INTERNACIONAL
Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ cracks down on Biden’s student loan ‘scheme,’ top Republican says
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The chairman of a key Senate panel is claiming victory against former President Joe Biden’s student loan plans as part of President Donald Trump’s «one big, beautiful bill.»
«The Biden administration was attempting to forgive student loans for people who willingly took on the loan and required the taxpayer, including people who never went to college and would never make what the person who took the loan would ever have the hope to make,» Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., told Fox News Digital.
«So we end that transfer of that student loan on the taxpayers, and that’s probably our biggest savings.»
Cassidy’s committee released its portion of the Trump agenda bill late on Tuesday.
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Senate Republicans are looking to crack down on former President Joe Biden’s student loan handout in President Donald Trump’s reconciliation bill. (Pool via REUTERS, Getty Images)
A press release for the legislation said it «ends Biden’s student loan schemes that transfer debt onto the 87 percent of Americans who chose to not go to college or already paid off their loans» and «also prevents future Democrat administrations from implementing schemes.»
The bill specifically takes aim at Biden’s expansion of Borrower Defense to Repayment regulations and Closed School Discharge regulations, which Republicans have held up as costly policies that shift federal student loan borrowers’ burdens onto other taxpayers.
Various versions of Biden’s plans had previously been struck down in court.
The bill would also eliminate federal Grad PLUS loans, a program used by graduate-level and professional students to pay for their studies, which can be used for graduate students’ entire cost of attendance.
It would instead keep in place a $20,500 annual limit for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans on graduate degrees, capped at $100,000 total, excluding undergraduate loans. For professional degrees, it keeps a $50,000 annual unsubsidized loan limit and a $200,000 total cap.
The legislation is also aimed at cracking down on taxpayer funding subsidizing degrees from lower-performing universities.
Colleges that see people with undergraduate degrees earn less than the typical high school graduate in their state, or graduate programs where attendees then earn less than the normal bachelor’s recipient, would be blocked from federal student loan programs.
«What we’ve got was a situation where people can borrow more money than they can effectively pay back, and that destroys their life, leaving them with a debt burden which keeps them unable to do other things in life. And there’s at least some sense that universities offering these programs know that’s the case. And so we attempt to fix that,» Cassidy said.
«So we have provisions that would say that if the degree being acquired does not end up paying more, the person receiving that degree doesn’t get more on average than a person who did not get that degree, then the federal government is not going to lend them money.»
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana and chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, spoke with Fox News Digital about the bill. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)
To encourage more people to pursue non-collegiate degrees, the bill would also establish a Workforce Pell Grant. Pell Grants are currently aimed at low-income students pursuing bachelor’s degrees and are generally not repaid.
«For example, a student gets a commercial driver’s license. They’re going to go out and make $100,000 a year after a couple of years of driving, I am told. And so we want to enable those people to accomplish that,» Cassidy said.
Foreign income would be taken into account when evaluating Pell Grants, while farm and small business assets would not, under the GOP bill. Those and several other measures in the legislation would add up to roughly $300 billion in taxpayer savings, Cassidy said.
Senate Republicans are currently working through their version of Trump’s massive agenda bill, which passed the House late last month.
NEW STUDY REVEALS BLUE STATE’S FAST-FOOD MINIMUM WAGE HIKE JEOPARDIZED THOUSANDS OF JOBS
Republicans are using the budget reconciliation process to pass a sweeping bill advancing Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. They are also working to use it to bring down the national debt – nearing $37 trillion – with the aim of cutting $1.5 trillion in federal spending.
Reconciliation allows the party in power to completely skirt the minority, in this case Democrats, by lowering the Senate’s threshold to advance from 60 votes to 51. The legislation must adhere to a specific set of rules, however, including measures that deal with the budget, taxation, or the national debt.
Both the House and Senate must agree to identical versions of the bill before it gets to Trump’s desk for a signature. The House’s version passed 215 to 214, and leaders there have implored the upper chamber to change as little as possible.
Cassidy acknowledged there were some changes made but was optimistic about how they’ll be met in the House.
«There’s several things, but one thing I think that they’re going to like is that we do fully fund the Pell Grant program. You know, we address the shortfall there. And so I think they’re going to like it,» he said.
«It’s going to give low-income students access to career education. We need those kind of career type jobs to make sure that all this manufacturing and construction has a workforce to address it. And so we think it helps the needs of society. We think it helps the needs of the student.»
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House and Senate GOP leaders had previously set a goal of having a bill on Trump’s desk by the Fourth of July.
Cassidy declined to comment on whether that was a feasible benchmark but argued that lawmakers should be ready to extend that timeline – and possibly shrink their summer recess – to get the final product.
«As far as I’m concerned, the most important thing is to get it right. So if there is a delay, the president said it today – if there is a delay, that’s not that big of a deal. The most important thing is we get it right,» he said.
