JOE'S FIGHTING FOR YA

New Biden student debt plan could forgive up to $20,000 in interest for millions

Hanneh Bareham

Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 

Breaking news

On Friday, April 12, the Biden-Harris administration announced an additional $7.4 billion in student loan forgiveness for more than 200,000 SAVE Plan users. This round of forgiveness primarily targets those who borrowed $12,000 or less for college and have made at least 10 years of payments. They can now receive total forgiveness on their enrolled federal loans. Each additional $1,000 borrowed adds 12 months of payments until forgiveness, up to 20 or 25 years. The announcement also includes fixes to income-driven repayment plan counts and Public Service Loan Forgiveness impacting 65,800 and 4,600 borrowers, respectively. Eligible borrowers will receive emails in the coming days and relief will be processed in the coming weeks, the U.S. Department of Education announcement states.

On Monday, April 8, the Biden-Harris administration announced that certain federal student loan borrowers across the nation could see federal student debt forgiven as soon as Fall 2024.

The new plans would result in federal student loan relief to over 30 million Americans when combined with previous measures the administration has taken to cancel student debt. But first, the plan must be approved and implemented.

New policy aims to cancel “runaway interest”

The plans announced today aren’t final. They must first go through an extensive legislative process. It could take weeks or even months for such a large proposal to be approved and take effect through the Negotiated Rulemaking process.

Biden’s proposed policies take a new approach. Rather than focusing on the debt itself, the administration aims to forgive accrued interest balances.

If finalized and put in place, the policy would cancel up to $20,000 of the amount a borrower’s balance has grown due to accrued interest after entering repayment. That means if your federal student loan balance has ballooned since you left school, you might be eligible for forgiveness.

According to a recent White House release, the plan would:

• Forgive interest balances for 25 million borrowers.

• Forgive entire federal balances for 4 million borrowers.

• Provide at least $5,000 in relief to 10 million borrowers.

“Millions of borrowers who could be helped by these plans have continued to see their balances grow because of accrued interest, despite making their monthly payments,” the White House press release states. “Many have also had this unpaid interest capitalized, meaning it is added to their principal balance and borrowers are now paying interest on that higher amount.”

SAVE Plan sets the foundation for future forgiveness measures

Eliminating excessive interest accrual on student loans has been a major Biden administration focus. The SAVE Plan was launched in August 2022 and is the first example of a plan aimed at eliminating “all interest capitalization not required by the law.”

Unlike other repayment plans, SAVE doesn’t charge interest and eliminates existing interest for those who make qualifying on-time monthly payments. Additionally, your monthly payment is based on your income and family size. Of the nearly 8 million borrowers enrolled, 4.5 million have a monthly payment of $0.

Learn more: Biden administration forgives $1.2 billion in student loans through SAVE Plan

Wide range of borrowers could qualify

The above interest cancellation would be automatically applied to the accounts of all eligible borrowers, regardless of income.

However, single-income borrowers who earn $120,000 or less and married borrowers who earn $240,000 or less may qualify for extra benefits. According to the White House fact sheet, those who meet these income limits and are also enrolled in SAVE — or any other income-driven repayment (IDR) plan — would have the entire accrued interest amount forgiven.

In addition to interest forgiveness, Biden’s plan could automatically cancel student debt for specific individuals, including borrowers who:

• Have been in repayment for 20 years or more on their Federal Direct Loans or Direct Consolidation Loans (25 years for graduate federal loans).

• Have experienced “hardship in their daily lives” that has made paying back their loans difficult.

• Were enrolled in institutions or programs that were denied recertification due to misleading or illegal practices.

• Attended institutions that closed or failed to provide “sufficient value”.

• Are eligible for debt cancellation under existing programs but have yet to apply.

The administration hasn’t outlined what constitutes “hardship.” The announcement mentions “borrowers who are at high risk of defaulting on their student loans, who could be eligible for automatic relief or families who are burdened with other expenses like medical debt or child care who can apply for relief in the future.”

