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FDA OKs first menthol e-cigarettes, citing potential to help adult smokers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the first menthol-flavored electronic cigarettes for adult smokers, acknowledging that vaping flavors can reduce the harms of traditional tobacco smoking. The FDA said it authorized four menthol e-cigarettes from Njoy, the vaping brand recently acquired by tobacco giant Altria, which also sells Marlboro cigarettes. The decision lends new credibility to vaping companies’ longstanding claim that their products can help blunt the toll of smoking, which is blamed for 480,000 U.S. deaths annually due to cancer, ...

Supreme Court upholds a tax on foreign income over a challenge backed by business interests

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a tax on foreign income over a challenge backed by business and anti-regulatory interests, declining their invitation to weigh in on a broader, never-enacted tax on wealth. The justices, by a 7-2 vote, left in place a provision of a 2017 tax law that is expected to generate $340 billion, mainly from the foreign subsidiaries of domestic corporations that parked money abroad to shield it from U.S. taxes. The law, passed by a Republican Congress and signed by then-President Donald Trump, includes a provision that applies to ...

The IRS wants to end another major tax loophole for the wealthy and raise $50 billion in the process

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS plans to end a major tax loophole for wealthy taxpayers that could raise more than $50 billion in revenue over the next decade, the U.S. Treasury Department says. The proposed rule and guidance announced Monday includes plans to essentially stop “partnership basis shifting” — a process by which a business or person can move assets among a series of related parties to avoid paying taxes. Biden administration officials said after evaluating the practice that there are no economic grounds for these transactions, with Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally ...

Microsoft delays AI Recall feature on new Windows computers

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — New laptops equipped with Microsoft Windows start shipping to customers next week without a flagship feature called Recall that drew concerns about privacy and cybersecurity. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella touted the new Recall feature at a showcase event last month, ...

Supreme Court strikes down Trump-era ban on rapid-fire rifle bump stocks, reopening political fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, the rapid-fire gun accessories used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, in a ruling that threw firearms back into the nation’s political spotlight. The high court’s conservative majority found that the Trump administration overstepped when it changed course from predecessors and banned bump stocks, which allow a rate of fire comparable to machine guns. The decision came after a gunman in Las Vegas attacked a country music festival with semiautomatic rifles equipped with ...

Senate confirms new energy regulators, extending Biden’s grip on panel

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s grip on a key federal energy commission will last beyond his first term, giving a boost to the Democrat’s push for renewable energy regardless of the election results in November. The Senate ensured that political reality as lawmakers approved three new members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, including two Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said confirmation of the three nominees allow FERC to “keep its quorum and continue its mission of providing Americans with affordable, reliable, safe ...