CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A visible crack in the support beam of a North Carolina roller coaster served as a reminder of the risks that sometimes arise with amusement park rides, particularly as families and adrenaline junkies flock to the attractions in summer.

Video footage of the Charlotte-based Carowinds' popular Fury 325 — known as a “Giga coaster” due to its dramatic height of 325 feet (99 meters) — showed a key support beam bending with the top visibly detached as cars packed with unsuspecting passengers whirled by at speeds of up to 95 mph (150 kph).

The park, which straddles the North Carolina and South Carolina line, closed the ride late last week as questions swirled about how the crack occurred. Those answers remained largely unknown as state investigators were on site in Monday morning.

Tommy Petty, chief of the state Department of Labor’s Amusement Device Bureau, confirmed investigators “already came and went” from Carowinds on Monday but declined to share details about their findings. Meanwhile, Carowinds said in a statement that all of its rides, including Fury 325, are inspected daily “to ensure their proper functioning and structural integrity.”

Several Carowinds visitors said they were aware that the ride had been closed for repairs, but they were not deterred from enjoying the park's other attractions.

Greg Bledsoe, a 22-year-old season pass holder, visited the park Monday despite having watched the viral video of the Fury 325 track separating from its support beam mid-ride.

“I’m just glad I wasn’t on it because I don’t want to fall off. I’m glad nobody fell off,” he said.

While Bledsoe said the video was “a bit of a shock,” he remains confident in the park’s overall safety and plans to make good use of his season pass.

“Hopefully they get it fixed before the season’s over so I can ride it some more,” he said of the broken coaster. “It’s like the main thing here.”

Industry experts have been quick to counter that millions of Americans hop on roller coasters, Ferris wheels, water slides and many other rides without ever experiencing issues. They note injury rates are extremely low.

A 2021 survey compiled on behalf of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions found “0.9 injuries per million rides,” said Caitlin Dineen, the group's spokesperson. That year, more than 1,200 ride-related injuries were reported out of the typical 1.7 billion rides that take place each year across 400 locations in North America.

“Safety is the top priority for the global attractions industry,” Dineen said. “An excellent safety record is in the best interest of the industry, and leaders within it are committed to providing safe and secure attractions for all their guests and visitors.”

For Steven Powers, a resident of Columbia, South Carolina who visited Carowinds Monday with friends, the positive atmosphere of the park outweighs any worries.

“As far as any other safety concerns, I don’t believe there are any,” Powers said. “I think always subconsciously we think something might happen in the back of our minds, but I also know that they do have people's lives in their hands so they're going to make sure that they do what they're supposed to do on their end.”

Even when amusement park mishaps don't result in injuries, they can still upend vacations and cause headaches for summer fun-seekers.

Shortly after footage was released of the crack inside Fury 325's support structure, riders on a roller coaster in northeastern Wisconsin were trapped upside down for three hours before emergency responders arrived to rescue them.

<a href="https://www.nbc15.com/2023/07/03/roller-coaster-riders-trapped-upside-down-hours/">WJFW reports</a>&nbsp;the ride had been inspected recently when a mechanical failure occurred, halting the coaster mid-ride, according to Capt. Brennan Cook of the Crandon Fire Department.

But sometimes deaths do occur on an amusement park ride.

In 2022, Orlando's International Drive district&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/florida-orlando-accidents-missouri-8d1dbb7541cfb7b0dc5c3496fcde48d7">removed a towering 400-foot (122-meter) ride</a>&nbsp;after it was directly linked to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/orlando-florida-missouri-obituaries-6dcc0a65607f5038f5044c6d1d485826">the death</a>&nbsp;of 14-year-old Tyre Sampson — a Missouri teen who fell to his death while on the ride the year prior.

Sampson, who lived near St. Louis, Missouri, was visiting Orlando during spring break when he died.

An&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/florida-orlando-e9470b0e84a8c59e1bdb1fb06314f170">initial report</a>&nbsp;from outside engineers hired by the Florida Department of Agriculture said sensors on the ride had been adjusted manually to double the size of the opening for restraints on two seats, resulting in the teen not being properly secured.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688473561332.png" alt="People ride a roller coaster at the Carowinds amusement park on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)" />
 <figcaption>People ride a roller coaster at the Carowinds amusement park on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)</figcaption>
 </figure>CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A visible crack in the support beam of a North Carolina roller coaster served as a reminder of the risks that sometimes arise with amusement park rides, particularly as families and adrenaline junkies flock to the attractions in summer.Video footage of the Charlotte-based Carowinds' popular Fury 325 — known as a “Giga coaster” due to its dramatic height of 325 feet (99 meters) — showed a key support beam bending with the top visibly detached as cars packed with unsuspecting passengers whirled by at speeds of up to 95 mph (150 kph).The park, which straddles the North Carolina and South Carolina line, closed the ride late last week as questions swirled about how the crack occurred. Those answers remained largely unknown as state investigators were on site in Monday morning.Tommy Petty, chief of the state Department of Labor’s Amusement Device Bureau, confirmed investigators “already came and went” from Carowinds on Monday but declined to share details about their findings. Meanwhile, Carowinds said in a statement that all of its rides, including Fury 325, are inspected daily “to ensure their proper functioning and structural integrity.”Several Carowinds visitors said they were aware that the ride had been closed for repairs, but they were not deterred from enjoying the park's other attractions.Greg Bledsoe, a 22-year-old season pass holder, visited the park Monday despite having watched the viral video of the Fury 325 track separating from its support beam mid-ride.“I’m just glad I wasn’t on it because I don’t want to fall off. I’m glad nobody fell off,” he said.While Bledsoe said the video was “a bit of a shock,” he remains confident in the park’s overall safety and plans to make good use of his season pass.“Hopefully they get it fixed before the season’s over so I can ride it some more,” he said of the broken coaster. “It’s like the main thing here.”Industry experts have been quick to counter that millions of Americans hop on roller coasters, Ferris wheels, water slides and many other rides without ever experiencing issues. They note injury rates are extremely low.A 2021 survey compiled on behalf of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions found “0.9 injuries per million rides,” said Caitlin Dineen, the group's spokesperson. That year, more than 1,200 ride-related injuries were reported out of the typical 1.7 billion rides that take place each year across 400 locations in North America.“Safety is the top priority for the global attractions industry,” Dineen said. “An excellent safety record is in the best interest of the industry, and leaders within it are committed to providing safe and secure attractions for all their guests and visitors.”For Steven Powers, a resident of Columbia, South Carolina who visited Carowinds Monday with friends, the positive atmosphere of the park outweighs any worries.“As far as any other safety concerns, I don’t believe there are any,” Powers said. “I think always subconsciously we think something might happen in the back of our minds, but I also know that they do have people's lives in their hands so they're going to make sure that they do what they're supposed to do on their end.”Even when amusement park mishaps don't result in injuries, they can still upend vacations and cause headaches for summer fun-seekers.Shortly after footage was released of the crack inside Fury 325's support structure, riders on a roller coaster in northeastern Wisconsin were trapped upside down for three hours before emergency responders arrived to rescue them.<a href="https://www.nbc15.com/2023/07/03/roller-coaster-riders-trapped-upside-down-hours/">WJFW reports</a>&nbsp;the ride had been inspected recently when a mechanical failure occurred, halting the coaster mid-ride, according to Capt. Brennan Cook of the Crandon Fire Department.But sometimes deaths do occur on an amusement park ride.In 2022, Orlando's International Drive district&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/florida-orlando-accidents-missouri-8d1dbb7541cfb7b0dc5c3496fcde48d7">removed a towering 400-foot (122-meter) ride</a>&nbsp;after it was directly linked to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/orlando-florida-missouri-obituaries-6dcc0a65607f5038f5044c6d1d485826">the death</a>&nbsp;of 14-year-old Tyre Sampson — a Missouri teen who fell to his death while on the ride the year prior.Sampson, who lived near St. Louis, Missouri, was visiting Orlando during spring break when he died.An&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/florida-orlando-e9470b0e84a8c59e1bdb1fb06314f170">initial report</a>&nbsp;from outside engineers hired by the Florida Department of Agriculture said sensors on the ride had been adjusted manually to double the size of the opening for restraints on two seats, resulting in the teen not being properly secured.

Fright over crack on roller coaster serves as reminder of risks at amusement parks

WASHINGTON&nbsp; — The State Department failed to do enough planning before the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan, according to a Biden administration review of the department’s performance during the chaotic evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies.

<a href="https://www.state.gov/after-action-review-on-afghanistan/">Click here to read </a>the Pentagon's review

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran was very clear with his statement on the failure highlighted in the report. “The State Department’s Afghanistan After Action Review offers a damning account of the mismanagement during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. The inherent difficulties of an evacuation were clearly exacerbated by a void in leadership, which resulted in the deaths of American service members and stranded thousands of our Afghan allies behind enemy lines.

“As a supporter of establishing the bipartisan Afghanistan War Commission, our two decades of fighting in Afghanistan must be studied to learn from the mistakes made and make certain they are not repeated for the sake of our military men and women who serve valiantly. In addition, we must continue to assist the Afghans who stood by our service members. As a sponsor of the Afghan Adjustment Act, I will work with my colleagues in the Senate to provide safety and certainty for our allies and friends who risked their lives and their families’ lives to support our troops in Afghanistan.”

(Watch President Biden's response to the report)

Biden was defiant when asked Friday if he would admit the U.S. made mistakes before and during its withdrawal.

“Remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al-Qaida would not be there,” Biden said. “I said we’d get help from the Taliban. What’s happening now? What’s going on? Read your press. I was right.”

The U.S. in July 2022&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-ayman-al-zawahri-qaida-biden-united-states-171556fce4719d012726fb979a14cc81" target="_blank">killed</a>&nbsp;al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike at his Kabul home, part of what the Biden administration calls an “over the horizon” capacity to target the group after the withdrawal. But a United Nations monitoring team&nbsp;<a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N23/125/36/PDF/N2312536.pdf?OpenElement" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;in May that al-Qaida considers Afghanistan “a safe haven” and that the Taliban had not met previous commitments on counterterrorism.

