Malaysian police on Monday released images of two suspects in the killing of a Palestinian engineer and said they appeared to be European or Middle Eastern, fueling suspicion that the slaying was an Israeli assassination.
Inspector General of Royal Malaysian Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun shows off two images of suspects of killing of a Palestinian man during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, April 23, 2018. (AP Photo)
Gaza's ruling Hamas militant group has accused Israel of being behind Saturday's shooting of Fadi al-Batsh, an important member of Hamas. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
Malaysian national police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the composite images were based on eyewitness descriptions. He said the suspects, clad in black jackets, were fair-skinned, well-built and had beards, and were likely European or Middle Eastern.
Fuzi said the images have been displayed at all exit points in the country but said it was unclear if the men had fled Malaysia.
Police said al-Batsh, 34, was hit with 14 bullets by the two assailants, who shot from a motorbike as he was heading to a mosque for dawn prayers in a suburb near Kuala Lumpur. Police said security video showed the suspects had waited for him for almost 20 minutes.
A composite image of a suspect of killing of a Palestinian man is shown by Malaysian national police during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, April 23, 2018. (AP Photo)
Hamas initially stopped short of blaming Israel, saying only that he had been "assassinated by the hand of treachery." But later its top leader accused Israel's Mossad intelligence agency of killing al-Batsh and threatened retaliation.
A string of Israeli officials have neither confirmed nor denied whether Israel had a hand in the death. Several noted, however, that Israel is routinely blamed for such assassinations even when it is not involved.
Several Israeli Cabinet ministers welcomed the killing, regardless of who was responsible. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested in radio interviews Sunday that al-Batsh may have been killed as part of a rivalry between Palestinian militants.
A composite image of a suspect of killing of a Palestinian man is shown by Malaysian national police during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, April 23, 2018. (AP Photo)
Israel has a long history of being accused of targeting wanted Palestinian militants in daring overseas operations and has been linked to other assassinations as well, though it has rarely publicly acknowledged them.
Al-Batsh was believed to have been working on Hamas' unmanned aerial vehicle program and was working on improving the accuracy of its rockets.
His brother, Rami, told Malaysian media in Kuala Lumpur that he hopes to take the body back on Tuesday.
Enaas al-Batsh, right, wife of killed Palestinian Fadi al-Batsh, walks out of a hospital's morgue in Selayang, Malaysia, Monday, April 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Sadiq Asyraf)
Police say al-Batsh had lived in Malaysia for more than seven years and had permanent residency status. He had a degree in electrical engineering and lectured at a local university, but police couldn't confirm reports that he was an expert in rocket making.
Al-Batsh traveled locally and abroad to speak on Palestinian issues and was scheduled to fly to Turkey for a conference when he was killed, police said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will announce his latest effort to broaden student loan relief next week for new categories of borrowers, according to three people familiar with the plans, nearly a year after the Supreme Court foiled his administration’s first attempt to cancel debt for millions who attended college.
Biden will detail the plan Monday in Madison, Wisconsin, where the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin is located. The actual federal regulations — outlining who would qualify to get their student loan debt reduced or eliminated — are not expected to be released then, said the people, who were granted anonymity to detail a proposal not yet made public.
Much of the specifics that Biden will discuss Monday have long been telegraphed through a negotiated rulemaking process at the Department of Education, which has worked for months to hash out the new categories of borrowers. The president announced immediately after the Supreme Court decision that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona would undertake the process because he would have the power under the Higher Education Act to waive or compromise student loan debt in specific cases.
Still, the effort seeks to make good on Biden’s promise after the Supreme Court struck down his initial plan in June, a $400 billion proposal to cancel or reduce federal student loan debt that a majority of justices said required congressional approval. Biden called that decision a “mistake” and “wrong.”
And the fresh announcement on student loan relief, a vital issue for younger voters, could help energize parts of Biden's political coalition who have become disillusioned over his job performance — people whose support the president will need to defeat presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump this year.
The plan that Biden will detail is set to expand federal student loan relief to new yet-targeted categories of borrowers through the Higher Education Act, which administration officials believe puts it on a stronger legal footing than the sweeping proposal that was killed by a 6-3 court majority last year. The planned announcement from Biden was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“This new path is legally sound,” Biden said in June. “It’s going to take longer, but, in my view, it’s the best path that remains to providing for as many borrowers as possible with debt relief.”
Biden's latest attempt at cancellation is expected to be smaller and more targeted than his original plan, which would have canceled up to $20,000 in loans for more than 40 million borrowers. Details of the new plan have come into focus in recent months as the Education Department brought its ideas to a panel of outside negotiators with an interest in higher education, ranging from students to loan servicers.
“President Biden’s expected additional executive action will greatly reduce the burden of student loans for millions of Americans," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Friday. "There is always more work to be done to alleviate the burden of student loan debt. And we will not stop until crippling student loan debt is a thing of the past.”
Through that process, the agency laid out five categories of borrowers who would be eligible to get some or all of their federal loans canceled. The plan is focused on helping those with the greatest need for relief, including many who might otherwise never repay their loans.
Among those targeted for help are individuals whose unpaid interest has snowballed beyond the size of the original loan. The proposal would reset their balances back to the initial balance by erasing up to $10,000 or $20,000 in interest, depending on a borrower's income.
Borrowers paying down their student loans for decades would get all remaining debt erased under the department's plan. Loans used for a borrower's undergraduate education would be canceled if they had been in repayment for at least 20 years. For other types of federal loans, it's 25 years.
The plan would automatically cancel loans for those who went to for-profit college programs deemed “low-value.” Borrowers would be eligible for cancellation if, while they attended the program, the average federal student loan payment among graduates was too high compared to their average salary.
Those who are eligible for other types of cancellation but haven't applied would automatically get relief. It would apply to Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Borrower Defense to Repayment, programs that have been around for years but require infamously difficult paperwork.
Under pressure from advocates, the department also added a category for those facing “hardship.” It would offer cancellation to borrowers considered highly likely to be in default within two years. Additional borrowers would be eligible for relief under a wide-ranging definition of financial hardship.
A series of hearings to craft the rule wrapped up in February, and the draft is now under review. Before it can be finalized, the Education Department will need to issue a formal proposal and open it to a public comment period.
The latest attempt at cancellation joins other targeted initiatives, including those aimed at public service workers and low-income borrowers. Through those efforts, the Biden administration says it has canceled $144 billion in student loans for almost 4 million Americans.
President Joe Biden speaks about lowering health care costs in the Indian Treaty Room at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
