House GOP’s evolving tax bill leaves retirement plan intact
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans would leave intact current tax rules on retirement accounts popular with middle class Americans and maintain a top income tax rate for million-dollar earners as negotiators scrambled to finalize the first major overhaul in three decades.
The legislation is a long-standing goal for Capitol Hill Republicans who see a once-in-a-generation opportunity to clean up an inefficient, loophole-cluttered tax code. But there is lingering opposition from northeastern Republicans fearful of losing a cherished deduction for state and local taxes and anxiety among other rank-and-file lawmakers over emerging details.
Senior GOP lawmakers confirmed the decision to retain existing rules on 401(k) accounts, which came after assurances from President Donald Trump that they would not be changed. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, had hoped to reduce 401(k) contribution limits, in part to generate new tax revenues in the near term to finance the cuts to income tax rates.
Another lawmaker cautioned that the decision might still change. The lawmakers required anonymity because the tax panel is trying to keep its deliberations secret until the tax measure is released Thursday.
Influential conservative Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., dismissed proposed retirement changes as a “non-starter,” adding “that’s what most of middle-income America uses as their nest egg.”
Mexico’s Day of the Dead mourns quake victims
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Day of the Dead celebrations opened with a sadder tone than usual Wednesday as Mexico City and nearby states marked the holiday by remembering the 369 people killed in the Sept. 19 earthquake.
Mexico’s traditional view of the dead is not ghoulish or frightful — rather they are seen as the “dear departed,” people who remain close even after death. On the Nov. 1-2 holiday, Mexicans set up altars with photographs of the dead and plates of their favorite foods in their homes. They gather at their loved ones’ gravesides to drink, sing and talk to the dead.
But this time many of the dead departed so recently that the grief is still fresh. In the capital alone, the quake killed 228 and collapsed 38 buildings.
Nayeli Flores struggled to bring up her two children, working as a legal aide and studying law, so she never had time or money to set up an elaborate Day of the Dead altar as her son, Julian, wanted to do. This year Flores will fulfill his wish for an altar — dedicated to the 11-year-old boy and his 6-year-old sister, Ximena, who died when the quake collapsed their apartment building into a pile of rubble on the city’s south side. The two kids had stayed home from school that day while their mom was working.
“My son always complained because we didn’t put up an altar,” Flores said between sobs. “So this year I am going to do it, in his memory.”
CIA releases 470,000 more files from bin Laden raid
WASHINGTON (AP) — Never-before-seen video of Osama bin Laden’s son and potential successor was released Wednesday by the CIA in a trove of material recovered during the May 2011 raid that killed the al-Qaida leader at his compound in Pakistan.
The video offers the first public look at Hamza bin Laden as an adult. Until now, the public has only seen childhood pictures of him.
In recent years, al-Qaida has released audio messages from Hamza bin Laden. And to mark a recent anniversary of 9/11, al-Qaida superimposed a childhood photo of him over a photo of the World Trade Center. He is expected to rise to prominence in the jihadist movement and is being closely watched as the rival Islamic State organization suffers setbacks in the Middle East.
One hourlong video shows Hamza bin Laden, sporting a trimmed mustache but no beard, at his wedding. He is sitting on a carpet with other men. A man chanting Quranic verses can be heard in the background. Sporting a traditional white headdress, he verbally accepts his marriage to his bride “on the book of God and the example of the prophet. Peace be upon him.”
“Takbeer!” the others shout, marking his marriage with a kind of religious hooray.
Studio cuts ties to director Ratner after harassment report
NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood’s widening sexual harassment crisis has ensnared a prominent film director after six women — including actress Olivia Munn — accused Brett Ratner of sexual misconduct in a Los Angeles Times report on Wednesday.
Playboy Enterprises quickly distanced itself from Ratner as his attorney denied the allegations and late Wednesday Warner Bros. severed ties with the director, whose expired first-look deal with the studio will not be renewed, according to a person with knowledge of the decision who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The reverberations also reached back 32 years as Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman came forward to apologize for allegedly sexually harassing a 17-year-old intern in 1985.
Writer Anna Graham Hunter alleged in a Wednesday column in The Hollywood Reporter that the now 80-year-old actor groped her on the set of TV movie “Death of a Salesman” and “talked about sex to me and in front of me.”
Hoffman issued a statement Wednesday, apologizing for “anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.”
Putin, in Iran for talks, offers support for nuclear deal
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday strongly backed Iran and its nuclear deal with world powers, saying Moscow opposed “any unilateral change” to the accord after U.S. President Donald Trump refused to re-certify it.
Putin made the comments on a one-day trip to Tehran for trilateral talks between Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia, a meeting largely focused on improving road and rail links to the neighboring countries on the Caspian Sea.
However, the nuclear deal loomed large as Putin met with both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who easily won re-election this year after securing the atomic deal, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters.
“We oppose any unilateral change in the multilateral nuclear deal,” Putin said while meeting Khamenei, according to a statement from the supreme leader’s office. “We oppose linking Iran’s nuclear program with other issues including defensive issues.”
Moscow has stood by Tehran while Trump has refused to re-certify the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, including Russia. The other parties to the accord — Britain, China, France, Germany and the European Union — have also urged Trump to stay in the deal.
