Table of contents for May 29, 2017 in TIME Magazine

Court won’t rule on North Carolina law The Supreme Court decided not to hear a case to reinstate the 2013 North Carolina voting law, which rejected forms of ID used disproportionately by black voters and was found to be racially discriminatory by lower courts. Syria built mass crematory, says U.S. The U.S. accused the Syrian regime of executing thousands of imprisoned political opponents and burning their bodies at a prison near Damascus. Syria’s Foreign Ministry denied the allegations, calling them a “new Hollywood plot” to justify U.S. intervention in Syria. New Ebola cases in Congo The World Health Organization confirmed a second case of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo more than a year after the outbreak was officially declared over. Three people have died among the suspected and…

On May 12, twO days after President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions dropped a bombshell of his own: Federal prosecutors should pursue the most serious possible charges in all criminal cases, no matter the circumstances. The sweeping 1.-page memo reversed an Obama-era policy that allowed for more leniency, particularly for firsttime nonviolent drug offenders, and threw a wrench into bipartisan plans to reform the criminal-justice system. Sessions said the new directive is both necessary for public safety and the “right and moral thing to do,” citing upticks in violence in some American cities and surges in drugoverdose deaths. “If you are a drug trafficker, we will not look the other way. We will not be willfully blind to your conduct,” Sessions said. “These are…

when president john f. kennedy named the week of May 15 as National Police Week, he noted that law enforcement had been protecting Americans since the nation’s birth. But in fact, the U.S. police force is not so old. In colonial times, the closest analog was usually a volunteer night watch. Watchmen got a bad rap for drinking on duty, so when towns tried mandatory service, citizens would often pay someone else to serve instead— “ironically, a criminal or a community thug,” says Gary Potter, a crime historian at Eastern Kentucky University. The best early example of organized policing is one today’s officers might prefer not to see as a comparison point: slave patrols, the first of which was formed in the Carolina colonies in 1704. Police forces as we…

“Given ThaT you have 500,000,000 poTenTial soul mates,” writes Randall Munroe in the science book What If ?, “you would find true love only in one lifetime out of 10,000.” A cousin of mine gave a toast along these lines at his brother’s wedding. He calculated the odds of finding the one person “meant for you,” given the billions of people on the planet, the number of people you’re likely to meet in the course of your life and the fact that in the scheme of human history, none of us stay in a corporeal body for very long. The toast concluded: “So I think the odds are against your being soul mates, but that doesn’t make it less of a miracle that you found each other.” But the soul-mate…

On May 17, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI chief Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election. In choosing Mueller to run the Russia probe, Rosenstein has in one fell swoop restored the independence of the Justice Department, tapping a man named to head the FBI by George W. Bush (which will quiet Republicans). Mueller is James Comey without the drama, a straightarrow Boy Scout who often favors gray suits, white shirts and red ties. Mueller insures that no stone will be left unturned,having run both the bureau and overseen its counterintelligence operations as FBI chief. And as a former prosecutor himself, he knows how to run an investigation and still make the FBI jump (not everyone does). So this is a…

FAMILY FUN PACK Two teachers, Kristine and Matt, have five kids and one on the way; they’re big fans of playing dress-up Began: 2011 Subscribers: 5.2 million Total views: 9.4 billion EH BEE FAMILY Canadians Andres and Rossana Burgos came to YouTube after finding fame on the defunct Vine Began: 2013 Subscribers: 2.8 million Total views: 300 million ALL4TUBEKIDS Virginia dad Roland Pellegrino was a teacher when he and his daughter Brittany started the vlog Began: 2007 Subscribers: 2.6 million Total views: 900 million DAILY BUMPS The vlog of Bryan and Missy Lanning grew out of their infertility struggle; they now have two kids Began: 2012 Subscribers: 2.5 million Total views: 1.7 billion SAM AND NIA The Rader family of Texas got a big boost in fame when the ex-nurse…

15,000 Number of pollen grains a honeybee sheds in two minutes when it cleans itself, according to new research from Georgia Tech 37.6% Percentage increase in arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of individuals it says were “either known or suspected of being in the country illegally” in the first 100 days of the Trump Administration, compared with the same period last year ‘I WILL HELP HIM, BECAUSE HE NEEDS HELP.’ ÉDOUARD PHILIPPE, recently appointed French Prime Minister, speaking of new President Emmanuel Macron, who unlike Philippe is not a veteran of the nation’s political establishment 37% Percentage of parents who say they would allow their child age 6 or up to swim unsupervised in a home, hotel or neighborhood pool, according to a national poll from the University…

Donald Trump will embark on his first trip abroad as U.S. President on May 19. His eight-day itinerary includes stops in the symbolic homes of three Abrahamic religions: SAUDI ARABIA Trump will meet King Salman on May 20 for bilateral talks. He will reportedly come bearing a $100 billion arms deal, and the pair are likely to discuss issues such as Syria, Iran and the ongoing war in Yemen. The President is also giving a speech about radical ideology to leaders from countries across the Muslim world. ISRAEL On May 22, Trump is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. He is also spending time with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, part of his effort to facilitate the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Jerusalem,…

