Latest news with #AmericanUniversity
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- General
- Bloomberg
Harvard's Identity Is Under Threat as Trump Curbs Student Visas
For Lloyd Blankfein, Harvard University's appeal to foreign students is inextricably linked to its national identity. 'It is an American institution that attracts foreigners precisely because it is an American university,' the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief said in an interview, echoing a message he delivered to the school's president last year. Blankfein had urged it to prepare for a coming attack, warning that if Harvard failed to define itself as a distinctly American force working for the public good, its detractors would advance a crippling counter-narrative.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Harvard Is Getting Sucked Into Trump's 'America First' Campaign
For Lloyd Blankfein, Harvard University's appeal to foreign students is inextricably linked to its national identity. 'It is an American institution that attracts foreigners precisely because it is an American university,' the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief said in an interview, echoing a message he delivered to the school's president last year. Blankfein had urged it to prepare for a coming attack, warning that if Harvard failed to define itself as a distinctly American force working for the public good, its detractors would advance a crippling counter-narrative.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Climate change could be fueling cancer deaths in women
Higher temperatures spurred by climate change could be increasing women's risk of cancer, a new study says. Increasing heat in the Middle East and North Africa has made breast, ovarian, uterine and cervical cancers more common and more deadly, researchers reported Monday in the journal Frontiers in Public Health. For each additional degree Celsius, cases and deaths of female cancers increased, researchers found. "As temperatures rise, cancer mortality among women also rises -- particularly for ovarian and breast cancers," lead investigator Wafa Abu El Kheir-Mataria said in a news release. She's a global health governance and health equity researcher at the American University in Cairo. Increased cancer in these countries could serve as a bellwether for what might happen in nations like the United States with currently cooler climes, researchers said. "Although the increases per degree of temperature rise are modest, their cumulative public health impact is substantial," Mataria added. For the study, researchers tracked cancers occurring in 17 Middle Eastern and North African countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudia Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian territories. These countries are already experiencing striking temperature increases tied to climate change, researchers noted. "Women are physiologically more vulnerable to climate-related health risks, particularly during pregnancy," senior researcher Sungsoo Chun said in a news release. He's associate chair of the Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology at the American University in Cairo. Researchers compared each nation's temperatures to its cancer statistics between 1998 and 2019, and found that rising heat was associated with more cancer cases and deaths. Cancers increased by 173 to 280 cases per 100,000 people for every additional degree Celsius, results show. Ovarian cancers cases rose the most, and breast cancers the least. Likewise, cancer deaths rose by 171 to 332 deaths per 100,000 for each degree of temperature rise, with the greatest increase in ovarian cancer and the smallest in cervical cancer. Six countries experienced the brunt of this increase in cases and deaths -- Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Syria. Although hotter temps are a probable risk factor, the heat might also increase other cancer risk factors like air pollution, researchers said. "Temperature rise likely acts through multiple pathways," Chun said. "It increases exposure to known carcinogens, disrupts healthcare delivery, and may even influence biological processes at the cellular level. Together, these mechanisms could elevate cancer risk over time." However, researchers noted that the study can't draw a direct cause-and-effect link between climate change and cancers. More research is needed to better understand how higher temperatures might influence cancer risk. In the meantime, researchers said public health officials should consider climate-related risks in their planning. "Strengthening cancer screening programs, building climate-resilient health systems, and reducing exposure to environmental carcinogens are key steps," Chun said. "Without addressing these underlying vulnerabilities, the cancer burden linked to climate change will continue to grow." More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about how climate change can impact human health. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
UPI
3 days ago
- Health
- UPI
Climate change could be fueling cancer deaths in women
Higher temperatures spurred by climate change could be increasing women's risk of cancer, a new study says. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News Higher temperatures spurred by climate change could be increasing women's risk of cancer, a new study says. Increasing heat in the Middle East and North Africa has made breast, ovarian, uterine and cervical cancers more common and more deadly, researchers reported Monday in the journal Frontiers in Public Health. For each additional degree Celsius, cases and deaths of female cancers increased, researchers found. "As temperatures rise, cancer mortality among women also rises -- particularly for ovarian and breast cancers," lead investigator Wafa Abu El Kheir-Mataria said in a news release. She's a global health governance and health equity researcher at the American University in Cairo. Increased cancer in these countries could serve as a bellwether for what might happen in nations like the United States with currently cooler climes, researchers said. "Although the increases per degree of temperature rise are modest, their cumulative public health impact is substantial," Mataria added. For the study, researchers tracked cancers occurring in 17 Middle Eastern and North African countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudia Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian territories. These countries are already experiencing striking temperature increases tied to climate change, researchers noted. "Women are physiologically more vulnerable to climate-related health risks, particularly during pregnancy," senior researcher Sungsoo Chun said in a news release. He's associate chair of the Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology at the American University in Cairo. Researchers compared each nation's temperatures to its cancer statistics between 1998 and 2019, and found that rising heat was associated with more cancer cases and deaths. Cancers increased by 173 to 280 cases per 100,000 people for every additional degree Celsius, results show. Ovarian cancers cases rose the most, and breast cancers the least. Likewise, cancer deaths rose by 171 to 332 deaths per 100,000 for each degree of temperature rise, with the greatest increase in ovarian cancer and the smallest in cervical cancer. Six countries experienced the brunt of this increase in cases and deaths -- Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Syria. Although hotter temps are a probable risk factor, the heat might also increase other cancer risk factors like air pollution, researchers said. "Temperature rise likely acts through multiple pathways," Chun said. "It increases exposure to known carcinogens, disrupts healthcare delivery, and may even influence biological processes at the cellular level. Together, these mechanisms could elevate cancer risk over time." However, researchers noted that the study can't draw a direct cause-and-effect link between climate change and cancers. More research is needed to better understand how higher temperatures might influence cancer risk. In the meantime, researchers said public health officials should consider climate-related risks in their planning. "Strengthening cancer screening programs, building climate-resilient health systems, and reducing exposure to environmental carcinogens are key steps," Chun said. "Without addressing these underlying vulnerabilities, the cancer burden linked to climate change will continue to grow." More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about how climate change can impact human health. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
3 days ago
- Business
What is a stablecoin and what could it mean for your finances?
