WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
On April 12, President Biden announced that 277,000 more Americans will get their student debt canceled, bringing the total debt relief approved by the Biden-Harris Administration to $153 billion for 4.3 million Americans through various actions.
This latest round of debt cancellation comes on the heels of President Biden announcing new plans that, if implemented, would cancel student debt for over 30 million Americans when combined with actions the Administration has taken over the last three years. This week’s announcements reinforce the President’s commitment to using every path available to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible through various actions.
The 277,000 Americans receiving this latest round of debt relief are borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan, other borrowers enrolled in Income-Driven Repayment plans, and borrowers receiving Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The Biden-Harris Administration fixed Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) and launched the SAVE Plan last year – the most affordable repayment plan ever.
Already, 8 million borrowers are enrolled in SAVE, 4.5 million of those borrowers have a monthly payment of $0, and over 1 million additional borrowers have a monthly payment of less than $100. And if borrowers took out low balances of loans, the SAVE Plan puts them on a faster path to debt relief after at least ten years of payments.
Since President Biden took office, his Administration has approved over $54 billion in debt cancellation for 1.3 million borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans, including the new SAVE Plan. This builds on additional actions the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to cancel debt for nearly 900,000 public service workers, 1.3 million borrowers cheated by their schools or borrowers covered by related court settlements, and nearly 550,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability, including many veterans.
While the Administration continues to cancel Americans’ student debt through improving existing forgiveness programs and through the SAVE Plan, the Biden-Harris Administration is also pursuing new plans that, if implemented, would cancel student debt for tens of millions more. Earlier this week, the President announced his Administration’s alternative path to debt cancellation in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision. Learn more about these plans at StudentAid.gov/DebtRelief.
“Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve made for students and borrowers over the past three years,” President Biden said in a statement. “That includes: providing the largest increases to the maximum Pell Grant in over a decade; fixing Public Service Loan Forgiveness so teachers, nurses, police officers, and other public service workers get the relief they are entitled to under the law, and holding colleges accountable for taking advantage of students and families. And, earlier this week, I laid out my Administration’s new plans that would cancel student debt for more than 30 million Americans when combined with everything we’ve done so far.
“From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. I will never stop working to cancel student debt – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.”
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 4-16-2024 at 12 p.m.
2024 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2024)
- Total Mass Shootings: 145
- Total Dead: 214
- Total Wounded: 533
- Shootings Per Day: 1.36
- Days Reached in Year 2024 as of April 16: 107
MIDDLE EAST
IRAN CONDEMNED FOR ATTACK ON ISRAEL
The people of the Middle East are facing a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict, António Guterres said on Sunday, urging “maximum restraint” across a region on the brink hours after Iran launched attack drones and missiles against Israel overnight April 13.
“It is vital to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East…Now is the time for maximum restraint,” the UN Secretary-General told delegates at the opening of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
Mr. Guterres explained that the emergency session was called by Israel following what it described in a letter as “a direct attack launched by Iran… of more than 200 UAVs, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles towards Israel in clear violation of international law.”
The UN chief added that in a separate letter, Iran stated that it had carried out a series of military strikes on Israeli military objectives “in the exercise of Iran’s inherent right to self-defense as outlined…in the UN Charter, and in response to…its armed attack on April 1, 2024 against Iranian diplomatic premises” – in Damascus.
According to the latest reports, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles from its territory toward Israel, with most intercepted.
Several missiles reportedly struck within Israeli territory, one of which damaged an Israeli military facility in the south of the country.
“And overall, a few civilians were injured,” the Secretary-General reported, repeating his strong condemnation of the attacks and his call for an immediate cessation of these hostilities.
Recalling the international community’s shared responsibility to engage all parties to prevent further escalation, the Secretary-General added that there was a similar responsibility to secure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid.
There was a further shared responsibility to stop violence in the occupied West Bank, de-escalate the situation along the Blue Line, and re-establish safe navigation in the Red Sea.
“We have a shared responsibility to work for peace. Regional – and indeed global – peace and security are being undermined by the hour. Neither the region nor the world can afford more war,” Mr. Guterres concluded.
Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan said Saturday night’s attacks had been launched from Iranian soil, as well as Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
“Last night the world witnessed an unprecedented escalation that is clear proof of what can happen when warnings are ignored … (Israel) was not crying wolf; it was trying to wake the world up to the dangers posed by Iran and Its proxies,” he said, adding: “Israel has been sounding the alarm bells.”
Israel’s representative showed a video of what he called an attack on the Temple Mount, and he asked the Security Council: “What have you done to protect the world from Iran?”
He said that Iran’s actions had long been clear, to arm, fund and train its terror proxies across the globe. But the mask of deniability has been removed: Iran had attacked Israel from its own territory; and Israel was surrounded by Iran’s proxies and being attacked on all fronts.
“The mask has come off and so the world’s complacency must also fall. The only option is to condemn Iran…and ensure that it knows that the world will no longer stand idle.”
“This attack crossed every red line and Israel reserves the right to retaliate,” he stated.
