Table of contents for February 10, 2020 in TIME Magazine

WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT … YOUTHQUAKE Readers of all ages learned something from Charlotte Alter’s Feb. 3 cover story on millennial leaders changing America. Ryan Dailey, a Chatham, N.J., high school senior and self-described political moderate, wrote, “I may not agree with many of the ideas that the millennial Democrats have, but now I have a better understanding of why they believe what they believe.” Cindy Haynes in Bedford, Mass., was so hopeful she “cried with joy,” but Peter Graber in Elkhart, Ind., argued that corporations have the real power to make change. Karl Kettler of Stockton, N.J., said every generation changes the world in its own way, and readers like Barbara Albin of Normal, Ill., cautioned against generalizing about boomers. “Some of us are not as selfish as…

IN THE BATTLE OVER THE NEXT GENERAtion of telecommunications, China is winning. On Jan. 28, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided not to ban hardware made by the market-leading Chinese firm Huawei as the U.K. builds out its infrastructure for 5G wireless technology. The choice was a blow to the Trump Administration, which has waged a monthslong campaign to persuade allies to shun Huawei—and just lost its closest ally. SENSITIVE TOPIC Although Johnson needs a post-Brexit trade deal with the U.S., he also promised voters a revolution in Internet speed and coverage. His decision not to ban Huawei—despite warnings of the risk of spying by Beijing—reflects the importance states are placing on the competitive advantage in Internet infrastructure. Huawei is to be limited to a maximum 35% role in…

In the 2010s, we worried about too much stuff. A growing awareness of consumerism’s effect on the environment and a desire to broadcast our lives on social media led us to prioritize experience over things, and millions turned to Marie Kondo and minimalism. Now we’ve started to worry about something new: too little time. Psychologists have found that experiences are more likely than material goods to deliver happiness—another reason we were content to shed anything that didn’t spark joy—but of course we must make choices about which experiences to pursue. The fear of making the wrong one, and therefore wasting valuable time, is something many of us feel deeply. There’s some irony to this predicament: We have more free time now than we have had in decades. But for…

‘Why did you remove me from the photo? I was part of the group!’VANESSA NAKATE, Ugandan climate activist, in a Jan. 24 tweet, after being cropped out of an Associated Press photo of climate activists—among whom she was the only person of color—in Davos, Switzerland; the news agency apologized Carpool lanes Arizona police cited a man for driving in the HOV lane with a fake skeleton as a passenger Traffic lights A group of Florida friends went viral with a video of themselves playing Uno at a long red light ‘IS NOTHING SACRED?’GEORGE TAKEI, actor, on the Jan. 24 unveiling of the U.S. military’s new Space Force seal and its similarity to the insignia of Star Trek’s fictional Starfleet Command 97,112 Number of gallons of red wine that spilled into…

Billions of locusts swarm East Africa Kenya is suffering its worst locust plague in 70 years, as an insect infestation sweeps across farmland, destroying crops meant to feed millions of people. The U.N. warned that the locust population could grow up to 500 times after March rains unless pesticides are quickly deployed. States sue over 3-D-printed-gun rule Twenty states and Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration on Jan. 23 over a federal rule change they say will allow schematics for 3-D-printed guns to be posted online—where, critics argue, they could be used by anyone to make untraceable weapons. Lawyer: Prince not helping Epstein probe The U.S. Attorney looking into possible sex trafficking by associates of Jeffrey Epstein accused the U.K.’s Prince Andrew on Jan. 27 of…

DIED Jim Lehrer Eminent anchor IN 1963, I WORKED AS A REPORTER AT THE FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM and Jim Lehrer worked at the Dallas Times Herald, and we both covered the Kennedy assassination—but it was only after we came to Washington, D.C., that we became good friends. Jim, who died Jan. 23 at 85, was a guy I always looked up to. So when I was chosen to moderate my first presidential debate in 2004, he was the first person I called. I said, “How do I do this?” and he said, “Remember, it’s not about you.” That was the best advice anybody could possibly give me, and for every other person down through the years who called me to ask for advice on how to moderate a presidential…

