Time Magazine International Edition Feb 6, 2017

TIT FOR TAT “THE TROUBLEMAKER” [Jan. 16]: A few of years ago, we were told how U.S. intelligence was listening to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone calls. And last year, President Obama visited the U.K. and told its citizens how to vote in the Brexit referendum. There is a strong whiff of hypocrisy when complaints are made about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s (alleged) hacking and interference in other nation’s affairs. George Rooker, LONDON UNFAIR DEPICTION I STRONGLY OBJECT TO your illustration in “For the Record” about the money that Finland will give to 2,000 unemployed citizens [Jan. 16]. The illustration implies that the recipients will sit around drinking and playing video games. The object of the experiment is to give unemployed people the opportunity to accept part-time jobs, as full-time…

‘A nation without borders is not a nation.’ PRESIDENT TRUMP, announcing that the White House would work alongside the Department of Homeland Security to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico; Trump spoke six days before a scheduled meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto alternative facts Noun. A euphemism for lies. Usage: On Jan. 22, Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway characterized White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s falsehoods about attendance at the Inauguration as “alternative facts” ‘ACT NORMAL, OR GO AWAY.’ MARK RUTTE, Dutch Prime Minister, telling immigrants to assimilate, in a blunt campaign ad ahead of a March 15 election, in which he faces a challenge from far-right populist Geert Wilders GOOD WEEK Venus The Williams sister became the oldest Australian Open women’s semifinalist, at age 36 BAD…

THE OLD WASHINGTON ADAGE OF “Watch what we do, not what we say” is hard to apply to someone as serially outrageous as Donald Trump. But for all his untethered pronouncements about voter fraud and crowd size and media bias, it was President Trump’s brisk succession of executive actions that probably defined the opening of his presidency. Small-government conservatives have deplored the use and overuse of Executive Orders since the Clinton era, but Trump has figured out at least this much about the office he now holds: if you want to do anything quickly in Washington, you have to do it yourself. And so he set about building a wall, restarting pipelines, killing trade deals and targeting so-called sanctuary cities and Obamacare. Overall, the momentum was the message. Trump met…

Israel to build 2,500 settlement homes Israel approved the construction of 2,500 new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank four days after President Trump took office. The new U.S. Administration has signaled it will not oppose settlements on contested land as previous Administrations have. Russia, Turkey, Iran back Syria truce Russia, Turkey and Iran agreed to back and monitor a fragile cease-fire between the Syrian regime and rebels. During the peace talks, held in Astana, Kazakhstan, heavy fighting between rebel groups erupted in northwest Syria. Court rejects Sister Wives appeal The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Utah’s antipolygamy law from the Brown family, featured on the TLC show Sister Wives. In 2011, Kody Brown and his four wives fled Utah after a county prosecutor opened an…

TURKEY’S PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN already enjoys almost unchecked power, after surviving an attempted military coup in July 2016 and carrying out a vast clampdown on his opponents. Now the Turkish public is set to vote in a constitutional referendum that would hand Erdogan even more control over the state: NEW POWERS On Jan. 21 a bitterly divided Turkish parliament approved the last of 18 amendments, which would replace Turkey’s parliamentary system of government with a presidential system. That would eliminate the office of the Prime Minister, limit parliament’s powers and hand the executive more control over the judiciary. FIGHTING WORDS Erdogan’s supporters say the changes are needed in order to reinstate stability. The opposition rejects them as a brazen power grab. The parliamentary debate was so heated that lawmakers…

ON BREXIT, PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY has played a horrible hand as well as anyone could. She has managed to maintain unity within her Conservative Party and worked hard to overcome suspicions that she isn’t committed to leaving the E.U. Setting out her objectives in a Jan. 17 speech, she made clear that Britain will reassert control of its borders and will not accept the E.U.’s judicial authority. From that starting point, her government will then work to get the best deal possible for Britain’s economy. After being criticized for playing her cards too close to her chest, she now has solid backing at least from those on her side of the bargaining table. The Jan. 24 Supreme Court ruling on Parliament’s role in the process is unlikely to delay…