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The Borrower Defense rule was created in part to address the unprecedented number of students applying for loan forgiveness following the collapse of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges, which had misled prospective students with inflated job placement numbers. The part of the rule that fast-tracked students who attended closed schools was implemented early to help Corinthian students, specifically.
Thousands of former students from Corinthian Colleges, the American Career Institute and ITT Tech have been approved for loan discharges under the rule. As of January, 28,000 former Corinthian students alone had been approved for debt relief totaling $558 million.
The lawsuit filed in federal district court in D.C. Thursday asks the court to declare the delay unlawful and order the implementation of the Borrower Defense rule. Attorneys general in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia joined Massachusetts' Healey in filing the complaint Thursday.
CNN's Greg Wallace contributed reporting for this story.
GameCentral speaks to developer Rocksteady’s Dax Ginn about making the ultimate Batman game and why it isn’t a racing game.
As well as getting to watch 30 minutes of live gameplay footage from Batman: Arkham Knight we also got to speak to Rocksteady Studios’ brand marketing producer Dax Ginn. He’s been with the developer since the beginning and although he made it clear he wasn’t going to reveal any new characters or features he was able to talk in detail about the difficulties of adding the Batmobile to the Arkham series and why the game has so few civilians.
He also provided commentary for the demo and while talking about the games it was interesting to note he always referred to them as a trilogy, never once referencing last year’s Arkham Origins – which was not made by Rocksteady and was less well received compared to their first two titles.
GC: Well, I wish you’d managed to be a bit more enthusiastic about your own game [Ginn was the one doing all the shouting for the demo’s live commentary].
DG: [laughs] Did I let you down?
GC: I’m a great fan of the first two games and also of Batman, or rather I should say The Animated Series.
DG: Right, so Kevin Conroy is meaningful to you.
GC: Kevin Conroy is Batman.
GC: So I prepared some questions earlier and my first was going to be how will the Batmobile work without a large world to drive around in? But I guess the demo answered that already.
DG: [laugh] It’s about five times the size of the world we built for Arkham City, which makes it about 20 times bigger than what we had for Arkham Asylum.
GC: So when you say ‘city’ is the whole game world literally just the city streets? You don’t go off into the countryside or anything?
DG: No, it’s all an urban environment.
GC: So, the problem with the Batmobile is… it makes no sense. Why would a masked vigilante have a special car that makes it really obvious it’s him? Does Batman stop at traffic lights?
GC: Clearly the reason he has it is because it’s cool. But in gameplay terms, after playing Arkham City, it still doesn’t seem necessary for moving around Gotham. Did you construct the story of Arkham Knight around the idea that you needed the streets to be more or less empty – or at least that it didn’t matter whatever you were running over?
DG: The fantasy of driving the Batmobile is, I think, of being unstoppable, of being a wrecking ball. So the evacuation of the city and Scarecrow’s chemical weapon threat is a narrative construct in order for us to achieve the gameplay objective that we’re driving towards. So really it was the decision to go for it with the Batmobile that drove a lot of technical and creative decisions.
GC: Is this using Unreal Engine 4?
GC: Because there was a lot of destructibility there but… I assume you’re not knocking down skyscrapers or anything. So what is the limit in terms of what you can drive through? A concrete wall seemed to be about as far as it went in the demo?
DG: If it looks like you should be able to smash through it you can. We wanted the players to instinctively have a sense of ‘That is somewhere I can go and that is somewhere where I can’t go’.
GC: A lot of developers I talk to mention looking at other similar games to get their ideas, did you do that with Arkham Knight? You have no experience with driving games, but do you even feel this is a racing game when you’re in the Batmobile?
DG: Not really, no. The way that we have have coded the behaviour of the Batmobile, and thought about the Batmobile, is we used the same team that created Batman. So the core gameplay programmer that created Batman for Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, he’s the guy that’s working on the Batmobile. We didn’t want to just bring in a driving team because then we would’ve ended up with a Batman game that had a driving component; we wanted the two things to feel married.
We wanted that man and machine connection between the two of them. And actually we were terrified of ending up with a driving game, we wanted to make sure it felt like the Batmobile could’ve been there all along, in either Arkham Asylum or Arkham City, but we’ve only just now unveiled it.
