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What to know about Biden’s latest attempt at student loan cancellation
President Joe Biden is taking another shot at student loan cancellation, hoping to deliver on a key campaign promise that he has so far failed to fulfill.
Here’s how Tim Scott, the top Black Republican in the GOP presidential primary, discusses race
Tim Scott seldom specifically brings up race in Iowa. Nor does the Republican presidential candidate have to.
Plagiarism charges down Harvard’s president; a conservative attack helped to fan the outrage
American higher education has long viewed plagiarism as a cardinal sin. Accusations of academic dishonesty have ruined the careers of faculty and undergraduates alike. The latest target is Harvard President Claudine Gay, who resigned Tuesday. In her case, the outrage came not from her academic peers but her political foes, led by conservatives who put her career under intense scrutiny.
USDA updates rules for school meals that limit sugars
The nation’s school meals will get a makeover under new nutrition standards that limit added sugars for the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture an- nounced Wednesday. The final rule also trims sodium in students’ meals, although not by the 30% first proposed in 2023. And it con- tinues to allow flavored milks — such as chocolate milk — with less sugar, rather than adopting an option that would have offered only unflavored milk to the youngest kids. The aim is to improve nutrition and align with U.S. dietary guidelines in the program that provides breakfasts to more than 15 million students and lunches to nearly 30 million students every day at a cost of about $22.6 billion per year. “All of this is designed to ensure that students have quality meals and that we meet parents’ expectations,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters. The limits on added sugars would be required in the 2025-2026 school year, starting with high-sugar foods such as cereal, yogurt and flavored milk. By the fall of 2027, added sugars in school meals would be limited to no more than 10% of the total calories per week for breakfasts and lunches, in addition to limits on sugar in specific products. New WIC rules include more money for fruits and veggies. They also expand food choices Officials had proposed to reduce sodium in school meals by as much as 30% over the next several years. But after receiving mixed public comments and a directive from Congress included in the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill approved in March, the agency will reduce sodium levels allowed in breakfasts by 10% and in lunches by 15% by the 2027-2028 school year.
Chaos and violence
Mass shootings claim lives at gatherings over July Fourth holiday
Mass shootings broke out at festivals, block parties and other gatherings in a handful of cities this week as the U.S. celebrated the Fourth of July. Gun violence that flared in Washington, D.C, Louisiana, Florida, Philadelphia, Texas and Baltimore left more than a dozen dead and almost 60 wounded — including children as young as 2 years old.
A new generation of readers embraces bell hooks’ ‘All About Love’
In the summer of 2022, Emma Goodwin was getting over a breakup and thinking hard about her life and how to better herself. She decided to try a book she had heard about often, bell hooks’ “All About Love: New Visions.”
Newly empowered Virginia Democrats nominate the state’s first Black House speaker, Don Scott
Virginia’s state House will soon have its first Black speaker in its more than 400-year history after the chamber’s incoming Democratic majority on Saturday chose Del. Don Scott to serve in the post.
For Emmett Till’s family, national monument proclamation cements his inclusion in the American story
When President Biden signed a proclamation Tuesday establishing a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, it marked the fulfillment of a promise Till’s relatives made after his death 68 years ago. The Black teenager from Chicago, whose abduction, torture and killing in Mississippi in 1955 helped propel the Civil Rights Movement, is now an American story, not just a civil rights story, said Mr. Till’s cousin the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. “It has been quite a journey for me from the darkness to the light,” Mr. Parker said during a proclamation signing ceremony at the White House attended by dozens, including other
Google fires more workers who protested its deal with Israel
Google recently fired at least 20 more workers in the aftermath of protests over technology the company is supplying the Israeli government amid the Gaza war, bringing the total number of terminated staff to more than 50, a group representing the workers said.
Virginia lawmakers approve budget, but Gov. Youngkin warns that changes will be needed
Virginia lawmakers wrapped up their 60-day legislative session Saturday by approving a two-year budget that includes pay raises for teachers and state employees, increases for education funding and extends the state sales tax to cover digital services.
Some striking UAW members carry family legacies
As Britney Johnson paced the picket line outside Ford’s Wayne Assembly plant, she wasn’t just carrying a sign demanding higher pay and other changes. Autoworker jobs have long been a pillar of the Black middle class in America, and the strikes and the fight for higher wages have had even deeper significance for workers like Johnson.
Michigan Wolverines greet screaming fans after victory over Washington Huskies
The national champion Michigan Wolverines returned home Tuesday night to thunderous applause and screaming fans following their 34-13 victory over the Washington Huskies.
Jacksonville shootings refocus attention on city’s racist past and the struggle to move on
By some measures, Jacksonville was making strides to emerge from its racist past. But the killing of three Black people by a young, white shooter was a painful and startling reminder that the remnants of racism still fester in the Florida city.
The Supreme Court says it is adopting a code of ethics, but it has no means of enforcement
The Supreme Court on Monday adopted its first code of ethics, in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices, but the code lacks a means of enforcement.
Prisoners in the U.S. are part of a hidden workforce linked to hundreds of popular food brands
A hidden path to America’s dinner tables begins here, at an unlikely source — a former Southern slave plantation that is now the country’s largest maximum-security prison.
Obamas’ personal chef drowns near family’s home
Former President Obama’s personal chef has drowned near the family’s home on Martha’s Vineyard.
Trump wins New Hampshire primary as rematch with Biden appears increasingly likely
Former President Donald Trump easily won New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday, seizing command of the race for the Republican nomination and making a November rematch against President Biden feel all the more inevitable.
Detroit’s bankruptcy architect says filing 10 years ago was best fix for broken city
Detroit’s newly hired emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, stood before reporters in March 2013 and issued a warning to city creditors, unions, vendors and others: “Don’t make me go to bankruptcy court. You won’t enjoy it.”
Immigration drove white, Asian population growth in U.S. last year
Harris County, Texas gains largest number of Black residents
Without immigration, the white population in the U.S. would have declined last year. Immigration also propelled the expansion of the Asian population, which was the fastest-growing race or ethnic group last year in the U.S., while births outpacing deaths helped propel growth in Hispanic, Black, tribal and Hawaiian populations. Population estimates released June 22 by the U.S. Census Bureau show what drove changes in different race, ethnic and age groups last year, as well as since the start of COVID-19’s spread in the U.S. in April 2020. The country had grown to 333.2 million people by the middle of last year, a 0.4% increase over the previous year, according to the 2022 population estimates.
5 former officers charged with federal civil rights violations in Tyre Nichols beating death
Five former Memphis Police officers were charged Tuesday with federal civil rights violations in the beating death of Tyre Nichols as they continue to fight second degree murder charges in state courts arising from the killing.