Plan to go through rulemaking procedures, public comment period

Borrowers do not need to take any action if they believe they may be eligible for interest or debt relief. The proposals made today need to go through the public comment period of the Negotiated Rulemaking process. After the comment period is over and the Department of Education reviews the comments, the final version of the rule will be published.

If approved, the final rule — today’s proposals — can take effect on July 1, 2025. However, there are a few exceptions; for example, the White House claims that interest reduction could begin as early as this fall. This is due to the SAVE Plan efforts implemented last year.

Borrowers can be on the lookout for communication from their federal student loan servicer. However, it’s unwise to rely on proposed policies for student debt management or cancellation. The proposals made are by no means legislation and stopping your monthly payments could put your future cancellation potential in jeopardy.

Fifteen more bodies recovered from Al-Shifa hospital area WEEKS after Israeli military’s withdrawal

Kareem Khadder and Zeena Saifi, CNN
Mon, April 15, 2024 



Fifteen bodies were recovered on Monday from around Al-Shifa hospital following the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the area two weeks ago, Gaza residents and medical crews told CNN.

Health workers and residents in northern Gaza have been searching and digging for what they believe are mass graves and looking for their loved ones, after they said Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and left their bodies to decompose during their two-week siege of the complex.

“We were called today to extract the bodies that are buried inside Al-Shifa medical complex. We came here at 9 a.m. with an excavator and excavated 15 bodies,” Adel Al-Mash-Harawi, an ambulance driver from Gaza told CNN from the site of the excavation.

Hundreds of bodies have been recovered from areas around the hospital complex since the siege ended April 1, a Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson told CNN last week.

Video filmed by CNN Monday shows medical workers, some wearing UN-marked vests, walking around the site over mounds of sand, digging up bodies. White body bags can be seen laying on the side of the excavation site, some marked with text reading “unidentified body” and some with names of people on them.

“Today I bid farewell to my mother who was inside Al-Shifa hospital during the invasion and attack by the vicious Israeli occupation on this medical complex that has been turned into a big mass of rubble,” Mohammad Al-Khateeb a resident of Gaza told CNN.

Al-Khateeb’s mother, Khawala Al-Khateeb, was 75 years old when she was brought to the hospital three days before the Israeli military siege on the complex and surrounding neighborhood of Al-Rimal, and was killed three days after, he said.

“The Israeli military deprived patients, nurses, doctors and the displaced of water, medicine and food,” he added.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on these allegations but has not received a response.

Waleed Abu-Laila told CNN he had been searching for his mother since the Israeli siege on the hospital ended on April 1. On Monday, he said he found her body.

“I identified her from specific markings on her feet and hands, because she was injured on November 23 last year when her toe and finger were both amputated,” Abu Laila told CNN.

He said his mother was taken to Al-Shifa because she was dehydrated and had signs of malnutrition.

Disturbing video shows Abu-Laila opening a white body bag, revealing his mother’s decomposed body.

“The hospital was blocked from all sides and there were bodies scattered all over, squashed on the streets from the tank rails. When I got a call to come check the unidentified bodies, I opened a bag that was marked “unidentified” and immediately found my mother’s body decomposed,” he said.

The IDF has claimed that “hundreds of terrorists were killed or captured” during the two-week siege but has not provided any evidence.

Khader Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed reporting.

Thousands of Palestinians attempt to return home to northern Gaza, but face Israeli fire

Mohammad Al-Sawalhi, Abeer Salman, Kareem Khadder and Zeena Saifi, CNN
Sun, April 14, 2024 at 2:03 PM MDT·5 min read

Thousands of Palestinians, including men, women, children and elderly, attempted to return to their homes in northern Gaza on Sunday when they came under Israeli fire.

Video filmed by a CNN stringer shows the once-perilous coastal road of Al Rasheed filled with families walking with their belongings, some riding bicycles, donkey carts and pick-up trucks, smiling and snapping photographs.

“I’m going to Gaza City. It’s enough. We need to go back to our homes and lands. We are tired of displacement… we heard people saying we can go back, but no one official told us. We’ll leave it to God,” Majd El-Aqqad said.

Videos began circulating online Sunday morning showing people heading to the north for the first time in such large numbers. Some people told CNN they heard the Israeli military was allowing women and children to move back up. Others said their relatives were allowed to cross over.

