内容摘要：Perceptions about obesity can affect financial and other decisions. In neighboring Uganda, microfinance institutions vetted loan applicants based on their weight, and those overweight were considered more able to repay loans, according to a study published by the American Economic Review in 2023.

Perceptions about obesity can affect financial and other decisions. In neighboring Uganda, microfinance institutions vetted loan applicants based on their weight, and those overweight were considered more able to repay loans, according to a study published by the American Economic Review in 2023.

and the flare-up of conflicts in Asia.It’s Hegseth’s first time at the Shangri-La Dialogue, hosted by the International Institute for Security Studies, which is taking place against the backdrop of heightened rhetoric between Beijing and Washington. The Trump administration has threatened China with triple-digit tariffs, and there’s some uncertainty in the region over how committed the U.S. is to the defense of Taiwan, which also faces possible

China claims the self-governing democracy as its own, and Xi hasn’t ruled out taking it by force. China sends military aircraft, ships and spy balloons near Taiwan as part of a campaign of daily harassment, and currently has an aircraft carrier in the waters southeast of the island.China, which usually sends its defense minister to the Shangri-La forum, sent a much lower-level delegation instead, led by Maj. Gen. Hu Gangfeng, the vice president of the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University. The delegation was expected to speak Saturday on a panel on “cooperative maritime security” alongside representatives from Japan, Vietnam, Chile and the U.K. — notable in that China’s aggressive global fisheries tactics have been a regular topic of concern not only in the Indo-Pacific but as far away as Latin America and the Arctic.Defense officials traveling with Hegseth, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media, called the absence of a higher-level Chinese delegation an opportunity for the U.S. to make inroads.

“We can’t account for whether China engages or not. All we know is that we’re here. And we will be here,” Hegseth said as he met with Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.Hegseth’s trip to Singapore is his second to the region since becoming defense secretary, following a

, which has seen escalating confrontations with China over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.

That trip, which also included a stop in Japan, brought a degree of relief over growing concerns from the Philippines and others in the region about U.S. support from a president who has taken more of a transactional approach to diplomacy and seems wary of foreign engagements.Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego speaks during a news conference, Feb. 27, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Francis named McElroyin January, tapping one of his most progressive allies to head the Catholic Church in the U.S. capital at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. McElroy criticized Trump’s threats of mass deportations of immigrants as “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.” Francis appointed McElroy bishop of San Diego in 2015 and

in 2022. McElroy, 71, was one of a few U.S. bishops assailing a campaign to exclude Catholic politicians who support abortion rights from Communion. He has also expressed support for greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church. A native San Franciscan, McElroy received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, a master’s degree and doctorate from Stanford, and a doctorate from the Gregorian University in Rome.Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, stands for a portrait in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sept. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, File)