Biden hints at more student loan forgiveness – National & International News – THU 28Apr2022

Biden hints at more student loan forgiveness. First US death in child hepatitis epidemic. Biden asks Congress for $33 billion more for Ukraine.

NATIONAL NEWS

Biden hints at more student loan forgiveness

President Biden said today that he is considering larger scale student loan forgiveness. He said we should expect an announcement in the next couple of weeks. “I am considering dealing with some debt reduction. I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction. But I’m in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there are there will be additional debt forgiveness”. During his 2020 campaign, Biden had vowed to reduce student loan debt by up to $10,000 per borrower.

Federal student loan repayments have been paused since the early months of the pandemic. Earlier this month, the Department of Education once again postponed the deadline to resume payments from May 1 to August 31. Commentators at the time speculated the extension was to give the White House more time to consider what to do about student loan debt. 

With many households already struggling with inflation, Democrats have called on Biden to offer broader forgiveness or at least postpone repayments until 2023.

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First US death in child hepatitis epidemic

Earlier this week, it was reported that there had been nearly 200 cases of severe hepatitis in children worldwide caused by an as yet unidentified pathogen. The children in all these cases tested negative for the viruses that normally cause hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. Officials also announced the first death had occurred but did not state where.

Now, the US has reported its first possible related death in the outbreak. The death occurred in Wisconsin and officials there are investigating links to other cases. In all, Wisconsin has reported 4 possible cases, two with severe outcomes, one requiring a liver transplant and one death.

Wisconsin is now the 6th US state to report severe hepatitis in children from an unknown cause. The other states are New York, North Carolina, Illinois, Delaware and Alabama. Alabama had 9 cases, including two who required liver transplants.

The CDC has asked health officials to be on the lookout for signs of unusual hepatitis cases in children. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored stools, joint pain and jaundice. So far, children aged between 1 and 16 years have been affected.

Most of the global cases were found in Britain, where 114 cases were recorded. Researchers are investigating a possible link to an adenovirus, but that research is still in a preliminary stage. There are many types of adenovirus, most of which have cold-like symptoms, while some can cause gastrointestinal upset.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Biden asks Congress for $33 billion more for Ukraine

After several smaller recent requests for $800 million each, President Biden has asked Congress for $33 billion in aid for Ukraine. The request includes over $20 billion in military aid, $8.5 billion in economic aid to Kyiv and $3 billion for humanitarian relief. Biden is also seeking funds to increase US food production to offset the war’s major supply chain disruptions.

Fighting has intensified in the south and east of Ukraine in recent days, and there are concerns it could spill over into neighboring Moldova. Some of Ukraine’s Western allies have also openly encouraged Ukraine to carry out strikes on the Russian side of the border. Recently, missiles have struck arms and fuel depots in Russia.

German, Austrian firms bow to Putin’s ruble demand for gas

Yesterday, Russian fossil fuel firm Gazprom announced it would no longer supply fuel to Poland and Bulgaria. Both countries had recently refused the Kremlin’s demand to pay for Russian gas in rubles rather than US dollars. Moscow has decreed that “unfriendly” nations must pay for Russian fossil fuel imports with rubles in an effort to prop up their sanction-stricken currency.

While Bulgaria and Poland depend heavily on Russian energy sources, they are relatively small customers compared to Germany and Italy. Canceling their orders allowed Moscow to make a point while not suffering a catastrophic financial loss. The message seems to have landed because some German and Austrian firms have already capitulated to the Kremlin’s demand. However, Russia has refused payments from one German company over a banking dispute.

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