Table of contents for May 30, 2025 in Newsweek

THERE ARE “ALTERNATIVES” TO the U.S.-made F-35 fighter jet, Canada’s Mark Carney said before becoming the country’s prime minister amid a souring of relations with Washington. Some agree, others don’t. Canada put its planned F-35 procurement from the U.S. under review in March, although its defense ministry said it is not “canceling” the deal to receive dozens of the Lockheed Martin-made fighter jets. It now faces a dilemma: Does Ottawa do away with billions of dollars of investment and all the work to prepare its air force for the F-35s, or does it continue with the planned purchase? The Canadian government announced in 2023 that it had signed a deal worth $19 billion CAD (roughly $13.7 billion USD) to buy 88 F-35s. The agreement was the biggest investment in Canada’s…

THE WORLD’S GROWING CLIMATE CRISIS—exacerbated by factors like increased greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation—is one of humanity’s greatest threats, according to scientists. This January was the warmest globally on record, according to the World Meteorological Record. As temperatures and sea levels rise across the globe, extreme weather phenomena may happen more frequently and precipitation patterns may become more unpredictable, causing either severe droughts or increased flooding. Despite the challenges ahead, businesses are stepping up to reduce their carbon footprint. And that’s why Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group are proud to recognize Newsweek’s World’s Greenest Companies 2025, featuring companies like ASR Nederland, Dayforce, Paragon Banking Group, Sopra Steria and Vonovia who are prioritizing environmental sustainability. Newsweek has partnered with Plant-A Insights and GIST Impact to spotlight businesses worldwide who are determined…

As part of his four-day visit to the Middle East, U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Yousif Al Obaidli, director of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, during a tour of the site on May 15 in the Emirati capital. Trump’s trip to the Gulf, which included visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, netted a list of deals with the wealthy nations, including an agreement with the UAE to construct an AI data complex in Abu Dhabi and another with Qatar to buy U.S.-made Boeing planes. (Feeling the Strain: p.10.)…

SAYING “PLEASE” AND “THANK you” to ChatGPT emerged primarily as a form of social etiquette combined with a superstition that, one day, an AI overlord might be able to know if you were nice to it or not. But is it effective? And did you know it comes at a cost? Few tech companies have managed to become synonymous with their industry, but OpenAI has succeeded in doing so with the most important technology in modern times: artificial intelligence. ChatGPT has cemented itself as the go-to generative AI and, as of 2025, remains the most-used AI chatbot on the market. Its widespread adoption in both everyday life and the private sector has created a new market for the best prompts and phrases to get the most out of the AI.…

IT’S A CLICHE TO SAY THAT THE TEENAGE years are a time of quick changes and nonstop milestones. For Alex Eala, though, that truism exists on an entirely different level. Consider the 19-year-old tennis player’s 2025 to date. At the Miami Open, the Filipina ace made international headlines by knocking off Madison Keys and Iga Świątek, two of the top five players in the world. That pushed Eala into the WTA Top 100, making both personal and national history. Eala was in Spain for the recent Madrid Open during the massive blackout that halted life on the Iberian Peninsula, made her Italian Open debut in early May—where she also reached the doubles quarterfinals with current No. 2 Coco Gauff—and will enter a Grand Slam via the main draw for the…

EVEN BEFORE DONALD TRUMP’S VISIT TO THE Middle East, the first international trip of his second administration, signs of disagreement had emerged between the U.S. president and one of the men who most enthusiastically welcomed his return to office. Trump’s decision to skip Israel on his tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates comes as he appeared to sideline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on several key issues related to the regional conflict that has emerged over the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Now, “the profound extent of their schism” has been laid bare by the White House’s nuclear diplomacy with Iran, direct talks with the Palestinian Hamas movement and Yemeni Ansar Allah—also known as the Houthis—and heightened tariffs against Israel, according to Shalom Lipner, former…

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP HAS SAID HE WANTS TO return the United States to a “golden age” of manufacturing and is trying to force the issue for many industries by slapping high tariffs on foreign products. However, their implementation, marked by abrupt shifts, pauses and fluctuations in levies, has sparked instability across the U.S. economy, as well as rattled global markets and longstanding partnerships. To some, like former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, the initial disruption is the path to a “robust,” “hegemon-like,” “reindustrialized” America—one that promises to put tens of thousands back to work in well-paying manufacturing jobs. Others, like Colin Grabow, associate director at the Cato Institute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, argue the entire premise of reshoring and reindustrialization is flawed, as American manufacturing…