• Third tier club FK Usti nad Labem has brought in 22-year-old Martin Podhajsky 

By Olivia Jones

Published: 06:06 EDT, 15 September 2023 | Updated: 11:07 EDT, 15 September 2023

The Supreme Court has struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

The justices ruled 6-3 that the administration overstepped its authority with the program to wipe out more than $400 million in student debt. 

The program was challenged by six Republican states and two borrowers who argued Biden should have sought approval from Congress for a plan using substantial taxpayer funds. 

On June 30, Biden condemned the ruling as he promised to provide alternative support. ‘Today’s decision has closed one path. Now we’re going to start another,’ he told reporters.

But what will happen to the 16 million people already approved for forgiveness? 

What does the decision mean for you? 

For the 26 million people who applied for the program, more than half of whom were approved, the ruling will dash their hopes of taking advantage of having up to $20,000 cut from their debt. 

If no other plans are put in place before then, this means that borrowers will have to return to making full repayments in October when they resume after more than three years this fall.   

Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office said the plan would have cost taxpayers roughly $400 billion, which has now been saved – in welcome news to those who opposed the program.   

Some argued the forgiveness would be unfair to those who either paid their way through college, repaid their loans already, or never attended college in the first place due to the high cost of education.

What was the student loan forgiveness policy? 

The Biden Administration announced its student loan forgiveness program in August 2022. 

The plan intended to cancel up to $20,000 of debt for eligible borrowers – which could have wiped away an estimated $430 billion of the total $1.6 trillion in borrowed cash.

People who earn less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 per household, could get up to $10,000 in debt cancelation. 

Students who received a Pell Grant – a needs-based federal grant for lower-income families – during their education, stood to receive up to $20,000 in forgiveness. 

Some 26 million people applied for the program, according to the Department of Education – more than half of the 46 million eligible borrowers. 

Of the applications, 16 million were provisionally approved to have their debt forgiven, but the program was paused in November before any funds had been given out. 

Why was the program paused?

The program was halted, and funds were blocked from being disbursed, because of two Supreme Court lawsuits arguing the Biden Administration overstepped its authority in approving the debt erasure.

Biden v. Nebraska was brought by Republican attorneys in six states – Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina – in September 2022, and argued that the program could harm tax revenues.

In October last year, the Job Creators Network Foundation filed a separate lawsuit in Texas on behalf of two student borrowers Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor.

The Biden Administration, however, argued the plan fell under the 2003 Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, otherwise known as the HEROES Act, which was created to ensure loan relief after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Supreme Court struck down the program in the case brought by Republican-controlled states. 

Although it ruled that the case brought by two student borrowers did not have the standing to challenge the program, this ruling was irrelevant given the outcome in the Biden v. Nebraska case. 

When will student loan repayments resume? 

The White House paused student loan repayments during the Covid-19 pandemic – in a separate policy to the student loan forgiveness program.

The Government argued the pandemic was a national emergency, which gave it the authority to cancel debt under the HEROES Act.    

But student loan payments are set to resume after more than three years this fall, after a deal was reached between the White House and Congress on raising the debt ceiling formally abolished the pause.

Interest will start accruing on September 1, according to the Department of Education, and borrowers will need to start making payments on federal student debt again in October.  

According to a new report from Wells Fargo, the average monthly payment will be between $210 and $314 once repayments resume. 

What support is Biden planning instead? 

On June 30, Biden vowed to work on a new program under the Higher Education Act to begin a new program to ease borrowers’s threat of a default if they fall behind on payments.

So far details on this support are scant.

The British university student who was killed in the tragic Titanic submarine ‘implosion’ was ‘terrified’ about the trip and only joined the crew to please his dad for Father’s Day, his heartbroken aunt has revealed.

Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, 19, were two of the five victims killed instantly when the OceanGate submersible suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’ just 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic, according to the US Coast Guard.

The other victims were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French Navy veteran Paul-Henri (PH) Nargeolet and British billionaire Hamish Harding. They had been missing since the Titan sub vanished on Sunday, prompting a nail-biting search for the crew.