GC: Were you not tempted to have a little grappling hook to catch lamp posts as you turn?
GC: The previous games had skins for different incarnations of Batman, are you going to have that for the car as well? Because I know I’d pay for the 1989 Batmobile as DLC, probably a lot of the others too.
DG: It would be a fundamentally different shape at that point… but there’s no plans at the moment, no.
GC: In your preamble you were talking about the fantasy of being Batman, which I assume most red-bloodied males have had at some point in their life. But one of the power fantasises is saving innocent people; from muggings, bank heists and the like. But by having the city emptied of civilians you can’t really do that. Was that not a concern? That that was a really important thing that you still didn’t have in any of your games.
GC: You certainly weren’t saving ordinary civilians going about their business in Arkham City, there were none. But is this something that needs the next next gen to work? Does having lots of civilians wandering around still require too much processing power?
DG: It would certainly be a fairly significant technical challenge, to build the level of detail we do into the architecture of the city and to have a living, breathing population. Yeah, that sounds pretty full-on.
GC: Both your previous games were well received but they are actually quite different, despite the similar mechanics. In fact many people prefer the more structured and focused nature of Asylum, so I wonder if Arkham Knight is an amalgam of the two styles or purely an evolution of City?
DG: I do think they’re two very different games, and when you say gamers prefer one or the other I can absolutely see why. I recently played Arkham Asylum again, and the kind of pressure cooker atmosphere is something that’s so unique to that game and going open world with Arkham City you lose the opportunity to really crank up the claustrophobia. But what you gain is a sense of freedom and an opportunity for exploration that you just don’t get in a game that’s structured in the way that Arkham Asylum was.
So Arkham Knight is certainly progressing along that trajectory, you can see it’s massively open world in that respect, but for us it’s still very important to tell a very classic Batman story. And the atmosphere that we had developed in Arkham Asylum, a lot of it was informed by the role of the Scarecrow as well. And Scarecrow wasn’t in City at all, so there really wasn’t the opportunity to explore a lot of the psychological elements that he brings; that are a big part of who Batman is and what makes Batman awesome.
So having Scarecrow back and as the centrepiece of the threat to Batman, I think fans of Arkham Asylum, they’re gonna get an opportunity to sort of explore Scarecrow again – which they didn’t in Arkham City.
GC: One of the few complaints that’s common to both games is that even though you had Paul Dini writing the script there still wasn’t much of a story. It was basically just an excuse to have Batman fight lots and lots of villains. Is that just an intractable problem of being an action video game, that the story is just a framework on which to hang the action rather than something that actually has a purpose in its own right?
DG: I think there’s always the spectre of the tragedy of his childhood that hangs over Batman all the time. And we had that moment in Crime Alley where you saw the death of his parents and where that was used to twist your perception of the moment.
But with a game world as big as Arkham Knight having… and no Batman experience is complete without a huge range of villains – but I think what gamers are going to find is that because the game world is just that much bigger, that there’s more room to breathe between those experiences. And Arkham City did feel claustrophobic in a way, in that there’s a lot coming at you all the time.
GC: You were talking about Batman’s detective skills but it’s very difficult to mix action gameplay with genuine puzzles. No developer wants to stop progress in an action game because you can’t figure out a logic puzzle, but then that means that the detective angle is always trivialised. Have you got a new approach to that in this game?
GC: But it’s more scene setting than actual gameplay though isn’t it? It’s more an elongated QTE sequence.
GC: That’s all I’m really asking: is there a different approach? You don’t have to tell me what it is. That was something that Arkham Origins tried to focus on but you weren’t really doing anything, you were just following prompts and doing what the game told you to do. Is that an issue you feel you’ve solved with whatever it is you won’t tell me about?
DG: [laughs] It’s just so hard to get into any details on that at this stage… Let me just say we always evolve our systems.
GC: I mean it’s something I imagine you could just consider a write-off, that there’s no real way to do it in this type of game.
DG: Oh no, that was really the starting point for us with Arkham Asylum. It was, ‘How do we encourage people to be the World’s Greatest Detective?’ That was the birth of detective mode and the evolution of that has moved on.
Batman: Arkham Knight – the ultimate Batman game?
GC: Will there be daylight sequences in Arkham Knight?
