Finance Company Founder Gets 6 Months in Prison in US College Admissions Scandal

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The former chief executive of specialty finance lender Hercules Capital Inc was sentenced on Wednesday to six months in prison for paying $450,000 to help his daughters gain an unfair edge in the college admissions process.Federal prosecutors in Boston say Manuel Henriquez and his wife, Elizabeth Henriquez, sought to rig their two daughters’ college entrance exam results and secure the older one’s admission to Georgetown University in Washington as a fake tennis recruit.Lawyers for Henriquez, who co-founded Palo Alto, California-based Hercules Capital, sought leniency during a hearing held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. He apologized for crimes that hadmore

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Hong Kong Police Arrest 4 for Alleged National Security Breach Under New Law

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Four young activists who belonged to a disbanded pro-independence group have been arrested on secessionist charges in Hong Kong’s first crackdown on political figures after the enactment July 1 of a sweeping national security law.Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah, with Hong Kong police’s newly formed National Security Department, told reporters late Wednesday that four students between the ages of 16 and 21 had been arrested under the new national security law for “organizing and inciting secession” by their advocacy of independence.He declined to name them and their group, but the group Studentlocalism announced on social media that its former convenor, Tonymore

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US Colleges Plan for Virus Testing, But Strategies Vary Widely

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For students heading to Colby College in Maine this fall, coronavirus testing is expected to be a routine part of campus life. All students will be required to provide a nasal swab every other day for two weeks, and then twice a week after that. All told, the college says it will provide 85,000 tests, nearly as many as the entire state of Maine has since the pandemic started.Colby, a private school of 2,000 students, joins a growing number of colleges announcing aggressive testing plans to catch and isolate COVID-19 cases before they spread. Harvard University says all students livingmore

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Young Independent Voters Focus on Issues, Not Party

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While a majority of voters in the United States identify as either Republican or Democrat — the two major political parties — a growing number of voters see themselves as independent or unaffiliated with any party.     “Personally, I’ve never really felt either major party represents my interest,” Ellen Moorhouse, who identifies as an independent voter, told VOA.      Moorhouse, 30, is deputy communications director at RepresentUs, a political and government reform advocacy group which aims to reduce corruption and gridlock.  Thirty-five percent of Americans under the age of 30 say they are independent or unaffiliated, according tomore

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