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By Keerthi Ramesh China’s record-low birth rate has renewed global concern about demographic decline, prompting renewed warnings from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who says restoring population growth should be a top priority for governments worldwide. China reported its lowest number of births since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, with deaths again outpacing births in 2025. The country’s population declined for the fourth consecutive year, underscoring the scale of a demographic shift that experts say will reshape China’s economy, labour force and social systems for decades. The drop reflects years of declining fertility following the now-ended one-child policy, rising living costs, delayed marriages and changing attitudes toward parenthood. Despite government incentives, including tax breaks, extended parental leave and housing subsidies, fewer couples are choosing to have children. Read: China advances space ambitions to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX(December 29, 2025) Musk, reacting to the data in a post on X, wrote “restoring birth rates to replacement level should be top priority for all countries,” reinforcing his long-held belief that population decline poses a serious threat to civilization. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has repeatedly argued that shrinking populations could weaken economies, strain social welfare systems and erode long-term innovation. China’s fertility rate now sits well below the replacement level of about 2.1 births per woman, placing it among the fastest-aging societies in the world. The country faces a shrinking workforce and a rapidly expanding elderly population, creating challenges for pension systems and healthcare infrastructure. While China’s decline is among the most dramatic, it is not alone. Birth rates have fallen across much of East Asia and Europe, and the trend is increasingly visible in developed economies globally. Read: Elon Musk calls Ryanair CEO ‘utter idiot’; Hints at buying airline (January 17, 2026) The United States, by contrast, remains in a comparatively stronger position. Though U.S. fertility rates are also below replacement level, population growth continues due to higher birth totals than deaths and sustained immigration. The U.S. ranks above countries like China, Japan and South Korea in demographic stability, though analysts warn it is not immune to long-term decline if current trends persist. Musk’s comments reflect both his public advocacy and personal life. The billionaire, who has fathered multiple children with different partners, has spoken openly about encouraging larger families and has framed parenthood as a societal responsibility. He has often criticized narratives warning about overpopulation, calling them misguided in an era of falling birth rates. Demographers caution that reversing fertility decline is complex. Economic pressure, urbanization, career priorities and cultural change all influence family planning decisions, and policy incentives alone rarely deliver quick results. Still, China’s latest population figures, and Musk’s blunt response, highlight a growing global anxiety: whether modern societies can sustain themselves as fewer people are born to replace the generations before them. The post Elon Musk warns of declining birthrates in China and worldwide appeared first on The American Bazaar.

By Keerthi Ramesh As the 2026 FIFA World Cup draws closer, the sport’s governing body is facing growing criticism on multiple fronts, from internal embarrassment over its newly created “peace prize” awarded to President Donald Trump to urgent reminders that the match tickets do not guarantee entry into the United States amid evolving visa policies. FIFA’s peace prize, introduced at the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C., last December, was intended to honor contributions to global unity and diplomacy. Trump accepted the award amid praise from FIFA President Gianni Infantino for his role in ceasefire efforts and diplomatic engagements. But the decision has sparked disagreements within FIFA ranks and among fans and right groups worldwide. Critics expressed that awarding the prize to a sitting political leader whose recent actions include controversial military decisions and immigration policies, undermines the organization’s stated neutrality and raises questions about its judgment. Several FIFA officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, described a growing sense of embarrassment internally. One senior source characterized the situation as “very delicate,” pointing to tensions between the global football community and political entanglements surrounding the prestigious tournament. The award’s lack of transparent requirements and timing, amid U.S. foreign policy actions that have drawn international scrutiny, has intensified concerns about FIFA’s independence and reputation. READ: Will new US screening, biometric rules impact FIFA World Cup 2026 visitors? (December 11, 2025) Beyond reputational issues, FIFA is also dealing with practical concerns from supporters planning to travel to matches across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. With the tournament less than six months away, the organization has issued repeated warnings that a World Cup ticket alone does not entitle holders to enter the United States. Fans must still secure visas under U.S. immigration law. In late 2025, the Trump administration and FIFA unveiled a new “FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System,” commonly being referred to as FIFA Pass meant simplified visa interview appointments for ticket holders. Officials say this prioritized system is designed to help manage what is expected to be a massive influx of international visitors. But State Department and FIFA leaders have stressed that prompted appointments do not guarantee a visa, urging fans to apply early and meet existing requirements. READ: FIFA launches special pass for 2026 World Cup(November 21, 2025) The heightened focus on visas comes against a backdrop of broader U.S. immigration restrictions that have affected citizens of certain nations, prompting some supporters to raise alarms about accessibility to the tournament. While teams, staff and immediate family members typically receive exemptions, ordinary fans from affected countries may find themselves unable to secure travel authorization without careful planning. For FIFA and its global audience, the 2026 World Cup is poised to be one of the most watched and commercially significant tournaments ever. But as preparations continue, the dual pressures of political controversies and logistical challenges serve as stark reminders that staging the world’s premier football event in a complex geopolitical era will require navigating far more than just matches on the pitch The post FIFA faces heat over Trump peace prize, issues visa warning appeared first on The American Bazaar.

