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“I hope the Republican Party can muster the courage to oppose late-term abortion like we have done in the past. But after the midterms produced a slimmer-than-expected majority, there now appears to be little appetite inside the House GOP for such a bill. Troy Nehls, a Republican from Texas, told CNN: “it’s up to the states,” when asked about a national ban. The National Right to Life Committee said it is in regular communication with House Republican leadership about possible legislative efforts and educational needs on the issue. “What we’re working on right now is primarily reacquainting members with the abortion issue after the Dobbs decision.

☆ Lion spotted in Chad's Sena Oura National Park for first time in 20 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —After a two-decade absence, at least one lion has returned to Chad’s Sena Oura National Park. Lions haven’t been spotted in the park for almost 20 years, says the news release. Lions are considered extinct in Sena Oura, located near Chad’s border with Cameroon, by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. “This has produced better protection of the national parks and wildlife populations are now starting to recover,” it added. Their populations are especially “small and fragmented” in west and central Africa, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

☆ Touching the sky: A rare solar eclipse and a new hotel in the clouds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Courtesy Amelia Earhart Hangar MuseumAmelia Earhart wasn’t just the first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic. Camelot Theme Park (England): Set in the leafy Lancashire countryside, the Magic Kingdom of Camelot resurrected tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Scott Audette/AP Pripyat Amusement Park (Ukraine): This theme park was orphaned in 1986 following the Chernobyl meltdown just five kilometers (three miles) away. Considered the first theme park in Southeast Asia, it featured an artificial lake, huge swimming pool with giant water slides and a Prehistoric Animal Kingdom. Anne Jones/Alamy Stock Photo 10 fascinating theme parks that have closed forever Prev NextThat’s the question posed by these no-longer-in-operation theme parks around the world.

☆ Leaked memo reveals Disney's new finance structure as more layoffs loom, with a reported 15% of entertainment staffers to be cut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Disney's chief financial officer, Christine McCarthy, named a new finance team pulling together staff from both Disney Entertainment and ESPN. McCarthy shared the details with staff this week, naming Bryan Castellani as the new chief financial officer of Disney Entertainment and ESPN. Under Castellani, Lukas Wickart will continue to oversee finance for direct-to-consumer streaming business Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Star. Karen Sack will oversee finance for our entertainment television businesses, including TV studios and ABC News finance, marketing, and networks planning. Jeff Grenn will oversee segment consolidation for Disney Entertainment, and finance in support of Aaron LaBerge's technology organization across Disney Entertainment and ESPN.

☆ What it’s like to be a theme park designer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Kate Springer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“Back then, it definitely wasn’t cool to be into theme parks, but I was obsessed,” Jeffs, 39, tells CNN. Jeffs points to the immersive “Pacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike” ride at Trans Studio Cibubur, part of Indonesia’s largest theme park chain, as an example. “When I was growing up, theme park design was often dismissed as a rinky-dink, second-class artistic discipline simply because it was rarely well done. “That first summer, we drove 10,000 miles and hit up virtually any theme park that had managed to re-open,” he says. Courtesy Taylor JeffsAnd though he’s ridden over 600 roller coasters and explored theme parks worldwide, Disneyland in California remains his all-time favorite park.

☆ Opinion | Let’s Protect Children at Least as Well as We Protect Ducks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Dan Ashe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

President Biden could borrow from the nation’s success in protecting ducks. The executive branch has plenty of discretionary authority to regulate federal lands, including the ability to restrict firearms possession in many areas (a power it now uses to restrict guns in courthouses, post offices and many national parks and on other federal lands). It can and should prohibit shooting assault weapons or any firearms capable of shooting more than five or 10 rounds, without reloading, on federal land, or at any public shooting range that receives federal funding or is under federal license. The challenge for the president will be to overcome a gun culture that permeates federal land-managing agencies and their state counterparts. He can also ask the major hunting, fishing and conservation organizations, like the Boone and Crockett Club, Ducks Unlimited and the National Wildlife Federation, to urge state wildlife agencies to ban assault weapons for any hunting.