“Al-Qaida maintains a low profile, focusing on using the country as an ideological and logistical hub to mobilize and recruit new fighters while covertly rebuilding its external operations capability,” the monitors said in their report.

According to Friday’s report, a State Department task force helped bring out nearly 2,000 Afghan citizens in July and early August 2021, weeks before the Aug. 31, 2021, deadline the U.S. set for withdrawal. They were eligible for processing under a special U.S. visa program for Afghans.

But State “failed to establish a broader task force as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated,” the report says.

And as the military planned for an evacuation of American civilians and Afghan allies, “it was unclear who in the Department had the lead,” it says.

“The decisions of both President Trump and President Biden to end the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security,” the review says. “Those decisions are beyond the scope of this review, but the (review) team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow.”

As the Taliban took key cities far faster than most U.S. officials expected and the fate of Kabul became unclear, the report says, State Department personnel began receiving an “overwhelming volume of incoming calls and messages” from lawmakers, other government agencies, and the public pleading for help saving people trapped in the country.

Staff working to facilitate the evacuation also faced confusing guidance that wasn’t attuned to real-world conditions at the time, according to the report.

State has taken lessons from the failures of Afghanistan into account when evacuating people before and during the subsequent war in Ukraine and as a crisis developed in Sudan, according to a senior State Department official who briefed reporters Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the department.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a letter to employees that the review was “vital to building a stronger Department that is better prepared to respond to future challenges and to fulfill our missions around the world.”

The Biden administration released sections of the long-awaited State report, which was completed in March 2022, on the Friday before the July 4 holiday weekend, though it withheld most of the report from public release. It&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-afghanistan-withdrawal-congress-war-5ff87c14ffd4f7daaa6675e52d3bba1c" target="_blank">had released</a>&nbsp;a National Security Council review of the withdrawal on the day before Good Friday and the Easter weekend but declined to release internal Pentagon and State Department assessments. The Pentagon’s report is still classified as secret.

Officials declined to say why they had released the report just before a holiday weekend.

Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called on the administration to release the full report. “This is another blatant attempt to hide the Biden administration’s culpability in the chaotic and deadly evacuation from Afghanistan,” he said in a statement.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the report or McCaul’s statement, but noted that administration officials have responded to bipartisan inquiries and provided “thousands of pages of information.”

“That’s being transparent,” she said. “That’s being there, answering and taking those tough questions.”

the Associated Press contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629986318422.png" alt="According to Friday’s report, a State Department task force helped bring out nearly 2,000 Afghan citizens in July and early August 2021, weeks before the Aug. 31, 2021, deadline the U.S. set for withdrawal-Photo&nbsp; U.S. Defense Department" />
 <figcaption>According to Friday’s report, a State Department task force helped bring out nearly 2,000 Afghan citizens in July and early August 2021, weeks before the Aug. 31, 2021, deadline the U.S. set for withdrawal-Photo&nbsp; U.S. Defense Department</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON&nbsp; — The State Department failed to do enough planning before the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan, according to a Biden administration review of the department’s performance during the chaotic evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies.<a href="https://www.state.gov/after-action-review-on-afghanistan/">Click here to read </a>the Pentagon's reviewU.S. Senator Jerry Moran was very clear with his statement on the failure highlighted in the report. “The State Department’s Afghanistan After Action Review offers a damning account of the mismanagement during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. The inherent difficulties of an evacuation were clearly exacerbated by a void in leadership, which resulted in the deaths of American service members and stranded thousands of our Afghan allies behind enemy lines.“As a supporter of establishing the bipartisan Afghanistan War Commission, our two decades of fighting in Afghanistan must be studied to learn from the mistakes made and make certain they are not repeated for the sake of our military men and women who serve valiantly. In addition, we must continue to assist the Afghans who stood by our service members. As a sponsor of the Afghan Adjustment Act, I will work with my colleagues in the Senate to provide safety and certainty for our allies and friends who risked their lives and their families’ lives to support our troops in Afghanistan.”(Watch President Biden's response to the report)<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KCQAaoyrOgk?start=642" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Biden was defiant when asked Friday if he would admit the U.S. made mistakes before and during its withdrawal.“Remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al-Qaida would not be there,” Biden said. “I said we’d get help from the Taliban. What’s happening now? What’s going on? Read your press. I was right.”The U.S. in July 2022&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-ayman-al-zawahri-qaida-biden-united-states-171556fce4719d012726fb979a14cc81" target="_blank">killed</a>&nbsp;al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike at his Kabul home, part of what the Biden administration calls an “over the horizon” capacity to target the group after the withdrawal. But a United Nations monitoring team&nbsp;<a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N23/125/36/PDF/N2312536.pdf?OpenElement" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;in May that al-Qaida considers Afghanistan “a safe haven” and that the Taliban had not met previous commitments on counterterrorism.“Al-Qaida maintains a low profile, focusing on using the country as an ideological and logistical hub to mobilize and recruit new fighters while covertly rebuilding its external operations capability,” the monitors said in their report.According to Friday’s report, a State Department task force helped bring out nearly 2,000 Afghan citizens in July and early August 2021, weeks before the Aug. 31, 2021, deadline the U.S. set for withdrawal. They were eligible for processing under a special U.S. visa program for Afghans.But State “failed to establish a broader task force as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated,” the report says.And as the military planned for an evacuation of American civilians and Afghan allies, “it was unclear who in the Department had the lead,” it says.“The decisions of both President Trump and President Biden to end the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security,” the review says. “Those decisions are beyond the scope of this review, but the (review) team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow.”As the Taliban took key cities far faster than most U.S. officials expected and the fate of Kabul became unclear, the report says, State Department personnel began receiving an “overwhelming volume of incoming calls and messages” from lawmakers, other government agencies, and the public pleading for help saving people trapped in the country.Staff working to facilitate the evacuation also faced confusing guidance that wasn’t attuned to real-world conditions at the time, according to the report.State has taken lessons from the failures of Afghanistan into account when evacuating people before and during the subsequent war in Ukraine and as a crisis developed in Sudan, according to a senior State Department official who briefed reporters Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the department.Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a letter to employees that the review was “vital to building a stronger Department that is better prepared to respond to future challenges and to fulfill our missions around the world.”The Biden administration released sections of the long-awaited State report, which was completed in March 2022, on the Friday before the July 4 holiday weekend, though it withheld most of the report from public release. It&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-afghanistan-withdrawal-congress-war-5ff87c14ffd4f7daaa6675e52d3bba1c" target="_blank">had released</a>&nbsp;a National Security Council review of the withdrawal on the day before Good Friday and the Easter weekend but declined to release internal Pentagon and State Department assessments. The Pentagon’s report is still classified as secret.Officials declined to say why they had released the report just before a holiday weekend.Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called on the administration to release the full report. “This is another blatant attempt to hide the Biden administration’s culpability in the chaotic and deadly evacuation from Afghanistan,” he said in a statement.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the report or McCaul’s statement, but noted that administration officials have responded to bipartisan inquiries and provided “thousands of pages of information.”“That’s being transparent,” she said. “That’s being there, answering and taking those tough questions.”the Associated Press contributed to this report.<h2>__</h2>

🎥Read gov't report of chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal, Senator's response

BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. recommended Americans reconsider traveling to China because of arbitrary law enforcement and exit bans and the risk of wrongful detentions.

No specific cases were cited, but<a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/china-travel-advisory.html"> the advisory</a> came after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/american-charged-spying-china-prison-2de86767bbc828ec4362af23fb271afd" target="_blank">78-year-old U.S. citizen</a>&nbsp;was sentenced to life in prison on spying charges in May.

It also followed the passage last week of a sweeping Foreign Relations Law that threatens countermeasures against those seen as harming China’s interests.

China also recently passed a broadly written counterespionage law that has sent a chill through the foreign business community, with offices being raided, as well as a law to sanction foreign critics.

“The People’s Republic of China (PRC) government arbitrarily enforces local laws, including issuing exit bans on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law,” the U.S. advisory said.

“U.S. citizens traveling or residing in the PRC may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime,” it warned.

The advisory also said that Chinese authorities “appear to have broad discretion to deem a wide range of documents, data, statistics, or materials as state secrets and to detain and prosecute foreign nationals for alleged espionage.”

It listed a wide range of potential offenses from taking part in demonstrations to sending electronic messages critical of Chinese policies or even simply conducting research into areas deemed sensitive.

Exit bans could be used to compel individuals to participate in Chinese government investigations, pressure family members to return from abroad, resolve civil disputes in favor of Chinese citizens and “gain bargaining leverage over foreign governments,” the advisory said.

Similar advisories were issued for the semi-autonomous Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Macao. They were dated Friday and emailed to journalists on Monday.

The U.S. had issued similar advisories to its citizens in the past, but those in recent years had mainly warned of the dangers of being caught in strict and lengthy lockdowns while China closed its borders for three years under its draconian “zero-COVID” policy.

China generally responds angrily to what it considers U.S. efforts to impugn its authoritarian Communist Party-led system. It has issued its own travel advisories concerning the U.S., warning of the dangers of crime, anti-Asian discrimination and the high cost of emergency medical assistance.

China had no immediate response to the travel advisory on Monday.

Details of the accusations against the accused spy John Shing-Wan Leung are not available, given China’s authoritarian political system and the ruling Communist Party’s absolute control over legal matters. Leung, who also holds permanent residency in Hong Kong, was detained in the southeastern city of Suzhou on April 15, 2021 — a time when China had closed its borders and tightly restricted movement of people domestically to control the spread of COVID-19.

The warnings come as U.S.-China relations are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-taiwan-us-relations-ambassador-b599541d7af42fff9fa2783030c7c824" target="_blank">at their lowest in years</a>, over trade, technology, Taiwan and human rights, although the sides are taking some steps to improve the situation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a long-delayed visit to Beijing last week and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-yellen-biden-xi-economics-867a9a92427386ded2076ba8e342c6e2" target="_blank">Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen</a>&nbsp;is making a much-anticipated trip to Beijing this week. China also recently appointed a new ambassador to Washington, who presented his credentials in a meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.