In response to a question from CNN, the IDF said the reports were false.

“The northern Gaza Strip continues to be an active war zone and return to the area is not currently permitted,” IDF said.

In the video shot for CNN, an elderly woman named Um Mohammad walks along the road carrying a heavy bag on her head and two others in her arms, attempting to reach her home.

She cries and prays for God to protect them.

“I don’t know anything about my house. It’s our home and our land. The Israelis displaced us and humiliated us,” she said.

“We are tired here. We have been displaced for 191 days,” Malak Abu Nada, a woman from Jabalya, told CNN.

Majd El-Aqqad said she is returning to Gaza City. "We need to go back to our homes and lands. We are tired of displacement," she said. - CNN

Many of the people who attempted to head north had been displaced to Rafah, where Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been threatening to launch an offensive that the UN said would lead to a “humanitarian catastrophe.”

The Gaza Ministry of Health reported on Sunday that the toll in the Gaza Strip since October 7 has risen to 33,729 dead and 76,371 people injured.

CNN cannot independently verify these numbers.

A young boy named Omar Al-Dahdouh carried a bag of flour on his shoulder, holding his younger sibling’s hand and sobbing as he walked.

“I am going home. I have been displaced for six months. We live in a tent because our house was struck,” he said.

“I am not afraid. If I must die, I will die, but I don’t want to live this anymore. I want to go home, I’m tired. My siblings need to live,” he continued.

Ahmad Ramadan told CNN he had tried to cross to the north but was turned back by Israeli soldiers because he was a man.

“We heard the road was open to Gaza City, so we thought we’d go. When they saw men with us, they started shooting at us. We are tired and humiliated,” Um Awni Al-Jarousha told CNN.

Footage shows people turning around, heading back south with the sound of drones and planes buzzing overhead. Missiles can be seen in the distance while people run in panic.

“We reached all the way to the checkpoint until we saw Israeli tanks. We headed back because they fired towards us. We didn’t see anyone make it to the other side. We risked our children’s lives to cross, but apparently it was all a lie,” one woman said.

Um Mohammad (center) walks along the road carrying a heavy bag on her head and two others in her arms as she walks towards northern Gaza on April 14, 2024. - Ramadan Abed/Reuters

Video shows several people with what appear to be gunshot wounds. One man is seen carrying another man who has blood streaming along his face from a head injury.

Another man is seen carrying a 5-year-old girl named Sally Abu Laila, who is bleeding from her head and surrounded by people trying to help.

Her mother Sabreen told CNN her daughter was in her arms when Israeli soldiers shot at her. They had attempted to cross into the north with Sabreen’s husband, but the soldiers turned him back, leaving her and her four children to face the journey alone.

The moment she tried to pass through, two young men squeezed in between her and other women waiting in line at the checkpoint. That’s when Israeli soldiers fired at them, she said.

Chaos then ensued, with Sabreen describing people trampling over each other as they tried to escape the gunshots.

“I tried to put my daughter on the ground to walk, but she couldn’t move. I saw my hands covered in blood. I called on her, ‘Sally! Sally! Sally!’, but she didn’t answer… I didn’t know my daughter was injured… she is my only girl, and my heart broke,” Sabreen told CNN.

Eventually, she said, she managed to get to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, where her daughter is undergoing treatment. She told CNN she is still in intensive care.

Graphic footage shot for CNN shows Sally crying out in pain, blood on her body with a wound on her head and arm as she gets treated by two doctors.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on reports that its soldiers fired shots at civilians trying to head up north, but has not received a response.


On April 14, thousands of Palestinians attempted to return to northern Gaza as the IDF warn that the area is still a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gaza refugees traveling home 'turned back'

Mark Moran
Sun, April 14, 2024 

Displaced Palestinians attend a special morning prayer to start the Eid al-Fitr festival, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, at a school-turned-shelter in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza. 

Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI


April 14 (UPI) -- Thousands of Palestinians, including men, women, children, and elderly people, reportedly came under fire Sunday while returning to their homes in northern Gaza, many of them displaced since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7th, 2023, prompting the latest chapter of the decades-long war.

