(Worthy News) – India tested its longest-range intercontinental missile on Thursday, the defense ministry said, part of efforts to build a nuclear deterrent against neighboring Pakistan and China.
The 5,000-km range (3,107-mile) Agni missile was tested from an island in India’s eastern coast in the Bay of Bengal, the ministry said on its official Twitter account.
It said the launch was “a major boost to the defense capabilities” of India. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]
(Worthy News) – The Republican-backed federal tax bill flipped the tables on a never-ending question for California politicians: Will high taxes lead the state’s wealthiest residents to flee the Golden State for the comparable tax havens of Florida, Nevada and Texas?
Republicans reliably raise that alarm when Democrats advocate for tax increases, like the 2012 and 2016 ballot initiatives that levied a new income tax on very high-earning residents.
But now, with the federal tax bill cutting off deductions that benefited well-off Californians, the state’s Democrats suddenly are singing the GOP song about a potential millionaire exodus. [ Source: Sacramento Bee (Read More…) ]
(Worthy News) – House Republicans on Thursday passed a bill to keep the federal government funded until Feb. 16, sending the legislation to a possible defeat in the Senate later tonight.
Republicans passed the bill after an internal fight over military spending and immigration reform that they resolved about an hour before the vote.
Lawmakers passed it 230-187 — six Democrats voted for it, and 11 Republicans voted against it. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]
(Worthy News) – The Senate voted late Thursday to start work on legislation to fund the government until Feb. 16, which passed the House just hours earlier.
“We want to move forward, we want to do something,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said before the vote.
But it might be all they agree on. Republicans are hoping to approve the bill that would avoid a partial government shutdown and extend a popular children’s health program for six years. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]