International
Students in America Lament Loan Burden
Americans are currently lamenting about the student loan burden which some students are kicking against.
If the United States Supreme Court had not overruled President Joe Biden’s programme to cancel billions of dollars in student debt, Satra D. Taylor, who borrowed $40,000 to complete her studies, could have seen that amount reduced by half.
Now the 27-year-old – who used the loan to study at the University of Michigan, supplementing a scholarship and other financial aid – is back on the hook for the whole sum.
“We created this unjust, inequitable, expensive, higher education system and so we need to redress it,” she told AFP, standing before the high court.
Biden’s forgiveness programme was meant to lift more than $400 billion in student debt weighing down the lives of millions of lower and middle-income Americans.
Certain borrowers would have been eligible to receive $20,000 in cancellations, while the vast majority were eligible for $10,000.
But the court overruled the programme Friday, stating that given the large sum, the president had overstepped his powers.
“Any American who wants to pursue higher education should be able to do so,” Taylor said.
“We have students now who have not acquired the generational wealth to pay for their cost of college, it needs to be debt-free,” added Taylor, who works for the youth advocacy group Young Invincibles.
Taylor said she was not surprised given the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, which on Thursday banned the use of affirmative action in university admission policies.
Taylor, who is African American, said the loan forgiveness decision was a setback for Black and Latino students who “would have disproportionately benefitted from this relief.”
“This is absolutely not only a social justice issue, but also a racial equity issue.”
– ‘Future generations’ –
Mina Schultz, 37, who borrowed approximately $65,000 for her studies, emphasized the impact student debt has on the entire economy.
When the pandemic hit and student loan repayments were frozen, it was “a blessing,” she told AFP from outside the Supreme Court.
People were “able to contribute more to the economy” by spending money elsewhere, whether on food as prices surged due to inflation or on things like rent, the George Washington University graduate said.
Schultz would have benefited from $10,000 in debt cancellation, which “would have been really helpful.”
That sort of money “is a huge deal to a lot of people,” said Schultz, who will be forking over some $340 per month when payments resume in several months.
Enjoying a seemingly debt-free life during the repayment pause, she was able to move out of her studio apartment and into a one-bedroom unit.
Nearby, Shanna Hayes, 34, could not contain her emotion as she spoke before several cameras: Her debt, originally $130,000, now exceeds $150,000 due to compounding interest that has accrued over the past 11 years.
“I ask you to remember that the student debt crisis impacts our grandparents, parents… children and future generations,” she told the reporters.
AFP
International
Mum rescued from Venezuela rubble with newborn baby tells BBC how he helped her survive
Tens of thousands more are missing in what the country’s interim president has described as the “most brutal natural catastrophe” in Venezuela’s history.
A mother who was pulled from the rubble of her wrecked home in Venezuela with her 18-day-old baby has told the BBC of how her son helped keep her alive.
Dayana Patino said her son Juan David gave her “motivation to be awake and alert”.
“As long as he was alive, I was going to be alive. Every now and then I was touching his nose for proof that he was still breathing,” she said.
Footage of the rescue has been shared around the world, with Juan David becoming a symbol of hope in Venezuela, which has been devastated by the twin earthquakes that hit the country on Wednesday – killing at least 1,450 people.
Tens of thousands more are missing in what the country’s interim president has described as the “most brutal natural catastrophe” in Venezuela’s history.
A civilian aircraft carrying skydivers plummeted from the sky and crashed near the eastern French town of Tomblaine on Sunday, killing everyone on board in one of the country’s deadliest light aircraft disasters in years, authorities said.
All 11 people aboard — believed to include the pilot and 10 skydivers — died in the crash, local officials confirmed. Emergency services rushed to the scene after reports of the downed aircraft, but found no survivors.
The aircraft went down in a rural area close to Tomblaine, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, shortly after takeoff on what was reportedly a routine skydiving excursion. Debris was scattered across the crash site, and a large emergency operation involving firefighters, police, and medical teams is underway.
French authorities have launched a full investigation into the cause of the tragedy. The National Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) has been notified and is expected to lead the probe, examining factors such as mechanical failure, weather conditions, or human error.
“This is a terrible tragedy that has shocked the entire community,” a local official told reporters at the scene. “Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives today.”
Skydiving operations are popular in the region, but light aircraft accidents remain rare. Sunday’s crash ranks among France’s worst involving small planes in the past decade.
More details are expected as the investigation progresses. This is a developing story.
International
Zimbabwe’s Parliament Approves Bill to Extend Presidential Terms To Seven Years
Critics say the bill is a ruse for Mnangagwa to stay in power for longer, though its backers say it will strengthen accountability and foster political stability.
• Current President Emmerson Mnangagwa
Zimbabwe’s upper house of parliament has approved a bill to extend presidential terms from five to seven years, which will allow current President Emmerson Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030.
75 senators voted in favour of the draft legislation while four voted against it, above a threshold needed for a two-thirds majority.
The bill, which also includes a provision for the president to be elected by parliament rather than by direct popular vote, will become law when Mnangagwa signs it.
Evidence that 83 years old Mnangagwa wanted to stay in power beyond the end of his second term in 2028 emerged about two years ago, when his supporters started chanting slogans at ZANU-PF rallies that he needed more time to complete his agenda.The ruling party last year resolved to change the constitution to prolong presidential terms, and the plan received cabinet backing in February.President Mnangagwa came to power after a 2017 military coup ousted longtime leader Robert Mugabe, who had been in power since independence in 1980.
Critics say the bill is a ruse for Mnangagwa to stay in power for longer, though its backers say it will strengthen accountability and foster political stability.
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