Tragically, Azmeh Dawood told NBC News that her nephew informed a relative he ‘wasn’t very up for it’ but felt compelled to please his father, who was very passionate about the 1912 shipwreck.

‘I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath… It’s been crippling, to be honest,’ the devastated aunt and sister told the US outlet from her home in Amsterdam.

The older sister of Mr Dawood, who was the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, reportedly said through tears: ‘I feel disbelief. It’s an unreal situation.’

Azmeh, who like the other anxious relatives was hoping for a miracle, continued: ‘I feel like I’ve been caught in a really bad film, with a countdown, but you didn’t know what you’re counting down to.’ 

She said she ‘personally found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking of them’, adding: ‘It’s been unlike any experience I’ve ever had’.

Azmeh herself admitted she would not have gotten on the Titan submersible ‘if you gave me a million dollars’. 

Mr Dawood’s sister said she had fallen out of touch with him in recent years.

Azmeh was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis in 2014 and ‘reduced to being in a wheelchair’.

She had moved from England to Amsterdam to have easier access to medical cannabis – something her family members, including her brother, disapproved of.

But after hearing the tragic news, she was reminded of her love for her brother.  ‘He was my baby brother, I held him up when he was born,’ she said.

Azmeh said she always felt close to Suleman who she described as ‘thoroughly good-hearted’. 

Suleman’s grandparents, Hussain and Kulsum Dawood, paid tribute to their beloved grandson and son, describing their passing as an ‘unimaginable loss’.

News of the tragic deaths emerged today, with the US Coast Guard revealing that debris the search mission had discovered was ‘consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber’. 

‘Upon this determination we immediately notified the families,’ US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told a press conference attended by reporters from across the globe.

‘On behalf of the Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families.’

It would have been an instant death for the men, some of whom had paid £195,000 ($250,000) each to see the famous shipwreck.

In a gut-wrenching blow for their families, experts say there is little prospect of recovering any of their remains.

As search and rescue teams continued to cling onto hope of finding the sub on Wednesday, the Dawoods’ family gathered above the water where the vessel was last seen. 

A family source told MailOnline that Mr Dawood’s wife Christine and daughter Alina were at the search site and would wait there ‘as long as they can’.

The source added: ‘It’s not clear what it was that made Mr Dawood want to go and visit the Titanic with his son, but he is driven by a passion of exploration, and I understand this was something that had been planned for some time.’

Mr Dawood and his son were heirs to the great Dawood business dynasty and among the richest people in Pakistan. 

They were British citizens and lived in Surbiton, Surrey. Suleman and his older sister were both raised in London.

Suleman was studying at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He was a Business School student and had just completed his first year.

Before his death was announced, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal and Vice Chancellor, said in a statement: ‘I write to you with a heavy heart to share the news that one of our students, Suleman Dawood, is a passenger on board the submersible that is missing in the North Atlantic.

‘We are deeply concerned about Suleman, his father and the others involved in this incident. I know you will join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to their families and loved ones.’

A family statement earlier in the week described Suleman as ‘a big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things’.

Suleman’s mother Christine, a psychologist and life coach, and his sister Alina had been spending a month in Canada before the father and son undertook the dive. 

In January 2019, Christine revealed how she and her husband had been involved in a terrifying plane ‘plunge’, during which they felt they were going to die.

‘My husband told me later that he was thinking of all the opportunities he’d missed and how much he still wanted to teach our children,’ Christine said in a heartbreaking post at the time.

Ahsen Uddin Syed, a friend of Mr Dawood’s who worked with him at his company, said earlier this week that the businessman was ‘an explorer’.

‘Traveling, science, are part of his DNA,’ Syed told The New York Times.

He added that Mr Dawood loved Star Trek and Star Wars and was a keen photographer. 

Mr Dawood was a trustee at the SETI Institute – a Silicon Valley not-for-profit working in space exploration.