Japanese princess to wed commoner Japan’s Princess Mako, the eldest grandchild of Emperor Akihito, has announced she will give up her royal status to marry Kei Komuro, a commoner. The 25-year-old’s announcement is set to reignite debate over primogeniture in the Japanese monarchy. Clinton returns with political group Hillary Clinton put an end to speculation about her next move by launching Onward Together, a political group urging people to “get involved, organize, and even run for office.” The Republican Party dismissed the group as a repurposing of Clinton’s “failed branding.” Caffeine overdose killed teen A South Carolina coroner ruled that a high school student died from an excess of caffeine. The 16-yearold suffered heart failure after drinking a large Diet Mountain Dew, a latte and an energy drink over two…

INDIA After Indian National Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was seemingly caught in slumber in Parliament in 2016, a colleague let reporters know he was in fact looking down to check his cell phone. AUSTRALIA Lawmaker Clive Palmer blamed then Prime Minister Tony Abbott for boring him into unconsciousness after being captured by television cameras taking a nap in Parliament in 2014. U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s habit of snoozing during overseas events— most notably during a 1982 speech by Pope John Paul II— was blamed on his inability to sleep on planes.…

in The laTe 19Th cenTury, The economist Thorstein Veblen famously skewered members of the upper class for trying to telegraph their social status by surrounding themselves with luxury goods—a phenomenon he dubbed “conspicuous consumption.” But Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, author of The Sum of Small Things, says a new cultural elite is on the rise: the aspirational class. These are people who aren’t necessarily rich but who share a set of views on the most socially conscious ways to spend money—for instance, driving electric cars instead of SUVs and buying only organic produce. While these are financial choices, Currid-Halkett argues that they are driven primarily by an aspiration to be—or at least appear to be—“their version of better humans.” That’s why, for this milieu, “a $2 heirloom tomato purchased from a farmers’…

A roundup of new and noteworthy insights from the week’s most talked-about studies: 1 TEENS ARE DRINKING LESS CDC data shows that the prevalence of underage teen drinking in 2015 was 32.8%— its lowest point since 1991, when the rate was 50.8%. 2 PEOPLE WITH HIV ARE LIVING LONGER A report in Lancet HIV that analyzed data from over 88,000 people in 18 cohort studies worldwide showed that people infected with HIV in recent years are living roughly 10 years longer than those who were infected in the 1990s, largely thanks to anti-HIV drugs and improved health care. 3 EXERCISE KEEPS YOUR CELLS YOUNGER A large, multiyear study in Preventive Medicine found that people’s telomeres—the parts of DNA that get shorter as we age—were significantly longer in those who exercised…

The mosT aggressive opening in chess is called the King’s Gambit. On the second move, White sacrifices a pawn that typically protects his king for a blitzkrieg assault on Black. It’s audacious. With no preparation, no careful groundwork, White signals his intent to wipe his opponent off the board. In the early 20th century, the King’s Gambit led to many brilliant victories. But through careful preparation, grand masters discovered that they could place White on the defensive by capitalizing on weaknesses created by the aggressive opening. President Trump is playing the political version of the King’s Gambit—and his electoral victory was certainly an example of early success. But his approach leaves vulnerabilities that undermine his attacks. Trump’s first defeat—his travel ban targeting people fromMuslim-majority countries—is a good example. My office…

Steven Soderbergh’s 1999 summer filmThe Limey,one character tells another, “You’re not specific enough to be a person. You’re more like a vibe.” So it is with summer movies. Although we all have some idea of what one should be—funny, fast, not too taxing on the brain—a strict definition is futile. You just know one when you see it. IN This summer in particular, the movies offer an additional benefit: they’re one of the few places we can escape our current nerve-shredding news cycle. To sit quietly in one place for a few hours with your phone turned off—you do turn it off, don’t you?—is a rare gift these days. And you don’t necessarily have to be a fan of superhero-comic-book extravaganzas to partake, because even though we have a few…

DIED Powers Boothe, Emmywinning character actor known for playing complex villains, including “Curly Bill” Brocius in Tombstone and brothel owner Cy Tolliver on HBO’s Deadwood, at 68. ? Award-winning reporter Javier Valdez, who spent his career fearlessly investigating Mexican drug cartels, at 50. Valdez is thought to be the sixth journalist murdered in Mexico this year. ? British serial murderer Ian Brady, who with his girlfriend Myra Hindley sexually tortured and killed five children in the Yorkshire moors in the 1960s, at 79. Brady, who was jailed 51 years ago, never revealed where he had hidden the remains of his third victim, 12-year-old Keith Bennett. FREED Chelsea Manning,from a Kansas military prison, after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence for disclosing archives of classified files to WikiLeaks. Granting Manning…

LosT amid aLL The TaLk of The “Trump bump” on Wall Street is the fact that U.S. equities, while up, have actually been among the worst performers in the world this year. Stock markets in Mexico, China, Spain, France, Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, Poland, India and Turkey have not only outpaced the S&P 500 U.S. index so far in 2017, they’ve more than doubled the gains of domestic shares. Setting the politics of globalization aside, the resurgence of foreign equities, which languished for several years in the aftermath of the 2007–09 financial crisis, comes at a critical juncture for retirement investors. After the second longest bull market in history, U.S. stocks have become as frothy as they were in the run-up to the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000…