Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright.
Note: My new book about aging and growing older with intention, How To Turn 39 (howtoturn39.com), is available for pre-sale :)
China military's biggest shakeup in 9 years adds info, cyber, and space units
Summary: The Chinese Defense Ministry announced a reorganization of the country’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, late last week—a move that seems to give more direct control to Chinese President Xi and loyalists within his government.
Context: The PLA now consists of ground, navy, air, and rocket branches, alongside information, aerospace, cyber, and joint logistics support arms, and while some analysts discussing this move have said that it seems likely the reorganization was sparked in part by seeing which aspects of Russia’s military setup has failed them during their invasion of Ukraine, others have contended that this is primarily a means of ousting military leaders who were responsible for a series of flubs, embarrassments, and corruption schemes over the past decade or so, and of further consolidating military power under Xi’s direct control.
—Nikkei Asia
Unions take aim at South after UAW win
Summary: The United Auto Workers’ Union has won its first victory in the US South, despite opposition from governors in the region who fought to keep them out of the Chattanooga, Tennessee Volkswagen plant where they won 75% of cast worker ballots.
Context: This comes in the wake of other recent UAW victories across the US, including a major pay raise for union workers that was negotiated after launching a significant strike against the Big Three automakers in 2023; this is considered to be a vital moment for automakers and autoworkers in the US, as the shift toward plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles is resulting in a lot of turnover, but also a surge of investment in new infrastructure, and these workers and the unions that represent them are trying to ensure their demands are worked into the math of the new auto industry that’s emerging.
—The Wall Street Journal
Two Mexican mayoral contenders found dead on same day
Summary: Two mayoral candidates were found dead on a single day in Mexico last week, bringing the total number of assassinations of candidates running in the upcoming presidential, congressional, and local elections to 17.
Context: Assassinations of candidates, especially those that run on a platform of opposing powerful cartels and clamping down on crime, in general, is not uncommon in Mexico, and the killings are often quite brutal, images of the slain person’s body shared on social media by those who murdered them as a warning to others who might oppose them, and in some cases cartels even run their own candidates and threaten or kill anyone who runs against them; the Mexican government is now providing bodyguards for around 250 candidates, but those who are running for local positions—the ones that are most commonly targeted by cartels with local interests—are typically last on the list for such protections.
—Al Jazeera
With government support and encouragement, the Chinese economy has rapidly scaled its battery production capacity, and this has resulted in a dramatic overshoot over not just local demand for such batteries, but international demand—a problem that’s shrinking price tags on batteries in many markets, but also increasing tensions with Chinese trade partners, which are accusing these companies of attempting to kill competing battery entities with unsustainably low prices.
—Bloomberg
>$76 million
Amount of political donations the Trump campaign has spent on the former President’s legal fees since January 2023.
That’s about 26% of all donations the campaign has raised, and these expenditures are widening the gap between the money his campaign has available for election purposes and what his opponent’s campaign has available to spend.
—Financial Times
One Sentence News / April 23, 2024