Innholdsfortegnelse for January 22, 2018 i Time Magazine International Edition

Kansas state rep. apologizes for racist comments Republican representative Steve Alford of the Kansas house walked back comments he made on Jan. 6 linking the “character makeup” and “genetics” of black people with their tolerance for marijuana. N.C. congressional map ruled unconstitutional North Carolina legislators were ordered to redraw the state’s congressional map by Jan. 24 after a panel of federal judges ruled that a 2016 map gave Republicans an unconstitutional advantage. Fraternity banned for hazing The Pi Delta Psi national fraternity was banned from operating in Pennsylvania for 10 years, a judge ruled on Jan. 8, following the hazing death of a 19-year-old Baruch College student in 2013. The fraternity was also ordered to pay a fine of more than $110,000. Singing may aid postpartum depression Singing could help…

Apple insists its tech is kid-friendly Apple defended its parental-control provisions after two major investors called for a probe into iPhone addiction among young users. “We think deeply about how our products are used and the impact they have on users,” the firm said in a Jan. 8 statement. Iran: Some 3,700 arrested, says lawmaker The arrests were made during recent antigovernment protests, the largest the country has seen since 2009. The number, provided by an Iranian lawmaker, is far higher than the 450 people authorities previously said were detained. Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest man The Amazon CEO became the richest person of all time, according to Bloomberg’s billionaire tracker. It values the tech entrepreneur’s net worth at $105.1 billion, eclipsing Bill Gates’ $93.3 billion. Israel: Netanyahu’s son…

DIED Acclaimed astronaut John Young, the first person to fly six times from Earth to space and the ninth to walk on the moon, at 87. British actor Peggy Cummins, best known for starring as the gun-toting Annie Laurie Starr in the 1950 film noir classic Gun Crazy, at 92. Former Toyota chief Tatsuro Toyoda, who led the Japanese automotive company’s international expansion, at 88. MARRIED Same-sex couples in midnight ceremonies across Australia on Jan. 9, the official start date of the country’s new marriage-equality law, passed on Dec. 9. SUED Walmart Stores, for allegedly misleading U.S. customers by selling eggs with labels falsely stating they came from hens with “outdoor access.” FOUND The largest known prime number to date, by a FedEx employee in Tennessee. The newly discovered number,…

FOR DECADES, SCIENTISTS HAVE looked for a link between the act of cursing and the sense of catharsis it creates. As I studied for my forthcoming book, Swearing Is Good for You, there has been conjecture that a particular word with powerful fricatives (f) and voiceless velar stops (k) just feels better. Sadly, the research doesn’t bear this out. Instead, the joy of swearing is individualized. A curse must have a frisson of taboo, and only in languages we learn before adolescence do swear words carve deep emotional paths. Experiments show that curses found early are pulse quickeners, memory sharpeners, painkillers—the severity of which depends on the responses of those whose opinions mattered most to you when you first tried them out. For me, it was the clip around the…

HE COULDN’T HAVE PUT IT MORE plainly. On April 13, 1965, in the midst of a congressional debate over the proposed 25th Amendment to the Constitution dealing with presidential succession and incapacity, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Emanuel Celler of New York, dispensed with high-minded legal arguments. They were there, Celler said, to figure out what might be done if the unthinkable—a deranged American President with nuclear weapons—became thinkable. “The President may be as nutty as a fruitcake,” Celler declared on the House floor. “He may be utterly insane.” And for this reason, America needed a plan. Ratified two years later, the amendment offered the country just that. And now, half a century on, the subject of whether President Donald Trump could face a removal from power…

JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THE WHITE HOUSE ISSUED THE new national-security strategy of the U.S. Having participated in drafting many similar documents during my multiple tours of duty as a strategic planner in the Pentagon and later as a four-star combatant commander, I know the process well—but I didn’t know what to expect from the Trump Administration. Would this document reflect the mercurial, confusing and conflicted personality of the President? Thankfully, the basic document is surprisingly centrist, professionally written and largely balanced in terms of reflecting a reduced role for the U.S. in the world. It signals an abiding willingness to work with allies, partners and friends to address global challenges. As Lieut. General H.R. McMaster, the National Security Adviser, said to me just before it came out, “‘America first’ doesn’t…