Other incidents, however, have also pointed to the testiness in the relationship. China formally protested last month after Biden called Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator,” days after Blinken’s visit.

Biden brushed off the protest, saying his words would have no negative impact on U.S.-China relations and that he still expects to meet with Xi sometime soon. Biden has also drawn rebukes from Beijing by explicitly saying the U.S. would defend self-governing Taiwan if China, which claims the island as its own territory, were to attack it.

Biden said his blunt statements regarding China are “just not something I’m going to change very much.”

The administration is also under pressure from both parties to take a tough line on China, making it one of the few issues on which most Democrats and Republicans agree.

Along with several detained Americans,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/detained-australians-in-china-will-have-to-wait-longer-to-learn-their-fate-20230118-p5cdht.html" target="_blank">Two Chinese-Australians,</a>&nbsp;Cheng Lei, who formerly worked for China’s state broadcaster, and writer Yang Jun, have been held since 2020 and 2019 respectively without word on their sentencing.

Perhaps the most notorious case of arbitrary detention involved two&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-canada-china-arrests-washington-2b6e0977ae93557ad1265869d57838ed" target="_blank">Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor,</a>&nbsp;who were detained in China in 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei Technologies’ chief financial officer and the daughter of the tech powerhouse’s founder, on a U.S. extradition request.

They were charged with national security crimes that were never explained and released three years later after the U.S. settled fraud charges against Meng. Many countries labeled China’s action “hostage politics.”

BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. recommended Americans reconsider traveling to China because of arbitrary law enforcement and exit bans and the risk of wrongful detentions.No specific cases were cited, but<a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/china-travel-advisory.html"> the advisory</a> came after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/american-charged-spying-china-prison-2de86767bbc828ec4362af23fb271afd" target="_blank">78-year-old U.S. citizen</a>&nbsp;was sentenced to life in prison on spying charges in May.It also followed the passage last week of a sweeping Foreign Relations Law that threatens countermeasures against those seen as harming China’s interests.China also recently passed a broadly written counterespionage law that has sent a chill through the foreign business community, with offices being raided, as well as a law to sanction foreign critics.“The People’s Republic of China (PRC) government arbitrarily enforces local laws, including issuing exit bans on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law,” the U.S. advisory said.“U.S. citizens traveling or residing in the PRC may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime,” it warned.The advisory also said that Chinese authorities “appear to have broad discretion to deem a wide range of documents, data, statistics, or materials as state secrets and to detain and prosecute foreign nationals for alleged espionage.”It listed a wide range of potential offenses from taking part in demonstrations to sending electronic messages critical of Chinese policies or even simply conducting research into areas deemed sensitive.Exit bans could be used to compel individuals to participate in Chinese government investigations, pressure family members to return from abroad, resolve civil disputes in favor of Chinese citizens and “gain bargaining leverage over foreign governments,” the advisory said.Similar advisories were issued for the semi-autonomous Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Macao. They were dated Friday and emailed to journalists on Monday.The U.S. had issued similar advisories to its citizens in the past, but those in recent years had mainly warned of the dangers of being caught in strict and lengthy lockdowns while China closed its borders for three years under its draconian “zero-COVID” policy.China generally responds angrily to what it considers U.S. efforts to impugn its authoritarian Communist Party-led system. It has issued its own travel advisories concerning the U.S., warning of the dangers of crime, anti-Asian discrimination and the high cost of emergency medical assistance.China had no immediate response to the travel advisory on Monday.Details of the accusations against the accused spy John Shing-Wan Leung are not available, given China’s authoritarian political system and the ruling Communist Party’s absolute control over legal matters. Leung, who also holds permanent residency in Hong Kong, was detained in the southeastern city of Suzhou on April 15, 2021 — a time when China had closed its borders and tightly restricted movement of people domestically to control the spread of COVID-19.The warnings come as U.S.-China relations are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-taiwan-us-relations-ambassador-b599541d7af42fff9fa2783030c7c824" target="_blank">at their lowest in years</a>, over trade, technology, Taiwan and human rights, although the sides are taking some steps to improve the situation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a long-delayed visit to Beijing last week and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-yellen-biden-xi-economics-867a9a92427386ded2076ba8e342c6e2" target="_blank">Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen</a>&nbsp;is making a much-anticipated trip to Beijing this week. China also recently appointed a new ambassador to Washington, who presented his credentials in a meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.Other incidents, however, have also pointed to the testiness in the relationship. China formally protested last month after Biden called Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator,” days after Blinken’s visit.Biden brushed off the protest, saying his words would have no negative impact on U.S.-China relations and that he still expects to meet with Xi sometime soon. Biden has also drawn rebukes from Beijing by explicitly saying the U.S. would defend self-governing Taiwan if China, which claims the island as its own territory, were to attack it.Biden said his blunt statements regarding China are “just not something I’m going to change very much.”The administration is also under pressure from both parties to take a tough line on China, making it one of the few issues on which most Democrats and Republicans agree.Along with several detained Americans,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/detained-australians-in-china-will-have-to-wait-longer-to-learn-their-fate-20230118-p5cdht.html" target="_blank">Two Chinese-Australians,</a>&nbsp;Cheng Lei, who formerly worked for China’s state broadcaster, and writer Yang Jun, have been held since 2020 and 2019 respectively without word on their sentencing.Perhaps the most notorious case of arbitrary detention involved two&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-canada-china-arrests-washington-2b6e0977ae93557ad1265869d57838ed" target="_blank">Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor,</a>&nbsp;who were detained in China in 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei Technologies’ chief financial officer and the daughter of the tech powerhouse’s founder, on a U.S. extradition request.They were charged with national security crimes that were never explained and released three years later after the U.S. settled fraud charges against Meng. Many countries labeled China’s action “hostage politics.”

US warns Americans: Don't travel to China 

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

PAPILLION, Nebraska — An outside investigation of populist-fed fears about voting problems, funded by Sarpy County taxpayers, found no evidence of voter fraud and only a handful of mistakes by poll workers, none of which changed an election outcome.&nbsp;

The investigation, funded by Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov with $88,000 from his budget, explored the allegations from 52 affidavits gathered or shared by right-wing activists who said they got them going door-to-door to verify voter addresses.

The&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.sarpy.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5475/Report-Evaluating-2020-General-and-2022-Primary-Elections-in-Sarpy-County">32-page report</a>, issued Friday after a year of work, said many of the 57 total complaints Sarpy County received about the 2020 general election and the 2022 primary election raised concerns about voting in other states and jurisdictions beyond the investigator’s scope. Stories seen on cable news or shared online fueled some complaints.

The report identified a handful of local problems, including one poll worker who thanked a voter for showing ID before Nebraska required voters to show one, which election experts said could have spooked someone else in line without an ID from voting.

Another poll worker was reported for taking photos of the inside of a precinct to promote voting on social media, which made a fellow worker nervous that the images might have captured a vote on a secret ballot. State law allows selfies in polling places.

One voter reported being given the wrong ballot for the wrong congressional race in Sarpy County, but the person had already turned in their ballot, so it was too late to vote again. It happened in the first election after new congressional maps.

And two people who had moved outside Sarpy County, but had not yet registered to vote at their new addresses, were found to have voted at the Sarpy precincts where they previously lived. They should not have been allowed to vote, Investigator Bill Black said.

“Both only voted one time and voted in Sarpy County improperly due to human error,” he said.

The report said each of those issues could be fixed with better training of poll workers. But 54 interviews and evidence “could not substantiate the claims of fraud put forth with the information available,” Black wrote.

During a news conference about the report, one voting accuracy activist questioned Polikov and Black, a former investigator with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Attorney General, about the accuracy of local voting rolls and voting machines.

At one point, the Nebraska Voter Accuracy Project activist expressed skepticism of Black’s explanation that he had started the investigation questioning the security of Nebraska elections and ended it with greater confidence about the voting system.

She questioned letting Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s office decide which precincts get randomly audited to check voting machine counts. County election officials hand-count at least one precinct in each county to verify machine counts. The state had Sarpy check two and found no problems.

Evnen on Friday applauded the Sarpy report describing it as “thorough and complete.”

“I appreciate the detailed work done by the Sarpy County Attorney’s Office and the Sarpy County Election staff to address potential election concerns,” he said. “I take election security very seriously. We will review and consider the suggestions found in the report.”

Voter Accuracy Project leaders have described their group as nonpartisan. But they have promoted their work with GOP populist groups, including the Nebraska Freedom Coalition and Nebraskans Against Government Overreach, and at county GOP meetings.

Sarpy County Republicans, like their counterparts statewide and nationally, are in the thralls of a fight over the direction of the GOP. Many are deciding whether to align with the party’s former values or former President Donald Trump.

It fueled&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/09/old-guard-conservatives-and-trump-populists-take-nebraska-gop-from-ricketts/">changes in party leadership</a>&nbsp;of the Nebraska Republican Party in 2022 from a team loyal to then-Gov. Pete Ricketts to one demanding more loyalty to Trump. It’s also part of what’s behind this year’s fight over&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/06/07/county-gop-fight-is-latest-front-in-nebraska-gop-war-between-populists-traditionalists/">Sarpy County GOP leadership</a>. Populists have argued the election for county chair was “rigged.” Defenders of the chair have said it was a legitimate election.

Trump, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has pressured state and local election officials nationally by raising concerns about voting machines after his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. Trump&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://omaha.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/joe-biden-picks-up-2nd-district-electoral-vote-trump-wins-the-four-other-nebraska-votes/article_feb6eb42-95b1-5f13-b04f-598bae9d6544.html">lost Nebraska’s 2nd District</a>&nbsp;to Biden that year, winning in Sarpy but losing in neighboring Douglas County.

Trump faces federal charges stemming from allegedly mishandling classified documents and state charges in New York for alleged hush money payments to a porn star. He is facing primary challenges from several GOP candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Polikov — like many Republican officials who have been pressed since November 2020 to investigate election fraud claims in battleground states and districts — has had to walk a political tightrope.

Nebraska’s perennially purple 2nd Congressional District has flipped back and forth in recent presidential elections, going for President Barack Obama in 2008, for Mitt Romney in 2012, for Donald Trump in 2016 and for Biden in 2020.

