August 29 2024

1 Supreme Court Blocks Biden's SAVE Student Loan Relief Plan
2 Telegram CEO Charges: Crimes or Government Power Grab?
3 NYT: California Tops US in Public Corruption Convictions
4 BioNTech and Moderna Bet on mRNA Cancer Vaccines
5 Youth Unemployment Surges in Asia's Fastest-Growing Economies
8/29/2005 Hurricane Katrina slams into Gulf Coast

See the new Ad Astra Podcast! Released on Apple and Spotify around 8a CST.

1 Supreme Court Blocks Biden's SAVE Student Loan Relief Plan

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to immediately clear the way for the Biden administration’s new student loan relief and repayment plan, adding to uncertainty about the future of a program that would affect millions of borrowers and has become part of the sharp political debate over who is responsible for hefty tuition debt. Biden introduced the program, Saving on a Valuable Education, last fall as millions of Americans resumed student loan payments after a hiatus of more than three years because of the pandemic. The plan, commonly known as Save, offered lower monthly payments and a faster path to loan cancellation. It launched months after the justices divided along ideological lines to invalidate a separate, $400 billion Biden administration program to forgive student loan debt.  More than 8 million people are enrolled in the new program, with debts already cleared for more than 400,000 borrowers. 

WaPo  

over the course of Mr. Biden’s presidency, his administration has canceled about $167 billion in loans for 4.75 million people, or roughly one in 10 federal loan holders. 

NYT

Article Source: WaPo, NYT

2 Telegram CEO Charges: Crimes or Government Power Grab?

French prosecutors indicted the chief executive of popular messaging service Telegram on Wednesday on charges of complicity in the distribution of child sex abuse images, aiding organized crime and refusing lawful orders to give information to law enforcement.  Prosecutors charged Pavel Durov with multiple offenses after four days of questioning following his arrest at an airport near Paris, ordering him to put up a 5 million euro ($5.6 million) bond and barring him from leaving France.  The 39-year-old billionaire’s case is an unprecedented test of the power of governments over multinational tech companies operating under widely varying laws around the world. Durov’s Telegram is unusual for being run from a nonaligned Middle Eastern country, the United Arab Emirates, and for declaring that it shares no information with authorities anywhere about messages or activities on the site.  

Article Source: WaPo

3 NYT: California Tops US in Public Corruption Convictions

Over the last 10 years, 576 public officials in California have been convicted on federal corruption charges, according to Justice Department reports, exceeding the number of cases in states better known for public corruption, including New York, New Jersey and Illinois. California has a larger population than those states, but the recent wave of cases is attributable to much more than that, federal prosecutors say. A heavy concentration of power at Los Angeles City Hall, the receding presence of local news media, a population that often tunes out local politics and a growing Democratic supermajority in state government have all helped insulate officeholders from damage, political analysts said. California also had cases of corruption in the days, now in the distant past, when Republicans held statewide office. But political analysts say the Democrats’ present lock on political power leaves little opportunity for Republicans to effectively raise the issue of corruption as a campaign issue.

Article Source: NYT

4 BioNTech and Moderna Bet on mRNA Cancer Vaccines

BioNTech and US coronavirus jab rival Moderna, both of whose shares have slid about 80 per cent since their 2021 pandemic peaks, are betting on cancer vaccines to revive their fortunes. Using the mRNA technology behind their Covid products, they hope to drastically improve outcomes and lead a new field of cancer care. But it is early days for personalised vaccine technology and many hurdles remain. Making a personalised vaccine for each patient will be costly and come with supply chain challenges, while pharma groups are constantly advancing other drug types in the ever competitive cancer field.  BioNTech and Moderna are hoping to succeed where others have failed as they seek to develop broad portfolios of cancer treatments. Bolstered by Covid-19 revenues, both spent record sums on research and development last year.

Article Source: FT

5 Youth Unemployment Surges in Asia's Fastest-Growing Economies

Asia’s fastest-growing economies are hiding a dirty secret: Their youngest workers are battling stubbornly high rates of unemployment.  Bangladesh—long considered a development model for slashing extreme poverty—clocked an average of 6.5% economic growth a year for the last decade. But over the past few years, youth unemployment climbed to 16%—the highest level in at least three decades, according to data from the United Nations International Labor Organization. China and India recorded the same percentage of young people who are seeking work without success. In Indonesia, the rate is 14%. Malaysia’s is 12.5%.    Across these populous nations, that adds up to 30 million people between the ages of 15 and 24 who are looking for jobs but can’t find suitable ones. They account for just less than half the global total of 65 million jobless youth in that age range  

Ed note: problems tend to follow high youth unemployment, e.g. unrest, radical groups, etc. Idle hands are the devils workshop…

Article Source: WSJ

8/29/2005 Hurricane Katrina slams into Gulf Coast

Sources

1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/28/supreme-court-blocks-biden-student-loan-repayment-save-plan/ ;https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/us/politics/biden-student-loans-supreme-court.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/28/telegram-durov-indicted/

3. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/29/us/california-corruption-huizar.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

4. https://on.ft.com/3T71Z76

5. https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/china-india-bangladesh-young-workers-unemployment-rates-a087d173