☆ Google's 80-acre San Jose mega-campus is on hold as company reckons with economic slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The city of San Jose may now be paying the price. CNBC has learned that, as part of Google's downsizing that went into effect early this year, the company has gutted its development team for the San Jose campus. By then, the company had already completed much of its multi-year land grab of downtown San Jose for the future campus. Google spent several years planning for the San Jose complex and invested significant resources in winning over the local community. "We all originally knew that it's going to be a long-term plan," San Jose councilmember Omar Torres, who represents the downtown area, told San Jose Spotlight in February.

☆ Disney and DeSantis have been in a yearlong feud that began after the company spoke out against a controversial bill. Here's a timeline of the events.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Lloyd Lee | Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

After a yearlong feud, Disney sued DeSantis on Wednesday, alleging that the Florida governor tried to "weaponize government power" over the company. The state Board of Education voted on Wednesday to expand that law to cover grades four to 12. Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, our state has seen record growth in jobs, GDP, and net domestic in-migration. It was the first time the board met since the revelation of the agreement between the prior district board members and Disney. On April 19, the state board approved a ban on classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for all grades, including grades four through 12.

☆ Meta and Disney begin cutting jobs. Here's a rundown of all Club names planning major layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

The list includes Meta Platforms (META) and Walt Disney (DIS). META YTD mountain Meta's stock performance year to date. The March layoff plan was in addition to the 11,000 job cuts disclosed in November. As part of this effort, Disney announced in February it was planning roughly 7,000 total job cuts in a series of three rounds. Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy announced 18,000 job cuts in early January impacting retail and recruiting operations .

☆ California superbloom: Hillsides are exploding with wildflowers. Here's what it looks like from space
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Stephanie Elam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesVisitors walk through a field of wildflowers at the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve in Lancaster, California on April 14. Hillsides are covered in colorful wildflowers, seen here in a satellite image in Palmdale, California, on April 10. Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesWildflowers bloom at the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve in Lancaster, California, on April 14. Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesWhile California hasn’t closed state parks because of the superbloom, at least one town is demanding that tourists stay away. The Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve in Lancaster, California, on March 30.

☆ Morgan Stanley says regional theme parks may be a great investment and have 2 favorite picks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Morgan Stanley is bullish on regional theme parks and believes two names in particular are poised to outperform: Cedar Fair and SeaWorld. Lastly, regional theme park earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization multiples are down 15% to 20% compared to pre-Covid levels. In particular, Cedar Fair has well-invested properties and a strong recurring visitor base, which speaks to its underlying pricing power, Yeh wrote. While there are concerns about a potential recession, he believes the regional theme parks can weather a downturn. Cedar Fair is up just over 2% year to date, while SeaWorld is little changed.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Amazon, GE, Home Depot, Elanco, SeaWorld & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Goldman Sachs reiterates Tesla as buy Goldman says Tesla's earnings report on Wednesday was a "negative" but that it's standing by the stock. Bank of America reiterates Amazon as buy Bank of America says it's standing by Amazon heading into earnings next week. Bank of America upgrades WestRock to buy from neutral Bank of America said in its upgrade of the packaging solutions company that it sees "transformation benefits." Bank of America downgrades NetApp to underperform from neutral Bank of America said in its downgrade of the hybrid cloud data services company that it sees weaker demand. Morgan Stanley initiates SeaWorld as overweight Morgan Stanley said in its initiation of SeaWorld that it sees an attractive risk/reward.

☆ 10 fascinating theme parks that have closed forever
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Joe Yogerst | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

In April, we’re taking a thrilling ride into the world of theme parks. “We think of amusement parks as vibrant, colorful, noisy, cheerful places,” says Jim Futrell of the National Amusement Park Historical Association. Pripyat Amusement Park (Ukraine)The Pripyat Amusement Park was built right before the Chernobyl disaster. Yongma Land (South Korea)Once in a blue moon, abandoned theme parks find new life by adopting totally new functions. Faced with increased competition from Orlando’s modern theme parks, Cypress Gardens closed in 2009 and was eventually absorbed into LEGOLAND Florida.