Polikov acknowledged having had his own questions about the potential vulnerabilities of voting machines to hackers, despite Sarpy’s machines not being connected to the Internet. He also credited state and local election officials for their work to run elections and help with the probe.

After a six-month investigation and six more months to prepare the report, Polikov agreed with the report’s finding that there was no crime to prosecute, only some recommendations for election officials and lawmakers.

Among them: The report calls for the Legislature to consider shortening how many years of information about people’s voting attendance should be made public. It also recommended tweaks to how long it takes to remove someone from the voter rolls.

Some of those tweaks might have to occur at the federal level, because many of the processes for removing someone from the voter rolls are governed by federal law and years of election-related case law, voting rights experts explained.

Polikov defended spending tax dollars on the investigation and said it would have cost as much to use a sheriff’s investigator, who would have had less time to devote to it. He said Black found what voters should want to hear about local elections.

“The conclusion of this investigation was, that … it didn’t provide any fruit or thoughts of any misdeeds, wrongdoing or voter fraud,” Polikov said. “That’s the question we were looking for, and the answer is that none was discovered.”

Trump is set to visit nearby Council Bluffs on July 7.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688399034039.jpeg" alt="&nbsp;Sarpy County taxpayers paid $88,000 for an independent investigation into claims of voter fraud during the 2020 general election and the 2022 primary election. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Sarpy County taxpayers paid $88,000 for an independent investigation into claims of voter fraud during the 2020 general election and the 2022 primary election. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By Aaron Sanderford<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/">Nebraska Examiner</a>PAPILLION, Nebraska — An outside investigation of populist-fed fears about voting problems, funded by Sarpy County taxpayers, found no evidence of voter fraud and only a handful of mistakes by poll workers, none of which changed an election outcome.&nbsp;The investigation, funded by Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov with $88,000 from his budget, explored the allegations from 52 affidavits gathered or shared by right-wing activists who said they got them going door-to-door to verify voter addresses.The&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.sarpy.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5475/Report-Evaluating-2020-General-and-2022-Primary-Elections-in-Sarpy-County">32-page report</a>, issued Friday after a year of work, said many of the 57 total complaints Sarpy County received about the 2020 general election and the 2022 primary election raised concerns about voting in other states and jurisdictions beyond the investigator’s scope. Stories seen on cable news or shared online fueled some complaints.<h2>Handful of problems</h2>The report identified a handful of local problems, including one poll worker who thanked a voter for showing ID before Nebraska required voters to show one, which election experts said could have spooked someone else in line without an ID from voting.Another poll worker was reported for taking photos of the inside of a precinct to promote voting on social media, which made a fellow worker nervous that the images might have captured a vote on a secret ballot. State law allows selfies in polling places.One voter reported being given the wrong ballot for the wrong congressional race in Sarpy County, but the person had already turned in their ballot, so it was too late to vote again. It happened in the first election after new congressional maps.And two people who had moved outside Sarpy County, but had not yet registered to vote at their new addresses, were found to have voted at the Sarpy precincts where they previously lived. They should not have been allowed to vote, Investigator Bill Black said.“Both only voted one time and voted in Sarpy County improperly due to human error,” he said.The report said each of those issues could be fixed with better training of poll workers. But 54 interviews and evidence “could not substantiate the claims of fraud put forth with the information available,” Black wrote.<h2>Questions persist</h2>During a news conference about the report, one voting accuracy activist questioned Polikov and Black, a former investigator with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Attorney General, about the accuracy of local voting rolls and voting machines.At one point, the Nebraska Voter Accuracy Project activist expressed skepticism of Black’s explanation that he had started the investigation questioning the security of Nebraska elections and ended it with greater confidence about the voting system.She questioned letting Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s office decide which precincts get randomly audited to check voting machine counts. County election officials hand-count at least one precinct in each county to verify machine counts. The state had Sarpy check two and found no problems.Evnen on Friday applauded the Sarpy report describing it as “thorough and complete.”“I appreciate the detailed work done by the Sarpy County Attorney’s Office and the Sarpy County Election staff to address potential election concerns,” he said. “I take election security very seriously. We will review and consider the suggestions found in the report.”Voter Accuracy Project leaders have described their group as nonpartisan. But they have promoted their work with GOP populist groups, including the Nebraska Freedom Coalition and Nebraskans Against Government Overreach, and at county GOP meetings.<h2>Fight behind the scenes</h2>Sarpy County Republicans, like their counterparts statewide and nationally, are in the thralls of a fight over the direction of the GOP. Many are deciding whether to align with the party’s former values or former President Donald Trump.It fueled&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/09/old-guard-conservatives-and-trump-populists-take-nebraska-gop-from-ricketts/">changes in party leadership</a>&nbsp;of the Nebraska Republican Party in 2022 from a team loyal to then-Gov. Pete Ricketts to one demanding more loyalty to Trump. It’s also part of what’s behind this year’s fight over&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/06/07/county-gop-fight-is-latest-front-in-nebraska-gop-war-between-populists-traditionalists/">Sarpy County GOP leadership</a>. Populists have argued the election for county chair was “rigged.” Defenders of the chair have said it was a legitimate election.Trump, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has pressured state and local election officials nationally by raising concerns about voting machines after his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. Trump&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://omaha.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/joe-biden-picks-up-2nd-district-electoral-vote-trump-wins-the-four-other-nebraska-votes/article_feb6eb42-95b1-5f13-b04f-598bae9d6544.html">lost Nebraska’s 2nd District</a>&nbsp;to Biden that year, winning in Sarpy but losing in neighboring Douglas County.Trump faces federal charges stemming from allegedly mishandling classified documents and state charges in New York for alleged hush money payments to a porn star. He is facing primary challenges from several GOP candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.<h2>Battleground district</h2>Polikov — like many Republican officials who have been pressed since November 2020 to investigate election fraud claims in battleground states and districts — has had to walk a political tightrope.Nebraska’s perennially purple 2nd Congressional District has flipped back and forth in recent presidential elections, going for President Barack Obama in 2008, for Mitt Romney in 2012, for Donald Trump in 2016 and for Biden in 2020.Polikov acknowledged having had his own questions about the potential vulnerabilities of voting machines to hackers, despite Sarpy’s machines not being connected to the Internet. He also credited state and local election officials for their work to run elections and help with the probe.<h2>Recommended changes</h2>After a six-month investigation and six more months to prepare the report, Polikov agreed with the report’s finding that there was no crime to prosecute, only some recommendations for election officials and lawmakers.Among them: The report calls for the Legislature to consider shortening how many years of information about people’s voting attendance should be made public. It also recommended tweaks to how long it takes to remove someone from the voter rolls.Some of those tweaks might have to occur at the federal level, because many of the processes for removing someone from the voter rolls are governed by federal law and years of election-related case law, voting rights experts explained.Polikov defended spending tax dollars on the investigation and said it would have cost as much to use a sheriff’s investigator, who would have had less time to devote to it. He said Black found what voters should want to hear about local elections.That they are “free and fair.”“The conclusion of this investigation was, that … it didn’t provide any fruit or thoughts of any misdeeds, wrongdoing or voter fraud,” Polikov said. “That’s the question we were looking for, and the answer is that none was discovered.”Trump is set to visit nearby Council Bluffs on July 7.

No evidence of voter fraud in Sarpy, outside investigation finds

WASHINGTON&nbsp; — President Joe Biden vowed to push ahead with a new plan providing student loan relief for millions of borrowers, while blaming Republican “hypocrisy” for triggering Friday's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-653c2e9c085863bdbf81f125f87669fa">Supreme Court decision</a>&nbsp;that wiped out his original effort.

<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/22-506_nmip.pdf">Click here to read</a>&nbsp;the decision

(click below to watch the President discuss the plan)

Biden said his administration had already begun the process of working under the authority of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which he called "the best path that remains to provide&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-debt-forgiveness-supreme-court-2d6eec61822b9e7a89ff59453d2486a5">as many borrowers as possible</a>&nbsp;with debt relief.”

According to a statement from the White House,&nbsp;President Biden and his Administration&nbsp;have took two steps Friday afternoon aimed at providing debt relief for as many borrowers as possible, as fast as possible, and supporting student loan borrowers:

In addition, to protect the most vulnerable borrowers from the worst consequences of missed payments following the payment restart,&nbsp;the Department is instituting a 12-month “on-ramp” to repayment, running from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024, so that financially vulnerable borrowers who miss monthly payments during this period are not considered delinquent, reported to credit bureaus, placed in default, or referred to debt collection agencies.

These actions reflect the President’s belief that an education beyond high school should be a ticket to the middle class. It also builds on the unprecedented steps President Biden and his Administration have taken to make college more affordable for working and middle-class families and make federal student loans more manageable. The Biden-Harris Administration has:

Debt Relief for As Many Borrowers as Possible, as Fast as Possible The President remains committed to providing relief to low- and middle-income borrowers. For too many Americans, a ticket to the middle-class remains out of reach because of unmanageable student loan debt. COVID-19 exacerbated that challenge – risking tens of millions of borrowers’ financial security and futures because of the economic harms brought on by a once-in-a-century pandemic. Today, the Department&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/negregpublichearingannouncement.pdf">initiated rulemaking</a>&nbsp;aimed at opening an alternative path to debt relief for as many borrowers as possible, using the Secretary of Education’s authority under the Higher Education Act. The Department issued a notice, which is the first step in the process of issuing new regulations under this so-called “negotiated rulemaking” process. The notice announces a virtual public hearing on July 18th and solicits written comments from stakeholders on topics to consider. Following the public hearing, the Department will finalize the issues to be addressed through rulemaking and begin the negotiated rulemaking sessions this fall. The Department will complete this rulemaking as quickly as possible.

