Your Tuesday Briefing: Elon Musk Buys Twitter

Good morning. Elon Musk buys Twitter, Beijing vibrates with fears of a lockdown, the U.S. reasserts itself in Ukraine.

Elon Musk buys Twitter

Elon Musk, the renegade billionaire, struck a deal to purchase the social media firm for roughly $44 billion after submitting an unsolicited bid earlier this month. The corporate agreed to $54.20 a share, a 38 % premium over the inventory worth when it was revealed that Musk had develop into the corporate’s greatest shareholder.

It might be the most important deal to take an organization non-public — one thing Musk has mentioned he’ll do with Twitter — in at the very least 20 years. Follow live updates here.

What occurs subsequent is anybody’s guess: Musk is an erratic poster who typically makes use of his account to take potshots at perceived enemies. One massive query: Would Musk reinstate Donald Trump’s account?

Musk has not commented publicly on the Trump ban, however he has continuously expressed his concern that the platform limits free speech and over-moderates feedback. In a statement, Musk mentioned “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital city sq..”

Response: Twitter’s employees say they’ve been largely at the hours of darkness in regards to the takeover. Twitter’s share worth rose throughout the day on Monday as a deal appeared more and more doubtless: After the acquisition was introduced, it closed up 5.7 % at $51.70 per share.

Will Beijing lock down subsequent?

Chinese language authorities ordered mass testing amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak. Town authorities introduced that 70 instances had been discovered since Friday, almost two-thirds of these within the district of Chaoyang, which ordered all 3.5 million residents to take three P.C.R. checks over the following 5 days.

Fears of a lockdown prompted a rush of panic shopping for, and supermarkets stayed open late to satisfy demand. In different Chinese language megacities, mass testing in response to preliminary coronavirus instances has generally preceded extra stringent lockdowns.

The hardships endured by Shanghai residents loom giant over the capital metropolis, and China’s financial system is already hurting as extended lockdowns interrupt global supply chains. In response to those fears, global stocks fell on Monday.

Background: The central authorities has leaned closely on lockdowns regardless of their excessive social and economic costs, in pursuit of the Communist Occasion chief Xi Jinping’s “zero Covid” technique.

Evaluation: With pandemic lockdowns, China’s authorities has begun meddling with free enterprise in a method it hasn’t in years, our columnist writes.

The U.S. appears to weaken Russia

President Biden nominated Bridget Brink, the present U.S. ambassador to Slovakia, as ambassador to Ukraine on Monday. The U.S. additionally introduced it could reopen its embassy in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, after Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin, the protection secretary, made a risky, secret visit by prepare to town.

“We wish to see Russia weakened to the diploma it can’t do the form of issues that it has performed in invading Ukraine,” Austin mentioned.

The assertion by the highest U.S. protection officers that America needs to degrade the Russian warfare machine mirrored an more and more emboldened method from the Biden administration.

In Ukraine, the warfare continues to rage, and tens of 1000’s are without power within the nation’s east. Russia renewed its assaults on Ukraine’s infrastructure, striking at least five railroad stations in the west with missiles. The nation’s railroad director mentioned there have been casualties, with out elaborating.

Loss: A mom discovered a “new stage of happiness” when her daughter was born three months in the past. A missile strike in Odesa killed them each.

Profile: President Volodymyr Zelensky has managed to unite Ukraine’s fractious politics towards Russia.

State of the warfare:

• Explosions hit Transnistria, a Russian-allied area of Moldova, amid fears of a new front in the war.

• Russian officers are investigating the reason for fires that tore through oil depots in a strategic metropolis close to the Ukrainian border.

THE LATEST NEWS

The French Election

Tattoos have lengthy been taboo in Japan. Since 2014, although, the variety of Japanese adults with tattoos has almost doubled, as social media and superstar tradition immediate extra younger folks to hunt out elaborate ink. One catch: They’re choosing discreet places, to allow them to conceal their physique artwork at work.

ARTS AND IDEAS

An African artwork assortment beneath risk

The Johannesburg Artwork Gallery, which homes one of many largest art collections in Africa, has fallen into disrepair. The pandemic solely worsened the neglect.

Now, the Picasso, Rembrandt and Monets are all packed away in a basement, hidden from the damp. After a very moist summer time, the gallery’s leaking roof turned a hazard to the artwork. Its bustling however uncared for neighborhood creates different vulnerabilities: Thieves way back stole its copper finishings.

“In the identical method it’s a failure of the Metropolis of Jo’burg to take care of the gallery, it’s additionally a failure of town of Jo’burg to take care of the realm across the gallery,” Brian McKechnie, an architect who focuses on heritage buildings, mentioned.

Its destiny is unsure: In a latest assertion, town mentioned that it was clear “stopping the leaks alone wouldn’t be enough to handle the long run prospects of the establishment.” The gathering might transfer, however officers are usually not certain what to do in regards to the historic constructing.

Within the rooms which can be nonetheless open, curators have assembled exhibitions of Wycliffe Mundopa, who paints giant canvasses celebrating the ladies of Zimbabwe, and the African masters — vibrant reminders of what the Johannesburg Artwork Gallery might nonetheless be. —Lynsey Chutel

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook dinner

Feta and olive add brine to this satisfying Greek salad with rooster and cucumbers.

What to Watch

The documentary “Navalny” is a glowing profile of the imprisoned Russian opposition chief.