Table of contents for May 23, 2025 in Newsweek

THE 8:15 A.M. SCENE IN FRONT OF the school that sits on a residential street in Brownsville, Texas, just across the border with Mexico, looks much like any other school in that chaotic period before the morning bell. But Alpha School is no ordinary school. The private pre-K through eighth grade institution utilizes personalized artificial intelligence to teach an entire day of core academic lessons in just two hours. The students then spend their afternoons working on non-academic critical life skills like public speaking, financial literacy or even how to ride a bike. Staff—known as “guides,” not teachers—say they strive to facilitate a sense of independence into each child while overseeing a supportive, nurturing environment like any other attentive teacher. The innovative approach at the South Texas campus, which opened…

THE TRANSITION FROM STUDENT TO PROFESSIONAL can be both exhilarating and overwhelming. The excitement of landing a first job is often met with the reality of navigating unfamiliar expectations, learning new skills and proving oneself in a fast-paced environment. ¶ For many young professionals, a career isn’t just about earning a paycheck, it’s about growth, purpose and finding a company that values their potential. As the workforce continues to evolve, with an emphasis on flexibility, career development and company culture, Gen Z is stepping in not just to participate but to reshape the future of the workplace. ¶ The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that job openings have consistently outpaced the number of applicants since 2021, putting job seekers in a position of strength. However, not all workplaces offer…

THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY estimates that there are 130 million pieces of space junk from the 6,800-plus successful rocket launches since 1957. The South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area, near Point Nemo, is called the spacecraft cemetery as craft are routinely crashed there at the end of their usefulness. Orbital debris falls into the Earth’s atmosphere and burns up on its way back down. Until recently, many spacecraft have been single use. The longest-serving one, space shuttle Discovery, only flew a few dozen times until 2011. Now, scientists at Texas A&M University’s Department of Aerospace Engineering are developing a 3D-printed material to make spacecraft reusable, in partnership with Canopy Aerospace and enabled by a $1.7 million Air Force Small Business Technology Transfer grant. “The air around rockets becomes extremely hot as…

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV steps onto the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at around 7:15 p.m. local time on May 8, to greet a cheering crowd of more than 100,000—as well as millions watching on screens around the world. His election, by the end of the second day of the conclave, was among the fastest, and came 17 days after the death of Pope Francis. Announced with the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam!”—“We have a pope!”—Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, offered a message of humility and conviction. “With you I am a Christian and for you a bishop,” he said, declaring: “Evil will not prevail.” (Bridging the Catholic Divide: p.18.)…

AN AVID AMATEUR TENNIS player from Chicago with Creole roots who speaks five languages and is described as a consensus builder will aim to bring unity to the Catholic faith and it’s 1.4 billion adherents. Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV following the largest-ever conclave—with 133 cardinals participating—that lasted just two days. The 69-year-old, who was revealed as the church’s 267th leader on May 8 from the loggia at St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, greeted his flock cheering from the square below, and watching on TV around the world, with the words: “Peace be with you.” He expressed a desire to bridge divides in his first address, delivered in Italian and Spanish. “We want to be a synodal church, walking and always seeking peace, charity, closeness, especially…

THERE WAS EMOTION IN THE ROOM AT THE King’s Trust gala in New York City when Darnell Allman-Smith became overwhelmed on stage as he told of the assistance he received from the charity. The 26 year old had struggled to find work due to a five-year gap in his resume, time he had spent as a full-time carer for his mother, who had become seriously unwell. Guests were told he was a tough kid from a tough part of London who had not been meant to amount to anything. He also bore the grief of the sudden, unexpected death of his older brother. Help came when he had the opportunity to join a Making it in Media course through the King’s Trust, and he had a deeply profound reason for…

BROOKLYN, FOR FILMMAKER SPIKE LEE, IS WHAT Harlem was for Malcolm X: a community pulpit from which to do his life’s work and muse on America. For Malcolm, it was routinely a gritty street corner transformed into a pop-up rally, the tools of his trade the fiery speeches, the Nation of Islam newspaper, his unapologetic media interviews and his uncanny ability to mix and remix deft intellectual observations, including the most uncomfortable and harsh, with the raw poetry of the people. For Lee, it is his provocative storytelling transformed into town hall meetings on this country’s social ills, the tools of his trade the hot-button movies, the ever-changing façade of his red-brick multistory headquarters on South Elliott Place in the heart of the Fort Greene neighborhood, espousing one cause or…

ELIMINATED A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO in the U.S., measles may be on track for an “unfathomable” comeback within the next two decades. This is the warning of a study led by epidemiologists from Stanford University who modeled the impact of decreasing vaccination rates on the spread of the infectious disease. Already, waning levels of immunity have led to significant outbreaks within states—such as the recent episode in Texas that saw more than 620 cases, 64 hospitalizations and the deaths of two children. “While the effects of declining vaccination won’t be immediate, we could eventually see the return of awful complications from diseases that most clinicians today have not encountered thanks to decades of successful immunization,” said Professor Nathan Lo in a statement. “With measles, we found that we’re…