Time Magazine International Edition November 18, 2019

INFLUENCING THE YOUNG RE “NEXT GENERATION Leaders” [Oct. 21–28]: The stories of these young people are fascinating, filled with hope and verve. Their ideas hold great promise for a future generation, providing leadership avenues to make the world a better place. Manzar Imam, NEW DELHI I STRONGLY DISAGREE THAT the British rapper Stormzy is a great role model. Despite the intended message, performing in a stab-proof vest can only achieve the opposite, irresponsibly lending a dangerous glamour to knife crime, especially when relayed through the ugly medium of grime music. Stefan Badham, PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND THE LOUDEST VOICES RE “IMPEACHMENT POLItics and the Fight for 2020” [Oct. 21–28]: Already we see both sides scrambling to get out in front and push their views on voters. The Republicans and the President have…

‘IT’S A PRIVILEGE, NOT A BURDEN, TO BE FIGHTING FOR THE PEOPLE BACK HOME.’SIYA KOLISI, the first black captain of the South African rugby team, after winning the Rugby World Cup against England on Nov. 2 40% Year-over-year increase in employee productivity after Microsoft Japan experimented with a four-day workweek ‘This is exactly the kind of spill we are worried about.’JOYE BRAUN, organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, on Nov. 1, after about 383,000 gallons of oil leaked from the Keystone Pipeline in North Dakota ‘IT FEELS AMAZING TO BE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE.’TESS HARJO, one of 462 Oklahoma inmates released on Nov. 4 as part of the largest one-day mass commutation of prison sentences in U.S. history ‘One of the things we did was give them…

THE CHAIR OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL Committee, Tom Perez, looked out at a jubilant crowd on the evening of Nov. 5. “Two years ago,” he said, “you here in Virginia taught America that we Democrats could win again. Tonight you’re going to finish the business.” Perez’s prediction proved accurate. Democrats seized control of both houses of Virginia’s state legislature for the first time in more than two decades, aided by high turnout. It was an intensification of the trend that began in 2017, when Virginia’s off-year election provided early signs of the backlash against President Donald Trump that helped Democrats win the House of Representatives in 2018. In a college-campus brewpub here, a diverse crowd of Democrats cheered, hugged and cried as the results rolled in, exceeding their most optimistic…

THE HAZE IN NEW DELHI HAS BEEN SO pervasive that national monuments were largely obscured by thick smog. Already the world’s most polluted capital, the Indian city saw air pollution that on Nov. 3 peaked at levels too high for some sensors to measure. Many who ventured outside suffered teary eyes and coughs. By one calculation, breathing the air had the health impact of smoking at least 25 cigarettes a day. Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, called the region a “gas chamber.” Even as the worst haze clears, a solution remains foggy. COMMON CAUSES A combination of human and environmental factors have aggravated New Delhi’s pollution crisis. Farmers in neighboring states burning crop stubble to clear their fields are a contributor, as are fumes from cars, trucks and industry. Slowing…

9 members of Mormon family killed Nine members of one family, including six children, were killed on Nov. 4 in an ambush on their car convoy in northern Mexico. The victims were U.S. citizens living in a Mormon community in Chihuahua, a Mexican border state currently being fought over by rival gangs. Cohabitation tops marriage in U.S. Fifty-nine percent of American adults ages 18 to 44 have lived with an unmarried partner, now surpassing the 50% who have been married, according to a Pew Research Center analysis released on Nov. 6. From 1995 to today, the percentage of adults of all ages who are currently married declined from 58% to 53% while the percentage of those cohabiting rose to 7%. China hints at a tighter grip on Hong Kong China…

THIS SUMMER, 48-YEAR-OLD DYLAN JONES walked into a gallery in his hometown of Caersws, Wales, and was drawn to a collection of photos depicting the olive harvest in a small West Bank village—the gray skies and golden landscapes, the piles of purple olives, the men and women reaching toward the tree branches. A few months later, Jones was on a plane, headed to join a global brigade of volunteers who assist Palestinian farmers during the October-November harvest season. In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 45% of agricultural land is planted with olive trees, with the olive-oil industry making up a quarter of the region’s gross agricultural income. Groves are often passed down through families, and the olive tree—which has symbolic value across Islam, Christianity and Judaism—represents peace and resilience…