Loan Relief Granted to Defrauded For-profit College Students

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The U.S. Education Department said Wednesday it’s erasing student debt for thousands of borrowers who attended a for-profit college chain that made exaggerated claims about its graduates’ success in finding jobs.The Biden administration said it is approving 18,000 loan forgiveness claims from former students of ITT Technical Institute, a chain that closed in 2016 after being dealt a series of sanctions by the Obama administration. The new loan discharges will clear more than $500 million in debt.The move marks a step forward in the Biden administration’s effort to clear a backlog of claims in the borrower defense program, which providesmore

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Biden to Approve Creation of Juneteenth Holiday

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U.S. President Joe Biden is set to sign into a law Thursday the creation of a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.Juneteenth National Independence Day will be observed each year on June 19.WATCH LIVE at 3:30pm EST The holiday marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers informed a group of enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, of their freedom, 2½ years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.Many U.S. states already have Juneteenth as a holiday.It joins 10 other federal holidays and is the first added since Martin Luther King Jr. Daymore

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US Supreme Court Upholds Health Care Law Again

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The U.S. Supreme Court for the third time on Thursday upheld the legality of the country’s chief health insurance law that provides millions of Americans with coverage to help pay their medical costs. The court, in a 7-to-2 decision, rejected a bid by 18 Republican-led states and the administration of former President Donald Trump to upend the 2010 Affordable Care Act. It was the signature legislative achievement of former President Barack Obama, Trump’s immediate predecessor, and is popularly known in the U.S. as Obamacare. The country’s highest court had also rejected legal challenges in 2012 and 2015, with all three decisions keeping inmore

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US House Votes to End 2002 Iraq War Authorization

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The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill Thursday that would repeal the authorization of use of military force in Iraq that has been in effect since 2002.  Supporters of the measure say the repeal is necessary to restrict presidential war powers.The 268-161 House vote came one day after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced his support of the legislation, saying it would prevent acts of “military adventurism” like President Donald Trump’s authorization of a 2020 aerial attack on a Baghdad airport. Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in the attack.   “The Iraq War has been over for nearly a decade,” Schumer said. “The authorization passed in 2002 is no longer necessary in 2021.”   Schumer said he planned amore

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Survey: 1 in 3 US Election Workers Feels Unsafe 

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Long after a contentious U.S. presidential election that unleashed a torrent of partisan threats against poll workers and others, many American election officials continue to feel unsafe because of their jobs, according to a recent survey.The FILE – Then-President Donald Trump looks on at the end of his speech during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.Trump blamedMany officials blamed former President Donald Trump for inspiring the threats by falsely claiming the November election had been rigged against him in favor of his Democratic opponent,more

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Congress Approves Bill to Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday

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The United States will soon have a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the nation.The House voted 415-14 Wednesday to make Juneteenth, or June 19, the 12th federal holiday. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.Juneteenth commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free. Confederate soldiers surrendered in April 1865, but word didn’t reach the last enslaved Black people until June 19, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Galveston, Texas. That was also about 2½ years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in themore

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Biden Administration, US Lawmakers Grapple With Domestic Extremism Threat

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The United States faces a growing threat from domestic violent extremists, according to a strategy released this week by the Biden administration. The warning comes as U.S. lawmakers continue to investigate the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump seeking to derail the Electoral College vote count confirming Joe Biden’s presidential victory. VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.Producer: Katherine Gypson. …

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Lawyer: US Drops Lawsuit, Grand Jury Probe Over Bolton Book

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The Justice Department has abandoned its lawsuit against John Bolton, former President Donald Trump’s short-term national security adviser, over his book that officials argued disclosed classified information, according to court documents and Bolton’s representatives. Prosecutors also dropped a grand jury investigation over the book’s publication, Bolton’s lawyer said Wednesday. The Trump administration sued last year to block the release of Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened,” and to recover copies of the book that had already been distributed. The book, released in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, offered a behind-the-scenes and unflattering account of Trump’s foreign policy dealings.more

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Military Defends January 6 Response as House Steps Up Probes

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A top Army leader defended the Pentagon’s response to the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, telling a House panel Tuesday that the National Guard was delayed for hours because they had to properly prepare for the deployment and that senior military leaders had determined beforehand that there was “no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election.” Lieutenant General Walter Piatt, director of the Army staff, echoed comments from other senior military leaders about the perception of soldiers being used to secure the election process. He said the Pentagon wanted to be careful aboutmore