☆ DeSantis-Allied Board Plans to Nullify Disney’s Prior Development Deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Arian Campo-Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Associated PressAn oversight board appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis advanced plans to nullify agreements Walt Disney Co. made under prior leadership, which allowed it to retain significant control over the land near Orlando where its theme parks are located. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors, who met Wednesday, criticized the agreements cemented by Disney in February, shortly before the new board took over. The agreements included a 30-year land-development contract locking in zoning, infrastructure and air-rights approvals that the company might need if it seeks to expand its Walt Disney World Resort.

☆ Ron DeSantis allies on Disney oversight board threaten company with taxes, rate hikes and affordable housing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Steve Contorno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“It really is shameful what Disney tried to do,” board chairman Martin Garcia said. However, Disney in February reached agreements with the outgoing board that seemed to render the body powerless to control the entertainment giant. Garcia said that the agreements went unmentioned by a representative for Disney when the two sides met soon after DeSantis appointed the new board. “Our board truly wished to work with Disney,” Garcia said. The board plans to vote at its April 26 meeting to void the previous agreements reached with Disney.

☆ DeSantis and allies ramp up Disney fight as more Republicans criticize his tactics
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

DeSantis ripped Disney repeatedly this week over its recent maneuvers to thwart the governor's efforts to seize some control of the company's Orlando parks and properties. Meanwhile, his handpicked board of supervisors overseeing Disney World's special tax district increased the pressure on Disney. The board took that step two days after DeSantis floated a range of possible actions against Disney World, including developing land nearby. That legislation, dubbed "Don't Say Gay" by critics, "should never have been signed" by DeSantis, Disney said in a March 2022 statement. The state's Republican governor and GOP-held legislature targeted the special tax district that has allowed Disney to essentially govern itself for decades.

☆ Russian spy ships suspected of gathering intelligence in Nordic waters, investigation finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Li-Lian Ahlskog Hou Allegra Goodwin Anna Chernova Vasco Cotovio | Li-Lian Ahlskog Hou | Allegra Goodwin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Russia has a fleet of suspected spy ships operating in Nordic waters as part of a program for the potential sabotage of underwater cables and wind farms in the region, according to a joint investigation by the public broadcasters of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. The investigation also said Russian ships appear suddenly following NATO exercises. One ship at the center of the investigation, the Admiral Vladimirsky, is officially used for underwater research expeditions, but is, according to the report, a Russian spy ship. A masked man emerged on the deck of the Admiral Vladimirsky, the ship at the center of an investigation that found a Russian fleet of suspected spy ships in Nordic waters. The investigation comes after Dutch intelligence officials warned Russia had tried to gain intelligence to prepare for the potential sabotage of critical infrastructure in their patch of the North sea.

☆ Opinion | China’s Lending Practices Are Not a Good Look
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This is undoubtedly a factor in China’s diminished standing in the world. Playing ball really would promote “peace and development for all humanity” while winning China some badly needed friends in the world. The explanation for China’s tough stance is discouraging for the short term but possibly encouraging for the long term. But there are signs that China’s leaders will eventually come around to seeing the value of working with the I.M.F. “In more and more countries, Suriname and elsewhere, we’re starting to see more coordination between the People’s Bank of China, the I.M.F.

April 19 (Reuters) - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' new oversight board has discovered another "11th hour agreement" that allows Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) to set its own utility rates at its Orlando theme parks, the board's chairman said on Wednesday. A Disney subsidiary, which provides utility services to the central Florida district that includes the Walt Disney World Resort, negotiated an agreement in February to extend its contract through 2032, Chairman Martin Garcia said at a public meeting. "Last Friday afternoon I learned for the first time about one of these new 11th hour agreements entered into between Disney and the district. "We'll have to evaluate the legality of that agreement, that essentially enables Disney to set their utility rates. The board was established to provide state oversight of a special district around Walt Disney World.

