White House considers extending freeze on student loan repayments
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is considering extending its pause on student loan repayments, now set to resume Jan. 1, in response to legal challenges to its student-debt forgiveness program, according to people familiar with the internal discussions.
White House aides, Democratic lawmakers and advocates have been discussing ways to give borrowers a measure of financial relief, as the lawsuits work their way through the court system, people familiar with the talks said.
A federal appeals court on Monday blocked the administration from carrying out President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel as much as $20,000 in debt for some borrowers. The decision followed a ruling last week from a federal judge in Texas finding the plan unlawful. The Department of Education has stopped accepting applications for loan forgiveness, thrusting millions of Americans into financial limbo.
No final decision has been made yet on pausing student loan repayments, nor on the length of any new pause. Some administration lawyers are wary of offering another extension of a pandemic-era program, but Democratic lawmakers and aides would like to take action before the Dec. 6 Senate runoff election in Georgia, the people familiar said.
—Bloomberg News
Church of Scientology is on opposite ends of two celebrity rape cases in LA, New York
NEW YORK — In a Manhattan courtroom, defense attorneys suggested the Church of Scientology fabricated rape allegations to tar an Oscar-winning former member’s reputation.
In a courtroom in Los Angeles, prosecutors contend the same controversial religion worked to suppress rape allegations in order to protect a celebrity member.
The trials of “That ‘70s Show” actor Danny Masterson and “Million Dollar Baby” director Paul Haggis on either coast have thrust Scientology — not a party to either case — into the spotlight, leaving the church embroiled in allegations it conspired to sink one man’s reputation over his treatment of women while protecting another from rape claims.
For nearly a month, Masterson has been on trial in Los Angeles, facing claims from three former Scientologists who say he plied them with alcohol and raped them — sometimes while they drifted in and out of consciousness. Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller argued at the trial that the women feared “consequences that would come down from the ... Church of Scientology” if they reported the rapes to law enforcement.
—Los Angeles Times
Attorneys, law enforcement unsure how recreational marijuana will affect Missouri policing
ST. LOUIS — Missourians will be able to buy recreational marijuana by early February, but both attorneys and police are unsure what the drug’s legalization means for police departments, officers and residents.
Attorneys speculated that charges for driving while intoxicated could rise as the use of marijuana increases. And they said the shift in law could prevent police officers from using marijuana odor as probable cause to search a vehicle during a traffic stop.
“It will be interesting because (attorneys) have complained for some time that law enforcement will use the smell of marijuana as an excuse to get into somebody’s car,” said Jill Schaefer, a defense attorney based in Clayton.
Voters on Tuesday approved Amendment 3, which will allow anyone 21 or older to purchase up to 3 ounces of dried, unprocessed marijuana per day. The state uses a separate weighing system to determine the amount of gummies and other products not sold in flower form.
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Russia spreading its food security misinformation among the G-20, officials say
On the back foot at the Group of 20 summit and appearing increasingly isolated, Russian diplomats are fanning out in Bali to again push unsubstantiated claims that nations including the U.S. are to blame for high global food prices, rather than their own invasion of Ukraine.
With food security — including access to grain supplies and crucial fertilizers for the 2023 crop season — dominating the first day of the summit on the Indonesian island, Russian officials are seeking traction with poorer states that have borne the brunt of shortages and rising prices. It’s part of an effort to sow divisions between richer Group of Seven countries and what is known as the “Global South.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stood in for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is not attending the summit. One of the few formal events he joined in Bali was the summit session on food security, where host President Joko Widodo warned of a looming crisis due to shortfalls in fertilizer.
The summit comes days before the end of a deal that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments to start flowing again from its ports that Russia blockaded in the initial months of the war. Turkey and the United Nations have pushed for the agreement with Russia to be extended, and officials familiar with the negotiations say Moscow will agree to roll it over as scheduled.
—Bloomberg News
