Columbia University president Minouche Shafik is no stranger to navigating complex international issues, having worked at some of the world’s most prominent global financial institutions. At the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, for example, she tackled both the European debt crisis and the Arab Spring. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] It remains to be seen, however, if her experience with world conflicts has sufficiently equipped her to navigate the thorny challenges she faces amid ongoing student protests over the Israel-Hamas war. “The reason you protest is to call attention ..read more

U.S. births declined in 2023 to their lowest level in more than 40 years, continuing a two-decade trend of Americans having fewer children. Total births for the year fell 2% to 3.59 million, according to preliminary data released Thursday from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, a level not seen since 1979, when about 3.4 million U.S. babies were born. The rate of U.S. women of child-bearing age having babies is the lowest since the center began compiling statistics, said Brady Hamilton, an NCHS demographer and lead author of the report. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Birth rat ..read more

It could almost have been a vacation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday to be whisked to a basketball game and a dinner of steamed buns atop a balcony overlooking the city’s Ming Dynasty Yu Garden. America’s top diplomat even took time to post on Instagram from Shanghai’s neo-classical Bund, where he lauded the students and business leaders “building bridges and ties between our countries” as the neon lights of the Lujiazui business district twinkled in the background. “Face to face diplomacy matters,” Blinken said, collar gaping. [time-brightcove not-tg ..read more

Actress Jane Fonda plans to devote the rest of her life to the fight for climate justice, because she knows just what we stand to lose.  “I grew up to the sounds of coyotes and nightingales and mourning doves. I’ve swum and scuba dived on the Great Barrier Reef and in the Galapagos, I’ve looked at sea turtles right in the eye,” she said after accepting an Earth Award from TIME CEO Jessica Sibley on Wednesday evening. “One of the big problems is that we’ve become alienated from nature.”  [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In recent years, Fonda has become known as a champion for envir ..read more

“This isn’t happenstance,” remarked Gloria Walton, former TIME Earth Award honoree, on the environmental justice movement being recognized as a powerful force. “It is a reality created by the energy and love of frontline communities and grassroots organizations who have worked for decades,” Walton said, as she presented an Earth Award to the man known as the “Father of Environmental Justice,” Robert Bullard. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Bullard, who was appointed to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council in 2021, spoke of the long fight he’s waged for environmental justic ..read more

Designer Gabriela Hearst accepted a TIME Earth Award on Wednesday, presented to her by actress Jodie Comer, who praised Hearst’s commitment to sustainability through simplicity.  Hearst made clear that the admiration was mutual. “Artists and scientists hold the important keys to get us out of the mess we have gotten ourselves in,” she said before discussing her passion for clean energy. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Hearst has weaved sustainability into her namesake company’s practices—her brand sells handbags on a made-to-order basis, and is constantly finding new ways to reduce was ..read more

Nemonte Nenquimo believes that Mother Nature is sending us a message—we just need to listen. “She’s crying. She’s shouting. She’s screaming. She’s saying that I am when the tides are rising, the rivers are rising. There are droughts. And this is my language. This is my alarm to you.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Nenquimo, an Indigenous leader of the Waorani peoples in Ecuador and founder of the nonprofits Ceibo Alliance and Amazon Frontlines, has focused much of her activism on preserving the Amazon from deforestation and oil extraction. The warning signs of the climate crisis are a remi ..read more

Former Secretary of State John Kerry knows that battling the climate crisis is an uphill battle— but that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up the fight.  “Every analysis of finance of the transition to clean energy says we need something like 2.5 to 4.5 trillion dollars every year for the next three years,” said Kerry during his TIME Earth Award acceptance speech, after being presented the honor by former honoree Tom Steyer. “No government can do that and no government will do that.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Though the funding needed to tackle the climate crisis far outpaces what ..read more

Business leaders across a range of industries agreed in a Wednesday discussion that the acceleration with which AI can transform society is practically unprecedented—and that, with proper regulation, that should be a good thing. “This thing is so transformational,” said Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel, speaking at the TIME100 Summit. (Booking.com was a premier partner sponsor of the summit.) “Anybody who says things like, ‘Well, it’s like when we came up with the internet first,’ or they say ‘Well maybe it’s like the invention of electricity.’ I go back: This is like fire. This is like when ..read more

The Covid-19 pandemic made issues with access to medical care apparent. At the Time100 Summit on Wednesday, three healthcare officials discussed how the concept of meeting people where they are could help improve the whole industry.  Dr. Toyin Ajayi, the CEO and co-founder of Cityblock Health, Dr. Raj Panjabi, a former White House senior director and special assistant to President Joe Biden, and Dr. Luther T. Clark, the deputy chief patient officer at Merck, each pointed to their own versions of bringing health care to people in a conversation moderated by TIME Senior Health Corresponde ..read more