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How to manage your student loans after a layoff

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:52 GMT

By Eliza Haverstock | NerdWalletIf you recently lost your job and are worried about paying your student loans, you have several options to set your bill to $0.Though the national unemployment rate was just 3.8% in August, up slightly from July, layoffs continue to hit workers in industries like tech, media, entertainment, fashion and consulting. Nearly 1,000 tech companies have collectively laid off some 230,000 workers so far in 2023, according to tech industry layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi.To make matters even more stressful, federal student loan payments are set to resume in October, after more than three years of an interest-free payment pause that began in March 2020.“Don’t feel bad if you have to make tough choices and reprioritize,” says Scott Stark, a senior financial planner at Financial Finesse, a workplace financial wellness company.Here’s how you can make your student loans fit into your budget as you get back on your feet.Evaluate your budget and spendingCheck your b...

Chile president defends democracy 50 years after coup ushered in brutal military dictatorship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:52 GMT

By EVA VERGARA and DANIEL POLITI (Associated Press)SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The president of Chile issued a fervent defense of democracy on Monday, the 50th anniversary of the coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet that ushered in a brutal military dictatorship for almost two decades.The problems of democracy must be addressed through more democracy, President Gabriel Boric said at the La Moneda presidential palace, which was bombed by warplanes at the start of the coup half a century ago.“A coup d’état or the violation of the human rights of those who think differently is never justifiable,” Boric said in his address to a nation where a significant number of people, according to numerous polls, believe the 1973 coup was justified, and that Pinochet, who died in 2006, was a good leader who helped to modernize the country. The military regime led by Pinochet violated human rights and brutally persecuted opponents, imprisoning and torturing thousands who were opp...

Explaining JuJu Smith-Schuster’s lack of playing time for Patriots Week 1

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:52 GMT

One of the biggest surprises from the Patriots’ Week 1 loss to the Eagles from a personnel standpoint was wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster’s relative lack of playing time.Smith-Schuster, who the Patriots elected to sign to a three-year, $25.5 million contract over bringing back Jakobi Meyers in free agency this offseason, played just 43 of 80 total offensive snaps. He was outpaced by Kendrick Bourne (73 snaps) and rookie Kayshon Boutte (55 snaps). He out-snapped rookie Demario Douglas (33 snaps) by just 10 plays.Most shocking out of those figures is Boutte’s high snap count compared to Smith-Schuster’s playing time. The reasoning behind it, according to a source, is largely because Smith-Schuster doesn’t play the X-receiver role that was left vacant when DeVante Parker (knee) was ruled inactive. Boutte essentially served as a 1-for-1 swap for Parker, primarily playing the X-receiver role. Then the Patriots had a three-man rotation with Bourne, Smith-Schuster and Douglas for the Z a...

Sask. premier accuses Trudeau of risking trade with India, hiding status of talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:52 GMT

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe’s government is accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of damaging relations with India and keeping the provinces in the dark about trade talks.In a letter Moe released Monday, Saskatchewan Trade Minister Jeremy Harrison argues Trudeau is picking a fight with India for domestic political gain and risking access to one of his province’s most important export markets.Harrison claims the province learned that Canada paused trade talks with India through media reports, and that Trade Minister Mary Ng had not replied to a late July letter seeking an update on the negotiations.The Liberals have given no clear reason why they ordered a pause in the trade talks, and The Canadian Press has asked Ng for her response to Harrison’s letter.Trudeau briefly met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi this weekend, and India’s external affairs ministry said Modi expressed strong concerns to Trudeau about “anti-India activiti...

An Ironman Wisconsin competitor dies after he fell ill during the bike portion of Sunday’s triathlon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:52 GMT

CROSS PLAINS, Wis. (AP) — A man competing in Ironman Wisconsin fell ill Sunday during the bike portion of the grueling triathlon and later died at a hospital, officials said Monday.Ironman Wisconsin said in a statement posted on Facebook that the competitor, whose name was not released, needed medical attention during the bike portion and died at a local hospital after being assisted by a race staff member and an off-duty police officer.The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said the man who died was a 51-year-old from Madison, Wisconsin, who had suffered “a medical event” in the town of Cross Plains.Ironman Wisconsin said in its Facebook post that it thanks “event personnel and first responders who worked to provide the athlete with medical support.”“We share our deepest condolences with the family and friends of the athlete and will continue to offer them our support as they go through what is a very difficult time,” Ironman Wisconsin added.The full 140.6-mile (226-kilometer...