WE FRET A LOT ABOUT THE EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE WE BRING to relationships, as if the goal is to come to each new love empty-handed, our hearts wiped clean. But recently, when I read that the widows of two best-selling memoirists had fallen in love, I was reminded that leaving your bags behind isn’t really an option. And you shouldn’t want it to be. The pair: Lucy Kalanithi, wife of Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon whose 2016 memoir When Breath Becomes Air, about his terminal lung-cancer diagnosis, came out the year after his death. And John Duberstein, husband of Nina Riggs, whose book The Bright Hour came out in June, a few months after Riggs died of complications from metastatic breast cancer. John and Lucy’s story, first reported by the Washington Post,…

‘Individuals who exercise their choice should never remain in a state of fear.’ INDIA’S SUPREME COURT, announcing that it will reconsider a colonial-era law that criminalizes gay sex—which was reinstated in 2013—in response to a petition by LGBTQ groups ‘TRUST ME, THE WOMEN IN THIS ROOM TONIGHT ARE NOT HERE FOR THE FOOD. WE ARE HERE FOR THE WORK.’ FRANCES MCDORMAND, giving a nod to the #MeToo movement while accepting a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama, for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri ‘Google employees who expressed views deviating from the majority view at Google on ... ‘diversity’ hiring policies, ‘bias sensitivity,’ or ‘social justice,’ were/are singled out, mistreated, and systematically punished.’ JAMES DAMORE, engineer, filing a class action against Google about five…

On Jan. 9, North Korea agreed to send a team to South Korea for next month’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. It was the first direct inter-Korea talks since communications were severed following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in early 2016. —Charlie Campbell SPORTS DIPLOMACY Officials sat down for 11 hours at the Joint Security Area of the demilitarized zone that has divided the Korean peninsular since an armistice effectively ended the 1950-3 Korean War. North Korea agreed to send two figure skaters to compete in the Games, as well as a cheerleading squad and some others. TALKING HEADS South Korean President Moon Jae-in has pushed for talks since taking office in May. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may have finally agreed as strict new U.N. sanctions are starting to bite.…

EMMANUEL MACRON ARRIVED IN BEIJING this month with the gift of a horse from his cavalry corps for his counterpart Xi Jinping. It was a gallant gesture of respect, though one French official conceded the operation was “very complicated . . . for sanitary reasons.” During his three-day visit, France’s youthful President paid due respect to what he called the world’s “oldest living civilization.” But Macron had another message for his hosts. “I came here to tell China my determination to get the Europe-China partnership into the 21st century,” he said. It seems Donald Trump is not the only President who sees that China and its companies don’t always play by Western rules, particularly on respect for intellectual property. China invests more in Europe than in the U.S., for several…

RARE IS THE DYNASTIC TRIUMPH THAT CHARMS A nation. Yet millions will remember Alabama’s wondrous 26-23 overtime victory over Georgia in the Jan. 8 college football national championship game. Georgia was about to hand Alabama—the sport’s most robust talent factory, or, in the eyes of less generous observers, the sport’s evil empire—a comeuppance. The Bulldogs kicked a long field goal in overtime to take a 23-20 lead and sacked Crimson Tide freshman backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on the following play. Alabama was now out of striking range, its fleeting title hopes pinned to a player who not long ago was leading his high school team in Hawaii. So what did Tagovailoa do? He lofted a gorgeous 41-yard touchdown strike to DeVonta Smith, another freshman, to clinch the win for Alabama.…

