Biden Will Cancel $1 Billion in Student Debt for Defrauded Borrowers ; Netanyahu May Have to Serve With Islamist Party ; and More Picks 3/25
Biden Will Cancel $1 Billion in Student Debt for Defrauded Borrowers (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “The Biden administration has reversed a controversial Trump-era policy that will lead to the cancellation of roughly $1 billion in student debt for borrowers who were defrauded by their colleges. The change will deliver full loan forgiveness to 73,000 people who were deemed eligible for the relief under former Education Secretary Betsy Devos but received only partial loan forgiveness after she changed the cancellation calculation.”
Netanyahu Said He Won’t Serve With Ra’am, but He May Need to, to Stay in Power (Dan)
From the Times of Israel: “The updated vote tally released Wednesday morning put the Islamist Ra’am party above the electoral threshold, transforming chairman Mansour Abbas into a possible kingmaker. It was a dramatic triumph for the conservative Islamist, who had aimed to make his party into ‘the deciding vote’ in the next Israeli government. Abbas told reporters on Tuesday morning that he would not rule out serving in a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a previously unthinkable red line for Arab politicians.”
The Air Force Is Having to Reverse Engineer Parts of Its Own Stealth Bomber (Dana)
From the Drive: “In a surprising turn of events, the United States government is calling upon its country’s industry to reverse engineer components for the Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. … While it’s hard to say exactly why this approach is being taken now, it indicates that the original plans for these components are unavailable or the manufacturing processes and tooling used to produce them no longer exists.”
Redmond, WA, Is Trying a New Tactic to Bolster Tourism: Giving Visitors Money (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “The city of Redmond wants you to visit. So bad that tourism officials there will pay you $100 to do so. Got your shots and itching for a ‘vaxication’? Or just can’t stand being a shut-in anymore following our long winter of COVID-19? … By booking two nights at a participating hotel in the town that Microsoft made famous, you can use the $100 travel bonus to pay for meals, spa visits, clothing or anything else at more than three dozen eligible local businesses.”
Video Really Caught Dolphins in a Venice Canal This Time (Mili)
From the Verge: “Two dolphins were caught on video swimming through Venice canals near the iconic St. Mark’s Square yesterday. The pair, an adult and a calf, visited during heightened coronavirus-related restrictions in the city. The sight was ‘a great joy in a dark period for everyone,’ Luca Folin told local newspaper La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre. The paper reports that Folin took one video of the dolphins that went viral. Unlike fake reports of dolphins splashing through Venice canals near the start of the pandemic last year, this week’s sighting is legitimate.”