He was also a supporter of two charities founded by King Charles – the British Asian Trust and the Prince’s Trust International.

The Dawood family released a statement on Twitter on Thursday night, saying ‘it is with profound grief that we announce the passing of Shahzada and Suleman Dawood’.

‘Our beloved sons were aboard OceanGate’s Titan submersible that perished underwater.

‘Please continue to keep the departed souls and our family in your prayers during this difficult period of mourning.

‘We are truly grateful to all those involved in the rescue operations. Their untiring efforts were a source of strength for us during this time.

‘We are also indebted to our friends, family, colleagues, and well-wishers from all over the world who have stood by us during our hour of need. The immense love and support we receive continues to help us to endure this unimaginable loss.

‘We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the other passengers on the Titan submersible. At this time, we are unable to receive calls and request that support, condolences, and prayers be messaged instead. Details of their final rites in this world will be announced soon.’

The statement was signed by Mr Dawood’s parents, Hussain and Kulsum, philanthropists who run an educational charity and the heads of the family dynasty. 

Mr Dawood’s sister, Sabrina, said as the rescue mission was underway that he and his son would be ‘as moved as we are by the support of the global community’. 

As tributes for the father and son continue to pour in, Mr Dawood’s company shared condolences with the family. 

In a statement, Engro Corporation, the Pakistani conglomerate that he was vice chairman of, said: ‘With heavy hearts and great sadness, we grieve the loss of our vice chairman, Shahzada Dawood, and his beloved son, Suleman Dawood. 

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dawood family at this tragic time. 

‘We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family, colleagues, friends and all those around the world who grieve this unthinkable loss.’

After days of searching for the lost Titan sub, officials today announced that the five passengers on board had perished.

Among them was British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, whose family have paid tribute to him as a ‘dedicated father’ and ‘living legend’ who died doing what he loved.

French Navy veteran Paul-Henri (PH) Nargeolet, who was an experienced Titanic diver, also lost his life. 

In a heartbreaking tribute, Richard Garriott, president of the Explorers Club, of which Harding and Nargeolet were both members, said that the men had been drawn to explore ‘in the name of meaningful science for the betterment of mankind.’

‘Our hearts are broken. I am so sorry to have to share this tragic news,’ Garriott announced. He said the club was ‘grateful for all our members and the scientific and exploration community around the world who have mobilized personnel and resources to support the search and rescue’.

Garriott described Harding as a ‘dear friend’ to himself and the club. ‘He holds several world records and has continued to push dragons off maps both in person and through supporting expeditions and worthy causes,’ he wrote. 

‘We’re heartbroken for the families, friends and colleagues of those who were lost. Their memories will be a blessing and will continue to inspire us in the name of science and exploration,’ Garriott said.

In a statement confirming their deaths, OceanGate said: ‘We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost.

‘These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. 

‘Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.’

The company added: ‘This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. 

‘The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission. 

‘We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families.

‘This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea.’

Until reports of a ‘debris field’ emerged, which was later confirmed to include pieces of the Titan, the world had been praying for a ‘miracle’ for the passengers on board the lost vessel.

Officials said the field had been found by Odysseus 6k, a remote operated vehicle (ROV) deployed by the Canadian vessel, the Horizon Arctic, that can dive 20,000ft underwater. 

On Wednesday, rescuers estimated that the vital oxygen supply would end at 7.08am EST (12.08pm UK time, 9.09pm Sydney) the next day.

A glimmer of hope came on Wednesday when the Coast Guard confirmed consistent ‘banging’ noises had been detected by P-3 aircraft, but the search teams were unable to find the source of the sound, or confirm that they were the SOS signals the world had hoped for. 

But, experts warned for days of the possibility that the Titan had sprung a leak and imploded under the pressure, which is 400 times that experienced at sea level. 

With officials now confirming that the search had discovered debris ‘consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,’ it is believed the five passengers could have been killed instantaneously, possibly as communications dropped on Sunday.

