Day: December 26, 2021

Categories
Technology

Biden Extends Pause on Student Loan Repayments 90 Days

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that his administration will extend the pause on student loan repayment in the United States until May 1, 2022, in response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a statement from the president released by the White House, pausing loan repayments is part of the country’s economic recovery.

“Today my administration is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments for an additional 90 days — through May 1, 2022 — as we manage the ongoing pandemic and further strengthen our economic recovery,” Biden said in a statement.

The Department of Education will continue working with borrowers to ensure they are adequately supported to “transition smoothly back into repayment and advance economic stability for their own households and for our nation,” Biden said.

In the statement, Biden urged borrowers to take advantage of the department’s resources, such as options to lower payments through income-based repayment plans and public service loan forgiveness.

This is not the first time the Biden administration has extended the loan repayment pause. In August, it was extended through January 31.

The forbearance has benefited millions across the country. According to Reuters, nearly 41 million borrowers benefited from the freeze on interest accruals, and about 27 million borrowers have not had to pay their monthly bills since the pause began.

The administration’s decision has been welcomed by Democratic lawmakers. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren issued a joint statement applauding the announcement but also urging the president to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt.

“We continue to call on President Biden to take executive action to cancel $50,000 in student debt, which will help close the racial wealth gap for borrowers and accelerate our economic recovery,” they said.

The president, however, has made it clear several times he does not support such an initiative. During a town hall with CNN in February, in response to other Democrats’ idea to cancel $50,000 in student debt per borrower, he said, “I will not make that happen.”

The extension in the loan repayment pause comes as the U.S. addresses the surge in COVID-19 cases spurring from the spread of the omicron variant. With the holidays nearing, anxieties over the virus have increased and more Americans are getting tested daily ahead of family gatherings and celebrations.

Despite worries over what the omicron variant means for the nation, President Biden assured Americans in a nationwide address Tuesday that a complete shutdown like that of March 2020 is not imminent.

Source: Voice of America

Categories
Affairs

The Euro: How It Started 20 Years Ago

PARIS — As Europe rang in the New Year 20 years ago, 12 of its nations said goodbye to their deutschmarks, French francs, liras and pesetas as they welcomed the euro single currency.

On January 1, 2002, euro notes and coins became a reality for some 300 million people from Athens to Dublin, three years after the currency was formally launched in “virtual” form.

Here is a recap of the event, drawn from AFP reporting at the time:

In a far cry from the austere New Year’s celebrations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic 20 years later, fireworks, music and lights blazed at midnight into the early morning of January 1, 2002, to mark the biggest monetary switch in history.

AFP reported that many people passed on their traditional New Year’s Eve parties, choosing instead to queue up at cash dispensers in their enthusiasm to get hold of the first pristine euro notes.

In Berlin, Germans said hello to the euro and goodbye to their beloved mark at a special ceremony at the Brandenburg Gate, as up to 1 million people thronged the streets for the traditional giant New Year’s Eve street party there.

The euro cash was also a hit in the coffee shops and red-light district of Amsterdam.

Irish revelers were, however, less in a hurry to welcome the euro, continuing to pay for Guinness, Ireland’s favorite tipple, in the national currency, leaving the headache of the changeover until the next day.

As many feared, the euro switch provoked sporadic price hikes across Europe.

From Spanish bus tickets, which jumped by 33%, to a Finnish bazaar, where “everything for 10 markka (1.68 euros)” was now “everything for two euros,” many price tags were a bit heftier since the single currency became legal tender.

The European Central Bank president at the time, Wim Duisenberg, who warned merchants not to take advantage of the euro launch to increase prices, said he had not seen signs of widespread abuse.

“When I bought a Big Mac and a strawberry milkshake this week it cost 4.45 euros, which is exactly the same amount as I paid for the same meal last week,” Duisenberg told reporters.

Europe surprised itself with the almost glitch-free transition to the single currency, AFP reported.

The Germans — reputedly skeptical about the single currency and nostalgic for their mark — turned out to be among the most enthusiastic.

An editorial in the popular German tabloid Bild proclaimed: “Our new money is moving full speed ahead. No problems whatsoever in saying adieu to the mark, no tears to be shed.”