Indian American Councilman Shekar Krishnan, has been named Chair of New York City Council’s Committee on Oversight and Investigations, considered its most powerful committee to investigate matters that affect New Yorkers. “It’s time for our City Council to fight even harder for New Yorkers, using every tool at our disposal to hold accountable those who take advantage of New Yorkers,” said Krishnan, the first Indian-American ever elected to the City Council in NYC history. “From taking on greedy corporations and bad landlords, to ensuring that the corruption we’ve seen in city government over the last four years never happens again, the Oversight Committee will be a fighter for the new era,” he said after being named for the job by Speaker Julie Menin. “I’m honored that Speaker Menin has trusted me to lead the oversight arm of our City Council and know that with a Speaker and Mayor dedicated to a more affordable city, we will fight for and defend everyday New Yorkers in every way we can.” READ: Mamta Singh takes oath on Bhagavad Gita in Jersey City (January 19, 2026) “While chairing the Oversight Committee, we’ll launch investigations against bad landlords, predatory corporations and government agencies that aren’t doing enough to protect families,” Krishnan posted on X. “We’ll ask the hard questions to hold them accountable so they can’t cheat or screw over New Yorkers together, we’ll make New York City a better place for our families.” Krishnan said he had fought for the last four years, in the interests of immigrant neighbors, workers and families. He had taken on Uber and Lyft to protect drivers from exploitation, and fought to minimize the impact of former Mayor Eric Adams’ “anti-immigrant” agenda. Krishnan has also been named to Speaker Menin’s Leadership Committee and Budget Negotiations Team. Krishnan represents District 25, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Woodside, Queens, three of the most diverse immigrant communities in the world. Before his election to City Council, Shekar was a long-time community activist in Jackson Heights and Elmhurst and civil rights lawyer fighting housing discrimination. READ: From New York to Washington, Indian Americans score wins (November 5, 2025) He co-founded the legal services organization Communities Resist, a legal services organization highly acclaimed citywide for its community-rooted, intersectional approach to housing and racial justice in North Brooklyn and Queens. Krishnan began his legal career with the landmark Broadway Triangle fair housing struggle against the City of New York, a successful case challenging a rezoning under the Fair Housing Act. He also co-founded Friends of Diversity Plaza. Located on the border of Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, Diversity Plaza has become a national symbol of how public space can bring people together. Son of immigrants from South India, Krishnan is also a father of two small children, and husband to Zoe, an immigration public defender and reproductive justice advocate. The post Shekar Krishnan to chair key New York City Council committee appeared first on The American Bazaar.

A team of Harvard and MIT scientists led by Indian American researcher Aravinthan Samuel is developing a new AI-enhanced scanning method to get a better look at brains with microscopes that work more like human eyes. Until recently, the quest to build high-resolution maps of brains — otherwise known as “connectomes” — was stymied by the slow pace and cost of powerful electron microscopes capable of systematically capturing neuroanatomy down to billionths of a meter. But now Samuel’s team has found a way to bypass that bottleneck: using machine learning to guide a simpler, less-expensive variety of microscope in real time, according to Harvard News. The idea is to home in on key details first and minimize time spent on areas of lesser interest — the same way we might zero in on words on a page instead of margins. Researchers say the innovation, known as SmartEM, will speed scanning sevenfold and open the field of connectomics to a broader research community, boosting our understanding of brain function and behavior. “SmartEM has the potential to turn connectomics into a benchtop tool,” said Samuel, a researcher in the Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science and one of the senior authors of a new paper published in Nature Methods. READ: India-born Henna Karna selected to Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative (September 5, 2025) “Our goal is to democratize connectomics,” he says. “If you can make the relatively common single-beam scanning electron microscope more intelligent, it can run an order of magnitude faster. With foreseeable improvements, a single-beam microscope with SmartEM capability can reach the performance of a very expensive and rare machine.” The method is the product of a five-year collaboration between researchers at Harvard, MIT, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and microscope manufacturer Thermo Fisher Scientific. In December, the same journal proclaimed electron microscopy-based connectomics its “Method of the Year” for 2025 and cited SmartEM an example of cutting-edge innovation. SmartEM marks a new advance in the decades-long quest to create “wiring diagrams” of brains from across the animal kingdom, from worms to fruit flies to humans. Two years ago Harvard researchers