A Spotify star who stabbed a student to death after he was mocked for his skateboarding skills has been jailed for 15 years. 

Shiloh Pottinger fatally wounded 19-year-old Luke O’Connor when he stabbed him with a 13-inch ‘Mafia stiletto’ knife in Manchester in October 2022. 

The 20-year-old had claimed he was acting in self-defence, when he attacked Mr O’Connor and one of the victim’s friends as they walked home from a house party in the city.

CCTV footage of the incident showed Pottinger repeatedly stabbing his Mr O’Connor after hitting him over the head with his skateboard when the victims asked him to do a trick on it. 

The son of a rapper, who is an aspiring up-and-coming musician himself, was found not guilty of murder but convicted of manslaughter by a jury at Manchester Crown Court last month.

Today he returned to court where he was jailed for 15 years for killing the student who was described as a ‘gentle giant’ by his heartbroken family.

He was told by Judge Nicholas Dean KC he would have been sentenced to 18 years, but this had been reduced for his youth, immaturity and previous good character.

Speaking outside court today, Jason O’Connor, Luke’s father, said praised the medics who worked ‘endlessly’ to try and save the life of the second-year business management student.

‘Luke was our beautiful youngest son and also a wonderful little brother,’ he said. 

‘He was without doubt the glue in our family that we can never replace, and we’re all very proud of him at how he conducted his life. 

‘All our lives now feel empty without Luke. Luke was an extremely considerate, loving and generous, and we all enjoyed spending lots of time with him. Luke had a truly infectious love of life with many ambitions and hopes which unfortunately he did not get to fulfil. 

‘He did not get to fulfil these hopes and ambitions because his life was snatched away from him by a coward using a knife – Shiloh Pottinger – who has shown no remorse.

‘Luke was killed by eight knife wounds to the body in a random attack following a flippant skateboard comment. How many more parents, families and friends have to go through the pain and heartache that knife crime brings?

‘The sentence issued today does not reflect the magnitude of the crime or the loss of Luke’s life. As we have seen from Luke’s death and only this week, knife crime is becoming more and more of a common occurrence. 

‘As a society we need to find a way to control the access to knives and to push for changes to the law and especially the sentencing around knife crime.’

Pottinger, who has had one of his tracks on streaming platform Spotify listened to more than half a million times, will be eligible for parole in 10 years after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

Another track features the lyric: ‘Mummy said when I was younger I should never play with knives.’

The court previous heard a row had broken out between the pair as Mr O’Connor, from Bedfordshire, walked home from a house party with two friends in the heart of Manchester’s student area.

One of them, Charles Robertson, walked past Pottinger, who was holding a skateboard, and asked him if he could ‘do a kick-flick’, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Mark Ford KC, prosecuting, claimed it was ‘intended as a silly and light-hearted comment’.

But Pottinger, himself a music student who has released tracks under the name OSU, ‘did not take it well’ and reacted in an ‘violent and unpredictable’ manner.

He first attacked Mr O’Connor by hitting him on the head with his skateboard before it flew out of his hand when he tried a second strike.

CCTV footage, played to the jury, showed Pottinger threatening Mr O’Connor with the flick-knife and the pair pushing each other.

There was a scuffle, with Mr O’Connor punching Pottinger and holding on to him, but as he did so he was repeatedly stabbed to the body.

As they grappled, Pottinger fell to the ground, dropping the knife as he did so.

But ‘it was too late’, the jury heard, as Mr O’Connor had already sustained fatal injuries.

Distressing footage played in court showed him collapsing on the road covered in blood.

Mr O’Connor was rushed to hospital in cardiac arrest but was pronounced dead at 4.51am.

The jury heard wounds included incisions to his aorta, a kidney had almost been split in two, and one lung had collapsed.

Pottinger fled the scene of the attack and disposed of his skateboard and jacket and washed his clothes in an attempt to avoid detection, the prosecution claimed, but he was arrested two days later.

The bloody knife, which he’d purchased from the internet, was later recovered by police.

