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It will not work,” said Martin Garcia, chairman of the DeSantis-picked Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors. Wednesday’s moves are the latest escalation in the fight between DeSantis and Disney as DeSantis moves toward a 2024 presidential bid. Disney responded by suing DeSantis, the board and Florida Department of Economic Opportunity acting secretary Meredith Ivey, seeking to block the board’s moves. But the special district also freed Disney from bureaucratic red tape and made it cheaper to borrow to finance infrastructure projects around its theme parks, among other significant advantages. DeSantis then targeted Disney’s special governing powers.

☆ Royal castles to luxury getaways: How to spend King Charles III's coronation weekend
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | Rob Goss | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The king has pledged a more scaled-back affair than that celebrated by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953. Here's CNBC Travel's top picks for how to spend the coronation weekend. Watch the ceremonial processionThe coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey on May 6 in a service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Buckingham Palace, London residence of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, is open for tours outside of the coronation weekend. Picnic in the Royal ParksLondon's Royal Parks offer a more low-key way to absorb the royal atmosphere over the coronation weekend.

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Charlie Bell speaks, Amazon RTO, and the lucrative side of teaching ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon needs to watch out for Charlie Bell. A founder of Amazon Web Services and the firm's "best person in the room," Bell shook the industry last September when he joined Microsoft. Bell will be overseeing a new cybersecurity division at Microsoft — but insiders at both Amazon and Microsoft wonder if he'll go more directly up against his former employer. My colleague Ashley Stewart examines the growing threat of Microsoft now that Bell is free from his noncompete purgatory. Look into the future here for Bell — and Microsoft — without Amazon's restrictions.

☆ DeSantis could win Republican votes with Disney clash -Reuters/Ipsos poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Independents were evenly divided in the Reuters/Ipsos poll. Polling shows DeSantis trailing former President Donald Trump among Republican voters. DeSantis has argued that his actions against Disney were rightfully rolling back special treatment for the company. Some 64% of Republicans in the Reuters/Ipsos poll agreed, with 37% of them siding with the vast majority of Democrats, who said DeSantis was punishing Disney for exercising free speech. The new Reuters/Ipsos poll gathered responses from 1,005 adults across the United States, including 450 self-described Democrats and 366 Republicans.

April 26 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) sued Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, asking a court to overturn state efforts to control the Walt Disney World theme parks and intensifying a battle between a global entertainment giant and a potential White House contender. A DeSantis spokesman called Disney's action "an unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of Florida voters." Disney also argues it was denied its First Amendment rights to free speech. State Republicans last year targeted Disney after it publicly clashed with DeSantis. But before the takeover by DeSantis' appointees, Disney pushed through changes to the special tax district agreement that limit the board's action for decades.

Disney alleges that DeSantis tried to "weaponize government power" over the company. It alleges that DeSantis' continued action against Disney "threatens Disney's business operations." Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, alleging that he tried to "weaponize government power" over the company. As retaliation to the Disney executives' pledges, DeSantis took aim at a decades-long provision that gives Disney special self-governing privileges in Florida. Unlike rival parks Universal Studios and Sea World, Disney doesn't have to run their plans by zoning commissions or building-inspection departments.

☆ Nikki Haley invited Disney World to move to South Carolina and took a shot at DeSantis, but the theme park is stuck in Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Disney World sued DeSantis to keep control of its self-governing status in Florida. Nikki Haley said the theme park should move to South Carolina instead. The dig didn't escape Never Back Down, the super PAC that's supporting a DeSantis presidential run. Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort in April 2022. AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC ImagesDisney can't moveDespite Haley's overtures, Disney World is stuck in Florida, Richard Foglesong, the author of the book "Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando," told Insider.

☆ Gen Zers are taking over college cities — after they graduate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Gen Z is moving in droves to college towns after they get their degree. Alex Akmal and her partner, Alex, along Memorial Union Terrace on Lake Mendota. Gen Z bonds have been cemented even more because many young people are delaying marriage and having children, the center found. After her studies, she said she might move to Washington, D.C., an even larger Gen Z hangout with those offerings and more. For whatever reason they are coming to these cities, these Gen Zers are here to stay.

☆ Despite tough talk, Ron DeSantis can’t shake Disney’s grip on Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Although Disney has thwarted the state’s most aggressive efforts against it, Ron DeSantis has repeatedly promised he will win out in the end. In the governor’s effort to wrest control of Disney’s Orlando-area theme parks, he found that Disney’s corporate lawyers have routinely outmaneuvered him. “The question is, how much are you willing to hurt everybody else?”Legally, he says, DeSantis can’t single out Disney explicitly because retaliation against a single company is unconstitutional. To be sure, Disney’s parks division is a huge part of its business. In other words: Florida needs Disney more than Disney needs Florida.

