nations is due to meet Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, in Moscow on Tuesday. Antonio Guterres has been asked by the Ukrainian government to try and ensure a humanitarian corridor out of the besieged city of Mariupol, something that has failed thus far.

Explosions shook Transnistria, a Russian-controlled sliver of Moldova bordering Ukraine. Grenades reportedly hit the office of a security agency in the regional capital and a radio station, though there appeared to be no casualties. Ukrainian officials said the attack was a provocation by Russia to justify military action. The Kremlin has previously said ethnic Russians in the statelet are being oppressed—the same excuse it used to invade eastern Ukraine.

After over two years of one of the world’s most severe lockdowns, Singapore ended most of its covid-19 restrictions on Tuesday. With 85% of the population fully vaccinated, gathering bans have been dropped and facemasks are now only required indoors in public settings and on public transport. Testing requirements have also been scrapped for all inbound passengers, partly to reboot the city-state’s moribund economy and tourism industry.

China’s central bank said it would intensify its support of the economy, and especially small businesses, as covid-induced lockdowns threaten growth. The People’s Bank of China also promised more funds, via relending programmes, to the coal and aviation sectors. Municipal authorities in Beijing spooked investors with a campaign to test 22m residents, after 33 new cases were reported in the capital on Monday.

Kim Jong Un said that North Korea will accelerate its nuclear weapons programme, according to state media. On Monday night the dictator oversaw a huge parade of the country’s military might, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (which it is banned from using by the UN security council but has nevertheless been testing recently). Mr Kim promised to “develop our nation’s nuclear capabilities at the fastest pace.”

Fact of the day: 35m, the number of votes cast in the second round of France’s presidential election. Turnout was the lowest in more than 50 years—but still higher than in comparable countries. Read the full article.


Twitter accepts Elon Musk’s offer

PHOTO: AFP
The world’s richest man is buying what he has described as the “de facto public town square”. Elon Musk, the boss of the carmaker Tesla and the aerospace firm SpaceX, made an offer of $44bn for Twitter. The social network’s board accepted his bid on Monday, in what amounts to one of the most expensive buyouts in history.

Twitter’s business is insipid. Its share price has barely risen since the firm floated nine years ago. But Mr Musk contends that what interests him is the content. Having a platform that is “maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilisation,” he says. His idea of inclusion may mean reinstating banned tweeters including Donald Trump, who was suspended after America’s Capitol riot of January 2021. Twitter’s board, after some initial hesitation, liked the sound of his offer. The platform’s users, who lean young and Democratic, are #furious.

The re-elected French president mulls a new team

PHOTO: EPA
After his remarkable re-election on April 24th, Emmanuel Macron is planning a new government. The sitting centrist president won 58.5% of the final run-off vote, defeating his nationalist-populist rival, Marine Le Pen, who secured 41.5%. This is the first time since the Fifth Republic was established in 1958 that the French have directly re-elected an incumbent president who commanded a majority in parliament.

At just 72%, however, turnout was lower than when Mr Macron was elected in 2017. Speaking on election night, he promised to take this into account, and govern with more consultation. Soon his prime minister, Jean Castex, will present his resignation and Mr Macron will appoint a new one to take the country into legislative elections on June 12th and 19th. The full shape of the government will depend on whether the president’s party, and its friends, can win another majority in parliament—a feat that looks possible, but is far from guaranteed.


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Is the party over for Boris Johnson?

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
The scandal over gatherings in British government offices during covid-19 lockdowns shows no signs of going away. Boris Johnson attended several of the parties—including one to mark his own birthday, for which the police fined him. He may yet get whacked with more.

A report into “Partygate” is being prepared by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant. Once the police have completed their investigations, the House of Commons’ Privileges Committee will determine whether the prime minister lied to Parliament when he denied knowledge of the parties. If he knowingly misled Parliament, he will be under pressure to resign.

Conservative MPs have so far stuck by Mr Johnson. But they could force him out with a vote of confidence. The Times reported on April 25th that the Gray report is “so damning” he may have no other choice but to resign. A test at the ballot box looms, in local elections on May 5th. If they are bloody for the Tories, they may be for Mr Johnson too.

Evading the censors in Shanghai

PHOTO: OPENSEA
China’s draconian restrictions in response to covid-19 outbreaks are not lockdowns so much as house-arrests on an enormous scale. With more than 10m people in Shanghai locked in their homes, and signs that Beijingers might soon be subjected to the same, people have turned to the internet to vent. But this being China, complaints are quickly censored.

One tool that netizens have deployed to document their experiences is the blockchain. Because the technology uses decentralised servers, there is no one company that can be leaned on to delete content. And activity is anonymous. “Shanghai Covid Memories” is a digital archive of disturbing moments. In one video a mother pleads with health workers to be allowed to take her sick two-year-old to hospital. The files are all saved (and available for sale) as non-fungible tokens on OpenSea, an NFT marketplace. So far none has been purchased. But the gallery is there for anyone to browse.


