US Senate approves major tax cuts Protesters outside Capitol Hill on Friday. The U.S. Senate narrowly approved a tax overhaul*, moving Republicans and President Donald Trump a big step closer to their goal of slashing taxes for businesses and the rich while offering everyday Americans a mixed bag of changes. In what would be the largest change to U.S. tax laws since the 1980s, Republicans want to add US$1.4 trillion over 10 years to the US$20 trillion national debt to finance changes that they say would further boost an already growing economy.SD-Agencies 1. 13 dead, 2 missing after boat capsizes in S. Korea At least 13 people were dead and two missing yesterday after a South Korean fishing boat collided with a refueling* vessel and capsized, the coast guard said. An official from the Korea Coast Guard said seven people were rescued and the two missing included the boat’s captain. He said 22 people were aboard the 9.8-ton fishing boat that capsized after colliding with the 336-ton refueling vessel in waters off the port city of Incheon. The refueling vessel did not suffer damage. 2. Japan emperor to end 30-year reign Japan’s much admired Emperor Akihito plans to abdicate* on April 30, 2019, at age 85 in the first such abdication from the Chrysanthemum Throne* in about 200 years, the government said on Friday. Akihito’s elder son Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the throne a day later, on May 1, 2019, beginning a new as yet-to-be-named era. Akihito expressed his apparent wish to abdicate in 2016, citing his age and health. 3. War criminal commits suicide at UN court The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, the Netherlands, on November 29 witnessed an unprecedented scene when a defendant committed suicide in the courtroom by drinking a bottle containing poison. In the appeals process, while the judges were handing down their final verdict, upholding the sentence of 20 years in prison for a 72-year-old commander of the ethnic Croat troops in the 1992-1995 war, the defendant suddenly stood up and yelled: “Judges, Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal. I reject the verdict with contempt.” 4. Saudi Prince Miteb freed from detention Saudi Arabia on November 28 freed influential Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, more than three weeks after he was detained in a sweeping* anti-corruption purge* of the kingdom’s elite. The former National Guard chief was among more than 200 princes, ministers and businessmen who were rounded up earlier this month, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tightens his grip on power. 5. US, S. Korea begin largest-ever joint air drill The U.S. and South Korea on Monday kicked off their largest-ever joint air exercise, an operation North Korea has labeled an “all-out provocation*,” days after Pyongyang fired its most powerful intercontinental* ballistic* missile. The five-day drill — involving 230 aircrafts, including F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets*, and tens of thousands of troops — began on Monday morning, Seoul’s air force said. (SD-Agencies) | 