Lowering Monthly Payments The Biden-Harris Administration today also finalized the most affordable repayment plan ever created, called the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan. This income-driven repayment plan will cut borrowers’ monthly payments in half, allow many borrowers to make $0 monthly payments, save all other borrowers at least $1,000 per year, and ensure borrowers don’t see their balances grow from unpaid interest. Specifically, the plan will:

All student borrowers in repayment will be eligible to enroll in the SAVE plan. They will be able to enroll later this summer, before any monthly payments are due. Borrowers who sign up or are already signed up for the current Revised Pay as You Earn (REPAYE) plan will be automatically enrolled in SAVE once the new plan is implemented. To learn more about the new SAVE plan, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2021/idrfactsheetfinal.pdf">the Department of Education’s website.</a>

Ensuring Support for Borrowers Most at Risk To protect the most vulnerable borrowers, the Department is creating a temporary “on-ramp” to protect borrowers from the harshest consequences of late, missed, or partial payments for up to 12 months. While payments will be due and interest will accrue during this period, interest will not capitalize at the end of the on-ramp period. Additionally, borrowers will not be reported to credit bureaus, be considered in default, or referred to collection agencies for late, missed, or partial payments during the on-ramp period. Future monthly bills for borrowers not enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan will be automatically adjusted to reflect the accrued interest during those months. Borrowers who can pay should do so, but this on-ramp period gives borrowers who cannot make payments right away the necessary time to adjust, enabling them to ultimately make their monthly payments and meet their financial obligations on their loans. Borrowers do not need to take any action to qualify for this on-ramp.

WASHINGTON&nbsp; — President Joe Biden vowed to push ahead with a new plan providing student loan relief for millions of borrowers, while blaming Republican “hypocrisy” for triggering Friday's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-653c2e9c085863bdbf81f125f87669fa">Supreme Court decision</a>&nbsp;that wiped out his original effort.<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/22-506_nmip.pdf">Click here to read</a>&nbsp;the decision(click below to watch the President discuss the plan)<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KCQAaoyrOgk?start=387" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Biden said his administration had already begun the process of working under the authority of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which he called "the best path that remains to provide&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-debt-forgiveness-supreme-court-2d6eec61822b9e7a89ff59453d2486a5">as many borrowers as possible</a>&nbsp;with debt relief.”According to a statement from the White House,&nbsp;President Biden and his Administration&nbsp;have took two steps Friday afternoon aimed at providing debt relief for as many borrowers as possible, as fast as possible, and supporting student loan borrowers:<ul>
 <li>The Secretary of Education initiated a rulemaking process aimed at opening an alternative path to debt relief for as many working and middle-class borrowers as possible, using the Secretary’s authority under the Higher Education Act. &nbsp;</li><li>The Department of Education (Department) finalized the most affordable repayment plan ever created, ensuring that borrowers will be able to take advantage of this plan this summer—before loan payments are due.&nbsp;Many borrowers will not have to make monthly payments under this plan. Those that do will save more than $1,000 a year.</li>
 </ul>In addition, to protect the most vulnerable borrowers from the worst consequences of missed payments following the payment restart,&nbsp;the Department is instituting a 12-month “on-ramp” to repayment, running from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024, so that financially vulnerable borrowers who miss monthly payments during this period are not considered delinquent, reported to credit bureaus, placed in default, or referred to debt collection agencies.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The Biden-Harris Administration’s student debt relief program would have been good for the American economy. Republican elected officials who sued this Administration blocked all of it. <a href="https://t.co/rKWBqDq6fr">pic.twitter.com/rKWBqDq6fr</a>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1674961017283936258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>These actions reflect the President’s belief that an education beyond high school should be a ticket to the middle class. It also builds on the unprecedented steps President Biden and his Administration have taken to make college more affordable for working and middle-class families and make federal student loans more manageable. The Biden-Harris Administration has:<ul>
 <li>Secured the largest increases to Pell Grants in a decade. &nbsp;</li><li>Fixed broken student loan programs such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness, so borrowers actually get the relief they deserve. &nbsp;</li><li>Approved more than $66 billion in loan cancellation for 2.2 million borrowers across the country, including public service workers and those who have been defrauded by their colleges. &nbsp;</li>
 </ul>Debt Relief for As Many Borrowers as Possible, as Fast as Possible The President remains committed to providing relief to low- and middle-income borrowers. For too many Americans, a ticket to the middle-class remains out of reach because of unmanageable student loan debt. COVID-19 exacerbated that challenge – risking tens of millions of borrowers’ financial security and futures because of the economic harms brought on by a once-in-a-century pandemic. Today, the Department&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/negregpublichearingannouncement.pdf">initiated rulemaking</a>&nbsp;aimed at opening an alternative path to debt relief for as many borrowers as possible, using the Secretary of Education’s authority under the Higher Education Act. The Department issued a notice, which is the first step in the process of issuing new regulations under this so-called “negotiated rulemaking” process. The notice announces a virtual public hearing on July 18th and solicits written comments from stakeholders on topics to consider. Following the public hearing, the Department will finalize the issues to be addressed through rulemaking and begin the negotiated rulemaking sessions this fall. The Department will complete this rulemaking as quickly as possible.Lowering Monthly Payments The Biden-Harris Administration today also finalized the most affordable repayment plan ever created, called the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan. This income-driven repayment plan will cut borrowers’ monthly payments in half, allow many borrowers to make $0 monthly payments, save all other borrowers at least $1,000 per year, and ensure borrowers don’t see their balances grow from unpaid interest. Specifically, the plan will:<ul>
 <li>For undergraduate loans, cut in half the amount that borrowers have to pay each month from 10% to 5% of discretionary income.</li><li>Raise the amount of income that is considered non-discretionary income and therefore is protected from repayment, guaranteeing that no borrower earning under 225% of the federal poverty level—about the annual equivalent of a $15 minimum wage for a single borrower—will have to make a monthly payment under this plan.</li><li>Forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments, instead of 20 years, for borrowers with original loan balances of $12,000 or less. The Department estimates that this reform will allow nearly all community college borrowers to be debt-free within 10 years.</li><li>Not charge borrowers with unpaid monthly interest, so that unlike other existing income-driven repayment plans, no borrower’s loan balance will grow as long as they make their monthly payments—even when that monthly payment is $0 because their income is low.</li>
 </ul>All student borrowers in repayment will be eligible to enroll in the SAVE plan. They will be able to enroll later this summer, before any monthly payments are due. Borrowers who sign up or are already signed up for the current Revised Pay as You Earn (REPAYE) plan will be automatically enrolled in SAVE once the new plan is implemented. To learn more about the new SAVE plan, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2021/idrfactsheetfinal.pdf">the Department of Education’s website.</a>Ensuring Support for Borrowers Most at Risk To protect the most vulnerable borrowers, the Department is creating a temporary “on-ramp” to protect borrowers from the harshest consequences of late, missed, or partial payments for up to 12 months. While payments will be due and interest will accrue during this period, interest will not capitalize at the end of the on-ramp period. Additionally, borrowers will not be reported to credit bureaus, be considered in default, or referred to collection agencies for late, missed, or partial payments during the on-ramp period. Future monthly bills for borrowers not enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan will be automatically adjusted to reflect the accrued interest during those months. Borrowers who can pay should do so, but this on-ramp period gives borrowers who cannot make payments right away the necessary time to adjust, enabling them to ultimately make their monthly payments and meet their financial obligations on their loans. Borrowers do not need to take any action to qualify for this on-ramp.

🎥Details of new actions to provide debt relief for student loan borrowers

PARIS — France has mobilized tens of thousands of police officers in an effort to head off widespread urban rioting following the deadly police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M. that shocked the nation.

The office of French Interior&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/france-police-shooting-protests-paris-nanterre-nahel-220e30e596ed6ad28e152be3df03ec98">Minister Gerald Darmanin said 45,000 police officers</a>&nbsp;were again deployed Sunday night in the streets to counter anger over discrimination against people who trace their roots to former French colonies and live in low-income neighborhoods. Nahel is of Algerian descent and was shot in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

According to the statement from the U.S. Embassy in Paris, U.S. citizens should continue to avoid mass gatherings and areas of significant police activity as they can turn violent and result in clashes. 

Some cities continue to impose curfews. As always, it is a good practice to notify friends or family of your whereabouts. Note that public transportation is being affected.

President Emmanuel Macron held a special security meeting Sunday night and plans to meet Monday with the heads of both houses of parliament and Tuesday with the mayors of 220 towns and cities affected by the protests, said a participant in the meeting, who spoke anonymously in line with French government practices. Macron also wants to start a detailed, longer-term assessment of the reasons that led to the unrest, the official said.

Highlighting the seriousness of the rioting, Macron has delayed what would have been the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, which had been scheduled to start Sunday evening.

The interior ministry said police made 49 arrests nationwide Sunday, French media reported, down significantly from 719 arrests the day before. More than 3,000 people have been detained overall&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/france-police-shooting-protests-paris-nanterre-nahel-220e30e596ed6ad28e152be3df03ec98">following a mass security deployment</a>. Hundreds of police and firefighters have been injured in the violence, although authorities haven’t said how many protesters have been hurt.

French authorities were appalled on Sunday after a burning car struck the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses. Several police stations and town halls have been targeted by fires or vandalism in recent days, but such a personal attack on a mayor’s home is unusual.

Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said his wife and one of his children were injured in the 1:30 a.m. attack while they slept and he was in the town hall monitoring the violence. Jeanbrun, of the conservative opposition Republicans party, said the attack represented a new stage of “horror and ignominy” in the unrest.

