Innholdsfortegnelse for December 27, 2024 i Newsweek

THE HORRIFYING EXECUTION OF UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City on December 4 has reignited a national conversation about private health insurance, reflecting a wide-reaching consensus among Americans of all political stripes that the industry is deeply flawed. Online, conservatives and liberals alike have expressed reactions ranging from indifference to schadenfreude over Thompson’s murder, citing their gripe with the U.S. health care system and the companies, like UnitedHealthcare, that have denied their medical claims in the past. When asked for comment, United-Health Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, referred Newsweek to a December op-ed in The New York Times by its CEO Andrew Witty, in which he said: “While the health system is not perfect, every corner of it is filled with people who try to do their…

AFTER GOING FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AND A half, Taylor Swift’s behemoth “The Eras Tour” has come to an end—breaking 18 records during its run. “The Eras Tour” was Swift’s sixth concert tour and is named after the stages of her career, with each show spanning three-and-a-half hours. Beginning in March 2023, the tour saw the pop superstar perform 149 shows across five continents. At 34 years old, Swift was already the most-streamed artist on Spotify in 2023 and 2024. She holds the record for most “Album of the Year” Grammys. But her groundbreaking “Eras Tour” is a game-changer unto itself, as it has gone on to be the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. Newsweek has compiled the records Swift broke with her worldwide tour, courtesy of Action…

Firefighters battle the Franklin Fire on Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway on December 11. The wildfire, which began two days earlier, resulted in about 20,000 people being placed under evacuation orders or warnings, including Mary Poppins actor Dick Van Dyke, who was assisted by neighbors days before his 99th birthday. Students at nearby Pepperdine University were under shelter-in-place orders for two nights. It took almost 2,000 firefighters to control the blaze as it engulfed more than 4,000 acres in northwestern Los Angeles. In contrast to the Woolsey Fire in the same area in November 2018, in which three people were killed and nearly 500 homes were destroyed, in this fire only 19 structures were destroyed and there were no fatalities or serious injuries.…

CHINA’S AMBITION TO BE the world’s greatest space power is taking it to the Moon, to other planets—and to the sepia dust of Chile’s Atacama Desert. Here, in a lunar-looking landscape in the South American country, diggers are smoothing a rocky plain beneath an 8,600-foot Andean peak for a new astronomical observatory where Chinese scientists will monitor objects orbiting Earth and seek new stars—and where they could also conduct research that helps China’s fast-growing military space program under an agreement that leaves Chilean counterparts largely in the dark. Newsweek has tracked China’s rapid expansion as a global power, from a verdant Caribbean island where it is building a foothold on America’s doorstep, to the icy Arctic North where its growing presence is a challenge to the U.S. and NATO allies.…

EUROPEAN DEFENSE COMPANIES, ESPECIALLY smaller businesses, are being blocked from investment they sorely need by sustainability rules, a senior NATO official and several industry figures have said. The claims come as NATO’s continental members urgently try to boost defense spending and production in the face of worrying moves from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Europe’s financial sector “says it’s not ethical to invest in defense industry,” or to support “an industry that also produces things for the nuclear weapons in the world,” Admiral Rob Bauer, the outgoing chief of NATO’s military committee, said in an interview with Newsweek. “To those, I say, ‘Go to Syria, go to Gaza, go to Ukraine, go to Yemen. See what war does to a country, to a city, to people.’” Other investors are…

CORPORATE SUCCESS IS NOT DEFINED SOLELY BY THE bottom line. This year, a group of companies set themselves apart as champions of business excellence by balancing financial success with a dedication to ethical practices, social responsibility and global sustainability. ¶ Newsweek and Best Practice Institute (BPI) proudly present the Excellence 1000 Index 2025. This ranking honors organizations across more than 25 industries that are leading the way in the corporate world. These companies prove that thriving requires not just strategic acumen but an unwavering commitment to doing the right thing for their stakeholders. ¶ We reviewed over 25,000 companies and identified 5,200 that uphold the highest standards, ultimately recognizing the top 1,000 for this achievement. Our rigorous methodology evaluated financial health through key metrics like revenue, R&D investment and website…

IT IS AN UNLIKELY RETURN reminiscent of Harry Potter, “The Boy Who Lived”, himself (or the Dark Lord Voldemort, depending on your opinion). J.K. Rowling, author of the globally adored fantasy series who in recent years became a pariah in some quarters over her views on transgender people, appears to have just won the culture war she has been fighting for the past five years. Since 2019, Rowling has sparked impassioned debate—and backlash—over her statements on trans women and insistence on using male pronouns to describe them. The British-born writer has publicly supported women who question the legitimacy of trans women’s gender identities and has dedicated much of her feed on X, formerly Twitter, to speaking out on the issue. Celebrities condemned her statements, social media users labeled her views…