Newsweek November 04, 2022

1985 “An old and ailing dictator, a regime stained and weakened by corruption, a nation boiling toward revolt—the scenario conjures up American nightmares of Vietnam, Nicaragua and Iran...[this time] in the Philippines,” wrote Newsweek of Ferdinard Marcos’ 20th year as the country’s president. “Now he has become a master of evasion: his main response to criticism has been to threaten, filibuster and delay.” Elected president this summer, Marcos’ son, Ferdinand, Jr. (“Bongbong”) said he can’t envision his country without the U.S. as an ally during a recent visit to New York. 1977 “The death penalty begins a comeback,” said Newsweek analyzing the emergence of a liberal-conservative synthesis in America. “And a Democratic President named Jimmy Carter makes a balanced budget a first priority.” Today polarization dominates U.S. politics, with the parties the furthest…

Rishi Sunak (center) meets with members of the Conservative Party in the Houses of Parliament after it was announced he will become the next prime minister on October 24. The 42-year-old former finance minister will be the U.K.’s first person of color and the first Hindu to hold the top job. Sunak, along with his wife Akshata Murthy, is also among the wealthiest people in the country, worth about $828 million, according to The Sunday Times. He replaces Liz Truss, who served just 44 days—the shortest stint of any of the U.K.’s previous leaders—and must now deal with the fallout of her divisive tax-cutting policies as well as high inflation.…

Benjamin Netanyahu is the longest-serving Israeli prime minister, from 1996–1999 and 2009–2021, and is now facing another election as head of the Likud party on November 1. In his new, wide-ranging autobiography, BIBI: MY STORY (Threshold Editions), Netanyahu shares details from his brother’s death at Entebbe; his personal and political relationships; his negotiations with Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald Trump over the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iran and the Abraham Accords; how Israel secured some of the first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine; accusations of corruption and much more. Through his long career, Netanyahu’s brand of Israeli security has often brought him into conflict with others—his famously tense dealings with Obama among them. This exclusive excerpt from Netanyahu’s new autobiography offers a window into a flashpoint in their relationship—the…

“I’M YOUR CHEF, I’M NOT YOUR DOCTOR.” —Guy Fieri, celebrity chef and restaurateur “I warned the entire world on who Donald Trump truly is: a con man. A thief. A liar.”—FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY MICHAEL COHEN“We are dealing with a country, we are dealing with a dictator, who cannot give a monkey’s.”—SERGIY KYSLYTSYA, THE UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N., ON VLADIMIR PUTIN“We can’t take only safe steps that get us to maybe mediocre outcomes. We have to take risks.”—BOSTON MAYOR MICHELLE WU“I DON’T DO IT FOR ATTENTION. BUT LOOK! I’M GETTING A LOT OF ATTENTION BY DOING IT.”—Dolly Parton on philanthropy“What is worth more—art or life?”—Phoebe Plummer, climate activist who threw soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers.“UNTOUCHABLE. THAT’S WHAT HE THOUGHT. BUT NO ONE IS UNTOUCHABLE UNDER [MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN]. NOT…

THE EVENTS OF RECENT MONTHS HAVE QUASHED any remaining notion that Donald Trump might abandon his quest for political power after being turned out of office by voters two years ago. He is still holding his trademark rallies, sometimes complete with QAnon call-outs, in principle to support Republican candidates but in practice holding on to center stage to hawk his own accomplishments and grievances. The former president has had plenty of help in staying in the public eye. The House’s January 6 Committee recently voted to subpoena him to testify. The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, his home in Palm Beach, Florida, in search of classified documents he kept after leaving office. And multiple other legal woes have ensured that some news of each day features Trump. A Trump bid for the White House…

THIS YEAR’S NEWSWEEK AUTOS Awards winners are customer favorites that have evolved to be better, whether it be with a generational redo or a mid-generation refresh. A few new arrivals also won, and almost all of those are electric vehicles. Newsweek’s Autos editors rated cars in two ways: by test driving them and by comparing their standard and available features and specifications to those of other vehicles in the same category. The team drove around 200 vehicles and rated them in seven categories: performance, handling and braking, technology, cargo area, seating, interior appointments and pricing. We ranked vehicles on sale now in the U.S.—for some that means the 2022 model year, for others 2023. Many may be hard to come by due to the industry’s continuing supply chain problems. Because electric…