Morning Headlines - Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024

U.S. and World Headlines

Biden Administration Is Forgiving $1.2 Billion In Student Debt For 153,000 Borrowers. Here's Who Qualifies

The Biden administration on Wednesday said it is automatically forgiving $1.2 billion in student debt for 153,000 borrowers. Loan holders whose debt will be discharged will receive an email from President Joe Biden today informing them of the forgiveness, the Department of Education said.

The debt relief is the latest push from the White House to address the nation's $1.77 trillion in student debt after the Supreme Court last year invalidated the Biden administration's plan for broad-based student loan forgiveness. That plan would have helped more than 40 million borrowers each wipe away up to $20,000 in debt.

Indicted Ex-FBI Informant Told Investigators He Got Hunter Biden Dirt From Russian Intelligence Officials

The former FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens’ dealings in Ukraine told investigators after his arrest that Russian intelligence officials were involved in passing information to him about Hunter Biden, prosecutors said Tuesday in a new court filing, noting that the information was false.

Prosecutors also said Alexander Smirnov has been “actively peddling new lies that could impact US elections” after meeting with Russian spies late last year and that the fallout from his previous false bribery accusations about the Bidens “continue[s] to be felt to this day.”

Israel Gaza: China Condemns Us Veto Of Call For Immediate Ceasefire At UN

China has sharply criticised the US for vetoing a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Beijing said the move sent the "wrong message" and effectively gave a "green light to the continued slaughter".

The White House said the Algerian-proposed resolution would "jeopardise" talks to end the war. The US has proposed its own temporary ceasefire resolution, which also warned Israel not to invade the city of Rafah.

GOP Chances Of Winning The Senate On The Rise

Senate Republicans have seen their chances of taking the Senate majority steadily rise this year as they have expanded the battlefield, limited internal fights and recruited a set of strong candidates.

It’s a remarkable shift from two years ago, when infighting between an out-of-power President Trump and the GOP establishment left the conference with midterm candidates who underperformed, boosting Democrats to a bigger majority in 2023 than they enjoyed the previous year. The latest good news for Republicans came in Maryland and Montana.

Capital One-Discover Merger Could Put A Bigger Squeeze On Credit Card Users, Experts Warn

Capital One’s $35.3 billion deal to buy Discover is a long way from being completed.

But consumer advocates and some lawmakers are already raising questions about how the proposed merger could affect credit-card users — many of whom are already under pressure from high interest rates and record debts.

Wisconsin Headlines

10 Guards And 900 Inmates: Wisconsin Prisons See Dire Results Of Ignored Warnings

Wisconsin’s top prison official wrote to the governor in 2015 with a dire warning: The state prisons were dangerously understaffed, imperiling both guards and inmates.

Five years later, two men escaped from a maximum-security Wisconsin prison that once held Jeffrey Dahmer, fleeing early one morning when four of the facility’s five watchtowers were unmanned.

Republican DA Asks Wisconsin Supreme Court To Decide Abortion Lawsuit Without Lower Court Ruling

A Republican prosecutor asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday to decide whether a 174-year-old state law bans abortion in the state without waiting for a ruling from a lower appellate court.

The U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion, reactivated an 1849 law that conservatives have interpreted as banning abortion.

Blain's Farm And Fleet Named Top Employer By Forbes

Wisconsin-based 'Blain's Farm and Fleet' has topped the charts once again - being named by Forbes as one of America's top employers.

Every year, Forbes sends out hundreds of thousands of surveys to workers across the country, having them rate their employers. This year - Blain's came in at number 220 - marking the sixth year in a row it made the cut.

Wisconsin Republican-Controlled Senate Votes To Reject Evers Appointees

The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate voted Tuesday to reject four of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ appointees, including a member of the state’s natural resources policy board and a former lieutenant governor who was to serve on a hospital governing board.

That brings to 13 the number of Evers appointees that the Senate has rejected, which has the effect of firing them. Evers immediately named replacements while slamming the Republican votes as “petty, partisan politics.”

Wisconsin Governor’s Partial Veto Powers Would Weaken Under Proposed Amendment

Wisconsin governors would see one of their most unique veto powers weakened under a proposed constitutional amendment that passed the state Assembly Tuesday.

The partial veto power — in which a governor can cross out words, numbers or punctuation from an appropriation bill — could not be used to create or increase taxes or fees, according to the proposal.