Time Magazine International Edition

conversation

WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT… CLIMATE IS EVERYTHING The April 26/May 3 issue, which argued that tackling the global climate crisis requires a new mindset, lit a fire under many TIME readers. Former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer wrote on Twitter that the issue “shows the recognition that the climate crisis deserves,” while @akazkucha tweeted that he got “chills” watching a video of the artist Red Hong Yi setting aflame her matchstick map of the world (pictured above on the cover) to demonstrate our interconnectedness. But Leif Johnson of Swannanoa, N.C., argued that cultural divisions must also be noted and that solutions can come only when we “start to see beyond nationality, religion, gender, race, ethnicity, target audience or any other culturally imagined sense of self.” ‘This is the most significant issue…

for the record

‘Honestly, a bunch of people probably will die in the beginning. It’s tough sledding over there.’ELON MUSK, in an April 22 interview about his company’s plans to send humans to Mars‘I cannot find any justification for [how] I was treated… So I have to conclude that it happened because I am a woman.’URSULA VON DER LEYEN, European Commission president, speaking on April 26 about being denied a chair while meeting Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier in the month‘MY MUM MET MY DAD. THEY HAD SEX. IT’S AMAZING.’DANIEL KALUUYA, in an April 25 speech at the 2021 Oscars, accepting the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah; in the audience, Kaluuya’s mother could be seen asking, “What is he talking about?” in response‘He will…

biden’s bet on big government

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN WAS HUDDLING WITH aides in the Oval Office in late April, preparing for a Zoom tour of Proterra, an electric bus and battery plant in Greenville, S.C. The company does the kind of eco-friendly manufacturing that Biden hopes will balloon if Congress passes his $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, which includes nearly $80 billion in federal investment in these types of clean-energy jobs. Biden was blunt about the larger goal. “This is how we show people that the government has a role to play,” he said before getting on the call. That vision of government has been at the heart of Biden’s first 100 days in office. He has pumped nearly $1.9 trillion into the economy, more than any other President at this point in a first term, through…

u.s. formally acknowledges armenian genocide

IN WHAT MANY VIEW AS A LONG-OVERDUE step in reckoning with history, President Joe Biden declared on April 24 that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I constituted genocide. “We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated,” Biden said in a statement on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, marking the first time the U.S. has formally deemed the killings genocide. At least 30 other countries, including France and Canada, have also formally recognized the genocide. Other U.S. allies, such as the U.K. and Israel, have not. ATROCITIES During WW I, the Germany-aligned Ottoman Empire accused Armenians of treachery after suffering a heavy defeat at the hands of Russian forces. One and a half million Armenians were later killed in…

news ticker

Rights group accuses Israel of apartheid Human Rights Watch published a report April 27 accusing Israeli officials of committing “crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution,” on the basis of its treatment of Palestinians. Israeli officials have fiercely rejected the international rights watchdog’s claims. Bolsonaro faces COVID-19 inquiry Brazil’s Congress launched an inquiry April 27 into the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. One likely focus is President Jair Bolsonaro, who has criticized lockdowns, masks and vaccinations. Nearly 400,000 Brazilians have died during the pandemic. California to vote on recalling gov A Republican-led petition to recall Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom has received 1.6 million signatures, officials confirmed on April 26—enough to trigger a special election, expected to take place in the fall. Reality-TV star Caitlyn Jenner is among those challenging Newsom. Investigators raid Giuliani’s NYC…

will japan’s low vaccination rate be an olympic problem?

WITH FEWER THAN 100 DAYS TO GO BEFORE the Tokyo Olympics begin on July 23, the torch relay is crisscrossing Japan. But far from building excitement for the 2020 Games, the flame is sparking anxiety about holding an international event amid the pandemic. Torch runners are being heckled by protesters who want the Olympics canceled. It doesn’t help, of course, that Japan is in the middle of a fourth COVID-19 wave. Tokyo, Kyoto and two other regions declared states of emergency on April 23 as daily cases surged above 4,500 nationwide. Fears are compounded by a vaccination rate of less than 2% across Japan’s population, which is the world’s oldest, with 28% of Japanese ages 65 or older. Despite foreign fans being banned, and testing requirements in place for athletes and officials,…