"I am going home. I have been displaced for six months. We live in a tent because our house was struck," a young boy named Omar Al-Dahdouh said, while traversing the coastal road of Al Rasheed, carrying a bag of flour on his shoulder, and holding his younger sibling's hand, sobbing as he walked.

"I am not afraid. If I must die, I will die, but I don't want to live this anymore. I want to go home, I'm tired. My siblings need to live," he continued.

CNN video show families walking with their belongings, some riding bicycles, donkey carts and pick-up trucks, smiling and snapping photographs.

"I'm going to Gaza City. It's enough. We need to go back to our homes and lands. We are tired of displacement... we heard people saying we can go back, but no one official told us. We'll leave it to God," Majd El-Aqqad said.

Displaced Palestinians attend a special morning prayer to start the Eid al-Fitr festival, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, at a make shift shelter in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI

This is the first time war regfugees have began headingback to Gaza in sich large numbers. Some of the travelers said tney heard the Israeli military was allowing women and children to return, and others said their relatives were allowed to cross over.

The Istaeli Defense Force said the reports were false.

"The northern Gaza Strip continues to be an active war zone and return to the area is not currently permitted," IDF said.

In the video shot for CNN, an elderly woman named Um Mohammad walks along Al Rasheed carrying a heavy bag on her head and two others in her arms, trying to return home.

She cried and praed for God to protect them.

"I don't know anything about my house. It's our home and our land. The Israelis displaced us and humiliated us," she said.

"We are tired here. We have been displaced for 191 days," Malak Abu Nada, a woman from Jabalya, told CNN.

Many of the people who attempted to head north had been gone to Rafah, where Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been threatening to launch an offensive that the UN said would lead to a "humanitarian catastrophe."

The Gaza Ministry of Health reported on Sunday that the toll in the Gaza Strip since October 7 has risen to 33,729 dead and 76,371 people injured.

Ahmad Ramadan told CNN he had tried to travel north on Al Rasheed but was turned back by Israeli soldiers because he is a man.

"We heard the road was open to Gaza City, so we thought we'd go," Um Awni Al-Jarousha told CNN. "When they saw men with us, they started shooting at us. We are tired and humiliated."

CNN video shows people turning around, heading south with the sound of drones and planes overhead. Missiles are seen in the distance while people run in panic.

"We reached all the way to the checkpoint until we saw Israeli tanks. We headed back because they fired towards us. We didn't see anyone make it to the other side. We risked our children's lives to cross, but apparently it was all a lie," one woman said.

Philippines' Marcos says 'not one person died' as police make huge drug bust, in dig at predecessor

Associated Press
Tue, April 16, 2024 

In this handout photo provided by the Batangas Public Information Office, Philippine President. Ferdinand Jr., third from left, talks to reporters as he visits Alitagtag town in Batangas province, Philippines on Tuesday April 16, 2024. Marcos Jr said Tuesday police seized the largest haul of methamphetamine in the country in years without anybody killed, in a subtle criticism of his predecessor's notoriously deadly crackdown on illegal drugs. (Batangas Public Information Office via AP)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Tuesday police seized the largest haul of methamphetamine in the country in years without anybody being killed, in a subtle criticism of his predecessor’s notoriously deadly crackdown on illegal drugs.

Police seized nearly 1,630 kilograms (1.8 tons) of methamphetamine Monday from a van and arrested its driver at a checkpoint in Alitagtag town in Batangas province south of Manila. Intelligence operations were underway to arrest other suspects, officials said without elaborating.

Locally known as shabu, the powerful stimulant had a street value of more than 13 billion pesos ($228 million), officials said.

"This is the biggest shipment of shabu that we’ve seized, but not one person died. No shots were fired and nobody was injured because we operated slowly,” Marcos told reporters in Alitagtag, where he presented the boxloads of seized drugs to the press.

"This should be the approach in the drug war for me and the most important objective is to stop the smuggling of illegal drugs into the Philippines,” Marcos said, adding that the newly seized drugs came from outside the country.

