5 things to know for February 28: Student loan debt, Ukraine, Storms, Disney, Mexico – CNN
Most people around the world have long returned to their pre-pandemic lives: ditching face masks, dining in restaurants, and attending packed concerts, among other things. Meanwhile, one of the last major cities to edge back toward normalcy is Hong Kong, which only announced today it will end its controversial Covid-19 mask mandate – nearly three years after it was enacted.
Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.
(You can get “CNN’s 5 Things” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)
1. Student loan debt
The Supreme Court will take up two challenges today concerning President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, with a decision expected by late June or early July. The initiative, aimed at providing targeted debt relief to millions of student-loan borrowers, has so far been stalled by legal challenges. Republican-led states and conservatives opposing the program say it amounts to an unlawful attempt to erase an estimated $430 billion of federal student loan debt under the guise of the pandemic. The cases being heard today will also ultimately provide guidance on payments that have been paused since 2020 and interest in accrual on student loans. View this timeline to see how the federal education borrowing system began in the 1950s – and how it ballooned into a trillion-dollar problem for Americans.
2. Ukraine
In a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reaffirm US economic support and to announce the recent transfer of $1.25 billion in assistance. Addressing the Russian economy, which has not buckled under an array of sanctions from the US and other Western countries, Yellen said she expects it to grow weaker as the country loses foreign investment and runs through its reserves. “We will see an increasing toll on Russia’s economic trajectory over time,” she said. “And their ability to replenish the military equipment that’s been destroyed in their attacks on Ukraine, that’s been very greatly jeopardized.” This comes as Ukraine’s military says units of the Russian mercenary group Wagner are throwing their “most trained” units into the battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut, where the situation is “extremely difficult” due to non-stop assaults.
<div data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/h_0794fd037ce5564a64acc1db4117ca10-h_0875dec7fcdc73e34c7974eed1ba13b7@published" data-component-name="video-resource" data-editable="settings" class="video-resource" data-video-id="business/2023/02/27/exp-yellen-russia-ukraine-china-aid-022703pseg2-cnni-business.cnn" data-live data-analytics-aggregate-events="true" data-custom-experience data-asset-type data-medium-env="prod" data-autostart="false" data-show-ads="true" data-featured-video="true" data-headline="Yellen: "Severe" consequences for sanction violations" data-description="Janet Yellen talks to CNN's Melissa Bell about Russian sanctions." data-duration="06:11" data-source-html=" – Source: CNN ” data-fave-thumbnails=”{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230227161008-exp-yellen-russia-ukraine-china-aid-022703pseg2-cnni-business-00001901.png?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230227161008-exp-yellen-russia-ukraine-china-aid-022703pseg2-cnni-business-00001901.png?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }” data-vr-video data-show-html=”” data-check-event-based-preview data-network-id data-details>
3. Storms
Nearly 50 million people across the Northeast are under winter weather alerts today as a storm that brought tornadoes and damaging winds to the Central US sweeps into the region. Boston and New York City are on track for their biggest snow events of an unusually warm winter, with 4 to 6 inches of snow and ice expected in New York City. Boston is expecting up to 4 inches of snow through tonight, which would be its biggest snowfall of the season as well. As some Northeast residents get their first taste of snow this season, a new storm system is hitting the West Coast with more snow, high winds, blizzard conditions and unusually cold temperatures – right after another storm dumped a hefty amount of snow there last week.
<div data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/h_6e2ef44f7e3ef13e0e80889a3bf11031-h_0875dec7fcdc73e34c7974eed1ba13b7@published" data-component-name="video-resource" data-editable="settings" class="video-resource" data-video-id="weather/2023/02/27/severe-winter-weather-snow-tornadoes-pkg-lavandera-cnntm-vpx.cnn" data-live data-analytics-aggregate-events="true" data-custom-experience data-asset-type data-medium-env="prod" data-autostart="false" data-show-ads="true" data-featured-video="true" data-headline="'Early wake-up call': Storm chaser describes severe storms in central US" data-description="As severe storms prompted tornado reports in parts of the central US, a barrage of snow, rain and harsh winds is forecast in areas from the West Coast to the Great Lakes. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.
” data-duration=”02:33″ data-source-html=” – Source: CNN ” data-fave-thumbnails=”{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230227070842-storm-chaser.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230227070842-storm-chaser.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }” data-vr-video data-show-html=”” data-check-event-based-preview data-network-id data-details>