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Vance says Iran has ‘2 pathways’ as 12-hour deadline looms, prays US on ‘God’s side’ in nixing nuclear threat
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Vice President JD Vance said that Iran has «two pathways» it can take regarding the conclusion of the war as President Donald Trump’s 12-hour deadline is looming Tuesday for the regime to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants and bridges.
Vance, speaking in Hungary, also said he is praying that the United States is on «God’s side» in its pursuit to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
«There are two pathways that this thing is ultimately going to end. First of all, the United States has largely accomplished its military objectives,» Vance said. «There are still some things that we’d like to do, for example, on Iranian ability to manufacture weapons, that we’d like to do a little bit more work on militarily. But fundamentally, the military objectives of the United States have been completed.»
«I think there really are two pathways, and I’m oversimplifying this a little bit, but I think pathway one is where the Iranians decide they’re going to be a normal country. They’re not going to fund terrorism anymore. They’re going to be part of the world system of commerce and exchange,» Vance continued. «And that’s going to mean much better things for them economically. It’s going to mean better things for the peace and safety of the world. It’s going to mean a lot of good things for a lot of people all over the planet. That’s option A.»
LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP DEADLINE FOR IRAN TICKS CLOSER AS ISLAMIC REPUBLIC REJECTS TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE
Vice President JD Vance holds a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Jonathan Ernst/AP)
«Option B is that the Iranians don’t come to the table and they stay committed to terrorism, to terrorizing their neighbors, not just Israel but of course their Arab neighbors too. Then the economic situation in Iran is going to continue to be very, very bad. And frankly, it will probably get worse,» the vice president said.
«The president also has been very clear that while the Iranians are trying to exact as much economic cost through the Strait of Hormuz, the United States has the ability to extract much greater economic costs on Iran than Iran has an ability to extract costs on us or on our friends in the world,» Vance also said. «So I hope that they’re smart. The president has set a deadline for about 12 hours from now, and the United States, we’re going to find out. But there’s going to be a lot of negotiation between now and then, and I’m hopeful that it gets to a good resolution.»
HEGSETH TIES IRAN RESCUE TO EASTER STORY AND JESUS CHRIST: ‘A PILOT REBORN’
U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft «have been used to strike Iranian naval vessels during Operation Epic Fury,» CENTCOM said Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (U.S. Central Command)
Vance told reporters Tuesday that his attitude toward military conflict has been to pray that «we are on God’s side.»
«We’re doing this because we don’t want a regime that has committed acts of terrorism to have the world’s most dangerous weapon. Because that would mean a lot of innocent people dead,» Vance said about the war. «I certainly hope that God agrees with the decision that Iran shouldn’t have a nuclear weapon, but I’ll keep praying about it.»
Vance also accused Iran of unleashing «acts of economic terrorism» that are obstructing the free flow of gas and oil around the world.
A satellite image shows the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, vital for global energy supply. (Amanda Macias/Fox News Digital)
«So they’ve got to know, we’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. The president of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct,» he warned.
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Vance also confirmed Tuesday that «we were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island» and «I believe we have done so.»
middle east, nuclear proliferation, war with iran, iran, jd vance
INTERNACIONAL
Aseguran que el líder supremo de Irán se encuentra inconsciente e “incapaz de participar en la toma de decisiones”
El nuevo líder supremo de Irán, Mojtaba Khamenei, se encuentra inconsciente y en estado crítico en la ciudad santa de Qom, según un informe de inteligencia que sugiere que el clérigo es “incapaz de participar en la toma de decisiones” del régimen.
La revelación, publicada inicialmente por el diario británico The Times de Londres, se basa en un memorando diplomático que circula entre aliados del Golfo. El documento sostiene que la condición médica de Khamenei es “grave” y que su incapacidad funcional ha dejado un vacío de poder en la cúspide de la República Islámica en un momento de máxima tensión bélica con Estados Unidos e Israel.
El rastro del líder en Qom
De acuerdo con el informe citado por The Times, el cual integra evaluaciones de inteligencia estadounidense e israelí, Mojtaba Khamenei —hijo del fallecido ayatolá Alí Khamenei— está siendo tratado bajo estrictas medidas de seguridad en Qom, situada a unos 140 kilómetros al sur de Teherán. La ubicación del líder supremo había sido un secreto de Estado desde que estalló el conflicto actual.
El memorando detalla que Khamenei permanece en un estado de inconsciencia que le impide ejercer cualquier tipo de autoridad política o religiosa. Esta situación contradice las afirmaciones oficiales de Teherán, que insisten en que el líder de 56 años está “al mando” de la nación tras haber sido designado sucesor de su padre a principios de marzo.
Los videos con IA que alimentan las dudas
La salud de Mojtaba ha sido objeto de especulaciones desde el inicio de la guerra el pasado 28 de febrero. Irán confirmó en su momento que el nuevo líder resultó herido en el mismo ataque aéreo de precisión —atribuido a fuerzas de Estados Unidos e Israel— que acabó con la vida de su padre, su madre, su esposa y uno de sus hijos.