Marcos, who took office in mid-2022, has vowed to continue the crackdown on illegal drugs launched by his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, but said it would be done differently and focus more on rehabilitating drug addicts.

Under Duterte, more than 6,000 mostly poor suspected drug dealers were killed in reported clashes with law enforcers. The widespread killings alarmed Western governments, including the United States, and sparked an ongoing International Criminal Court investigation as a possible crime against humanity.

Police say there have been considerably fewer killings of drug suspects under Marcos, but human rights groups have expressed alarm over the continued killings and asked Marcos to cooperate with the ICC in investigating the killings that took place when Duterte was president and a longtime mayor of southern Davao city.

As president, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC’s founding treaty in 2019 after the court launched a preliminary examination into thousands of killings under his anti-drugs crackdown.

Critics said then that Duterte’s move was an attempt to evade accountability. The ICC prosecutor, however, said the court still has jurisdiction over alleged crimes while the Philippines was still a member of the ICC, a court of last resort for crimes that countries are unwilling or unable to prosecute themselves.

Marcos told Manila-based foreign correspondents on Monday that his relationship with Duterte is “complicated.” The brash-speaking Duterte has openly accused Marcos of being a weak leader and of using cocaine in the past, an allegation that the current president has repeatedly denied.

Marcos’s vice president is Duterte’s daughter, Sara, and they were elected in 2022 with landslide victories.

Marcos renewed his stance that he would not bring the Philippines back to the ICC. When asked if he would hand over Duterte if the ICC decides to issue a warrant for his arrest in the future, Marcos said he would not.


Marcos says will not hand Duterte to ICC over drug war

AFP
Mon, April 15, 2024 

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said he would not hand his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (Ted ALJIBE)


Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said Monday he would not hand his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court, which is investigating his deadly drug war.

Thousands of people have been killed in the anti-narcotics campaign started by Duterte in 2016 and continued under Marcos.

Asked Monday if he would hand Duterte -- who has accused him of being a drug addict and criticised his policies -- to the ICC if it issued a warrant for his arrest, Marcos said "no".

"We don't recognise the warrant that they will send to us. That's a no," he said at a forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

"We are well within international law when we take the position of not recognising the jurisdiction of the ICC in the Philippines," Marcos said.

Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019 after the Hague-based tribunal started probing allegations of human rights abuses committed during his drug war.

It launched a formal inquiry into Duterte's crackdown in September 2021, only to suspend it two months later after Manila said it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations that led to deaths at the hands of police, hitmen and vigilantes.

The ICC's chief prosecutor later asked to reopen the inquiry, and pre-trial judges at the court eventually gave the green light in late January 2023 -- a decision that Manila appealed shortly afterwards and lost.

More than 6,000 people were killed in anti-drug operations under Duterte, according to official data released by the Philippines. ICC prosecutors estimate the death toll at between 12,000 and 30,000.

- 'It's complicated' -

The drug war has continued under Marcos even though he has pushed for more focus on prevention and rehabilitation.

Marcos has repeatedly ruled out rejoining the ICC and insisted it does not have jurisdiction in the country because there is a functioning judicial system.

Relations between the Marcos and Duterte families have fractured in the past two years.

Marcos, the son and namesake of the country's former dictator, won the 2022 presidential election by a landslide following a massive social media misinformation campaign whitewashing his family's history.

His vice presidential running mate Sara Duterte, the daughter of the former president, helped him win vital support from her family's home island of Mindanao.

In recent months there has been a very public falling out between the families as they begin to shore up their rival support bases and secure key positions ahead of the mid-term elections in 2025 and presidential elections in 2028.

Duterte and Marcos have accused each other of drug abuse, while Duterte previously called for his family's home island of Mindanao to separate from the rest of the country.

Asked to describe his current relationship with the Duterte family, Marcos said "it's complicated", before laughing with the audience.

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The Philippine president says he won't give US access to more local military bases

AARON FAVILA
Mon, April 15, 2024 


Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. answers questions during a forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines on Monday, April 15, 2024, in Manila, Philippines. 

