Newsweek May 9, 2025

2012 “Like the world’s first bionic man, the U.S. economy has come back better, stronger and faster than most analysts expected, and than most of its peers,” Newsweek wrote about the country’s recovery from the Great Recession. Today, the world is once again teetering on the edge of a global financial crisis. As President Donald Trump followed through on his campaign promise of global tariffs, the primary U.S. and European stock markets reported historic falls in the face of threatened tariffs worldwide—as high as 245 percent on imports from China—and the implementation of reciprocal tariffs. 1966 “Some psychiatrists believe hallucinogens can help break down the unconscious roadblocks of patients,” Newsweek wrote. Now, researchers at UC Davis have developed an LSD-derived compound, JRT, which has reduced hallucinogenic potential and could help…

World leaders and Catholic cardinals look on as Pope Francis’ coffin is carried into St. Peter’s Square for his funeral on Saturday, april 26. More than 250,000 people attended the service. The first Jesuit and first Latin american pontiff, Francis was later laid to rest in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, in Rome’s Esquilino neighborhood, just outside the Vatican—breaking from Papal tradition of burial in the grottoes beneath St. Peter’s. He died early on Easter Monday, april 21, following a stroke that led to heart failure.…

IT’S CHILLY AND SILENT INSIDE A WITNESS room adjacent to the execution chamber at Florida State Prison in Raiford. I’m about to witness Michael Anthony Tanzi exhale for the final time as the government’s retribution for kidnapping and killing 49-year-old Janet Acosta during a harrowing four-hour nightmare on April 25, 2000. Moments earlier—on April 8, 2025, almost 25 years to the day that the crime was committed—I was ushered into the small, unadorned viewing room by Florida Department of Corrections staff, who instructed me to remain silent throughout the entire procedure. Welcome to Death Row. I’m seated in the far corner of the last row in the gallery with 23 other witnesses including Acosta’s sister Julie Andrew and her niece Jennifer Vander-Wier. FDC protocol allows relatives of victims to watch…

HARVARD UNIVERSITY’S LAWSUIT against the Trump administration may persuade Supreme Court conservative justices, such as Neil Gorsuch and John Roberts, to rule against President Donald Trump if the case reaches the court, legal experts say. The Trump administration is facing a lawsuit from Harvard over its freeze on more than $2.2 billion in research grants after the university declined to comply with administration demands, including limiting campus activism, changing admissions policies and restructuring its governance. Harvard said the freeze violates its First Amendment rights, while the Trump administration argued the freeze is necessary because Harvard allegedly failed to mitigate on-campus antisemitism. The complaint filed on April 21 said the administration hasn’t identified “any rational connection between antisemitism concerns” and the research facing grant freezes. It also stated the funding freeze…

WHEN POPE FRANCIS WAS elected in 2013, both he and I were stepping into new leadership roles. Neither of us could have predicted the turbulent decade ahead, but one thing has remained constant in both of our roles—a firm and dedicated commitment to making the world a safe home for all, not just some. I’ve had the privilege of visiting the Vatican and meeting with Pope Francis twice to speak about LGBTQ people—once in 2023 with colleagues at GLAAD who led Spanish language and faith work, and a second time with transgender leaders and LGBTQ advocates from Uganda and Ghana. Each meeting was scheduled for 30 minutes; both times, we spoke for well over an hour. In a world where LGBTQ people are too often dismissed, Pope Francis made time…

SAMHITA MUKHOPADHYAY WASN’T expecting shame to come from a photo. The longtime feminist writer and former Teen Vogue editor had just moderated a panel at a media conference. She was dressed in a skirt and printed top she felt good in—until she saw a candid image someone had posted online. “It was devastating,” she told Newsweek. Mukhopadhyay took Mounjaro, an antidiabetic medication also used for weight loss, and saw dramatic results—losing 15 percent of her body weight over 18 months. She was feeling physically better, sleeping more soundly and even considering a wardrobe overhaul. But the cost of the drug forced her to stop. “I knew better,” she said. “As a feminist writer and committed proponent of body positivity, I’d spent years trying to love my body at any size.…