DG: It’s always dark, and raining, and wet in Gotham City.
GC: Well, at least it’s not snowing again.
DG: [laughs] Yeah, right. Batman just looks so awesome in the dark, but in daytime… it just feels like that’s not his natural habit.
GC: No, but it is Bruce Wayne’s.
DG: The core design principles of the free flow combat system have remained, but adding new moves like the weapon steal and the environmental counters and throw counters… they’re obviously new moves but they’re designed with the objective in mind to make players feel more powerful, feel more in control. Because the threat is only escalating from the supervillains that you’re facing and the way in which they are banding together to take down Batman.
GC: Why do you feel the system works so well for Batman, but not when it’s copied in other games?
DG: Talking to Tim Hanagan, our lead combat programmer, that’s the beauty of it. It looks simple on the surface but what he’s done is incredibly complex, so the timing of his implementation is very, very precise. And the way in which he has constructed the movement of enemies, and the way in which enemies behave towards Batman – there’s eight years of development that’s gone into that. I think in order to feel right it needs to be implemented very specifically.
GC: I also think it needs to be Batman, like dealing with that size of a crowd makes much more sense in a comic book setting.
DG: And the more I fight the more enjoyable I find it, even though I’m incredibly familiar with the combat it never bores more.
GC: Yeah, compared to something like Assassin’s Creed… I’m bored by the second fight. I’m just not using any skill to beat these guys.
GC: So, err.. you’re obviously not going to confirm or deny any of the big villains. But is Killer Moth or Crazy Quilt in this one?
GC: If you don’t answer that I’m going to assume they’ve not been ruled out.
GC: So what you’re saying is there’s still a chance?
GC: Don’t worry, that’s great. Thanks for your time.
MANCHESTER UNITED turned down the chance to sign Atletico Madrid sensation Saul Niguez.
That's according to Telegraph journalist Jason Burt who says an agent informed him that United didn't fancy the midfielder.
He wrote on twitter: "When I see Saul Niguez play I remember a conversation I had with an agent 3 years ago who said he'd offered him to Man Utd but they said no."
The 22-year-old is dazzling at the European U21 Championships in Poland.
He bagged a hat-trick last night to dump Italy out of the competition.
Spain will now lock horns with Germany in the final.
Niguez is a first-team regular in the Atletico engine room and played 33 La Liga games in central midfield last term.
Diario Gol reported last week that Barcelona are keeping tabs on Niguez.
The Catalans remain keen to snap up Marco Verratti but have been weighing up alternative options.
Verratti is valued at around £80m by Paris St-Germain - and the French giants don't need the cash.
Niguez could cost considerably less, but his value will have soared following his eye-catching performances in a Spain jersey.
He's played 90 games for Atletico, scoring 12 goals.
Germany defeated Aidy Boothroyd's England side 4-3 on penalties in the other semi final last night.
Southampton winger Nathan Redmond fluffed his decisive spot kick.
ADL invites you to participate in community learning, Words to Action. We seek to empower members of the Jewish community who may intentionally avoid difficult conversations about Israel, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, and how they may often blur. At the close, you will have tools to navigate sometimes tense dialogues and address emotional responses to Israel and how it impacts you. Words to Action is a facilitated, interactive learning program, addressing a pressing need in our community to talk about Israel with nuance and empathy. The program gives participants a chance to validate their own emotions and views while cultivating understanding for the views of others. Participation is limited to 30 per session.
Sign up for one of two available sessions no later than November 16, 2017 to Karen Aroesty, karoesty@adl.org. Program date: Sunday, November 19, 2017, The Regional Arts Commission, Conference Room C, 6128 Delmar Boulevard, in The Loop.
This program is sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis through its Year of Civil Discourse Initiative which is funded by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and with the generosity and support of the Kranzberg Family Foundation, Lubin-Green Foundation and Staenberg Family Foundation, which are supporting foundations of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.
Google's wildly popular Android OS was initially meant for PC-connected "smart cameras," but took a different route when the smartphone market began to boom.
It turns out, when the Android operating system was very young, it secretly wanted to grow up to power digital cameras.
According to PC World, Google's wildly popular mobile OS was initially meant for PC-connected "smart cameras," but took a different route when the smartphone market began to boom.