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Biden Picks Israel, Mexico, NATO Ambassadors

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President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced his nominees to be ambassadors to Israel, Mexico and NATO, as he moves to strengthen U.S. alliances in tough regions. Among a slate of names announced by the White House on Tuesday were Thomas Nides, a Morgan Stanley vice chairman who served as a deputy secretary of state under former President Barack Obama, to serve as the ambassador to Israel. The close U.S. ally is welcoming a new government after Israel’s parliament ended Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year run as prime minister on Sunday. Biden also picked Ken Salazar, a former U.S. senator from Colorado and interior secretary, asmore

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US Universities Express Confidence About Return of Foreign Students

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An overwhelming majority—86%—of U.S. colleges, universities and other learning programs for higher education plan to bring international students back to campus to study in person in fall 2021.   “Universities are prepping for a strong recovery in international education enrollment as they emerge from the [COVID-19] pandemic,” said Mirka Martel, head of research for the Institute of International Education (IIE) in New York.     IIE has been tracking international student mobility and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on international student travel to and from the United States since February 2020, when the pandemic started to surge in themore

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Trump Pressed Justice Department to Upend His Election Loss, Documents Show

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In the last weeks of his administration, former U.S. President Donald Trump and his aides pressured the Justice Department to investigate his unfounded voting fraud complaints and upend his election loss, newly released documents Tuesday show. Nearly five months after leaving office, Trump still contends he was cheated out of another four-year term in the White House by voting irregularities. According to the House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee, before he left office, Trump, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and a private attorney, Kurt Olsen, all sought to enlist the Justice Department to pursue election irregularities thatmore

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Rep. Greene Apologizes for Comparing Safety Masks, Holocaust

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene apologized Monday for affronting people with recent comments comparing the required wearing of safety masks in the House to the horrors of the Holocaust. “I’m truly sorry for offending people with remarks about the Holocaust,” the Georgia Republican told reporters outside the Capitol, saying she had visited Washington’s U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum earlier in the day. “There’s no comparison and there never ever will be.” Greene’s comments were a rare expression of regret by the conservative agitator, a freshman whose career has included the embrace of violent and offensive conspiracy theories and angry confrontations with progressivemore

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Republican McConnell Says He Would Block a Biden Supreme Court Pick in 2024

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U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Monday that President Joe Biden would not get a Supreme Court nominee confirmed in 2024 if Republicans regain control of the chamber and a vacancy arises during that presidential election year. “It’s highly unlikely. In fact, no, I don’t think either party, if it were different from the president, would confirm a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of an election,” McConnell told syndicated conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. McConnell could return as majority leader if Republicans regain control of the Senate in the 2022 midterm elections. While serving as majority leader, McConnell blockedmore

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US Supreme Court Seeks Biden Views on Harvard Admissions Dispute

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked President Joe Biden’s administration to give its views on whether the justices should hear a challenge to Harvard University’s consideration of race in undergraduate student admissions. The case, should it be taken up by the court, would give the court’s conservative majority a chance to end affirmative action policies used to increase the number of Black and Hispanic students on American campuses. The action by the court signals the interest of at least some of the nine justices in considering an appeal brought by a group called Students for Fair Admissions, founded bymore

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US Attorney General Vows to Combat Efforts to Curb Voting Rights

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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland warned Friday that the Justice Department would vigorously oppose state efforts to impose new curbs on voting rights for many Americans, particularly Blacks and other minorities.“We’re scrutinizing new laws that seek to curb access, and where we see violations, we will not hesitate to act,” Garland said in a speech at the Justice Department in which he announced his agency would double its voting rights enforcement staff over the next 30 days.“We’re also scrutinizing current laws and practices in order to determine whether they discriminate against Black voters and other voters of color,” Garland said, addingmore

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US Department of Justice Probes Secret Seizure of House Democrats’ Data

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The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General says it is beginning a review of the department’s use of subpoenas to obtain communication records of U.S. lawmakers and members of the media.The review comes after Democratic Representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell were informed that the Justice Department had taken their metadata from Apple in 2018 as part of a crackdown on leaks in the Russia probe and other national security issues, according to The Associated Press. The news agency attributed the information to three sources with knowledge of the seizures.House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., talks tomore