A play that pokes fun at POTUS

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Sex scandals rock the White House. Spin doctors struggle to contain the fallout and preserve the reputation of the man in the Oval Office. The plot of “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” is all too familiar.

This farcical, feminist comedy, which opens on Wednesday at the Shubert Theatre in New York, tells the story of seven female political aides. The “Great Dumbass” is an amalgamation of famous men. But parallels with the 45th president cannot be ignored. Donald Trump has been accused of sexual harassment by several women and churned through three female press secretaries (and a male one) during his time in office.

Selina Fillinger, the playwright, says current affairs inspire her writing. Her Broadway debut is a hilarious and insightful exploration of the relationship between powerful men and the women around them, and the insidiousness of misogyny in politics.

Daily quiz

Our baristas will serve you a new question each day. On Friday your challenge is to give all five answers and tell us the connecting theme. Email your responses (and include mention of your home city and country) by 1700 BST on Friday to QuizEspresso@economist.com. We’ll pick randomly from those with the right answers and crown one winner per continent on Saturday.

Tuesday: What is the capital of the state of North Dakota?
Monday: What is the current name of the long American river marked as Peki-tan-oui or Oumessourit on early maps?

Life is architecture and architecture is the mirror of life.

I.M.Pei


Twitter的董事会接受了Elon Musk提出的收购社交网络并将其私有化的提议，价格约为440亿美元。马斯克先生说，他希望 "让Twitter变得更好"，并确保该平台上的言论自由得到保护。该网站的创始人和前首席执行官杰克-多尔西(Jack Dorsey)支持这项收购。在一系列推文中，他将Twitter描述为 "最接近全球意识的东西"，并说："埃隆是我信任的唯一的解决方案。我相信他扩大意识之光的使命"。

俄罗斯外交部长谢尔盖-拉夫罗夫在国家电视台说，他认为北约向乌克兰提供武器是在参与一场 "代理战争"--升级为核交换的危险是 "真实的、严重的"。美国国务卿安东尼-布林肯在与乌克兰总统沃洛迪米尔-泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelensky)会面后表示，俄罗斯正试图残害乌克兰，但其战争努力似乎正在失败。在德国，美国国防部长劳埃德-奥斯汀将主持与40多个国家关于向乌克兰提供更多武器的会谈。

联合国秘书长将于周二在莫斯科会见俄罗斯总统普京。乌克兰政府要求安东尼奥-古特雷斯努力确保为被围困的马里乌波尔市提供一条人道主义通道，而这一要求迄今未能实现。

爆炸声震动了外涅斯特里亚，这是俄罗斯控制的摩尔多瓦与乌克兰接壤的一片区域。据报道，手榴弹击中了该地区首府的一个安全机构的办公室和一个广播电台，但似乎没有人员伤亡。乌克兰官员说，这次袭击是俄罗斯的挑衅，目的是为军事行动辩护。克里姆林宫此前曾表示，该州的俄罗斯族人正受到压迫--这也是它入侵乌克兰东部的借口。

经过两年多的世界上最严重的封锁之一，新加坡于周二结束了大部分的covid-19限制。随着85%的人口完全接种疫苗，集会禁令已被取消，现在只要求在室内的公共场合和公共交通工具上戴口罩。对所有入境旅客的测试要求也被取消，部分原因是为了重新启动这个城市国家奄奄一息的经济和旅游业。

中国央行表示，它将加强对经济的支持，特别是对小企业的支持，因为病毒引起的封锁威胁着经济增长。中国人民银行还承诺通过再贷款计划向煤炭和航空业提供更多资金。在周一首都出现33个新病例后，北京市政当局开展了对2200万居民进行检测的活动，这让投资者感到恐慌。

据国家媒体报道，金正恩表示，朝鲜将加速其核武器计划。周一晚上，这位独裁者监督了该国军事力量的大规模游行，包括洲际弹道导弹（联合国安理会禁止朝鲜使用这种导弹，但最近一直在测试）。金先生承诺将 "以最快的速度发展我们国家的核能力"。

今天的事实。3500万，是法国总统选举第二轮投票的票数。投票率是50多年来最低的，但仍高于同类国家。阅读全文。


推特接受埃隆-马斯克的提议

照片。法新社
世界上最富有的人正在购买他所描述的 "事实上的公共城市广场"。汽车制造商特斯拉和航空航天公司SpaceX的老板埃隆-马斯克为Twitter提出了440亿美元的报价。该社交网络的董事会周一接受了他的出价，这相当于历史上最昂贵的收购之一。