WHEN I WATCHED the coverage of Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s deaths, amid the primary grief I felt for Kobe’s wife, his surviving children and the people who knew and loved him, there were a series of images that brought even more tears to my eyes. It was the kids lined up outside the Staples Center. Some of them were dressed head to toe in Lakers gear. I looked at them and saw my own son. I was transported back to a magical night on Nov. 11, 2014. We live in Tennessee, not too far from Memphis, and Kobe’s Lakers were coming to Beale Street to play the Grizzlies. We didn’t know how many more opportunities we’d have to see Kobe play, so I splurged and bought tickets for the row…

A crop of new books this month asks readers to consider their roots. Some of the authors of February’s most anticipated releases mine their histories to understand how the places they come from have shaped who they are. Others craft narratives that explore the complications that come with moving away but never on from the past. Some voices, like Clare Beams and R. Eric Thomas, are emerging. Others, like veterans Colum McCann and Erik Larson, are celebrated. All are exploring how attachments to home define the contours of our lives. DJINN PATROL ON THE PURPLE LINE DEEPA ANAPPARA In journalist Anappara’s first novel, a 9-year-old crime-show fanatic attempts to find his missing classmate. Jai and his two friends search all over the smoggy, unnamed Indian city where children keep disappearing,…

P.S. I Still Love You picks up where the previous book left off. Your main character, Lara Jean, has a boyfriend, but now finds herself feeling insecure. How do you get into the mindset of a teenager? I really don’t approach it any differently than when I’m writing for adults. It’s all just a human experience—and you can feel insecure about your relationship and be thinking about his past girlfriends when you’re 40 years old. It’s approaching those “teenage” emotions with the same respect and seriousness as you would for an adult love story. There are a lot of firsts in P.S. I Still Love You. First boyfriends, first dates. What’s a memorable first for you? Everything went wrong on the night of my first dance. I was 15 or…

JOHN BOLTON IS NOBODY’S IDEA OF A LEFTIST. For the better part of three decades, Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser has been a leading voice for hawkish American foreign policy, arguing for military intervention, railing against treaties and personifying the hard right wing of the Republican Party. So it was a sign of just how fraught Trump’s impeachment trial had become in its second week when the President’s defenders on cable TV began labeling Bolton a “tool for the left” and suggested he was selling out decades of unwavering ideology for personal enrichment. The short version of how Bolton became the Trumpists’ bête noire is simple. After months of hinting that he had information to share, Bolton announced on Jan. 6 that he would testify at Trump’s Senate impeachment…

HARVEY WEINSTEIN’S NEW YORK CITY RAPE and sexual-assault trial opened in dramatic fashion. Lines formed before dawn outside the lower-Manhattan courthouse. Protesters bellowed for justice for Weinstein’s accusers. A list of possible witnesses promised potential jurors a glimpse of Hollywood A-listers. But as testimony in the former Miramax chief’s trial entered its second week, something other than celebrity took center stage: the myths surrounding sexual assault, including society’s assumptions about victim behavior. And while Judge James Burke insisted at the start that this case would not be “a referendum on the #MeToo movement,” the issues that came to the fore as a result of that movement have dominated much of the testimony. “The idea that women respond to sexual assault by screaming, yelling, punching, biting—although that happens, it’s rare,”…

IN THE WAKE of Kobe Bryant’s untimely death at 41, the usual cascade of emotion set in: disbelief, shock, sadness and, for some, anger. That last emotion was born not from what was said about the superlative basketball star and doting father, but what wasn’t: rarely did the outpouring of tributes stop to acknowledge that amid the many wonderful accomplishments, Bryant did something horrific. In July 2003, Bryant was charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old employee of the Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, Colo. He admitted that he didn’t explicitly ask for consent and initially denied even having sex with the woman. He left a bruise on her neck and drew blood from her skin. After Bryant’s defense team badly intimidated the victim and smeared her reputation, she…