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Oregon State Legislature Removes Republican Lawmaker for Helping Protesters Breach Capitol

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The legislature in the western U.S. state of Oregon Thursday voted 59-1 to remove a Republican lawmaker from office for his role in allowing right-wing protesters to breach the capitol during a demonstration against COVID-19 lockdowns in December.On the floor of the state House of Representatives late Thursday, Republicans voted with the majority Democrats to remove Representative Mike Nearman, with the unapologetic Nearman the only dissenting vote. He is the first legislator expelled from office in the state’s 162-year history.A special bipartisan committee appointed by Democratic House Speaker Tina Kotek to consider the expulsion had also voted earlier in themore

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Some Chinese Provinces Suspend College Mergers After Student Protests

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Education authorities in China’s eastern Jiangsu province have suspended a plan to merge independent colleges with vocational institutes after student protests led to a violent confrontation with the police.Such protests are rare in China because authorities tightly control mass movements to maintain social stability.The Jiangsu students attending independent colleges, and their parents, see the merger as devaluing their attainment. They view a bachelor’s degree from an independent college as worth more in China’s highly competitive job market than a so-called professional bachelor’s diploma from the less prestigious vocational colleges, according to a Communist Party-controlled media outlet, the Global Times.What themore

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Leak of IRS Data Reveals Tax Strategies of America’s Wealthiest 

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An unprecedented leak of the personal federal tax data of thousands of Americans has turbocharged a debate over wealth inequality in the United States and has tax reform advocates hopeful that a deeper public understanding of how the wealthy avoid taxes will lead to a restructuring of the U.S. tax code.The data, leaked to the nonprofit journalism organization ProPublica, includes detailed information on the tax filings of thousands of the wealthiest individuals in the country and extends over more than 15 years.This week, ProPublica used the data to give the nation its first detailed look at the extent to whichmore

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Trump Officials Seized Apple Data of 2 Democratic Lawmakers, NY Times Says

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Prosecutors in the U.S. Justice Department under former president Donald Trump seized data from Apple from two Democratic lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee, as well as that of their staff and family members, The New York Times reported Thursday.Subpoenas for the communications metadata targeted congressman Adam Schiff of California, a Trump foe who was then the panel’s top Democrat and now its chairman, the paper said.Congressman Eric Swalwell told CNN on Thursday he was the second Democratic lawmaker on the committee who was targeted.”I was notified… by Apple that they did seize my records. It’s wrong,” he said.According tomore

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China, Russia Military Budgets Combined Exceed US Spending, Top General Says

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China and Russia’s combined military spending exceeds that of the United States when adjusted for purchasing power, which has allowed China to shorten capability gaps in its quest to become the top superpower by midcentury, the top U.S. military officer said Thursday.”Combined, the Russian and Chinese budgets exceed our budgets if all the cards are put on the table,” Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He called China’s increased spending trend “disturbing.”Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, left, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, arrive for a Senate Armed Services budget hearing on Capitolmore

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Joe Manchin: The West Virginia Senator Blocking Joe Biden’s Agenda

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A long-simmering battle within the Democratic Party came to a head this week when  Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced he will not support a sweeping package of voting rights reforms because no Republicans are willing to vote for it.   At the same time, he repeated his vow to vote to protect a Senate rule, called the filibuster, that allows a minority of the body to prevent pieces of legislation from receiving an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor.  FILE – Gov. Joe Manchin, left, is sworn into office for a second term at the Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia, Jan.more

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US Attorney General Warns Ransomware ‘Getting Worse and Worse’

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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland warned Wednesday that ransom-motivated cyberattacks are “getting worse and worse,” echoing other top Biden administration officials who have sounded the alarm about the problem in recent weeks.  “We have to do everything we possibly can here,” Garland told lawmakers. “This is a very, very serious threat.”  The attorney general’s warning during a Senate hearing on the Justice Department’s fiscal 2022 budget request followed a pair of high-profile ransomware attacks over the past month that have rattled the U.S. national security and law enforcement establishment and sparked calls for beefed-up cyber defenses.  In a ransomware attack,more

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