15DIED
Dominican
bandleader and Fania
Records co-founder
Johnny Pacheco,
often called the
Godfather of Salsa,
on Feb. 15, at 85.RELEASED
Saudi women’s-
rights activist Lou-
jain al-Hathloul, on
Feb. 10, after more
than 1,000 days in
prison for fighting for
the right to drive.EXPECTED
A second royal baby,
by Meghan Markle
and Prince Harry,
according to a
Valentine’s Day
announcement from
the couple.AWARDED
A Congressional
Gold Medal, to
Capitol Police officer
Eugene Goodman,
on Feb. 12, for
defending Congress
from rioters Jan. 6.ANNOUNCED
Plans to amend draft
laws in Australia to
require Google and
Facebook to pay
publishers “lump
sums” for news, on
Feb. 16.DIED
Pioneering jazz
pianist Chick Corea,
who helped shape
the genre for over 50
years and accrued 23
Grammys, on Feb.
at 79 from cancer.On its surface, the mandate Of
the World Trade Organization
(WTO) is relatively circumscribed:
to make and enforce rules for global
trade. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was
unanimously selected as the organi-
zation’s director-general on Feb. 15,
has much loftier goals.
Okonjo-Iweala is the first woman
and the first African to head the
WTO. She describes herself as
“someone who has lived both reali-
ties,” citing her background grow-
ing up in Nigeria, studying in the
U.S. and building her career in both
countries, with high-ranking posts at
the World Bank and as Nigeria’s Fi-
nance Minister. She believes global
trade can help ease the COVID-
pandemic, tackle climate change and
restore faith in the system of global
cooperation that has faltered in re-
cent years. But to get the WTO to a
place where it can implement such
an agenda will take work. “The worldneeds the WTO,” she told TIME in
a Jan. 29 interview. “And the WTO
needs extensive and serious reform.”
Those reforms include remak-
ing the institution’s body that settles
trade disputes between countries,
which has been widely criticized as
ineffectual, as well as elevating is-
sues like multilateralism and cli-
mate change to the WTO’s agenda.
Okonjo-Iweala told TIME that coun-
tries should consider carbon taxes
and said she was open to trade poli-
cies that target countries that aren’t
stemming emissions. To achieve her
agenda will require breaking through
thorny conflicts and resolving some
of the biggest divides in 21st century
geo politics. Okonjo-Iweala says she’s
up to the task.
“Bridging the gap among all these
groups is something that I can really
bring,” she says. “And I know a lot of
the members believe I can.”
—Justin WOrLandDIED
Rush Limbaugh
Bully pulpit of the right
By Joe Walshi first heard rush Limbaugh On
the radio circa 1989. I was on the road,
flipped on a station, and there was this
cocky voice throwing insults at liberals
and echoing so much of what I believed.
He was the original superstar conserva-
tive talk radio show host, syndicated all
over and listened to by millions every
day. He helped give birth to many other
conservative voices over these past 30-
plus years, including myself.
Limbaugh, who died on Feb. 17 at
the age of 70 of lung cancer, leaves be-
hind a movement shaped by his politics.
He was fearless, irreverent, funny and a
great talker. But I stopped listening to
him after a couple of years. His time on
the air became all about attacking and
mocking the left—sadly, when you look
at talk radio and Fox today, the vast ma-
jority of conservative media feeds mis-
information to their audiences. By so
demonizing the left, Limbaugh contrib-
uted to the dangerous polarization of
our politics today. And by trafficking in
lies and conspiracy theories, he helped
ensure that a sizable segment of Ameri-
cans no longer believes in basic truths.
This too is Limbaugh’s legacy.Walsh is a former Republican Congress-
man. He hosts the podcast F*ck SilenceMilestonesHIRED
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Guardian of global tradePOMPEII: LUIGI SPINA—AFP/GETTY IMAGES; OKONJO-IWEALA: ERIC BARADAT—AFP/GETTY IMAGES; LIMBAUGH: MARK PETERSON—REDUX