Initial “europhoria” was, however, tempered as a few hiccups appeared, such as cash shortages and long lines in banks, post offices and at toll booths.

France urged citizens to not rush all at once to the banks with their savings, often hoarded under mattresses and in jam jars, since they had until June 30 to get rid of their francs at commercial banks and until 2012 at the Bank of France.

And the European Commission reported minor problems in getting small euro bills and coins distributed in most countries.

Duisenberg said, however, he was sure that January 1, 2002, would be written into history books as the start of a new European era.

Source: Voice of America

Categories
General

Anti-Apartheid Hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu Dies at 90

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has died at the age of 90. The Nobel peace laureate was known worldwide for anti-apartheid activism and as a champion of human rights.

His death was announced Sunday by South African President President Cyril Ramaphosa.

“The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” he said.

Tutu was far more than a spiritual leader.

He spent his life advocating for civil rights and speaking out against injustice, corruption and oppression.

Thabo Makgoba is the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town.

“He wanted every human being on Earth to experience the freedom, the peace, and the joy that all of us could enjoy if we truly respected one another. And because he worshiped to God, he feared no one.He named wrong wherever he saw it and by whoever it was committed,” Makgoba said.

Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his activism against South Africa’s racist apartheid regime.

When Nelson Mandela was released from prison, Tutu housed him on his first night of freedom.

The archbishop then presented Mandela to the public as the country’s first Black president in 1994.

Tutu was at the helm in the country’s healing process after apartheid, chairing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where many horrific accounts of injustice were heard.

Despite the hardships he confronted, Tutu is remembered for his peaceful activism and ability to forgive.

Parliamentarian Patricia De Lille spoke to reporters about her memories of the Arch, as he was known.

“Humor and a great sense of timing were amongst the Arch’s greatest assets. He had an extraordinary ability to defuse tension, contain anger, and remind people of their human essence. He used humor to convey important messages. And had that particular, that we all know, contagious love,” she said.

Tributes to Tutu have been pouring in.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden said they were “heartbroken” to learn of Tutu’s passing. “His courage and moral clarity helped inspire our commitment to change American policy toward the repressive Apartheid regime in South Africa,” the Bidens said in a statement.

“Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a mentor, a friend and a moral compass for me and so many others. A universal spirit, Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere,” said former U.S. President Barack Obama.

“I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He was a critical figure in the fight against apartheid and in the struggle to create a new South Africa and will be remembered for his spiritual leadership and irrepressible good humor,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “Archbishop Tutu was a towering global figure for peace and an inspiration to generations across the world. During the darkest days of apartheid, he was a shining beacon for social justice, freedom and non-violent resistance.”

Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said “Archbishop Desmond Tutu was entirely dedicated to serving his brothers and sisters for the greater common good. He was a true humanitarian and a committed advocate of human rights.”

The Nelson Mandela Foundation said Tutu’s “contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies. He was an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd.”

After his retirement at the age of 79, Tutu continued speaking out on ethical and moral issues from xenophobia to LGBTQ+ rights to climate change.

President Ramaphosa has called him “a patriot without equal” and “a man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility.”

Source: Voice of America

Categories
General

Wall Street Week Ahead -‘Santa Claus’ Stocks Rally?

NEW YORK — Investors are closely watching the latest news on the rapidly spreading Omicron variant for signs of how much the virus could impact the U.S. economy and earnings as the market heads into what has historically been a strong time of year for equities.

Overall, the S&P 500 is slightly ahead since Nov. 24, prior to news of the variant hitting markets. It marked a record-high close on Thursday, as encouraging developments gave investors more ease about the economic impact of the variant.

“The market is extremely reactionary now and every little bit of news has a huge impact,” said George Young, a portfolio manager at Villere & Co. Young is planning on taking advantage of any Omicron-induced volatility to add to stocks that rely on tourism and travel such as bank company First Hawaiian Inc . Shares of the company are up 14.4% for the year to date.

The Omicron variant is causing infections to double in 1.5 to 3 days, according to the World Health Organization. The variant now accounts for 73% of all new U.S. cases, up from less than 1% at the beginning of the month.

Still, questions about Omicron’s virulence have made investors less pessimistic than the original reaction. The S&P 500 closed down 2.3% on Nov. 26 after the variant was discovered, on fears of fresh economic lockdowns.