☆ I had a 4-day workweek at Kickstarter. I saw huge improvements in my productivity and social life — and there was only one downside.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Elle Hardy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Former marketing manager Brooke McDaniel said the four-day schedule increased her productivity. She has since started a new job with a five-day schedule but says the schedule was one of her cons. The company transitioned to a four-day workweek while I was on the road. Remote work was the most important factor for a trip like mine, but knowing the four-day workweek was coming gave me additional motivation. All in all, it made me more aware of how I spend my timeThe work-life balance that a four-day workweek offered me was incredible.

☆ DeSantis Allies Vote to Nullify Disney’s Control of Florida Resort
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Brooks Barnes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ron DeSantis of Florida to oversee government services at Disney World voted on Wednesday to nullify two agreements that gave The Walt Disney Company vast control over expansion at the 25,000-acre resort complex. Mr. Langley and another board lawyer said Disney violated Florida law in multiple ways, including by failing to fully notify the public of the actions it took. The nullification — the latest in a string of actions against Disney by Mr. DeSantis and his allies — is likely to result in legal fireworks. Disney, the state’s largest taxpayer, has signaled a willingness to fight any attempt to revoke the agreements, which it contends were done in compliance with Florida law. One of the agreements gives Disney the ability to build 14,000 additional hotel rooms, a fifth theme park and three smaller parks.

Mr. Boerman said he had tried hard to leave obvious hints that he was an impersonator. He made up an organization with a ludicrous name: the New York City Porcine Benevolent Association. “Pretty much everybody got that it was a joke immediately, which was my hope — I wasn’t trying to mislead anyone,” Mr. Boerman said. “The problem comes when you have accounts that maybe have hundreds of thousands of followers and are positioning themselves as the real thing,” Mr. Boerman said. “Twitter’s approach of ‘Well, if people pay for verification, certainly they must be legit’ is so inane I don’t even know how to put words to it.”

☆ Explainer: How did the battle between Ron DeSantis and Disney escalate?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) sued Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, asking a federal court to overturn state efforts to exert greater control over the Walt Disney World theme parks. DeSantis responded by urging the legislature to abolish a special district that gave Disney virtual autonomy over the development of its theme parks in central Florida. The Florida State legislature created the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967 to promote the development of Walt Disney World on a 38.5-square miles of land. HOW DO VOTERS FEEL ABOUT THE DESANTIS VS. DISNEY BATTLE? Forty-four percent of Republican respondents in an April Reuters/Ipsos poll said they had a more favorable view of DeSantis because of the fight with Disney.

☆ Disney sues Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, alleges political effort to hurt its business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Walt Disney Co. sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, alleging the Republican governor has waged a "relentless campaign to weaponize government power" against the company amid a protracted fight over a controversial classroom bill. The federal lawsuit alleges that DeSantis "orchestrated at every step" a campaign to punish Disney that now threatens the company's business. Soon after, the governor and his allies targeted the special tax district that has allowed Disney to essentially self-govern its Florida operations since the 1960s. "The government action was patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional," Disney alleged in the civil complaint in U.S. District Court in northern Florida.

☆ Opinion | The Phone Call Between Belafonte and King That Changed Both Men’s Lives
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jonathan Eig | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the call between the two men changed the course of both their lives. Now Mr. Belafonte was cast into a new role, too, one that caused him to suppress his career ambitions as he joined Dr. King in pursuit of loftier goals. Even in that first phone call, Mr. Belafonte said, he was struck by Dr. King’s attentiveness. “In the very beginning, Dr. King was not quite as vocal as he became,” Mr. Belafonte said. He was in a turf with which he was not deeply familiar.” Though many people received Dr. King warmly, Mr. Belafonte said, “he just did not know where he fit.

☆ Opinion | Hong Kong’s Memory Is Being Erased
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Louisa Lim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In Hong Kong the silence has set in much more quickly. I worked in Hong Kong’s once-cacophonous newsrooms and covered its boisterous protest rallies. Now most Hong Kong journalists I know have fallen silent. After a draconian national security law was imposed on Hong Kong in 2020, at least 12 news outlets closed down, including the popular, pro-democracy Apple Daily. History is identity, and to challenge this foundational tenet of Hong Kongers’ experience is to assault their identity.

CNN —Disgraced R&B singer and convicted sex trafficker R. Kelly has been transferred to a federal prison in North Carolina. R. Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was moved to FCI Butner Medium I, a “medium security federal correctional institution,” according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. The Butner complex sits north of the Raleigh-Durham area and includes two medium security facilities, a low-security facility and a medical facility. He was already serving a 30-year sentence on racketeering and sex trafficking charges after being convicted in New York in September 2021. “Numerous seated jurors were either familiar with accusations that Defendant had a history of sexually abusing underage girls, had previously faced legal problems, and/or had seen the highly unflattering docuseries, Surviving R. Kelly, in which several government witnesses had appeared,” a brief filed last Wednesday said.