The U.S. Embassy suggested actions to take:

U.S. citizens may monitor English-language French media at the following:

<a href="https://fr.usembassy.gov/" target="_blank">U.S. Embassy Paris, France</a>

<a href="mailto:CitizenInfo@state.gov" target="_blank">CitizenInfo@state.gov</a>

<a href="https://fr.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/marseille/" target="_blank">U.S. Consulate General Marseille, France</a> +33 (1) 43 12 22 22 <a href="mailto:CitizenInfoMarseille@state.gov" target="_blank">CitizenInfoMarseille@state.gov</a>

<a href="https://fr.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/strasbourg/" target="_blank">U.S. Consulate General Strasbourg, France</a> +33 (1) 43 12 22 22 <a href="mailto:CitizeninfoMarseille@state.gov" target="_blank">USAStrasbourg@state.gov</a>

State Department – Consular Affairs 888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444 <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/France.html" target="_blank">France Country Specific Information&nbsp;</a> Enroll in the&nbsp;<a href="https://step.state.gov/step/" target="_blank">Smart Traveler Enrollment Program&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;(STEP) to receive security updates

PARIS — France has mobilized tens of thousands of police officers in an effort to head off widespread urban rioting following the deadly police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M. that shocked the nation.The office of French Interior&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/france-police-shooting-protests-paris-nanterre-nahel-220e30e596ed6ad28e152be3df03ec98">Minister Gerald Darmanin said 45,000 police officers</a>&nbsp;were again deployed Sunday night in the streets to counter anger over discrimination against people who trace their roots to former French colonies and live in low-income neighborhoods. Nahel is of Algerian descent and was shot in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.According to the statement from the U.S. Embassy in Paris, U.S. citizens should continue to avoid mass gatherings and areas of significant police activity as they can turn violent and result in clashes. Some cities continue to impose curfews. As always, it is a good practice to notify friends or family of your whereabouts. Note that public transportation is being affected.President Emmanuel Macron held a special security meeting Sunday night and plans to meet Monday with the heads of both houses of parliament and Tuesday with the mayors of 220 towns and cities affected by the protests, said a participant in the meeting, who spoke anonymously in line with French government practices. Macron also wants to start a detailed, longer-term assessment of the reasons that led to the unrest, the official said.Highlighting the seriousness of the rioting, Macron has delayed what would have been the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, which had been scheduled to start Sunday evening.The interior ministry said police made 49 arrests nationwide Sunday, French media reported, down significantly from 719 arrests the day before. More than 3,000 people have been detained overall&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/france-police-shooting-protests-paris-nanterre-nahel-220e30e596ed6ad28e152be3df03ec98">following a mass security deployment</a>. Hundreds of police and firefighters have been injured in the violence, although authorities haven’t said how many protesters have been hurt.French authorities were appalled on Sunday after a burning car struck the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses. Several police stations and town halls have been targeted by fires or vandalism in recent days, but such a personal attack on a mayor’s home is unusual.Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said his wife and one of his children were injured in the 1:30 a.m. attack while they slept and he was in the town hall monitoring the violence. Jeanbrun, of the conservative opposition Republicans party, said the attack represented a new stage of “horror and ignominy” in the unrest.The U.S. Embassy suggested actions to take:<ul>
 <li>Avoid demonstrations and protest activity</li><li>Avoid areas with significant police activity</li><li>If unavoidable, protect yourself/find shelter</li><li>Follow the advice of police and local authorities</li><li>Monitor local media for updates</li><li>Be aware of your surroundings</li>
 </ul>U.S. citizens may monitor English-language French media at the following:<ul>
 <li><a href="http://www.france24.com/en/" target="_blank">http://www.france24.com/en/&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="http://en.rfi.fr/france/" target="_blank">http://en.rfi.fr/france/&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="https://www.thelocal.fr/%20" target="_blank">https://www.thelocal.fr/&nbsp;</a></li>
 </ul>Assistance:<a href="https://fr.usembassy.gov/" target="_blank">U.S. Embassy Paris, France</a>+33 (1) 43 12 22 22<a href="mailto:CitizenInfo@state.gov" target="_blank">CitizenInfo@state.gov</a><a href="https://fr.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/marseille/" target="_blank">U.S. Consulate General Marseille, France</a> +33 (1) 43 12 22 22 <a href="mailto:CitizenInfoMarseille@state.gov" target="_blank">CitizenInfoMarseille@state.gov</a><a href="https://fr.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/strasbourg/" target="_blank">U.S. Consulate General Strasbourg, France</a> +33 (1) 43 12 22 22 <a href="mailto:CitizeninfoMarseille@state.gov" target="_blank">USAStrasbourg@state.gov</a>State Department – Consular Affairs 888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444 <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/France.html" target="_blank">France Country Specific Information&nbsp;</a> Enroll in the&nbsp;<a href="https://step.state.gov/step/" target="_blank">Smart Traveler Enrollment Program&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;(STEP) to receive security updates

U.S. Embassy continues to alert Americans traveling in France

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a Black student who was raised by a single mother, Makia Green believes she benefited from a program that gave preference to students of color from economically disadvantaged backgrounds when she was admitted over a decade ago to the University of Rochester.

As a borrower who still owes just over $20,000 on her undergraduate student loans, she had been counting on President Joe Biden's promised debt relief to wipe nearly all of that away.

Now, the student loan cancellation plan has been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-653c2e9c085863bdbf81f125f87669fa">dismantled by the U.S. Supreme Court</a>, which on Thursday&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-race-f83d6318017ec9b9029b12ee2256e744">struck down affirmative action</a>&nbsp;in college admissions. Both policies disproportionately help Black students. To Green and many other people of color, the efforts to roll them back reflect a larger backlash to racial progress in higher education.

“I feel like working people have been through enough — I have been through enough,” said Green, a community organizer. “From a pandemic, an uprising, a recession, the cost of living price going up. I deserved some relief.”

The rulings could also have political consequences among a generation of young voters of color who took Biden at his word when he campaigned on canceling debt.

“Despite today’s upsetting ruling, we demand that the Biden Administration delivers on the promise of student loan debt relief,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson, in a statement. “Education has long been regarded as a path toward generational wealth, economic liberation, and securing the American dream. Let’s be clear — student debt is killing that dream.”

The president's plan&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-plan-d9c8e18774a744187c9af634bf4eb728">forgave up to $10,000</a>&nbsp;in federal student debt for borrowers, and doubled the debt relief to $20,000 for borrowers who also received Pell Grants. About half of the average debt held by Black and Hispanic borrowers would have been wiped out, according to the White House.

Six Republican-led states filed a legal challenge questioning whether the president, a Democrat, had authority to forgive the debt. On Friday, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-653c2e9c085863bdbf81f125f87669fa">Supreme Court held</a>&nbsp;the administration needed Congress’ endorsement before undertaking so costly a program.

In the affirmative action cases, the court was considering the use of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-ketanji-brown-jackson-us-supreme-court-college-admissions-affirmative-action-196ab930c799bcdc8b2a4a220641dd48">race-conscious admissions policies</a>&nbsp;that many selective colleges have used for decades to help build diversity on their campuses. The cases were brought by a conservative activist who argues the Constitution forbids the use of race in college admissions.

Together, the cases are crushing to Black Americans, the Rev. Al Sharpton said.

“The reality is race plays a factor in admissions, from pre-K to post-doctorate, and institutions just saw their best tool for fairness outlawed,” Sharpton said.

On student loans, Sharpton said: “Generations of Black youth were sold a bill of goods that higher education was a pathway out of poverty – only to be saddled with crushing debt that never lets them see their dreams fully realized.”

Both cases focused on policies that address historic racial disparities in access to higher education, as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-health-education-07bf5c4ff1928793f01e907a63cafa36">Black borrowers</a>&nbsp;tend to take on disproportionately more debt to afford college, said Dominique Baker, an education policy professor at Southern Methodist University.

Backlash to racial progress tends to follow periods of social change and advancement, Baker said. In a study published in 2019, Baker found states were more likely to adopt bans on affirmative action when white enrollment at public flagship universities dropped.

“These are policy tools that have an explicit aim around reducing the power of white supremacy,” Baker said. The two court challenges, she said, can be seen “as linked backlash to two attempts towards racial justice.”

Green, who grew up in a low-income household in Harlem, New York, graduated from Rochester with about $40,000 in federal loan debt. Some of that was erased under a public service forgiveness program when she completed two terms with Americorps, and she whittled it down further with monthly installments until the government&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-debt-forgiveness-supreme-court-default-0eb5a2bdb0ed4cfbd9663f822dfd457c">paused repayment</a>&nbsp;due to the pandemic. Payments will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-payment-pause-end-642276f724b30890669a60ea2c0bbfd5">restart in September</a>.

Green said she sees both court cases as connected to conservative&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-race-ban-schools-4c4df1728f5265eee3684268035570c2">attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs</a>. Critics say opposition to such programs is rooted in questions of fairness and in white grievances over the advancement of nonwhite people.

“This is white supremacy at work,” Green said. “This is a long tactic of conservative, white supremacist-leaning groups to use education and limit Black people’s access to education, as a way to further control and oppress us.”

In the 1960s and 1970s, many colleges developed affirmative action plans to address the fact that many predominantly white schools struggled to attract people from historically disadvantaged and underrepresented communities. Policies were also created to promote greater inclusion of women.

Since the late 1970s, the Supreme Court had three times&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-education-higher-8bd85791095f617f6fa66c1552670f3d">upheld affirmative action</a>&nbsp;in college admissions on grounds that institutions have a compelling interest to address past discrimination that shut nonwhite students out of higher learning. Justices had also agreed with arguments that more diverse student bodies promoted cross-racial understanding.

Some students and advocates worried about how the ruling would affect diversity on campuses.

Tarina Ahuja, a rising senior at Harvard College, said being part of a diverse student body has been a crucial part of her undergraduate experience. She recalled classes where students discussed their lived experiences on topics such as police violence, colonialism and labor movements — discussions that would have fallen flat without a diverse range of student perspectives.

In anticipation of a ruling against race-conscious admissions, some colleges have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-admissions-1d37af28939a533551cff45fa577ceb0">considering adding more essays</a>&nbsp;to get a better picture of an applicant’s background — an approach seemingly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-admissions-affirmative-action-race-0ec3f355ea77828d9a7aa07fa1b2ebde">endorsed by Thursday's Supreme Court ruling</a>. Others have been planning to boost recruiting in racially diverse areas. But in states that have already banned affirmative action, similar efforts at selective colleges have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-diversity-5551cdb2b7206cd9112433e858be4d59">largely failed to maintain diversity gains</a>.

Jonathan Loc, a graduate student at Harvard who helped organize teach-ins in support of affirmative action, said that for students of color, it's impossible to speak about their lives without mentioning race, whether through hardships faced or simply their pride in their cultural heritage.