A South African study offered hope about the severity of Omicron and the trend of COVID-19 infections on Wednesday. Shares of vaccine makers slumped in December as investors expect the Omicron variant’s impact to be limited based on recent data.

That bodes well for what is known in the market as a Santa Claus rally. Historically, U.S. stocks have risen during the last five trading days of December and the first two days of January in 56 out of 75 years since 1945, according to data from CFRA Research. This year, the time period starts on Dec. 27. The average Santa Claus rally has boosted the S&P 500 by 1.3% since 1969, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.

It is unclear to what extent Wall Street analysts expect Omicron to affect earnings and the economy. Estimated 2022 S&P 500 earnings growth was at 8.3% as of Friday, compared with 8.0% at the start of December, according to Refinitiv data.

Goldman Sachs cut its estimate for U.S. GDP growth to 3.8% from 4.2% due to the uncertainty of the impact of the Omicron wave.

Possible Volatility

While there will likely be some economic impact from Omicron, U.S. consumer spending will likely remain strong, said Cliff Hodge, chief investment officer for Cornerstone Wealth.

He is focused on any signs that Senator Joe Manchin could reach an agreement to support President Joe Biden’s signature $1.75 trillion Build Back Better climate and social spending bill. Manchin, who would provide one of the key votes to pass the bill in a divided Senate, said on Sunday that he could not support the bill in its current form. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the Senate will vote on the bill in early January.

“We need a little bit of good news whether on the Manchin front or Omicron to get a rally going,” Hodge said. “We are fully invested and anticipate a little bit of a relief rally into January.”

The week ahead will be light on economic data, with the release of the S&P Case-Shiller U.S. home price index on Tuesday among the few notable data points.

The lack of new reads of the strength of the economy at a time when coronavirus case counts are rising may leave the stock market more volatile through the end of the year, said Dana D’Auria, co-chief investment officer of Envestnet PMC.

“The market has gotten pretty good at pricing in and leading off from what we are learning about on the health side,” she said.

Should Omicron cases continue to spike or there are signs that economic restrictions could be reimposed, investors will likely rebalance into the shares of giant technology companies such as Apple Inc that have emerged as defensive plays given their large cash positions and revenue growth as a result of remote work, D’Auria said.

“At the end of the day if Omicron really causes problems I would be ready for a more volatile market” well into the new year, she said.

Source: Voice of America

Categories
Health

Omicron Grounds Hundreds More US Flights over Christmas Weekend

WASHINGTON — U.S. airlines called off hundreds of flights for a third day in a row on Sunday as surging COVID-19 infections due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant grounded crews and forced tens of thousands of Christmas weekend travelers to change their plans.

Commercial airlines canceled 656 flights within, into or out of the United States on Sunday, slightly down from nearly 1,000 from Christmas Day and nearly 700 on Christmas Eve, according to a tally on flight-tracking website FlightAware.com.

Further cancellations were likely, and more than 920 flights were delayed.

The Christmas holidays are typically a peak time for air travel, but the rapid spread of the Omicron variant has led to a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections, forcing airlines to cancel flights with pilots and crew needing to be quarantined.

Delta Air Lines Inc expected more than 300 of its flights to be canceled on Sunday.

“Winter weather in portions of the U.S. and the Omicron variant continued to impact Delta’s holiday weekend flight schedule,” a Delta spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding that the company was working to “reroute and substitute aircraft and crews to get customers where they need to be as quickly and safely as possible.”

When that was not possible, it was coordinating with impacted customers on the next available flight, the spokesperson said.

Globally, FlightAware data showed that nearly 2,150 flights were called off on Sunday and another 5,798 were delayed, as of 9.40 a.m. EST (1440 GMT).

Omicron was first detected in November and now accounts for nearly three-quarters of U.S. cases and as many as 90% in some areas, such as the Eastern Seaboard. The average number of new U.S. coronavirus cases has risen 45% to 179,000 per day over the past week, according to a Reuters tally.

While recent research suggests Omicron produces milder illness and a lower rate of hospitalizations than previous variants of COVID-19, health officials have maintained a cautious note about the outlook.

Source: Voice of America