"The exact same platform, the exact same operating system we built for cameras, that became Android for cell phones," former Android chief Andy Rubin (pictured) said at the Japan New Economy Summit in Tokyo.
An original pitch to investors in 2004 from Android Inc. included notions of a camera connected to home computers (wired or wireless), which then linked to an "Android Datacenter" cloud service. But as digital camera technology waned and mobile handsets took over, the company revamped its plans, and turned the operating system into an "open-source handset solution," PC World said.
At a time when hardware costs were decreasing, companies continued to charge the same licensing fees for software, and since Rubin considered Android to be a platform for selling other services, the executive focused the company's efforts on growth, rather than per-unit income.
Google acquired Android Inc. in 2005. Rubin was at the helm of the search giant's mobile efforts until last month, when Google combined its Android and Chrome teams, and handed over control to Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome.
Android did eventually make its way to a camera via the Samsung Galaxy Camera, as well as similar offerings from Nikon and Polaroid.
For a look back, see PCMag's 2010 interview with Rubin about hot-button Android issues at the time, like Android 3.0 and Windows Phone 7.
As he approaches the age of 70, Martin Lee Chu-ming announces his withdrawal from political life. The founder of the Democratic Party, and banned from China for his support of the Tiananmen Square movement, Lee asks his fellow party members to continue their struggle for a good political system. Without this, nothing but harm will result.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - The decision to leave political life, announced last week by the founder of the Democratic Party, Martin Lee Chu-ming, a catholic, creates a void in the ranks of the proponents of democracy, and brings into doubt the influence of the Democrats in the upcoming elections for the legislative council, scheduled for September. This is the opinion of a great number of democratic politicians and activists in Hong Kong, who are remembering the tireless commitment and the great charisma of the "father of democracy".
Margaret Nh Ngoi-yee, a Democratic deputy, writes: "There is no one like Martin Lee. There is no one to follow him, and although the struggle for democracy will continue, it will not be the same. His main intuition, that of bringing the question of Hong Kong before the international community, made his contribution to our cause priceless. Now more than ever, the territory needs a defender".
The same opinion has been expressed by Sin Chung-kai, the vice president of the party, who laments "the grave loss" suffered by the territory politically, and says that he is "convinced" of the constant support, although from a more withdrawn position, "of the best-known fighter for freedom".
Nevertheless, an anonymous editorialist for the South China Morning Post expresses doubts over the efficacy of Lee's political struggle, calling him a man "weighed down by a past that must now compromise us no longer". Speaking of relations with Beijing, the journalist writes: "Today we need new seeds of democracy, capable of interacting without the old rancor and prejudice. No matter how many results [Lee] may have obtained, we need young people able to carry the torch of democracy by building new bridges with Beijing".
From an international point of view, Stephen Bradley - the English consul general - describes Lee as "a towering figure in Chinese politics", while Li Gang - vice president of the Chinese representative office in Hong Kong - says he "[does] not consider his resignation significant". These reactions demonstrate the difference in relationships established by Martin Lee over the years with the Western powers and with the mainland.
After completing studies in England and America, Martin Lee returned to Hong Kong, where he dedicated himself to the legal profession. Appointed Queen's Counsel in 1979, he became chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association in 1980. In 1985, he became part of the Basic Law Drafting Committee, which oversees the brief constitution for the territory drafted by common agreement between London and Beijing before the return of the former colony to China. In 1989, he led a million people in street protests against the repression of the pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square, and was banned from China, which had viewed him favorably before.
Among his best-known battles are his endless petitions for universal suffrage in the territory, and his constant criticism over the lack of democracy in continental China. For writing in the pages of The Washington Post to ask Beijing for greater respect of human rights in view of the Olympics, he was considered "a traitor" even by some of his fellow party members, who have asked for a public demonstration of patriotism.
A member of the legislative committee without interruption for 23 years, he announced his resignation as he approaches the age of 70. Speaking to his fellow party members, he said: "I am convinced of what Deng Xiaoping used to say: in a bad system, even good people do harm. We need a good system, and I will continue to struggle for this until my bones have turned to dust".
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Chinese shares plunged after the country's securities regulator imposed margin trading curbs on several major brokerages.

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