After the attack, Pottinger carried out several searches online, including ‘How long do you serve for killing someone?’ and ‘How much time do you get for knife murder?’

But he denied murdering Mr O’Connor and the jury found him not guilty after 13-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

Instead, they found Pottinger, who sobbed in the dock along with members of his family in the public gallery, guilty of manslaughter by a 10-2 majority.

The jury heard that Pottinger didn’t have any intention of using the knife and had acted in self-defence.

He said he wanted to show Mr O’Connor and his friend that he had knife as a ‘last scare tactic’ because he feared they would ‘gang up’ on him.

He also claimed the knife was used for applying tape to his skateboard and hadn’t intended to take it out with him that night.

Pottinger’s barrister Siobhan Grey KC claimed that Mr O’Connor, who was 6ft 2in tall, was ‘towering over’ the defendant and was ‘up for a fight’.

But Mr Ford described Pottinger’s story as a ‘pack of lies’ and a ‘desperate attempt’ to ‘escape the consequences of what he did’.

Millions of us already trust Dr Google, but now there’s a new online doctor in town.

A British medical student has created an AI chatbot which claims to provide ‘more reliable health information’ than the search engine.

BTRU — pronounced Better You — trawls through pages from the likes of the World Health Organization to give users personalised answers, just like ChatGPT.

Ian Soh, 22, who is in his penultimate year at St George’s Medical Hospital in south London, insists the bot he has created is ‘reliable’.

He said: ‘I believe in a time when people can take control of their health, find reliable health information and make sense of their health, no matter their background.’

But experts today insisted AI medical advice will never be able to replace that of a human doctor.  

Gynaecologist Narendra Pisal said that knowing someone’s personal history is ‘vital’ to diagnosis. 

Mr Pisa, of the private London Gynaecology clinic, said: ‘This is one of the reasons why AI will not replace medical expertise. 

‘Ability to ask relevant questions regarding the context is so important when giving a medical opinion. 

‘Often that comes from obtaining a detailed history.’

Other experts raised concern over some of the answers given by BTRU. 

MailOnline tested the chatbot by asking: ‘I am a man, can I get womb cancer?’

The bot said that men could get cancer in their womb if they have ‘a history of high oestrogen levels’. It added that symptoms in men are ‘vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain and discharge’. 

Women’s health expert Dr Semiya Aziz, a GP in north London, said: ‘It has failed to clarify the terminology of men, so it is an incorrect answer.’

Only biological women can get womb cancer because males aren’t born with one.

Women who transition to men, however, and get diagnosed with the disease might consider themselves males.

Dr Aziz added that AI can create ‘unnecessary anxiety’ for people who cannot see a doctor, as well have an impact on their mental health. 

BTRU did, however, dismiss the idea that men could get pregnant, describing male pregnancy as a ‘subject of science-fiction’ that has ‘no basis in reality’.

One NHS doctor told MailOnline she has seen an increase in people claiming to have an emotional connection with ‘health robots’.  

Dr Hana Patel, who works as a GP in southeast London, said: ‘I already have patients coming in with Dr Google diagnoses and expectations of how to manage their symptoms.

‘It may be even more difficult to manage patients who trust and feel that they have a connection with an AI health robot, especially if this gives them an answer regarding a question they have at that time.’

The search tool gave different responses to NHS advice pages, which have been criticised for erasing gender-based language. 

NHS guidance for the menopause is just one of the topics at the centre of a gender-neutral storm. 

It used to describe the condition as ‘when a woman stops having periods and is no longer able to get pregnant naturally’. But it now reads: ‘Menopause is when your periods stop due to lower hormone levels’.

The first mention of the term ‘women’ in the new version is found in the fourth page, in a section about drugs to treat the condition.

No such gender-neutral changes have been made to male cancers, like testicular cancer.  

The BTRU founder said he wants his platform to achieve better health advice online.

He said: ‘I believe in a time when people can take control of their health, find reliable health information and make sense of their health, no matter their background’, he added.