International

The Biden administration will forgive $6.1 billion in debt of art students

The U.S. Government announced on Wednesday that it will forgive more than 6.1 billion dollars in debt of about 317,000 students of the Art Institute, a large network of private schools spread throughout the country that had to close due to several crises.

The announcement of the Department of Education indicated that the benefit will be for students who enrolled in any of the headquarters of the Institute of Art between January 1, 2004 and October 16, 2017, just before the network of design schools lost its accreditation and began their problems to maintain its activity, which ceased in 2023.

“The Department determined that that institute and the owning company Education Management Corporation made false statements to potential students about employment possibilities, salaries and services in that period,” the statement said.

In October 2017, the company sold the remaining headquarters and all the still existing properties of the Art Institute, under a different owner, ceased operations in September 2023.

“For more than a decade, hundreds of thousands of hopeful students took loans to attend the Institute of Art and received little in return,” said the Secretary of Education, Miguel Carmona.

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“We have to continue protecting borrowers from predatory institutions, and work for an education system that is affordable for students and taxpayers who pay taxes,” the official added.

Today’s announcement comes when the presidential election is less than 29 weeks away and Joe Biden’s government faces a wave of protests in universities against the support that the United States gives to Israel in its war in Gaza.

In June 2023, in a decision supported by the six conservative magistrates, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that Biden’s Executive had exceeded his powers with a plan for the cancellation of about $400 billion in student debt.

That plan would have benefited more than 43 million people, according to the Government’s calculations. Since then, Biden has approved measures that have been canceling or reducing the debts of different segments of the indebted population.

Through adjustments in debt relief programs, the Department of Education has eliminated debts for a total of almost 160 billion dollars incurred in the university education of 4.6 million people, according to the official statement.

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International

Zelenski urges global action after russian ballistic missile strike

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski called on the international community Thursday to “respond” to Russia’s ballistic missile strike on Ukraine, which he said has heightened the “escalation and brutality” of the conflict.

“The world must react. So far, there has been no strong response,” Zelenski lamented in a social media statement.

“We must act. We must pressure. We must push Russia towards real peace, which is only achievable through strength,” he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Thursday that Russia had launched a new type of hypersonic ballistic missile against Ukraine in its “non-nuclear configuration.”

International

Elon Musk plans sweeping cuts to U.S. bureaucracy and spending

Elon Musk has pledged massive cuts to government programs, subsidies, and bureaucracy in his anticipated role as a “State Efficiency” leader, according to an article published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal.

The billionaire entrepreneur plans to target hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending, including funds for public broadcasting and Planned Parenthood. Musk called government bureaucracy an “existential threat” to American democracy.

Teaming up with fellow businessman and Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk aims to streamline federal regulations and implement significant administrative and cost reductions.

“We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as external volunteers, not federal officials or employees,” Musk and Ramaswamy stated in the article.

International

Putin warns of escalation, suggests strikes on western weapon suppliers

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the conflict in Ukraine is taking on the characteristics of a “global war,” warning that Russia might target Western nations supplying Ukraine with weapons used in attacks on Russian territory.

These remarks come after a day of heightened tensions, during which Russia launched a state-of-the-art medium-range missile designed to carry a nuclear warhead. However, this particular missile was loaded with conventional explosives.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the missile strike, calling it the action of a “deranged neighbor” using Ukraine as a “military testing ground.”

Earlier, Ukraine accused Russia of attacking the central-eastern city of Dnipro with a missile exhibiting “all the characteristics” of an intercontinental missile, an unprecedented development in the ongoing conflict.