Estate planning under new tax law

Ministers will on Tuesday unveil plans for a new law to override parts of the post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland in a bid to revive power-sharing. After emergency talks, Boris Johnson said the legislation was needed as "insurance" in case talks with the European Union fail. But the move would effectively tear up the Northern Ireland protocol - agreed by the Prime Minister in 2019 - which sets trading rules on goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland's institutions have been plunged into crisis with the DUP refusing to re-enter a devolved government in protest at the 'Irish Sea border' in the protocol. But EU leaders have warned Mr Johnson against trying to rewrite the treaty unilaterally - suggesting it could result in a damaging trade war with the bloc. Mr Johnson told reporters: "We would love this to be done in a consensual way with our friends and partners, ironing out the problems, stopping some of these barriers East-West. "But to get that … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson to ‘proceed’ with law axing parts of Brexit deal with statement tomorrow

President Yoon Suk-yeol, center left, and U.S. President Joe Biden, center right, speak to troops during a visit to the Korean Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC) at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, Sunday afternoon. Biden later concluded his three-day visit to Seoul and departed for Tokyo. [JOINT PRESS CORPS] U.S. President Joe Biden wrapped up a three-day trip to Seoul with a visit to the Korean Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC) alongside President Yoon Suk-yeol Sunday afternoon in a show of security coordination amid North Korea's missile threats. This marks the first visit to the center by a U.S. president and comes after the two leaders in their first summit talks Saturday agreed to expand the "scope and scale" of combined military exercises and training. They also committed to the deployment of U.S. strategic military assets "in a timely and coordinated manner as necessary" to reinforce deterrence in the face of North Korea's "destabilizing activities," … [Read more...] about Yoon and Biden agree to increase security and economic cooperation

Starting in the spring of 2020, school boards and superintendents across the country faced a dreadful choice: Keep classrooms open and risk more COVID-19 deaths, or close schools and sacrifice children’s learning. In the name of safety, many districts shut down for long periods. But researchers are now learning that the closures came at a stiff price—a large decline in children’s achievement overall and a historic widening in achievement gaps by race and economic status. The achievement loss is far greater than most educators and parents seem to realize. The only question now is whether state and local governments will recognize the magnitude of the educational damage and make students whole. Adults are free to disagree about whether school closures were justified or a mistake. But either way, children should not be stuck with the bill for a public-health measure taken on everyone’s behalf. I am part of a team from the American Institutes for Research, Dartmouth College, Harvard, … [Read more...] about Kids’ Learning Losses Are Worse Than Educators Are Acknowledging

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden during a meeting held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in Yongsan, central Seoul, on Sunday. [HYUNDAI MOTOR] Hyundai Motor Group announced a $5 billion investment in the United States through 2025 for innovative mobility technologies, a day after announcing a similarly sized investment to build an electric vehicle (EV) plant in Georgia. The announcement was made by Chairman Euisun Chung Sunday morning during his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden held at Grand Hyatt Seoul in Yongsan, central Seoul. "Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest an additional $5 billion through 2025, which will strengthen our collaboration with American enterprises in diverse technologies, such as robotics, urban air mobility, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence," said Chung. "In total, this makes the sum of our new U.S. investment to over $10 billion." "We also stand ready to work towards achieving the Biden … [Read more...] about Hyundai’s U.S. investment commitments double to $10.5 billion

Life is nothing if not diverse! And so is the world around us. From the thick, all-encompassing worldly banyan trees to the thin films of algae that floats on water surfaces, from the gorgeous, speckled butterflies to the slimy brown bugs that feast on garbage, all this and more fills up our life and the planet that we live on. And the numbers can be mind-boggling. India, for instance, is home to more than 45,000 species of plants and 91,000 species of animals. In just one spoonful of soil, close to 1 billion bacteria thrive. Each of these organisms is distinct and utterly unique, and we need every one of them to survive. The Web of Life Our whole planet is connected through invisible threads. Let the bees disappear, and we lose one out of every three bites of food that we eat. Chop the trees, and we lose clean air, the topsoil and are susceptible to water scarcity. As it is, our mindless, endless activity has already altered almost 75% of the earth’s surface, squeezing wildlife … [Read more...] about Why Community is Key to Making Biodiversity Conservation a Long-Term Success

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom defended his administration’s work on housing and homelessness during an interview with The Chronicle’s editorial board Thursday, promising to crack down on local opposition to housing projects. “Taxpayers deserve more in terms of results, not just inputs,” Newsom said. “They want to see results.” In the last few years, Newsom has been responsible for putting more state funding into housing and homelessness programs than any other recent governor. His previous budgets have poured billions in funding to increase housing production and help get homeless people off the streets, but Californians aren’t yet seeing results they want, as they continue to rank housing and homelessness as top concerns. Three years into Newsom’s tenure, housing production remains sluggish. Although preliminary numbers show the homeless population has shrunk in San Francisco , it’s grown in almost every other Bay Area county that reported data last week. Where’s the … [Read more...] about ‘NIMBYism is destroying the state.’ Gavin Newsom ups pressure on cities to build more housing

The proposed manufacturing plants of Maurti Suzuki and Suzuki Motorcycle at Industrial Model Township in Sonipat’s Kharkhoda will entail an estimated investment of ₹20,000 crore and generate about 13,000 direct jobs. An agreement and land allotment letter were signed by the Haryana government with the two companies on Thursday to mark Maruti Suzuki’s four-decade old association with the State. Spread across 800 acres, the proposed Maruti Suzuki plant will be the company’s largest single manufacturing site in the country involving total investment of about ₹18,000 crore. Kenichi Ayukawa, executive vice-chairman, Maruti Suzuki, said the company would start construction work on the car manufacturing plant immediately. “With the support of the State government, the first plant, with an annual capacity of 2.5 lakh vehicles, is expected to be commissioned within 2025. The Phase-I of the project will have an investment of about ₹11,000 crore,” he added. The site will have space for … [Read more...] about Maruti and Suzuki’s projects in Haryana will involve ₹20,000 crore investment

A day after taking oath as Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar on Tuesday allocated portfolios among the 14 Ministers, while keeping Home and General administration to himself. His two deputies in the Cabinet, Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, were given charge of departments such as Finance, Forest & Environment, Backward Caste and EBC welfare along with Industry and Panchayati Raj. Also read: Congress panel meets to discuss Bihar election result However, a controversial induction into the Cabinet was that of two-time JD(U) MLA from Tarapur in Munger district Mewalal Choudhury. In 2017, he was accused in a recruitment scam of assistant professors and junior scientists. Mr. Choudhury, who has been given charge of Education, was the Vice Chancellor of the Sabour Agriculture University from 2010-15. An FIR was lodged against him by the Special Vigilance department at the Sabour Police Station in Bhagalpur under sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120(B) of the IPC in … [Read more...] about Nitish Kumar allocates portfolios; keeps Home, Administration