A pesar de haber sido nombrado sucesor, Mojtaba Khamenei no ha sido visto ni escuchado en público en las cinco semanas transcurridas desde el ataque. Las sospechas sobre su incapacidad física se intensificaron este lunes, cuando la televisión estatal iraní difundió un video generado por inteligencia artificial (IA) que mostraba al líder analizando mapas militares. El uso de tecnología digital para simular su presencia, sumado a que sus comunicados son leídos por terceros, ha reforzado la tesis de que el líder se encuentra en coma o en una condición de salud irreversible.
El papel de la Guardia Revolucionaria
La incapacidad reportada de Khamenei plantea interrogantes sobre quién dirige realmente el destino de Irán. Analistas de inteligencia sugieren que el Cuerpo de la Guardia Revolucionaria Islámica (IRGC) podría estar ejerciendo un control de facto sobre el país, utilizando la figura de un Khamenei silente como un mero símbolo de legitimidad.
Incluso el presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, ha alimentado estas versiones al declarar públicamente que su administración está negociando con “otros funcionarios iraníes”, pero que no está tratando directamente con el líder supremo.
El misterio del funeral y el mausoleo
El memorando diplomático también arroja luz sobre el prolongado retraso en el entierro del anterior líder supremo, Alí Khamenei. Aunque la tradición chií exige la sepultura inmediata, han pasado casi 40 días —el periodo tradicional de luto o Arba’een— sin que se haya realizado un funeral de Estado.
Según el informe visto por The Times, las agencias de inteligencia han detectado trabajos de construcción para un gran mausoleo en Qom diseñado para “más de una tumba”. Esto sugiere que el régimen podría estar preparándose para enterrar a Mojtaba junto a su padre, evitando así los riesgos de seguridad que supondría un funeral masivo en Teherán o Mashhad, donde las multitudes podrían ser blanco de ataques o protagonizar disturbios contra el régimen.
War,Middle East,Military Conflicts
INTERNACIONAL
3 gunmen open fire outside Israeli consulate in Istanbul, dubbed ‘terrorists’ by Turkish official
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A gunfight with police outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, left one attacker dead, two others injured and two police officers sustaining minor injuries.
The armed attackers had ties to an activist group that «exploits religion,» according to Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci on X.
«The identities of the terrorists have been identified,» he wrote in a post translated by X. «It has been determined that the individuals, who arrived in Istanbul by a rental vehicle from Izmit, include one with ties to an organization that exploits religion; and it has also been established that one of the two terrorists, who are brothers, has a drug record.»
3 BROTHERS OF IRAQI DESCENT ARRESTED IN OSLO FOR ‘TERROR BOMBING’ OF US EMBASSY
A plainclothes police officer holds a gun after gunfire was reported near the building housing the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 7, 2026. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack condemned the attack and praised Turkish authorities.
«The United States condemns in the strongest terms today’s attack on the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul,» Barrack wrote on X. «Attacks on diplomatic missions are attacks on the international order — and an assault on the principles that bind nations together. We commend Türkiye and Turkish security forces for their swift and decisive response.»
BELGIUM DEPLOYS MILITARY TO PROTECT JEWISH SITES AFTER ANTISEMITIC SYNAGOGUE EXPLOSION
Police officers pulled out guns and took cover as shots rang out for at least 10 minutes near a permanent security checkpoint near the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul. One person was seen covered in blood amid the glass towers in the heart of the city’s main financial district.
Footage obtained by Reuters showed an apparent attacker, in a dark top and carrying a backpack, moving among parked white police and security buses and firing with an automatic rifle and a handgun.
Two bodies lay on nearby streets and parking areas, near grassy areas.
Turkish Police special forces stand guard near the Israeli Consulate building in Istanbul, Turkey, after gunfire was reported on April 7, 2026. (Umit Bektas/Reuters)
PROTESTERS STORM US CONSULATE IN PAKISTAN, AT LEAST 9 DEAD
Two police officers were lightly wounded in the attack, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul told reporters at the scene.
He said there had been no Israeli diplomatic staff at the consulate for 2-1/2 years, since the Hamas-Israel war began in 2023, leading to a deep chill in Turkish-Israeli diplomatic ties.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed there were no staff at the consulate at the time of the shootings.
NEW TERROR GROUP WITH REPORTED IRAN TIES CLAIMS 4 ATTACKS ACROSS EUROPE
The incident occurred next to a major motorway just after midday, immediately outside the tower where the Israeli Consulate is located. The gunfire echoed inside nearby bank headquarters, where thousands of workers were breaking for lunch.
Turkey, a fierce critic of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, had recalled its ambassador from Israel in November 2023 and diplomatic relations have been effectively frozen since then.
Turkish Police special forces walk near the building housing the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, after gunfire was heard on April 7, 2026. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)
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At the same time that year, Israeli diplomats left Turkey due to security concerns after pro-Palestinian protests erupted across the country and in front of the consulate. Since then, a heavily armed police presence has been maintained in the area near the consulate.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
turkey, counter terrorism, terrorism, israel, hamas
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