What's going on with student debt relief?

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A federal judge strikes down student loan forgiveness; Biden tries to assert US leadership at the UN climate conference.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

Federal judge blocks student debt relief

 Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images

• A federal judge on Thursday struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program in a significant setback for millions of borrowers. [NPR / Cory Turner and Ayana Archie]
• Trump-appointed Judge Mark Pittman said the White House plan to eliminate up to $20,000 in debt for low- and middle-income borrowers was unconstitutional. [CNN / Katie Lobosco]
• The court order forces the Biden administration to stop accepting applications for student loan forgiveness while the Department of Justice appeals the decision. [CNBC / Annie Nova]
• Two Texas plaintiffs argued they were unfairly left out of the debt forgiveness plan. Pittman said the forgiveness plan would harm them if it moved forward. [New York Times / Stacy Cowley]
• The case could eventually land at the Supreme Court, which has so far turned down challenges to debt forgiveness. [Reuters / Nate Raymond]
• The Biden administration already approved 16 million applicants who must now wait for a decision on relief. Loan repayments are set to resume in January. [ABC / Cheyenne Haslett]

📍 If you read just one story

Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains why President Biden’s student debt cancellation program is in grave danger from a Republican judiciary. [Vox / Ian Millhiser]

Biden attends international climate summit

• President Joe Biden reaffirmed the US commitment to tackling climate change Friday during remarks at the UN climate conference, COP27, in Egypt. [USA Today / Francesca Chambers, Elizabeth Weise, and Rebecca Morin]
• Biden celebrated the passage of sweeping climate legislation, the US rejoining the 2015 Paris Agreement, and said “good climate policy is good economic policy.” [Politico / Zack Colman]
• Developing countries in attendance want the US to make good on its promise to help pay for the costs of climate change to which it was a leading contributor. [New York Times / Lisa Friedman]
• Biden announced new commitments to cut methane emissions and $150 million to help African nations adapt to climate change, while calling on other countries to step up their anti-climate-change ambitions. [NBC / Lauren Egan]

Friday, Ukrainian troops entered Kherson as Russia completed its retreat from the southern city. [Vox / Jen Kirby]

• A boat carrying 230 migrants was allowed to dock at a port in France on Friday after Italy’s new far-right government turned it away. [Reuters / Leigh Thomas and Giuseppe Fonte]
• Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman across dozens of projects, died Thursday at 66. [Hollywood Reporter / Aaron Couch]
• Crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy, and its CEO Sam Bankman-Fried resigned on Friday. [Vox / Emily Stewart]

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“I like to think of this lawsuit as, like, the toddler problem. If I can’t have it, you can’t have it either. And that’s not how the law works. And it’s not how the courts should apply the law.”

[Persis Yu, managing counsel at the Student Borrower Protection Center, on the latest challenge to student loan forgiveness / NPR]

World Cup: They built this city

The people who built Qatar’s stadiums, hotels, and transit systems were employed under the country’s exploitative migrant worker system. Officials promised things would change before the World Cup, but a one-time worker says it’s only better on paper.

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