Nearly all of Iran’s attack was thwarted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system along with aid from the United States, who said that while it would defend the nation against incoming attack, it would not join Israel in an all-out offensive against Iran.
AFRICA
30 YEARS LATER
The UN renewed its commitment to never forget the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda during a candle lighting ceremony on April 12 to mark 30 years since the horrific events there unfolded.
The commemoration in the General Assembly Hall was held to remember the victims and honor the survivors and those who tried to stop the genocide.
Focus was also on young people who have grown up in its shadow, and on countering hate speech which fueled the killing and has become a growing global concern today.
“The genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda 30 years ago is a stain on our collective consciousness and a brutal reminder of the legacy of colonialism, and the consequences of hate speech,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his opening remarks.
More than a million people – overwhelmingly Tutsi, but also Hutu and others who opposed the genocide – were slaughtered over 100 days, starting on April 7, 1994. Many were hacked to death with machetes.
It was a period when “neighbors turned on neighbors, friends became murderous foes, and entire families were wiped out,” Mr. Guterres recalled.
“The carnage was driven by an explicit intent to destroy members of a group simply because of their ethnic identity,” he said.
The President of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis, said the “horror born of a virulent and senseless level of hatred” that engulfed Rwanda three decades ago “should never be allowed to rear its venomous head again in the human conscience and heart.”
He urged people everywhere to learn about the dangerous consequences of hate speech, especially in the era of social media “where unguarded words we utter can spread like wildfire,” as well as the ramification of international inaction in the face of conflict.
“The genocide against the Tutsis had warning signs which were not fully heeded and it unfolded in full view of the global community – which dismally failed Rwanda by not taking swift action to prevent or stop it,” he said.
Rwandan song writer and author Claver Irakoze was just a child when the unspeakable violence began. His father taught at a secondary school in Kapagyi, located roughly 40 kilometers southwest of the capital, Kigali, and the family sought shelter there.
Early on the morning of April 28, soldiers came to the school and took away 61 men, including his father, loading them “like cargo” onto a truck.
“That was my last time I saw my father,” he said. “I remember him faintly waving good-bye at me, so powerlessly. It is an image that still comes to my mind whenever I think about him.”
Mr. Irakoze has since written two children’s books to teach lessons of hope and healing. He is also a husband and the father of a boy, 9, and a girl, 11 – the same age he was when the genocide began.
“Our killers wanted us wiped out, but we are here,” he said. “And through us and our children, we carry the memory of those we lost.”
“Let us always remember that peace requires an active effort – and most importantly, prevention.”
UNITED KINGDOM
“SACKING” BAD COPS
New measures laid in the UK Parliament on April 16 will make it easier for police chiefs to “sack” – or fire – rogue officers during misconduct hearings.
Police chief constables will be given the responsibility of chairing the hearings which decide on the removal of officers found guilty of police misconduct.
By giving these powers to chief constables, police leaders will be held increasingly accountable for their own officers and be able to influence any dismissal decisions impacting their own force.
Policing Minister Chris Philp said, “Officers unfit to serve must be rooted out at the earliest opportunity and these changes will ensure chief constables are given greater control over this process.
“The public need greater confidence that the officers who serve their communities are dedicated to keeping them safe.
“We have already made progress in improving the police dismissals process, which includes the police carrying out the largest-ever integrity screening exercise of their workforce and through strengthened vetting, which will go further in booting out corrupt officers.”
In some circumstances, such as where misconduct allegations are more minor, chiefs will be able to delegate their role on the panel to a senior police staff member to ensure best possible use of public and policing resources.
Under the new measures, police and crime commissioners (PCCs) will also have greater responsibility for scrutinizing the decisions made by dismissals panels. Chiefs, or in some cases senior police officers, will need to provide justifications for decisions where requested. For example, where it has been decided that a misconduct hearing should be held in private.
The democratically elected commissioners will be tasked with holding those making dismissals decisions to account. PCCs will choose independent members to form the rest of the panel and sit alongside the chair and supportive legal advisors. This will ensure that any conflicts of interest are avoided to uphold the fairness of any hearings.
Previously these panels were chaired by independent lawyers known as legally qualified chairs. Legal advisors will remain an important part of hearings but will now be known as a ‘legally qualified person’ who can provide independent legal advice in a more supportive role. The outcome of the hearings will still be determined by a majority panel decision, and hearings will continue to be held in public to maintain transparency and fairness.
These changes, which will come into force on May 7, 2024, follow a comprehensive review into police dismissals following the conviction of David Carrick, a serving police officer, for numerous sexual offenses.
In February, the government set out further changes to the police disciplinary system which will mean that any officer charged with an indictable offense will be automatically suspended from duty until an outcome is reached, alongside legislation that will make it easier to sack officers who fail to hold basic vetting when re-checked, as well as anyone found guilty of gross misconduct.
The Home Office has also committed to providing funding to develop an automated and continuous integrity screening system of the police workforce to ensure that officers are continuously vetted throughout their career.