MANY FOLKS TIME THEIR retirement to coincide with milestones—35 years on the job, say, or reaching age 65 or saving $1 million. But more than a number, you have to be ready, financially and psychologically. You may have dreamed of this moment for years on your commute, in your cubicle, on those vacation days when you can’t avoid your work emails. Here are three signs the time might finally have come to call it quits. 1. YOU HAVE NO (HIGH INTEREST) DEBT Financial professionals disagree on the merits of paying down your mortgage before you retire. Jay Hummel, head of direct sales and service at American Century Investments, says that for many retirees, the emotional benefits of paying off their mortgage may outweigh any financial benefits of keeping the debt.…

1.20.17 Donald J. Trump is sworn in as the 45th U.S. President, pledging to put “America first” in his Inaugural Address. 1.21.17 Million of protesters gather in D.C. and other cities for the Women’s Marches. 1.21.17 White House spokesperson Sean Spicer inaccurately insists that “this was the largest audience to ever witness an Inauguration.” 1.27.17 Trump signs the first travel ban, barring citizens from seven countries for 90 days. Protests break out at airports. 1.28.17 Trump harangues Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a refugee deal; a transcript of the call is later leaked. 1.30.17 Fulfilling a campaign pledge, Trump signs an Executive Order that requires for every new piece of federal regulation, two existing measures must be rescinded. 1.31.17 Trump nominates judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court seat…

Did you have a prior interest in Grahame? When I was working on The Grifters [in 1990], the director, Stephen Frears, suggested that I watch Gloria Grahame. The Grifters is a noiresque movie, so watching her was incredibly helpful. I fell in love with her and her unusual combination of qualities. You play opposite a much younger man here. It’s interesting, because when I started, almost all of the men I played opposite were much older—20 years—and of course no one ever mentioned it. It was, and still is, the norm. In this case, everyone just considered it a love story we were trying to bring real heart and passion to. You’re in an adaptation of The Seagull that’s coming out this year. Had you done…

GEORGE WEAH, 51, IS DUE TO BECOME PRESIDENT of Liberia on Jan. 22, in the West African country’s first democratic transfer of power in decades. Here’s how he went from the soccer pitch to the presidential palace: RAGS TO RICHES Born in a slum in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, Weah’s raw talent as a soccer player caught the eye of coach Arsene Wenger, who signed him to AS Monaco in 1988. The striker went on to thrill millions in Europe’s most elite soccer clubs, becoming an inspiration for a generation of Liberians as civil wars raged from 1989 to 2003. He remains the only African soccer player to win FIFA’s World Player of the Year Award. ‘PRIDE OF AFRICA’ At the height of his soccer fame, Weah had a…

“SHAKE IT OFF” Taylor Swift was sued last September by songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, who claimed the pop star’s 2014 hit bears a lyrical similarity to a song they wrote, “Playas Gon’ Play.” Swift’s representatives called the ongoing lawsuit “ridiculous.” “PHOTOGRAPH” In April 2017, Ed Sheeran settled out of court with a pair of songwriters who sued the singer for $20 million, accusing him of “verbatim, note-for-note copying” of their 2009 song “Amazing,” which was released as a single by British X Factor winner Matt Cardle in 2012. “BLURRED LINES” In 2015, a jury found Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied elements of Marvin Gaye’s 1977 classic “Got to Give It Up” on their 2013 hit “Blurred Lines,” awarding his family nearly $7.4 million. The pair appealed the…

OVER THE PAST DECADE, CHINA HAS emerged as the world’s No. 1 consumer in a slew of important product categories ranging from autos to mobile phones. Hollywood has long salivated over the prospect that films too would be added to that list. The 2017 box-office numbers are finally in, and last year China had total ticket sales of $8.59 billion. They fell well short of the North American box office for 2017, estimated by comScore at $11.12 billion. Even so, analysts cheered the results as a healthy showing for China. Since 1994, when China’s communist rulers eased a long-standing ban on all foreign films, growth in China’s box office has translated into hefty profits for U.S. studios. Many titles—including Pacific Rim; Transformers: Age of Extinction; and Furious 7—earned far more…

