Newsweek January 23, 2026

1965 “If America can adjust to this change, it will indeed become a place where livin’ is easy,” Newsweek said of automation’s promise, predicting an era of “space-age gadgetry”—from “portable translators” to home computer systems that would let people shop, bank and pay bills without leaving home. Today, those once-futuristic ideas have materialized through innovations like internet and the iPhone, which debuted in 2007. According to Pew Research, 91 percent of Americans now own a smartphone—placing a camera, GPS, digital wallet and even translation software on a single, readily available portable device. 1975 “It’s the blue-collar workers who are bearing the brunt of the slump,” Newsweek wrote, citing a 16 percent unemployment rate in construction. With nearly 300,000 tech sector layoffs since January 2024, blue-collar work has proved more resilient;…

STUDENT PROTESTERS HAVE BEEN OUT AGAIN IN SERBIA’S CHILLY WINTER WINDS TO gather signatures demanding an early election to try to oust President Aleksandar Vucic. Pressure is growing on Vucic after more than a year of anti-corruption protests. They were first triggered by the deadly collapse of a railway station canopy and have continued despite their suppression by security forces and arrests by a government that has accused demonstrators of seeking a Western-orchestrated “color revolution.” Another blow to Vucic near the end of 2025 was the withdrawal of an investment firm linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner from a plan to build a Trump Tower on a controversial site in Belgrade—in part because of the growing protests. Then a key oil refinery had to stop processing crude…

WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DOMINATING global business news, we wanted to gain insight into how corporate executives are thinking about AI implementation. Is AI a good or bad thing? How much are they using AI, and what benefits are they seeing? How are they adjusting organizational processes and structures in light of AI? In conjunction with The Official Board, we sent a survey to corporate executives in June 2025. We received 240 responses, well diversified by industry and region. What we learned is that there is a disconnect between the splashy AI news headlines and what executives are seeing in practice. According to these executives, the AI myths do not reflect the AI reality. MYTH _ AI is a threat. “Experts predict ‘superintelligent’ AI could build a robot army to wipe…

NEW PHOTOS RELEASED TO NEWSWEEK OFFER A GLIMPSE AT a sophisticated aerial drone designed to fly alongside the advanced fighter jets that will dominate the skies in decades to come. The images, which have not previously been publicly available, are the latest look at U.S. defense giant Northrop Grumman’s Project Talon drone, which the company says it developed in just 15 months. The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy are looking for unmanned, collaborative combat aircraft—CCAs—that will accompany crewed fighter jets, but come with a much lower price tag than a piloted jet. CCAs could end up costing roughly a third of a fighter jet, according to experts and congressional research. The Air Force awarded initial contracts to Anduril, Boeing, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, known as GA-ASI, Lockheed Martin and…

WHEN SADDAM HUSSEIN FOUND HIM-self in U.S. custody months after a shock and awe invasion swiftly toppled his government, one FBI agent—as later recalled by former President George W. Bush—famously cited the Iraqi leader as saying: “I just didn’t believe Bush.” It’s hard not to attribute a similar mentality to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, now detained along with his wife, Cilia Flores, at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York City, to face charges of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. It follows a daring, roughly two-hour-long Delta Force raid that seized the couple out of their home on in the early hours of January 3. Just days earlier, the Venezuelan leader was seen dancing in the streets of Caracas, lauding the mobilization of millions of militia fighters and even reportedly…

CHOOSING WHERE TO UNDERGO AN orthopedic or ophthalmic procedure can be challenging across Asia and Latin America, where private hospitals and clinics vary widely in specialization, clinical capabilities and technological investment. From world-class metropolitan medical centers to smaller independent facilities, both regions offer an enormous range of options—yet how well individual providers perform for specific surgeries can differ. Demographic trends are intensifying the need for specialized care. In Asia, the population aged 60 and older is expected to reach nearly 1.3 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. In Latin America, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean warns that rapid population aging is reshaping health care demand, with adults 60 and older becoming one of…