US and UK holding UN screening of documentary on Russia’s siege of Ukrainian city of Mariupol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:52 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and Britain have invited ambassadors, journalists and representatives of a broad spectrum of society to a U.N. screening of the award-winning documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” which follows a trio of Associated Press journalists during Russia’s relentless siege of the Ukrainian port city in the early days of the war.UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the Monday evening screening at U.N. headquarters is important because “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens what the U.N. stands for: an international order where the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries is fundamental.”The screening comes at the start of the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly and a week before world leaders arrive for their annual meeting, where the more than 18-month war in Ukraine is expected to be in the spotlight — especially with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy scheduled to speak in person for the first time.The harrowing documentary, wh...

Indian PM, in meeting with Trudeau, rebukes Canada on Sikh independence vote

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:52 GMT

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed “strong concerns” to Canada over its handling of the Punjabi independence movement, on the same day the Sikh community in Metro Vancouver held a vote on the matter.A statement released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs says Modi told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of this weekend’s G20 summit in New Delhi that progress in the two countries’ relationship requires “mutual respect and trust.”It says Modi described the Sikh movement as “promoting secessionism and inciting violence” against Indian diplomats, calling on Canada to work with India on what New Delhi deems a threat to the Canadian Indian diaspora.The meeting between Modi and Trudeau coincided with voting in British Columbia on a non-binding referendum for a Sikh homeland that supporters call Khalistan.Large crowds of voters lined up to vote at Surrey’s Guru Nanak Gurdwara on Sunday, afte...

Trial begins over Texas voter laws that sparked 38-day walkout by Democrats in 2021

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:52 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A trial began Monday over a sweeping Texas voting law that sparked a 38-day walkout by Democrats in 2021 and were among the strictest changes passed by Republicans nationwide following former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.The lawsuit was brought by a coalition of voting rights groups after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the changes into law. The trial in San Antonio federal court could last weeks and it is unclear when U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez might rule. Potentially at stake are voting rules Texas will use for the 2024 elections, although any decision is likely to be appealed. The challenge, from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and others, has not stopped the measures from taking effect, including a ban on 24-hour polling places and drive-thru voting. Many changes targeted Harris County, which includes Houston and is where a slate of Republican candidates are challenging thei...

Active-duty Marine gets probation and community service for storming Capitol with 2 unit members

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of three active-duty Marines who stormed the U.S. Capitol together was sentenced on Monday to probation and 279 hours of community service — one hour for every Marine who was killed or wounded fighting in the Civil War.U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she can’t fathom why Dodge Hellonen violated his oath to protect the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic” — and risked his career — by joining the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that disrupted Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.“I really urge you to think about why it happened so you can address it and ensure it never happens again,” Reyes said. Dodge Hellonen, now 24, was the first of the three Marines to be punished for participating in the Capitol siege. Reyes also is scheduled to sentence co-defendants Micah Coomer on Tuesday and Joshua Abate on Wednesday.The three Marines — friends from the same unit — drove together from a military post in Virginia to Washin...

Balzan Prizes recognize achievements in study of human evolution, black holes with $840,000 awards

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:52 GMT

MILAN (AP) — An American literary historian, a French paleoanthropologist, a Danish evolutionary geneticist and a German-Dutch astrophysicist have been named the winners of this year’s Balzan Prize. Their work in the humanities and natural sciences advances the study of comparative literature, human evolution and black holes. David Damrosch, chair of Harvard University’s comparative literature department, was recognized for “his creative approach to world literature as a translational circulation of works that remain alive because they are embraced and changed,’’ the Balzan Foundation said in its citation.Frenchman Jean-Jacques Hublin of the Max-Planck-Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig was cited for his discoveries of the oldest Homo sapiens in Africa, contributing to the study of human evolution. The citation also praised his ability to synthesize data, organize scientific teams and his qualities as a teacher “and popularizer.” Also awarded for contributions ...