Average tax refunds fall, creating political flashpoint
WASHINGTON – The average tax refund and the total amount of refunds issued declined for the second straight week, potentially intensifying a political flashpoint seized by Democrats as proof that the Republican-written tax law hurts the middle class. The average refund in the second week of the filing season ended Feb. 8 was $1,949, down 8.7 percent from $2,135 a year earlier, according to IRS data released Thursday. Total refunds to date are down 23 percent to $22.2 billion, from $28.9 billion last year.
NEW YORK – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law Thursday longsought legislation that gives the victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to seek criminal charges or file lawsuits against their abusers. The law known as the Child Victims Act loosens one of the nation’s tightest statutes of limitations on molestation cases. It also creates a one-year litigation window for victims to file lawsuits. The legislation was blocked for the past decade by Republicans who controlled the state Senate. Democrats took control recently.
MOSCOW – The Bellingcat investigative organization says it has established the identity of an alleged Russian military intelligence officer who was in Britain when a Russian former double agent and his daughter were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. Bellingcat on Thursday identified the man as Denis Sergeyev, a graduate of the Military Diplomatic Academy, a training ground for intelligence officers. The group said the man was also in Bulgaria in 2015 when a businessman there was poisoned by an unidentified substance.
LONDON – The World Health Organization is convening an expert meeting next month to develop global standards for the governance and oversight of human gene editing, months after a Chinese researcher rocked the scientific community with his announcement that he had created the world’s first gene-edited babies. In a statement Thursday, the U.N. health agency announced it had chosen an expert panel to examine the scientific, ethical, social and legal challenges linked to gene editing.