推特的业务平淡无奇。自九年前该公司上市以来，其股价几乎没有上涨过。但马斯克先生认为，他感兴趣的是内容。他说，拥有一个 "最大程度的信任和广泛的包容性的平台，对文明的未来极为重要"。他的包容理念可能意味着恢复被禁的推特用户，包括唐纳德-特朗普，他在2021年1月美国国会大厦暴动后被停职。推特的董事会在最初的一些犹豫之后，喜欢他的提议。该平台的用户偏向年轻和民主党，他们#愤怒。

连任的法国总统正在考虑组建新的团队

照片。EPA
在4月24日引人注目的连任之后，埃马纽埃尔-马克龙正在计划一个新政府。这位现任中间派总统赢得了58.5%的最后第二轮投票，击败了他的民族主义-民粹主义对手玛丽娜-勒庞，后者获得了41.5%的选票。这是自1958年第五共和国成立以来，法国人第一次直接重新选举在议会中占多数的现任总统。

然而，投票率仅为72%，低于马克龙先生在2017年当选时的投票率。他在选举当晚发表讲话，承诺将考虑到这一点，并在治理时进行更多协商。很快，他的总理Jean Castex将提出辞呈，马克龙先生将任命一位新总理，带领国家在6月12日和19日举行立法选举。政府的全部形式将取决于总统的政党及其朋友是否能在议会中赢得另一个多数席位--这一壮举看起来有可能，但远不能保证。


在您的收件箱中获取简报
每周六次在早餐前送达。

报名
鲍里斯-约翰逊的聚会结束了吗？

照片。GETTY IMAGES
英国政府办公室在19日封锁期间举行聚会的丑闻没有消失的迹象。鲍里斯-约翰逊参加了其中的几个聚会--包括一个纪念他自己生日的聚会，为此警方对他进行了罚款。他可能还会被处以更多罚款。

高级公务员苏-格雷(Sue Gray)正在准备一份关于 "派对门 "的报告。一旦警方完成调查，下议院特权委员会将确定首相在否认知道这些聚会时是否向议会撒谎。如果他故意误导议会，他将面临辞职的压力。

到目前为止，保守党议员们一直支持约翰逊先生。但他们可以通过信任投票迫使他辞职。泰晤士报》4月25日报道，格雷的报告 "非常有害"，他可能别无选择，只能辞职。在5月5日的地方选举中，投票箱的考验迫在眉睫。如果保守党的选举是血腥的，那么约翰逊先生的选举也可能是血腥的。

在上海躲避审查员

照片。欧普斯亚
中国为应对十九大爆发而采取的严厉限制措施，与其说是封锁，不如说是大规模的软禁。上海有1000多万人被锁在家里，而且有迹象表明北京人可能很快也会被锁在家里，人们转而在互联网上发泄。但是在中国，投诉很快就会被审查。

网民们用来记录他们经历的一个工具是区块链。因为该技术使用分散的服务器，所以没有一家公司可以靠着它来删除内容。而且活动是匿名的。"Shanghai Covid Memories "是一个令人不安时刻的数字档案。在一个视频中，一位母亲恳求卫生工作者允许她将生病的两岁孩子送往医院。这些文件都被保存在NFT市场的OpenSea上，作为不可伪造的代币（可供出售）。到目前为止，还没有人购买。但画廊在那里，任何人都可以浏览。


嘲弄美国总统的戏剧

照片。GETTY IMAGES
性丑闻震撼了白宫。自旋医生们努力控制事态的发展，维护椭圆形办公室中人的声誉。美国总统》的情节是："美国总统。或者说，每个伟大的傻瓜背后都有七个女人试图让他活下来 "的情节太熟悉了。

这部闹剧式的女权主义喜剧周三在纽约舒伯特剧院开演，讲述了七个女政治助理的故事。大笨蛋 "是一个著名男人的混合体。但与第45任总统的相似之处不能被忽视。唐纳德-特朗普被几位女性指控性骚扰，并在其任职期间搅动了三位女新闻秘书（和一位男秘书）。

剧作家Selina Fillinger说，时事激发了她的写作。她的百老汇处女作是对有权势的男人和他们周围的女人之间的关系，以及政治中的厌女症的阴险的探索，非常搞笑和有见地。

每日小测验

我们的咖啡师每天都会为您提供一个新问题。在周五，你的挑战是给出所有五个答案，并告诉我们连接的主题。在北京时间周五17点前，将你的回答（包括提及你的家乡和国家）发到邮箱：QuizEspresso@economist.com。我们将从正确的答案中随机挑选，并在周六为每个大洲选出一名获胜者。

星期二。北达科他州的首府是哪里？
周一。在早期地图上标为Peki-tan-oui或Oumessourit的美国长河现在的名字是什么？

生活就是建筑，建筑就是生活的镜子。

贝聿铭