THE ISSUE While federal inmates are barred from using cell phones, smuggling the devices into prisons is rising—thanks, in part, to deliveries via drone. The Bureau of Prisons confiscated 28% more cell phones in 2017 than in the previous year, according to preliminary data. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein called the matter a “major safety issue” on Jan. 8, citing cases like that of a North Carolina inmate who ordered an attack on a prosecutor’s father. THE IDEA The Department of Justice will test the use of “microjamming” technologies that aim to block cell-phone service, as well as back tighter regulations for drone usage. THE CAVEAT According to the AP, telecom companies are concerned that micro-jamming could affect local coverage for legal users—including first responders to emergencies near or at…

COURTS Promise Trump assured skittish Republican voters that he would nominate conservative judges and published a list of vetted candidates he promised to pick from for Supreme Court vacancies. What’s been done Trump held up his end of the bargain by nominating Justice Neil Gorsuch to the high court and filled a record-breaking number of federal appeals court vacancies in his first year. ECONOMY Promise Trump said before he took office that he would be “the greatest jobs producer that God ever created.” He promised to create 25 million new jobs over a decade. What’s been done The economy is healthy, with stocks continuing to soar, unemployment dropping and strong GDP numbers. But job growth isn’t living up to Trump’s bold promises and is similar to growth rates under President…

How do you feel about the President’s response? I have deeply mixed feelings. On the one hand, yes, it’s undeniably good for this book. On the other hand, it’s all ludicrous. It’s also a little scary. Have you been in touch with Stephen Bannon since the book’s launch? Let me not go there. Factual accuracy has come up as a topic of conversation—it’s a powerful weapon for those who want to discredit your book. You know, first thing, the book is methodically researched, methodically sourced. The truth is that the White House is going to do anything to try to discredit this book. It would certainly appear that the President seems to feel this is a mortal threat. He’s going to try in every possible way to come after this…

THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON (2016) The first season of American Crime Story made past scandal feel educational, with Cuba Gooding Jr. (center) as the defendant in an increasingly complex 1995 trial. WACO (2018) The Paramount Network’s miniseries (launching Jan. 24) depicts the events leading to the 1993 siege on the Branch Davidian compound, with Taylor Kitsch as cult leader David Koresh. CONFIRMATION (2016) The HBO film recalled Clarence Thomas’ 1991 Supreme Court nomination—and how Anita Hill (Kerry Washington) and her allegations of harassment were dismissed. Viewers in our era heard Hill loud and clear.…

SOMETIME IN THE PAST FEW years, the Cambridge, England–based novelist Ali Smith and the Norwegian Karl Ove Knausgaard had the same idea: to write a quartet of novels called Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. This month, Winter arrives in each series. But while Knausgaard engages in his signature blend of broad observations and navel-gazing, Smith glares—at times sympathetically, at times unforgivingly—at a wasteland of a world where Brexit is possible. It is not necessary to read Smith’s Autumn before her Winter; while the two books share a philosophical style and a playfulness with words, they don’t concern the same cast. The characters here are the kind who find the winter holidays challenging, not comforting. Ashamed of his recent breakup, Art pays a young, foreign woman known as Lux to impersonate…

‘It wasn’t about politics; it was about saving lives.’ What was 2017 like for Puerto Rico? It was a year of great challenges and new beginnings. I started my second term as mayor of San Juan, and a new governor was elected with a new majority in the legislature. Even though he and I don’t see eye to eye, every beginning offers opportunities. That was immediately shattered not only by Hurricanes Irma and Maria but by policies that made protests somewhat illegal. Privatization of our public schools. Our labor unions lost rights that they have fought for for 40, 50 years. The economy was failing. We’re basically a colony of the United States, and the imposition of the fiscal control board started to become real. It wasn’t like, “Oh, they’re…