published the first nanoscale map of one cubic millimeter of human brain, according to Harvard News. Packed into that poppy-seed-sized sample were 150 million synapses, 57,000 cells, 230 millimeters of blood vessels, and a wondrous diversity of structures never seen before. Researchers elsewhere have completed connectomes for the fruit fly and zebrafish. The next grand challenge is one for the mouse, according to Harvard News. To build these maps, scientists have relied on a technique known as serial-section electron microscopy It entails shaving samples of brain tissue into thousands of ultra-thin sections, which are then scanned and imaged by powerful electron microscopes. Next the images are stacked on top of each other to create 3D digital replicas. For example, that one cubic millimeter of human brain tissue published in 2023 was sliced into more than 5,000 sections, each thinner than one-thousandth of a human hair. These endeavors pose monumental technical hurdles for both capturing the images and processing the data. Until recently, connectomics had been the exclusive purview of a small number of researchers and institutions that can afford multimillion-dollar hardware such as high-throughput electron microscopes with up to 91 beams. With growing demand to generate brain maps of many species, one obvious way to push forward connectomics is to recruit more microscopes — particularly single-beam electron microscopes, which are widely available at research institutions around the world. READ: Harvard students to host India Conference in Feb. 2026 (December 1, 2025) Their speed largely is a function of the “dwell time” that the beam devotes to each pixel. In the standard approach, specimens are scanned with the…

<p id="par-1_51">Cardi B has a good relationship <a href="https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/why-cardi-b-kept-stefon-diggs-baby-secret-parents-until-big-tv-reveal.html/">with her mother</a> now that she is an adult. They clashed a bit more in her adolescence, though. Cardi said her mother <a href="https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/cardi-b-knows-parenting-kids-mad-thinks-worth.html/">wanted to protect he</a>r as much as possible. She pushed back and wanted to be everything her mother didn’t want her to be.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cardi-b-said-she-wanted-to-be-a-different-person-than-her-mom-wanted-her-to-be">Cardi B said she wanted to be a different person than her mom wanted her to be</h2> <p id="par-2_24">While growing up, Cardi said that though she heard rap music from her neighbors, her mother never let her listen to it at home.</p> <p id="par-3_38">“My mom always wanted to keep me really childlike,” she told Mariah Carey in a conversation for <a href="https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/cardi-b-gets-a-pep-talk-from-mariah-carey" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Interview Magazine</a>. “She wanted me to listen to Barney and Disney music, so I was only interested in Barney and Disney.”</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio" id="emb-1"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <iframe title="Why Cardi B REFUSES to Hire a Nanny" width="925" height="520" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ryboNU3BX5o?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div></figure> <p id="par-4_16">When she discovered other artists, though, she wanted to do everything she could to emulate them. </p> <p id="par-5_75">“We used to go to my grandmother’s house, where they would always play BET and s***,” she said. “When I <a href="https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/music/missy-elliott-says-tweets-oops-oh-my-isnt-about-sex.html/">saw Missy Elliott</a> take off her head in a music video, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so strange. I want to do that when I grow up.’ And then I started seeing girls like Trina, and I was like, ‘She’s so sexy. I want to talk like that when I grow up.’”</p> <p id="par-6_16">Suddenly, she wanted to dress and behave in a way her mother may not have liked.</p> <p id="par-7_30">“I always wanted to be what my mom didn’t let me be,” she said. “I wanted to wear small shirts and have my belly out and wear little kitty heels.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cardi-b-has-come-to-understand-her-mom-s-concerns-for-her">Cardi B has come to understand her mom’s concerns for her</h2> <p id="par-8_30">Cardi said her <a href="https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/cardi-b-mom-shamed-wap.html/">mother has accepted</a> her for the way she is now. The rapper understands that her mother’s concerns were for her own good while she was growing up.</p> <p id="par-9_55">“When I told my mom I was a stripper that really bothered her for a minute,” she said. “But now when she hears me saying grown s***, I don’t think she gives a f*** anymore. I think she didn’t want me to grow up so fast, because the kids around my neighborhood grew up fast.”</p> <p id="par-10_14">She wanted to protect her daughter from things she was already being exposed to. </p> <p id="par-11_22">“That’s why my mom was always scared,” she said. “There was teen pregnancy all around us. She was just being a mom.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-both-her-parents-have-helped-her-with-her-children">Both her parents have helped her with her…