Gem

For more than a decade, the conflict in Syria appeared too intense, too complex, and too intertwined in geopolitics to be resolved, with the international community choosing to prioritize managing and containing the symptoms rather than seeking to resolve their root causes. However, that all changed in late 2024, when armed opposition groups toppled the Assad regime in 10 days. Today, the country remains extraordinarily fragile and marked by the debilitating effects of a lengthy civil war. Despite a widespread national consensus on the need to reunify Syria, malign and destabilizing actors remain active, including ISIS, Iran, and pro-Assad loyalist insurgents. Nevertheless, there is now a historic opportunity to reshape Syria for the first time in more than half a century. And engagement by the international community will be critical to the country’s success.

The evidence from proprietary MyinTuition data is consistent with that obtained from net price calculators for the category of highly endowed private colleges. This correspondence suggests that data gathered from net price calculators is reasonably reliable as well. Collectively, these data indicate that the perception of rising college costs in the last five to ten years is not accurate.

But that does not mean that college is broadly affordable. Whether or not a student whose family earns $300,000 or more per year can afford a $90,000 price tag is an open question. But at many institutions, families earning $40,000 are still expected to come up with $15,000 to $20,000 per year. It seems clear that amount is not affordable. Only the highly endowed institutions charge a price that these low-income families can afford through, say, limited student employment. A large tax on the endowments of these institutions may imperil their ability to offer that level of financial aid.

It is not difficult to understand why there is such uncertainty regarding college pricing. The system is sufficiently complicated that it is difficult for a student or family to know how much it will cost them to attend college. Politicians and those in the media similarly face information constraints in setting policy and reporting on college costs. We need to improve the transparency of college pricing if we are to increase awareness of its true cost. Transparency and affordability in our college pricing system are critical issues. The emphasis on rising sticker prices should not be our focus.

"My first message would be, if you're not comfortable, don't let your kids be on Roblox. That sounds a little counter-intuitive, but I would always trust parents to make their own decisions," the company's director noted.

"My first message would be, if you're not comfortable, don't let your kids be on Roblox. That sounds a little counter-intuitive, but I would always trust parents to make their own decisions," the company's director noted.

"My first message would be, if you're not comfortable, don't let your kids be on Roblox. That sounds a little counter-intuitive, but I would always trust parents to make their own decisions," the company's director noted.

"My first message would be, if you're not comfortable, don't let your kids be on Roblox. That sounds a little counter-intuitive, but I would always trust parents to make their own decisions," the company's director noted.

‘People are going to die’ if cuts continues, mental health workers warn

Chinese officials also want consumers to spend more to spur economic growth, but they're not willing to provide a lot of support.

Chinese officials also want consumers to spend more to spur economic growth, but they're not willing to provide a lot of support.

• Remittance companies Remitly ($RELY) and Western Union ($WU) face a trifecta of risk: slowing growth in key markets; more affordable competition from peer-to-peer apps, cryptocurrency, or card-to-card options; and now, federal scrutiny of cross-border transfers tied to cartels that the United States designated terrorist groups in February.
• Remitly is the “fastest growing partner” of Grupo Elektra/Banco Azteca, a conglomerate accused of cartel money laundering. Western Union and MoneyGram also work with Elektra, whose stock plummeted more than -75% in 2024.
• Elektra has helped fuel Remitly’s growth since the start of their “direct partnership” in 2021, but also may have implicated Remitly in a cartel laundering scheme detailed by Reuters, Univision, and a major Mexican investor. Remitly is used by “‘money-mule’ networks,” according to an investigative nonprofit. All of Remitly’s revenue is from cross-border remittances.
• Remittances have been linked to the fentanyl trade by federal agencies and academics. The Trump administration’s crackdown began with new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) restrictions issued March 11, which lower the reporting threshold for remittance companies in specific regions to $200 from $10,000 — the start of an “all government effort” to fight cartels, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Vice President JD Vance introduced a bill to tax remittances as a senator. Secretary of State Marco Rubio restricted remittances to Cuba his first week in office. Several states are also imposing costs on remittances.
• In February, Congress unanimously advanced the Stop Fentanyl Money Laundering Act of 2025 from committee with bipartisan support. The Act mandates the Treasury Department to strengthen regulations on financial institutions including remittance companies.
• Policies targeting remittance platforms could also impact immigrants sending money back home to loved ones. “People who barely scrape by and try to send money home, if they have to show IDs, and companies take their commissions, then it is extra punitive to add more taxes, more tariffs, in the supposed effort to fight the cartels and fentanyl,” a former kindergarten teacher and U.S. Navy veteran who has sent remittances to Mexico for 30 years told Hunterbrook Media. “These people are not the culprit.”
• Growth in remittances has already decelerated, according to the Bank of Mexico, from 25.9% in 2021 to just 2.3% in 2024. Western Union’s CEO told investors on March 11 that the remittance company has seen a “slowdown in our Latin America business” and guided lower for Q1 2025, blaming “anxiety in the marketplace post-election.”
• Remitly initially launched with the promise of charging users less to send money home, then hiked fees and cut website comparisons to incumbents like Western Union and MoneyGram, which now charge similar amounts. A study by the government of Mexico found Remitly to be the most expensive option for remittances — with the company obfuscating charges through a worse exchange rate.
• Remittance companies are fighting a wave of competition from more affordable options: 1) card-to-card programs like Visa Direct; 2) cryptocurrency, from apps like Coinbase and Robinhood to stablecoins like Tether and Circle; and 3) peer-to-peer transfers like Venmo, Zelle, and Cash App.
• Remitly’s CFO, chief accounting officer, and other executives departed within the past year, following material weaknesses in SEC filings. The CEO, CBO, and former COO have each rapidly sold Remitly stock in recent months.
• Remitly, Western Union, MoneyGram, Banco Azteca, and Grupo Elektra did not reply to repeated requests for comment. They did not deny cartel activity on their platforms or respond regarding any efforts to limit cartel transfers. In 2017, Remitly’s CEO argued to Congress: “Digital remittance providers like Remitly provide an additional layer of security against consumer fraud and money laundering risks by not accepting cash and by providing services directly to the end customer without relying upon the use of an agent network or other intermediary.”