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
In pictures: New Year welcomed around the world
The London Eye is illuminated by the fireworks display in central London. Credit: PA Media
Fireworks lit up the midnight sky over Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House during New Year’s Day celebrations in Australia. Credit: AFP via Getty Images.
The UK rings in the new year with a spectacular fireworks display over London’s Big Ben. Credit: EPA
The London Eye is illuminated by the fireworks display in central London. Credit: PA Media
Scotland welcomes 2026 with world-renowned fireworks over Edinburgh Castle. PA Media
Fireworks light up the sky over the Brandenburg Gate during celebrations in Berlin. Credit: EPA
Crowds on Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France enjoy a light show and fireworks on the Arc de Triomphe. Credit: EPA
A firework display from the top of Auckland’s Sky Tower welcomed in the New Year. Credit: Shutterstock
Then Australia lit up the sky over the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Credit: Shutterstock
Source: BBC
International
Doumboya wins Guinea presidential election
Doumbouya, 41, faced eight rivals for the presidency but the main opposition leaders were barred from running and had urged a boycott of the vote held over the weekend.
•Guinea President Mamady Doumbouya (C) greets supporters during his final campaign rally ahead of the country’s presidential election in Conakry on December 25, 2025. (Photo by PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP)
Guinea’s junta chief Mamady Doumbouya, who had pledged not to run for office after he seized power four years ago, has been elected president.
Doumboya secured a sweeping majority of the vote – 86.72 percent of the first-round vote, according to the General Directorate of Elections, well over the threshold that would trigger a runoff vote.
Voter turnout stood at 80.95 percent, according to Djenabou Toure, head of the General Directorate of Elections, on Tuesday
Doumbouya, 41, faced eight rivals for the presidency but the main opposition leaders were barred from running and had urged a boycott of the vote held over the weekend.
Doumbouya had placed well ahead in districts of the capital Conakry, often winning more than 80 percent, according to official partial results read out by Toure earlier on RTG public television.
He had a similar lead in several other areas, including Coyah, a town near Conakry, and in other parts of the country, such as Boffa and Fria in the west, Gaoual in the northwest, northern Koundara and Labe, and Nzerekore
International
China to launch digital yuan” or “e-CNY” Jan 1
People’s Bank of China (PBoC) Deputy Governor Lu Lei, said “The future digital yuan will be a modern digital payment and circulation means issued and circulated within the financial system.”
Image: China digital currency
China will on January 1 launch an “action plan” for boosting management and operations of its digital currency, a deputy governor of the country’s central bank said Monday.
AFP reports that monetary authorities around the world have in recent years been exploring ways to digitalise currencies, propelled by a boom in online payments during the pandemic and the increased popularity of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
People’s Bank of China (PBoC) Deputy Governor Lu Lei, said “The future digital yuan will be a modern digital payment and circulation means issued and circulated within the financial system.”
In the next step towards that goal, a “new generation” arrangement for digital yuan will be launched on January 1, Lu said, encompassing a “measurement framework, management system, operating mechanism and ecosystem”.
The “action plan” will see banks pay interest on balances held by clients in digital yuan — a move to incentivise broader adoption of the currency.
The plan also includes a proposal to establish an international digital yuan operations centre in the eastern financial hub of Shanghai, the report said.
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