(AP Photo/Aaron Favila



MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine president said Monday his administration has no plan to give the United States access to more Philippine military bases and stressed that the American military's presence in several camps and sites so far was sparked by China’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in 2022, allowed American forces and weapons access to four additional Philippine military bases, bringing to nine the number of sites where U.S. troops can rotate indefinitely under a 2014 agreement.

The Biden administration has been strengthening an arc of security alliances in the region to better counter China, a move that dovetails with Philippine efforts to shore up its external defense, especially in the South China Sea.


Marcos' decision last year alarmed China because two of the new sites were located just across from Taiwan and southern China. Beijing accused the Philippines of providing American forces with staging grounds, which could be used to undermine its security.

"The Philippines has no plans to create any more bases or give access to any more bases,” Marcos said, without elaborating in response to a question during a forum with Manila-based foreign correspondents.

Asked if he was concerned that allowing the U.S. military access to Philippine bases had provoked Chinese actions in the South China Sea, Marcos said the presence of U.S. troops was in response to China’s moves.

“These are reactions to what has happened in the South China Sea, to the aggressive actions that we have had to deal with,” he said, mentioning Chinese coast guard vessels using water cannons and lasers to deter Philippine ships from the area Beijing claims as its own.

He also mentioned collisions, blocking of Filipino fishermen and sea barriers to block ships from Scarborough Shoal, which lies in the Philippine economic zone.

Under Marcos, the Philippines has adopted a strategy of publicizing the incidents by allowing journalists to board its patrol ships to witness China’s assertive actions.

"It is crucial that the media … continue to expose these actions that not only threaten the peace and stability of the region but also undermine the rules-based order that has underpinned global development and prosperity over the previous century,” Marcos said.

China has blamed the Philippines for sparking the confrontations by intruding into what it says were Chinese territorial waters and reneging on an alleged agreement to pull away an old Philippine navy ship, which now serves as Manila’s territorial outpost in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.

Marcos said he was not aware of any such deal, and added that he considers the deal rescinded — if it ever existed.

Last week, President Joe Biden renewed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to defend Pacific allies in a summit with Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House. He reiterated that the U.S. is obligated to defend the Philippines if its forces, aircraft or ships come under an armed attack.

Asked when the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the U.S. and the Philippines could be invoked amid territorial hostilities between China and the Philippines, Marcos cited Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as saying that could happen “if any Filipino serviceman is killed on an attack from any foreign power.”

Chinese city Zhengzhou tells state-owned company to buy second-hand homes to reduce new housing inventories


A man rides a scooter past apartment highrises that are under construction near the new stadium in Zhengzhou

Mon, Apr 15, 2024

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central city of Zhengzhou has asked residents to sell their second-hand homes to a local state-owned company and buy new ones instead, in a bid to reduce new-home inventories and boost the local property sector.

Local state state-owned company Zhengzhou Urban Development Group Co. will buy 500 second-hand homes from April 20 to June 30, according to a notice released by the Zhengzhou Real Estate Association on Monday.


Residents must buy a new home in the main urban area for a total price that is not less than the total price of the home they are selling, the notice said.

Most of China's small and medium-sized cities have suffered frail property markets, with the entire property sector in a liquidity crisis since a crackdown on high leverage on developers in 2021.

In Zhengzhou, new home prices fell month-on-month for a 12th straight month in March, according to data from China's statistics bureau on Tuesday.

Local cities that have been granted full autonomy to adjust property market policies have eased restrictions on home purchases, lowered mortgage rates, reduced down payments and offered subsidies for home purchases.

These policies have only limited short-term impact, partly because potential buyers have been wary of purchasing new homes amid concerns about the ability of indebted developers to deliver projects on time.

"As the bottom has yet to be confirmed, we expect property to remain a major drag on growth this year. Policies to stabilise the market will likely still be needed in the months ahead," Lynn Song, chief economist of Greater China at ING, said in a research note on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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China's new home prices decline at fastest pace since 2015


A general view shows a construction site of residential apartment blocks in Beijing

Updated Mon, Apr 15, 2024,

By Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo

BEIJING (Reuters) -New home prices in China fell at their fastest pace in more than eight years in March as the debt woes of major property developers continued to drag on demand and the economic outlook.

