Time Magazine International Edition May 18, 2020

READY TO SERVE RE “A CHEF’S MISSION” [April 6–13]: I want to congratulate you on this newsworthy issue. Our world is so small due to technology that we can ill afford to act independently and minimize the needs of others. We need more people like chef José Andrés and all those who volunteer on the behalf of others. Peggy Chrow, KIRKSVILLE, MO. THE OUTSTANDING COVER photo of Andrés illustrates his mission to fight hunger. The photographer has captured the classical warrior, with the strength of his conviction in his stance and his will in the weapons in his hands, brilliantly depicting the chef’s work. Erin Orgeron, JACKSON, MISS. MOVED BY HOPE RE “HOW TO MAKE Change” [April 6–13]: In spite of the conventional wisdom that the media must constantly present…

‘We are fighters, and we’ll continue to fight together for this.’ALEX MORGAN, U.S. women’s national soccer team co-captain, on Good Morning America on May 4, after a judge decided against the team in the gender-pay-discrimination portion of their lawsuit against U.S. Soccer ‘IF IT WAS MY WIFE WHO DID IT, THEN THIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A VIRAL TWEET.’DAVID MOININA SENGEH, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, speaking to the BBC about the image he shared of himself attending a virtual meeting with his 10-month-old daughter strapped to his back 13% Rough percentage of Iceland’s population that has been tested for COVID-19, likely the highest per capita of any country; businesses there reopened on May 4 following six weeks of lockdown ‘When that sexual assault happened, it…

IN NOVEMBER, U.S. MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE analysts began to suspect something might be wrong in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The CIA heard reports of a pneumonia outbreak. Satellite photos showed activity near hospitals and a drop in street traffic. Apparent medical communications were detected between Wuhan and Beijing. As activity increased, officials wondered if they might be seeing something more serious than pneumonia—something worse, and more contagious. More than five months and 255,000 deaths later, the U.S. intelligence community is still trying to piece together the early spread of COVID-19. Along the way, those efforts have been clouded by inaction, politics, and self-interest from both China and the U.S. Rather than sharing information to minimize the virus’s spread, Beijing and Washington have all too often focused on blaming the…

WHEN ISIS MILITANTS LED A COORDInated overnight assault that killed 10 Iraqi paramilitary members on May 1, it was the latest attack in a rising tide of violence across Iraq, suggesting the group is mounting a resurgence less than three years after it was routed from Mosul. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. troop drawdown and Iraq’s internal political crisis, experts say ISIS is exploiting security gaps—and shifting its tactics from intimidation and assassination to more sophisticated techniques. GLOBAL REACH ISIS continues to pose a threat far beyond its heartland in Iraq and Syria, where it is waging insurgencies. With the pandemic reducing the capacity of many security forces, ISIS affiliates have conducted operations in Afghanistan, West Africa, Central Africa, Southeast Asia and elsewhere; an attack was thwarted in Germany,…

Tribes sue Treasury over COVID-19 aid A group of Native American tribes filed a lawsuit on April 30 over the Treasury Department’s failure to distribute $8 billion in COVID-19 relief meant for them. The delay is partly due to a clash over the tribal governments’ claim that Alaska Native corporations shouldn’t be eligible for funds. Microbe stops malaria, scientists say Researchers from Kenya and the U.K. discovered a new microbe that prevents mosquitoes from being infected with malaria, per a study published May 4 in the journal Nature. The scientists said it has “enormous” potential to stop a disease that kills more than 400,000 people a year, mostly children. Mississippi finds massive misspending More than $94 million in federal poverty aid distributed over three years by a Mississippi agency was…

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A BIG YEAR FOR the U.S. meat industry. As recently as February, a USDA livestock analyst predicted record production, as economic growth boosted demand. Then came COVID-19. By late April, Tyson Foods, one of America’s biggest meat and poultry producers, warned in full-page ads that the “food supply chain is breaking.” On May 5, after some Wendy’s customers noticed a lack of hamburgers, the fast-food chain said certain menu items could be in “short supply” at some restaurants. The novel coronavirus has made it increasingly hard to convert America’s ample supply of animals raised for meat production into items like store-ready packs of pork chops or ground beef, as meat-processing companies have paused operations at a number of plants where workers have tested positive for…