“I grew up as the son of refugees in a low-income community and a single-parent family burdened with the model minority myth,” he said. “But I think that that kind of narrative also helps me to be an Asian American focused on racial justice, focused on making sure that everyone who has a unique story related to their racial background or any background has that story heard.”

It will be important for colleges to find ways to show they see the students as more than a number on paper, said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

“We need the schools to say, 'Look, the court says we can’t consider race, but we still see you,'” said Hewitt, whose organization defended affirmative action before the Supreme Court in October.

The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/8/1566222092492.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — As a Black student who was raised by a single mother, Makia Green believes she benefited from a program that gave preference to students of color from economically disadvantaged backgrounds when she was admitted over a decade ago to the University of Rochester.As a borrower who still owes just over $20,000 on her undergraduate student loans, she had been counting on President Joe Biden's promised debt relief to wipe nearly all of that away.Now, the student loan cancellation plan has been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-653c2e9c085863bdbf81f125f87669fa">dismantled by the U.S. Supreme Court</a>, which on Thursday&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-race-f83d6318017ec9b9029b12ee2256e744">struck down affirmative action</a>&nbsp;in college admissions. Both policies disproportionately help Black students. To Green and many other people of color, the efforts to roll them back reflect a larger backlash to racial progress in higher education.“I feel like working people have been through enough — I have been through enough,” said Green, a community organizer. “From a pandemic, an uprising, a recession, the cost of living price going up. I deserved some relief.”The rulings could also have political consequences among a generation of young voters of color who took Biden at his word when he campaigned on canceling debt.“Despite today’s upsetting ruling, we demand that the Biden Administration delivers on the promise of student loan debt relief,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson, in a statement. “Education has long been regarded as a path toward generational wealth, economic liberation, and securing the American dream. Let’s be clear — student debt is killing that dream.”The president's plan&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-plan-d9c8e18774a744187c9af634bf4eb728">forgave up to $10,000</a>&nbsp;in federal student debt for borrowers, and doubled the debt relief to $20,000 for borrowers who also received Pell Grants. About half of the average debt held by Black and Hispanic borrowers would have been wiped out, according to the White House.Six Republican-led states filed a legal challenge questioning whether the president, a Democrat, had authority to forgive the debt. On Friday, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-653c2e9c085863bdbf81f125f87669fa">Supreme Court held</a>&nbsp;the administration needed Congress’ endorsement before undertaking so costly a program.In the affirmative action cases, the court was considering the use of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-ketanji-brown-jackson-us-supreme-court-college-admissions-affirmative-action-196ab930c799bcdc8b2a4a220641dd48">race-conscious admissions policies</a>&nbsp;that many selective colleges have used for decades to help build diversity on their campuses. The cases were brought by a conservative activist who argues the Constitution forbids the use of race in college admissions.Together, the cases are crushing to Black Americans, the Rev. Al Sharpton said.“The reality is race plays a factor in admissions, from pre-K to post-doctorate, and institutions just saw their best tool for fairness outlawed,” Sharpton said.On student loans, Sharpton said: “Generations of Black youth were sold a bill of goods that higher education was a pathway out of poverty – only to be saddled with crushing debt that never lets them see their dreams fully realized.”Both cases focused on policies that address historic racial disparities in access to higher education, as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-health-education-07bf5c4ff1928793f01e907a63cafa36">Black borrowers</a>&nbsp;tend to take on disproportionately more debt to afford college, said Dominique Baker, an education policy professor at Southern Methodist University.Backlash to racial progress tends to follow periods of social change and advancement, Baker said. In a study published in 2019, Baker found states were more likely to adopt bans on affirmative action when white enrollment at public flagship universities dropped.“These are policy tools that have an explicit aim around reducing the power of white supremacy,” Baker said. The two court challenges, she said, can be seen “as linked backlash to two attempts towards racial justice.”Green, who grew up in a low-income household in Harlem, New York, graduated from Rochester with about $40,000 in federal loan debt. Some of that was erased under a public service forgiveness program when she completed two terms with Americorps, and she whittled it down further with monthly installments until the government&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-debt-forgiveness-supreme-court-default-0eb5a2bdb0ed4cfbd9663f822dfd457c">paused repayment</a>&nbsp;due to the pandemic. Payments will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-payment-pause-end-642276f724b30890669a60ea2c0bbfd5">restart in September</a>.Green said she sees both court cases as connected to conservative&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-race-ban-schools-4c4df1728f5265eee3684268035570c2">attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs</a>. Critics say opposition to such programs is rooted in questions of fairness and in white grievances over the advancement of nonwhite people.“This is white supremacy at work,” Green said. “This is a long tactic of conservative, white supremacist-leaning groups to use education and limit Black people’s access to education, as a way to further control and oppress us.”In the 1960s and 1970s, many colleges developed affirmative action plans to address the fact that many predominantly white schools struggled to attract people from historically disadvantaged and underrepresented communities. Policies were also created to promote greater inclusion of women.Since the late 1970s, the Supreme Court had three times&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-education-higher-8bd85791095f617f6fa66c1552670f3d">upheld affirmative action</a>&nbsp;in college admissions on grounds that institutions have a compelling interest to address past discrimination that shut nonwhite students out of higher learning. Justices had also agreed with arguments that more diverse student bodies promoted cross-racial understanding.Some students and advocates worried about how the ruling would affect diversity on campuses.Tarina Ahuja, a rising senior at Harvard College, said being part of a diverse student body has been a crucial part of her undergraduate experience. She recalled classes where students discussed their lived experiences on topics such as police violence, colonialism and labor movements — discussions that would have fallen flat without a diverse range of student perspectives.In anticipation of a ruling against race-conscious admissions, some colleges have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-admissions-1d37af28939a533551cff45fa577ceb0">considering adding more essays</a>&nbsp;to get a better picture of an applicant’s background — an approach seemingly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-admissions-affirmative-action-race-0ec3f355ea77828d9a7aa07fa1b2ebde">endorsed by Thursday's Supreme Court ruling</a>. Others have been planning to boost recruiting in racially diverse areas. But in states that have already banned affirmative action, similar efforts at selective colleges have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-diversity-5551cdb2b7206cd9112433e858be4d59">largely failed to maintain diversity gains</a>.Jonathan Loc, a graduate student at Harvard who helped organize teach-ins in support of affirmative action, said that for students of color, it's impossible to speak about their lives without mentioning race, whether through hardships faced or simply their pride in their cultural heritage.“I grew up as the son of refugees in a low-income community and a single-parent family burdened with the model minority myth,” he said. “But I think that that kind of narrative also helps me to be an Asian American focused on racial justice, focused on making sure that everyone who has a unique story related to their racial background or any background has that story heard.”It will be important for colleges to find ways to show they see the students as more than a number on paper, said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.“We need the schools to say, 'Look, the court says we can’t consider race, but we still see you,'” said Hewitt, whose organization defended affirmative action before the Supreme Court in October.___The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.___

In student loan, affirmative action rulings, advocates fear losses for racial equality

By ANNELISE HANSHAW <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/01/30/open-enrollment-missouri-school-choice/">Missouri Independent</a>

At the center of the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/06/30/u-s-supreme-court-rules-against-biden-administration-student-loan-debt-relief-plan/">U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness</a>&nbsp;program on Friday was a little-known Missouri nonprofit that goes by MOHELA.

Based in St. Louis, the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority is a quasi-governmental entity created by state lawmakers in 1981 to service student loans.

And when former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt went looking for legal standing in order to bring a lawsuit challenging the president’s program, he relied on the relationship between the state and MOHELA — even though the company wanted nothing to do with the lawsuit.

On Friday, the six conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Schmitt that, despite the company’s reluctance, MOHELA gave Missouri standing to sue. The court then struck down the program, with Chief Justice John Roberts accusing the executive branch of a power grab over the legislature.

“Today, we have concluded that an instrumentality created by Missouri, governed by Missouri, and answerable to Missouri is indeed part of Missouri; that the words ‘waive or modify’ do not mean ‘completely rewrite;’ and that our precedent — old and new — requires that Congress speak clearly before a Department Secretary can unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy,”&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/22-506_nmip.pdf">Roberts wrote</a>.

The ruling affects more than 777,000 Missourians with federal student loans who would have received $10,000-$20,000 of relief under the proposal.

In addition to Schmitt, five other attorneys general from Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Carolina filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, seeking to bar the Secretary of Education from providing student loan relief.&nbsp;

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-506/251435/20230104222942852_22-506tsUnitedStates.pdf">The attorneys general argued&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;the secretary didn’t have authority and the forgiveness program would hurt state tax revenue.

The Supreme Court had to decide whether Missouri’s attorney general could sue on behalf of MOHELA before determining the validity of the loan relief.

The district-court judge dismissed the case, saying MOHELA can represent itself in litigation. But the Supreme Court reversed that decision, finding that MOHELA is an “instrumentality of Missouri.”

“The secretary’s plan will cut MOHELA’s revenues, impairing its efforts to aid Missouri college students. This acknowledged harm to MOHELA in the performance of its public function is necessarily a direct injury to Missouri itself,” Roberts wrote.

Some predict that debt cancellation would increase MOHELA’s revenue.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/RI_Flawed-Claims-of-Legal-Standing-in-Biden-v-Nebraska_brief_202305.pdf">Projections from the Roosevelt Institute</a>&nbsp;show a steep increase as MOHELA takes over federal loans dropped by other servicers and is paid for each cancellation.

The dissenting opinion, written by Justice Elena Kagan, said MOHELA qualifies as a third party, not an arm of the government. Thus, Missouri had no standing to bring the lawsuit, she argued.&nbsp;

“If MOHELA had brought this suit, we would have had to resolve it, however hot or divisive. But Missouri? In adjudicating Missouri’s claim, the majority reaches out to decide a matter it has no business deciding. It blows through a constitutional guardrail intended to keep courts acting like courts,” Kagan wrote.

Although MOHELA is named 85 times in the court’s opinion, the nonprofit’s employees were opposed to the loan servicer’s inclusion, as recently revealed by the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://protectborrowers.org/internal-mohela-emails-press-release/">Student Borrower Protection Center</a>.