CNN —Harry Belafonte, the dashing singer, actor and activist who became an indispensable supporter of the civil rights movement, has died, his publicist Ken Sunshine told CNN. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Belafonte, left, plays a school principal in a scene from the film "See How They Run" in 1952. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Belafonte poses with the Emmy Award he won in 1960 for the musical special "Tonight With Belafonte." Fred Sabine/NBCU/Getty Images Belafonte and other recipients of Albert Einstein Commemorative Awards display their medallions after being honored in 1972. He is survived by his wife Pamela, his children Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, Shari Belafonte, Gina Belafonte, David Belafonte, two stepchildren Sarah Frank and Lindsey Frank and eight grandchildren.

Tokyo, Japan CNN —Move over, boomers and older millennials – Japan’s young people are stepping into office. Most members of Japan’s parliament are aged 50 to 70 – and are 75% male, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Making headlines is Ryosuke Takashima who, at 26 years old, is Japan’s youngest-ever mayor, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Shin the Hiratsuka YouTuber, who was elected to the Hiratsuka city council. Ayaka Nasuno, 25, is another Gen Z politician making her debut after winning the highest share of votes for the Kawasaki City Council earlier this month.

☆ Disney to Cut Employees From ESPN, Parks in Second Round of Layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Alyssa Lukpat | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Walt Disney said it plans to reach its target of cutting 7,000 employees after a third round of layoffs before the summer. Photo: OCTAVIO JONES/REUTERSWalt Disney Co. said Monday it is beginning its second round of layoffs as part of its previously unveiled plan to cut 7,000 jobs, with employees this round being let go from divisions including ESPN. The company said several thousand U.S. employees would be cut this week from multiple business areas, including its entertainment arm and its parks, experiences and product division.

☆ Inside Qatar’s ‘city of the future’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Like others, it has moved from the capital Doha to this, Qatar’s newest city – 10 miles north. Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesLusail claims to be Qatar’s first sustainable city – no easy task for a newbuild in the desert. There’s an extensive choice from food trucks at the Lusail Marina Food Arena, abundant cafes, and fine dining restaurants.”A sprawling city of the futureThe Marina area is fast proving a hit for residents. Al Tara – the district, by Al Maha Island, where Warner lives – is home to the Lusail Marina. There is a rumor – as yet unsubstantiated – that Lusail might eventually become Qatar’s capital city.

☆ Disney employee accused of taking videos up park guests’ dresses and skirts for years is fired and arrested
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Raja Razek | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Then-employee Jorge Diaz Vega, 26, allegedly told authorities in an interview that he had “been taking videos up the dresses/skirts of unknown females in the Disney World theme parks for approximately six years,” according to the affidavit. Diaz Vega, who worked at the lightsaber store, told authorities he had what he estimated to be over 500 such videos on his phone and showed “multiple examples of the videos” to detectives, according to the affidavit. “The videos were of multiple females who all appeared to not know they were being video recorded,” the affidavit states. She “was not aware at the time the incident took place, and she was not told of the identity of the male,” authorities say in the affidavit. CNN has attempted to reach Diaz Vega directly for comment.

☆ Russia-Ukraine War Russian Foreign Minister Wraps up Americas Tour at U.N.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Anushka Patil | Juston Jones | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Video For Valentyn, a Ukrainian soldier in the Donetsk region, the war’s death toll is more than a statistic. He is tasked with moving wounded troops — and dead bodies — away from the front lines, often under Russian fire. On the horizon, a military vehicle moves along a dusty road and screeches to a halt when it reaches the trees. A soldier named Valentyn parks it there for natural camouflage from Russian drones scouting for Ukrainian military positions. “This is a big tragedy for us.”“One more body is left behind with the Russian soldiers,” he added.

☆ Disney begins largest wave of layoffs, targeting thousands at ESPN, Parks, and other divisions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jon Passantino | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The company had suspended its dividend payments during the pandemic, but Iger announced in February that he expects them to return. The cuts this week are expected to take place Monday through Thursday, affecting employees from coast to coast, Disney said. The layoffs, however, are not expected to affect hourly frontline employees at Disney’s theme parks and resorts. A third and final wave of layoffs to reach the 7,000 total is expected before the beginning of summer, the company said. Disney had about 220,000 workers as of October 1, of which approximately 166,000 were employed in the United States.

☆ Disney begins the second round of 7,000 planned job cuts — targeting ESPN, theme parks, entertainment, and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Nathan Mcalone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Disney is starting the second round of its planned cuts on Monday, with divisions like ESPN getting hit, the company confirmed to Insider. Disney told The Wall Street Journal that several thousand employees would lose their jobs this week at divisions across the company, spanning from entertainment to theme parks. Disney does not expect hourly frontline operations roles at its parks and resorts to be impacted, the company told Insider. "When [Iger] was last at the helm, money was practically free," Mike Bloxham, EVP global media and entertainment at consultants Magid, previously told Insider. The company also created a new finance team pulling together staff from Disney Entertainment and ESPN, Insider reported Friday.

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