The GENIUS Act, a cryptocurrency regulation bill making its way through the Senate, has thrust a little-known type of digital asset into the spotlight. The industry-backed measure establishes rules targeting stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency pegged to the value of another asset, often the U.S. dollar. If enacted, the bill could allow such crypto coins to become a mainstream tool for digital payments and investments, proponents say. Critics warn that wider adoption of stablecoins may endanger consumers and the broader economy. Here's what to know about crypto coins and how they could impact your finances: What are stablecoins? Stablecoins are a type of digital currency backed by another form of currency, like the U.S. dollar or a commodity like gold. Typically, the issuer of a stablecoin holds at least one unit of reserve currency for every stablecoin. A stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, for instance, is backed by a reserve of dollars that matches the number of coins. Stablecoins are designed to be less volatile than other forms of cryptocurrency, which experience large price swings in part because digital assets lack inherent value. Cryptocurrencies – including popular coins like bitcoin and ether – can be highly sensitive to news developments or investor behavior. In turn, such digital currencies pose difficulty for individuals trying to conduct a purchase or sale using digital assets. "Most crypto assets have nothing behind them – they're literally annotations on a database or spreadsheet," Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University who examines stablecoin policy, told ABC News. "Stablecoins have reserve assets linked to the annotations in the database." As their name suggests, stablecoins "evolved as a way of keeping a more stable price for crypto assets," Allen said. What do stablecoins mean for your finances? For now, stablecoins function primarily as a tool for crypto investors, but wider adoption could pave the way for their use as a form of digital payment in everyday purchases, some experts said. Stablecoins offer crypto investors a place to store their profits without converting the gains into fiat currency. Once a crypto trader finds a new digital asset deemed worthy of investment, the stablecoins can be used to acquire that target cryptocurrency. When the trader wants out of the new investment, he or she can cash out for more stablecoins. In other words, Allen said, stablecoins amount to a "cash-management tool." Some stablecoins offer annual yields for investors, meaning the digital assets also function as liquid assets with stable upside akin to money-market mutual funds, some experts said. In theory, both dollar-pegged stablecoins and money-market funds can be exchanged for a dollar at any time. That flexibility allows asset holders to earn small gains while retaining the capacity to sell off the asset at any time. A potential integration of stablecoins into conventional finance could allow them to be used in a manner similar to app- or debit card-based payments, some experts said. "You wouldn't need to physically transfer bills," said Steven Schwarz, a law professor at Duke University who studies stablecoins, who noted the crypto coins could have particular value for cross-border transactions. "The holy grail would be to find a so-called 'global stablecoin' – one that everyone will accept internationally," Schwarz said. What are the risks posed by stablecoins? Critics warn that stablecoins enable illicit transactions, lack consumer safeguards, and pose a threat to the wider financial system. The fundamental consumer risk in holding a stablecoin stems from the possibility that an issuer will squander the reserve assets used to back the crypto tokens, some experts said. "The risk is that you may go to the issuer of the stablecoin and say, 'Please redeem my stablecoin for the underlying reference assets,'" Schwarz said. "And the issuer may be unable to redeem the stablecoin." "The issuer may be in bankruptcy or failed to provide the assets in the first place," Schwarz added. Wider adoption of stablecoins may coincide with participation by non-bank firms, which may result in assets that lack the protection of federal deposit insurance and the anti-fraud stipulations allowing users to redeem funds spent wrongfully or mistakenly, some experts said. On a broad scale, such risky practices could pose a risk to the financial system, since asset holders could demand repayment from issuers unable to cover the reimbursements. Such a scenario could trigger a government bailout or other public policy solution at the expense of taxpayers, Arthur Wilmarth, a law professor at George Washington University, told ABC News. "These issuers could be in trouble during a crisis," Wilmarth said. "It may require a massive bailout." Stablecoins, meanwhile, account for about 3 of every 5 illicit cryptocurrency transactions, blockchain data firm Chainalysis found in January. "They're used for money laundering and sanctions evasion - that type of thing," Allen said. Some critics say the risks posed by stablecoins are exemplified by conflict-of-interest concerns raised by President Donald Trump's dealings in the crypto tokens. In March, Trump-backed crypto firm World Liberty Financial issued a stablecoin USD1. An Abu Dhabi-based investment firm earlier this month used the stablecoin to make a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance, putting Trump's company in a position to profit from the deal. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
