7
KILLED
Two U.S. and
one U.K. service
members on a
coalition base
north of Baghdad,
on March 11, by
rockets. The attack
prompted retaliatory
U.S. airstrikes on
militia groups backed
by Iran.
BLOCKED
A Trump Admin
istration rule change
that would have cut
700,000 people
from food stamps, by
a federal judge, on
March 13.
DELAYED
The launch of Europe
and Russia’s new
Mars rover, by their
space agencies,
on March 12.
Engineers were
unable to prepare
the robot in time for
its planned launch
this summer and
will have to wait until
2022—the next time
the planets will be
favorably aligned.
LEFT
The New England
Patriots, by longtime
quarterback Tom
Brady, on March
- He plans to
sign with the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers,
according to multiple
reports.
DISABLED
A network of
Russialinked
troll accounts, by
Facebook and Twitter,
the companies said
on March 12. The
accounts aimed to
stoke racial tensions
among U.S. voters.
SENTENCED
Former California
Congressman
Duncan Hunter,
on March 17, to
11 months in prison,
for using $200,
in campaign
funds for personal
expenses.
Former Israeli army chief Gantz campaigns at a rally
in Tel Aviv on Feb. 29, ahead of March electionsCHOSEN
A challenger to form
Israel’s new government
Step toward unity
Israel has suffered crIpplIng polItIcal deadlock for
months. Now the COVID-19 outbreak might succeed in doing
what three elections in a year could not: forming a government.
On March 15, Israeli political parties backed the centrist op-
position leader, Benny Gantz of the Blue and White Party, to form
a governing coalition. It was a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, who won more seats
in the March 2 elections but fell short of a majority. Now Gantz, a
former Israel Defense Forces chief of staf, has received a narrow
majority of nominations in Israel’s parliament, including from
Arab-Israeli dominated parties.
The wrangling comes at a tricky time. As of March 17, Israel
had recorded 304 COVID-19 infections, but its transitional gov-
ernment is limited in its ability to make tough decisions to tackle
the outbreak. And Netanyahu isn’t going anywhere just yet: his
trial for corruption charges, scheduled to begin on March 17, has
now been postponed for two months because of the virus.
With a month to cobble together a coalition, Gantz promised to
“extend my elbows” to leaders across the political divide, a refer-
ence to the fact that handshakes are no longer an acceptable greet-
ing in the age of the coronavirus. “These are not normal days,”
Gantz said, also signaling an openness to partnering with Netan-
yahu. He resolved to form a government of national unity “within
days” that would “heal the Israeli society of the corona virus, as well
of the virus of hatred and division.” —Joseph hIncksMilestones
DIED
Barbara Harris
Church pioneer
When BarBara c. harrIs,
who died on March 13 at 89,
became the first woman to
be ordained an Episcopal
bishop in 1989, she was alert
to breaking centuries of pre-
cedent. “The miter fits just
fine!” she assured the con-
gregation in Boston’s Hynes
Convention Center, as she
put on the bishop’s ceremo-
nial headdress.
The elevation of Har-
ris, a divorced 59-year-old
African American who had
never graduated from semi-
nary, challenged traditional
notions of church leader-
ship. It came at a time when
women had been serving as
Episcopal priests for only
15 years. “There seem to be
fresh winds blowing across
the church,” she said shortly
after her election, noting that
some would find them “fear-
some as a hurricane.” For
the next 13 years, as bishop
for the Diocese of Massa-
chusetts, Harris dismantled
those fears, speaking out
against homophobia and
South Africa’s apartheid re-
gime, while exhorting con-
gregants to support victims
of the AIDS epidemic as well
as incarcerated men and
women—always remind-
ing them that “God has no
favorites.” —aryn Baker