☆ DeSantis-picked board seeks new taxes and affordable housing at Disney after the company's 'blatant and hostile' grab for control
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

DeSantis' board overseeing Disney is considering new taxes, public transit, and housing. The board met for the first time since Disney's surprise maneuver. The five-member board met Wednesday for the first since Disney stealthily arranged a deal that would allow the theme park and resort to maintain control of its land, virtually in perpetuity. Much of the meeting made the legal case for the new board moving ahead, despite the maneuver Disney pulled last month. Firefighters who work for Disney's district said the previous board failed to give them the resources they needed to do their jobs, including new ambulances, even as Disney grew.

☆ Chris Christie joins Trump in bashing DeSantis over Disney clash
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Dan Whitcomb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks at the Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File PhotoApril 18 (Reuters) - Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie joined former U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday in criticizing a fellow Republican, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, over his feud with the Walt Disney Co. (DIS.N). "I don’t think Ron DeSantis is a conservative based on his actions towards Disney,” added Christie, who is also said to be considering a run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Trump, who could be DeSantis' top rival for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, has called the Florida governor's war with Disney a "political stunt" and suggested it could backfire on the party. DeSantis and the Florida legislature have been working to eliminate the virtual autonomy the company has enjoyed over the Disney World resort and amusement parks for more than 50 years, saying that constitutes an "unfair advantage."

☆ The Florida legislature swoops in to try to help DeSantis wrestle power back from Disney World
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The GOP-controlled legislature introduced an amendment to take away Disney's control over its land. Ron DeSantis seize back control of the board that oversees Walt Disney World's special tax district. The amendment aims to nullify Disney's actions from February, in which the mega-corporation stealthily rendered toothless a board DeSantis appointed to make decisions about its land. At that time, DeSantis said, the group would also work separately to void the Disney loophole that stripped them of their power. Unlike rival parks Universal Studios and Sea World, Disney doesn't have to run their plans by zoning commissions or building-inspection departments.

☆ DeSantis goes to Washington, a place he once despised, looking for support to take on Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Steve Contorno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hours ahead of his meeting with congressional Republicans, Florida Rep. John Rutherford endorsed Trump, making him the sixth House Republican to back the former president over their home state governor. Rutherford’s announcement comes after NBC reported last week that DeSantis’ political operation was scrambling to convince Florida Republicans not to endorse until after he had formally decided to run. A spokesman for DeSantis’ political operation did not return a call or email. But by plucking support from within DeSantis’ backyard, Trump has created the impression that even Republicans close to DeSantis may be having second thoughts about his performance. Roy was among the first to back DeSantis, calling him “a man of conviction” who “unequivocally has made Florida stronger and freer.”

Deutsche Bank says Disney 's strong film slate makes it a good time for investors to revisit the stock. The bank reiterated its buy rating on Disney shares. Analyst Bryan Kraft raised his price target to $135 from $130 — implying shares could rally 34.6% — as the bank raises its short- and long-term earnings estimates for Disney. The analyst set his price target for the next 12 months, while many of his other growth projections in the note are based on Disney's fiscal year. DIS YTD mountain Disney stock Shares of Disney are up 16% in 2023 but down more than 20% in the past 12 months.

☆ China is succeeding in the Middle East because it learned from watching the US fail there for 20 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Natalie Armbruster | Defense Priorities | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Conversely, China is clear-eyed about its interests in the Middle East and, more importantly, their limits. In fact, most of China's Belt and Road Initiative investments in the Middle East hinge on ensuring free trade in the Middle East and a steady energy supply, not security. As international scrutiny builds surrounding the Uyghur crisis, China is particularly keen on finding partners in the Middle East who will exchange silence for investment. With Saudi Arabia, which has its own skeletons in its closet, such a trade is tempting. Instead of resorting to undue threat inflation, the United States may benefit from a corrective course on its history in the Middle East thus far.

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