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North State Journal for Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Nation & WORLD
NEWS IN IMAGES
NAVESH CHITRAKAR | REUTERS
A cormorant takes flight from a tree during a foggy winter morning at Taudaha wetlands in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Dec. 11.
Trump signs National Defense Authorization Act into law Washington, D.C. The NDAA became law Tuesday, authorizing $700 billion in spending on national defense. In the bill are a 2.4 percent pay raise for service members and nearly $300 million in construction project funding for military bases in N.C. Trump urged Congress to fully fund the measure and lift the budget caps that have forced limits on U.S. defense spending for several years.
Jones co-sponsors bill to end congressional “hush fund” Washington, D.C. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) is among the congressmen who have signed onto legislation requiring the disclosure of sexual harassment case settlements involving members of Congress. The bill would end an account used to settle claims and forbid taxpayer money from funding private legal matters. It comes amid revelations about harassment by members of Congress. The bill also requires any lawmaker who has used any of the account’s $15 million in settlements since 1995 pay taxpayers back.
Roy Moore campaign casts Alabama race as referendum on Trump Birmingham, Ala. Voters turned out Tuesday in Alabama’s special senate election, which is being called a referendum on Donald Trump. Roy Moore, the Republican who has been accused of sexual misconduct, says a vote for Moore would be a vote for Trump’s agenda. Trump also recorded a robocall to Alabama voters in support of Moore. Opinion polls show a tight race but favor Moore, a 70-year-old conservative Christian and former state judge, over prochoice Democrat Doug Jones, a 63-year-old former U.S. attorney.
DANISH ISMAIL | REUTERS
A fisherman rows his boat through the waters of the Dal Lake on a cold morning in Srinagar, on Dec. 6.
ANDREW KELLY | REUTERS
Samantha Holvey, a former Miss North Carolina USA, speaks at a news conference for the film “16 Women and Donald Trump” which focuses on women who have accused President Trump of sexual misconduct, in Manhattan, Dec. 11.
Senate tax bill Explosion rocks New York commuter hub, suspect in custody would allow By Nick Zieminski and Daniel Trotta Reuters NEW YORK — A man with a homemade bomb strapped to his body set off an explosion at a New York commuter hub during rush hour on Monday, injuring himself and three others in what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called an attempted terrorist attack. The suspect in the incident at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a block from Times Square, was identified as Akayed Ullah, the New York Police Department BRENDAN MCDERMID | REUTERS commissioner said. The suspect had burns and lacerations while Police officer stands outside the New York Port Authority Bus three other people, including a Terminal, after reports of an explosion, in New York City, on Dec. 11. police officer, had minor injuries. The weapon was based on a and there was heavy police prespipe bomb and fixed to the susence outside the home. pect with zip ties and Velcro, poFirst reports of the incident belice said. New York Gov. Andrew “There was a stampede gan soon after 7 a.m. New York in Cuomo, speaking at a news conDecember sees a surge of visitors ference near the site, described up the stairs to get out. Everybody was scared and who come to see elaborate store the device as “amateur level.” displays, the Rockefeller Center New York City was a target, running and shouting.” Christmas tree and Broadway said John Miller, deputy commisshows. sioner of intelligence and counter— Diego Fernandez, witness The incident rippled through terrorism. U.S. financial markets, briefly Miller cited the attacks of Sept. to attack weakening equity markets as they 11, 2001, that killed more than 2,750 people in New York and nandez, one of the commuters. were starting trading for the week nearly 3,000 people total; and the “Everybody was scared and run- and giving a modest lift to safe-haven assets such as U.S. Treasuries. World Trade Center bombing of ning and shouting.” Alicja Wlodkowski, a Pennsyl- S&P 500 index E-mini futures February 26, 1993, that killed six vania resident in New York for the dipped in the moments after the people. “In the course of the post 9/11 day, was sitting in a restaurant in initial reports of an explosion, but major stock indexes later opened world, as you are aware, there’s the bus terminal. “Suddenly, I saw a group of slightly higher. also been approximately 26 plots The incident occurred less that we can talk about that have people, like six people, running been prevented through intelli- like nuts,” she said. “A woman than two months after an Uzbek gence, investigation and interven- fell. No one even went to stop and immigrant killed eight people by help her because the panic was so speeding a rental truck down a tion.” New York City bike path, in an The incident was captured on scary.” The bus terminal was tem- attack for which Islamic State security video, the police said. Video posted on NYPost.com porarily shut down and a large claimed responsibility. In September 2016, a man inshowed smoke and a man lying swath of midtown Manhattan in the tunnel that connects the was closed to traffic. Subway train jured 31 people when he set off a Times Square subway station to service was returning to normal homemade bomb in New York’s Chelsea district. the bus station. A photograph after earlier disruptions. “As New Yorkers our lives reWABC reported the suspect showed a man lying face down, with tattered clothes and burns was in his 20s and has been in the volve around the subways,” de United States for seven years and Blasio said. “When we hear of an on his torso. “There was a stampede up the has an address in Brooklyn. The attack in the subways it is incredistairs to get out,” said Diego Fer- NYPD shut down the entire block bly unsettling.”
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529 savings account money to go toward K-12 tuition By Donna King North State Journal WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawmakers are hammering out details of the tax reform plan saying that they will have the final version by the end of the week. Insiders say the Senate plans to vote on the bill first, as early as Dec. 18, with the House voting the next day. Republicans are trying to have the bill on the president’s desk for a signature by Dec. 20, but hammering out the details is taking time as members try to get specific provisions in the final draft. Among the provisions on the table is the only amendment to be accepted on the floor of the Senate version of the bill. The amendment, pushed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), would allow taxpayers to use 529 tax-free savings accounts for the costs of K-12 private school and for homeschooling expenses, up to $10,000 per child. The amendment was stalled by a 50-50 vote and Vice President Mike Pence broke the tie. Supporters of the measure say it could be a game-changer for parents, providing immediate tax savings, but also for those who plan to start early with a 529 savings account for later K-12 private or homeschooling costs. North Carolina offers a 529 taxfree savings program for college expenses, administered by the College Foundation of N.C. Currently, earnings on the accounts aren’t subject to N.C. or federal taxes as long as the money is only used to help pay for Qualified Higher Education Expenses (QHEE) such as tuition, fees, room and board, books, and computers. For more information visit nc529.org.
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