China's property sector, accounting for nearly a quarter of the economy, has been engulfed by a debt crisis since 2021 after a regulatory crackdown on high leverage among developers triggered a liquidity crunch, with a string of them reporting weaker financial results for 2023 last month.


New home prices in March dropped 2.2% from a year earlier, marking the biggest decline since August 2015, and worse than a 1.4% fall in February, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.

Prices fell 0.3% month-on-month, matching February's drop.

Chinese authorities have been ramping up measures to prop up the troubled sector, including relaxing home purchase curbs, supporting urban village renovation, and pushing banks to quicken new loan approvals to cash-strapped developers.

Analysts say many of these policies are piecemeal in nature or have only limited short-term impact, which in turn is keeping home buying sentiment in check and curbing a broader full-blown recovery.

Declines in home prices worsened year-on-year in tier-one, tier-two and tier-three cities.

The falling property data, contrasted with the faster-than-expected Chinese GDP growth in the first quarter, suggested it will continue to be a drag on the economy seeking to find a firmer footing after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There's not much of an improvement in the outlook from here. I think there's still downside risks to the economy. It's pretty clear the property glut is still continuing," said economist Woei Chen Ho at UOB in Singapore.

Property investment and sales fell at a faster pace in March from a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations based on separate official data on Tuesday.

"We estimate the property downturn will drag GDP growth by 0.3 ppt in 2024. Property investment is expected to drop 12% this year," economists at ANZ said in a research note.

Potential buyers have also been wary of purchasing new homes because of concerns about the ability of indebted developers to deliver projects on time.

Financing support should be extended to real estate projects to ensure that homes are delivered on time, Vice Premier He Lifeng, China's economic tsar, said over the weekend.

The delivery of homes on time will help stabilise expectations, He said during an inspection tour in the central city of Zhengzhou.

But without more aggressive stimulus policy, confidence and prices may not improve as quickly as the authorities hope for.

"Absent the monster spending splurge of years gone by, real estate investment, dwelling prices and new dwelling sales are set to fall throughout 2024," Harry Murphy Cruise, economist at Moody's Analytics, said in a research note.

(Reporting by Ella Cao, Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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WHITE Man tortures, kills MURDERS wolf in Wyoming — now activists are seeking harsher penalties

Megan Brugger
Mon, April 15, 2024

DANIEL, Wyo. (ABC4) — Animal activists are outraged and are calling for stiffer penalties after a new video shocked the internet.

The video, obtained by ABC4.com from Cowboy State Daily, shows a man toying with an injured wolf before torturing and killing it.

READ NEXT: PETA offers to fix Panguitch Lake Dam — for an ad placement

Wyoming Game and Fish cited Cody Roberts, 42, of Daniel, Wyoming, for keeping a live wolf back in February. He was fined $250 and, at this time, it is unclear if he will face more penalties.

According to Cowboy State Daily, Roberts captured the wolf after running it down with a snowmobile. He then took the wolf to a bar in town, teasing it and showing it off.

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  Courtesy Cowboy State Daily

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  Courtesy Cowboy State Daily

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  Courtesy Cowboy State Daily

Nick Gevock of the Sierra Club Utah Chapter said what this man did was “atrocious.”

“We see efforts in Idaho where they’re aria gunning wolves. Montana has passed gross laws where they are trying to kill as many wolves as they can, as fast as they can and in Wyoming, it’s legal to do what this guy did … and run a wolf over with a snowmobile. I think that’s atrocious,” Gevock said.

Wolves are designated “predatory animals” across 85% of Wyoming, which makes them exempt from the standard limits on killing under state wildlife management principles.

Here in Utah, wolves are still considered a protected species — even within the small portion of northeastern Utah where they are not currently listed under the endangered species act.

The Division of Wildlife Resources said it is still not legal to hunt wolves in Utah.

“The states that have shown they are just terrible at managing wolves; that they are ill-suited to do this and they don’t share the conservation groups of the larger United States. And thus we believe that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should step in and restore federal protection for them,” Gevock said.