This month, the SBPC&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://protectborrowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SBPC-SLR-10-19-2022-Internal-E-Mails-z_Redacted.pdf">released internal MOHELA emails</a>&nbsp;it obtained through Missouri’s Sunshine Law showing employees discussing the case, with some confused at the organization’s inclusion in the lawsuit.

“The MO state AG needed to claim that our borrowers were harmed for standing, so they’re making us look bad by filing it not only with MO on it, but especially bad because they filed it in MO,” another employee wrote.

In October, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush sent a letter to MOHELA’s executive director Scott Giles and asked for the company’s stance on the attorney general’s lawsuit and accused MOHELA of being involved.&nbsp;

MOHELA had been largely silent up to that point.

“​​In Missouri alone, your efforts to halt cancellation could rob Missouri families — particularly Black and brown families who are disproportionately impacted by the student debt crisis — of more than $12.7 billion in life-changing economic relief,” Bush wrote.

MOHELA responded to Bush’s letter by distancing itself from the litigation. It informed the congresswoman that it was not involved in the decision to file the federal case.

“MOHELA has not had, and does not have, a contractual relationship or agreement with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office on any topic including as to student debt relief. The only communications between MOHELA and that office as it relates to student debt relief, is that the office recently filed a series of sunshine law requests on MOHELA seeking copies of documents relative to MOHELA’s federal loan servicing contract,” the company wrote in a letter to Bush.&nbsp;

<a target="_blank" href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.moed.198213/gov.uscourts.moed.198213.1.0_1.pdf">Attorneys argued</a>&nbsp;that loan cancellations would deprive MOHELA from the interest it would otherwise receive. Bush asked the organization about its capacity to serve as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program servicer.

MOHELA took over the PSLF program July 1, 2022,&nbsp; after the former servicer resigned. These loans are not the Federal Student Aid contested by the attorneys general and are actively being forgiven.

MOHELA said it had “available funds in excess of operating expenses” with its reserves dedicated to student financial aid.

“We are committed to meeting the expectations and requirements as directed and administered by Federal Student Aid,” it said.

Federal student loan relief isn’t new. The secretary of education has paused student loan payments during national emergencies historically through the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003, or HEROES Act.

In March 2020, then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos chose to use this precedent to stop payments and the accrual of interest during the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As federal employees in the Biden Administration looked toward the resumption of loan payments, they learned that Americans were at a higher risk of delinquency and faced economic pressures,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-506/251435/20230104222942852_22-506tsUnitedStates.pdf">the secretary of education said in litigation.</a>.

The Department of Education decided that $10,000 in relief, and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients, would keep delinquency rates at or below pre-pandemic levels.

The secretary of education was planning to use the HEROES Act to forgive the payments, but Friday’s Supreme Court decision found that would be beyond the scope of the act. The secretary said he is allowed to “modify” the HEROES Act, but Roberts wrote that the widespread student-loan forgiveness was beyond a simple edit.

Schmitt, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in November,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Eric_Schmitt/status/1674791643000754179">wrote on Twitter</a>&nbsp;he was “proud to have brought this case.”

“Working folks who paid off their loans or took another path shouldn’t have to pay for the unpaid loans of the tenured college professor,” he said.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said on Twitter that the ruling showed a commitment to inequality.

“On eliminating student loan relief, the Supreme Court again shows its activist stripes,” he wrote,&nbsp;“working overtime to protect the wealthy, erase opportunity for the poor, and to build permanent inequality, harming the chance for millions to build their lives free of burdensome debt.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673377040107.png" alt="White House image" />
 <figcaption>White House image</figcaption>
 </figure>By ANNELISE HANSHAW <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/01/30/open-enrollment-missouri-school-choice/">Missouri Independent</a>At the center of the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/06/30/u-s-supreme-court-rules-against-biden-administration-student-loan-debt-relief-plan/">U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness</a>&nbsp;program on Friday was a little-known Missouri nonprofit that goes by MOHELA.Based in St. Louis, the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority is a quasi-governmental entity created by state lawmakers in 1981 to service student loans.And when former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt went looking for legal standing in order to bring a lawsuit challenging the president’s program, he relied on the relationship between the state and MOHELA — even though the company wanted nothing to do with the lawsuit.On Friday, the six conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Schmitt that, despite the company’s reluctance, MOHELA gave Missouri standing to sue. The court then struck down the program, with Chief Justice John Roberts accusing the executive branch of a power grab over the legislature.“Today, we have concluded that an instrumentality created by Missouri, governed by Missouri, and answerable to Missouri is indeed part of Missouri; that the words ‘waive or modify’ do not mean ‘completely rewrite;’ and that our precedent — old and new — requires that Congress speak clearly before a Department Secretary can unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy,”&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/22-506_nmip.pdf">Roberts wrote</a>.The ruling affects more than 777,000 Missourians with federal student loans who would have received $10,000-$20,000 of relief under the proposal.In addition to Schmitt, five other attorneys general from Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Carolina filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, seeking to bar the Secretary of Education from providing student loan relief.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-506/251435/20230104222942852_22-506tsUnitedStates.pdf">The attorneys general argued&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;the secretary didn’t have authority and the forgiveness program would hurt state tax revenue.The Supreme Court had to decide whether Missouri’s attorney general could sue on behalf of MOHELA before determining the validity of the loan relief.The district-court judge dismissed the case, saying MOHELA can represent itself in litigation. But the Supreme Court reversed that decision, finding that MOHELA is an “instrumentality of Missouri.”“The secretary’s plan will cut MOHELA’s revenues, impairing its efforts to aid Missouri college students. This acknowledged harm to MOHELA in the performance of its public function is necessarily a direct injury to Missouri itself,” Roberts wrote.Some predict that debt cancellation would increase MOHELA’s revenue.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/RI_Flawed-Claims-of-Legal-Standing-in-Biden-v-Nebraska_brief_202305.pdf">Projections from the Roosevelt Institute</a>&nbsp;show a steep increase as MOHELA takes over federal loans dropped by other servicers and is paid for each cancellation.The dissenting opinion, written by Justice Elena Kagan, said MOHELA qualifies as a third party, not an arm of the government. Thus, Missouri had no standing to bring the lawsuit, she argued.&nbsp;“If MOHELA had brought this suit, we would have had to resolve it, however hot or divisive. But Missouri? In adjudicating Missouri’s claim, the majority reaches out to decide a matter it has no business deciding. It blows through a constitutional guardrail intended to keep courts acting like courts,” Kagan wrote.Although MOHELA is named 85 times in the court’s opinion, the nonprofit’s employees were opposed to the loan servicer’s inclusion, as recently revealed by the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://protectborrowers.org/internal-mohela-emails-press-release/">Student Borrower Protection Center</a>.This month, the SBPC&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://protectborrowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SBPC-SLR-10-19-2022-Internal-E-Mails-z_Redacted.pdf">released internal MOHELA emails</a>&nbsp;it obtained through Missouri’s Sunshine Law showing employees discussing the case, with some confused at the organization’s inclusion in the lawsuit.“Are we the bad guys?” one asked.“The MO state AG needed to claim that our borrowers were harmed for standing, so they’re making us look bad by filing it not only with MO on it, but especially bad because they filed it in MO,” another employee wrote.In October, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush sent a letter to MOHELA’s executive director Scott Giles and asked for the company’s stance on the attorney general’s lawsuit and accused MOHELA of being involved.&nbsp;MOHELA had been largely silent up to that point.“​​In Missouri alone, your efforts to halt cancellation could rob Missouri families — particularly Black and brown families who are disproportionately impacted by the student debt crisis — of more than $12.7 billion in life-changing economic relief,” Bush wrote.MOHELA responded to Bush’s letter by distancing itself from the litigation. It informed the congresswoman that it was not involved in the decision to file the federal case.“MOHELA has not had, and does not have, a contractual relationship or agreement with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office on any topic including as to student debt relief. The only communications between MOHELA and that office as it relates to student debt relief, is that the office recently filed a series of sunshine law requests on MOHELA seeking copies of documents relative to MOHELA’s federal loan servicing contract,” the company wrote in a letter to Bush.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.moed.198213/gov.uscourts.moed.198213.1.0_1.pdf">Attorneys argued</a>&nbsp;that loan cancellations would deprive MOHELA from the interest it would otherwise receive. Bush asked the organization about its capacity to serve as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program servicer.MOHELA took over the PSLF program July 1, 2022,&nbsp; after the former servicer resigned. These loans are not the Federal Student Aid contested by the attorneys general and are actively being forgiven.MOHELA said it had “available funds in excess of operating expenses” with its reserves dedicated to student financial aid.“We are committed to meeting the expectations and requirements as directed and administered by Federal Student Aid,” it said.Federal student loan relief isn’t new. The secretary of education has paused student loan payments during national emergencies historically through the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003, or HEROES Act.In March 2020, then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos chose to use this precedent to stop payments and the accrual of interest during the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.As federal employees in the Biden Administration looked toward the resumption of loan payments, they learned that Americans were at a higher risk of delinquency and faced economic pressures,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-506/251435/20230104222942852_22-506tsUnitedStates.pdf">the secretary of education said in litigation.</a>.The Department of Education decided that $10,000 in relief, and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients, would keep delinquency rates at or below pre-pandemic levels.The secretary of education was planning to use the HEROES Act to forgive the payments, but Friday’s Supreme Court decision found that would be beyond the scope of the act. The secretary said he is allowed to “modify” the HEROES Act, but Roberts wrote that the widespread student-loan forgiveness was beyond a simple edit.Schmitt, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in November,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Eric_Schmitt/status/1674791643000754179">wrote on Twitter</a>&nbsp;he was “proud to have brought this case.”“Working folks who paid off their loans or took another path shouldn’t have to pay for the unpaid loans of the tenured college professor,” he said.Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said on Twitter that the ruling showed a commitment to inequality.“On eliminating student loan relief, the Supreme Court again shows its activist stripes,” he wrote,&nbsp;“working overtime to protect the wealthy, erase opportunity for the poor, and to build permanent inequality, harming the chance for millions to build their lives free of burdensome debt.”