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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday gave companies an extra year to comply with an Obama-era regulation meant to crack down on corporations that try to minimize their U.S. tax bills by shifting profits abroad to countries with lower tax rates.

The regulation, known in corporate tax circles as the "385 rule," is intended to combat a tax-avoidance technique called earnings-stripping, in which multinational corporations transfer taxable income from a U.S. subsidiary to a foreign affiliate in the guise of tax-deductible interest payments on internal debt.

The rule, which Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is now reviewing as part of the Trump administration's push for deregulation, seeks to eliminate the incentive for earnings-stripping by reclassifying certain loans as equity under Section 385 of the U.S. tax code.

The change converts tax-deductible interest payments employed by the schemes into taxable stock dividends.

Finalized last October, the regulation required corporations to file documentation on their internal loans with the IRS by a January 2018 deadline. In a public notice issued on Friday, the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service pushed the deadline back to January 2019.

Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Bernard Orr

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US government delays Obama earnings-stripping rule deadline - Reuters

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been diagnosed with a brain tumor called a primary glioblastoma. (AP photo)

A fake news story that claimed former President Barack Obama tweeted that he wanted U.S. Sen. John McCain to die from a brain tumor originally came from a parody website looking to troll conservatives.

The headline on a July 20, 2017, post on DailyThings.world read, "Barack Obama tweets sick attack on John McCain, says he should have died." Facebook users flagged the story here and on NewsFeedHunter.com as being potentially fabricated, in an effort to cut down on fake news.

The story included an image of a July 19 tweet from Obama that read, "John McCain is NOT a war hero. If there were any God in heaven, he would have died from that brain tumor." The post said Obama quickly deleted the tweet.

The story came on the heels of the announcement that McCain, R-Ariz., was diagnosed with a brain tumor called a primary glioblastoma. The American Brain Tumor Association said that a 2009 study showed almost 10 percent of patients may potentially live five years or longer. The 80-year-old is considering treatment options.

McCain returned to the U.S. Senate for votes on Republican health care reform, most recently casting a deciding vote against a last-ditch "skinny repeal" bill to end the Affordable Care Act.

But lets be clear: This story is completely fake.

There was no such tweet for Obama to delete. It was no doubt the product of any number of websites that allow you to create a fake tweet that appears to come from another account.

The only thing Obama tweeted on July 19 were words of encouragement for McCain, whom Obama defeated in the 2008 presidential election.

"John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John," Obama wrote.

There is no record of another tweet from Obamas account that day.

The fake story originated the same day on OurLandOfTheFree.com, a parody website with hidden registration information. It appears to be affiliated with a network of websites run by liberal trolls who run fake news sites in an attempt to fool conservatives.

The footer note on OurLandOfTheFree.com said that the site makes "no guarantee that what you read here is true. In fact, it most definitely is not." It echoes the warning on its About Us page.

Our ruling

Bloggers wrote, "Barack Obama tweets sick attack on John McCain, says he should have died."

The story and the tweet it described appeared on multiple outlets, but sprang from a website devoted to writing absurd stories about liberals in an attempt to fool conservatives. Obamas only tweet about McCains brain cancer was encouraging.

We rate this statement Pants on Fire!

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Fake tweet said Obama hoped McCain would die from brain tumor - PolitiFact (blog)

Former First Lady Michelle Obama showed that her investment in the future of the youth in our country is a real commitment by attending the Beating The Odds Summit at Washington, D.C.s Dunbar High School Thursday.

Mrs. Obama, as well as executives from Spotify, including Troy Carter, VP of Creator Services, and Danielle Lee, VP of Partner Solutions, shared their experiences of overcoming obstacles and the lessons they have learned on their personal and professional journeys with 35 high school students, at a day-long event meant to inspire the college-bound students to consider majors or careers in the tech industry. Reach Higher at Civic Nation also participated in the event.

The day included college transition workshops, a panel during which Spotify execs discussed the important role music plays in culture and communities, as well as a performance by R&B artist Kevin Ross.

Check out more pictures from the event below.

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Michelle Obama Teams Up With Spotify To Help Students Prepare For College - The Root

All eyes were on Arizona Sen. John McCains key vote signaling the collapseof the Republicanhealth care bill early Friday morning, but the longtimeGOP senatoralso faced frustration over a delay in turning to the defense authorization bill.

Sen. Rand Paul blocked quick action on the measure, wanting to ensure debate on rolling back authorizations for the use of military force enacted early in the George W. Bush administration.

Paulobjectedto a consent request from his fellow Kentucky Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to begin defense authorization debate because of a desire to offer amendments to the defense policy bill, including an AUMF proposal.

Senator Rand Paul requested two bipartisan amendments, one on ending indefinite detention and one on AUMFs. He looks forward to working with leadership and the committee to get this done soon, a spokesman for Paul said Friday.

One of the Paul amendments would provide for a sunset of the 2001 and 2002 authorizations for use of force, according to a tweet from Pauls senior strategist Doug Stafford.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York said at a Friday news conference thathe,McCain and Armed Services ranking member Jack Reed attempted to work the matter out with Paul on the floor overnight, but couldnt.

Schumer said it would now be up to McConnell to resolve the issue.

The defense authorization had been on a list of priority items for consideration before senators depart for recess. That list also includes a slew of nominations, an FDA user fee reauthorization and legislation to meet the ongoing funding needs of the choice program for veterans health care.

Sen. Dean Heller, a Nevada Republican, said he anticipated Senate action before recess on the veterans choice bill, which passed the House Friday.

As a senior member of [the Veterans Affairs] Committee, guaranteeing Nevadas veterans have access to the Choice Program for services the VA cannot provide like chemotherapy or lifesaving surgeries has always been a top priority of mine,he said. I expect the Senate to act next week to pass this legislation, and Ill work to make sure our countrys heroes continue to have access to the health care services that some of them desperately need.

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Rand Paul Wants AUMF Debate With Defense Authorization - Roll Call

WASHINGTON Reauthorizing current surveillance laws would invade the privacy of American citizens, libertarian Sen. Rand Paul and liberal Sen. Ron Wyden warned Thursday.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 is set to lapse at the end of this year. Section 702 of the law allows, The Intelligence Community to target communications of non-U.S. persons located outside the United States for foreign intelligence purposes, according to the House Intelligence Committee.

Speaking at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, Wyden and other opponents of reauthorization are concerned about loopholes that allegedly invade the privacy of American citizens.

If you mention a foreign target or their contact information, you can get swept up in this, he said. There is nothing today that prevents law enforcement from searching through government databases and reading an Americans emails that have been swept up.

Incidental collection of the data of Americans often happens through about communications. About communications occur in the content of the email.

If two Americans are communicating domestically in an exchange that names a foreign intelligence target (say, an email that mentions an al-Qaeda operative by name), that email might be incidentally collected, according to Paul Rosenzweig, Charles Stimson, and David Shedd of the Heritage Foundation.

Proponents of section 702 reauthorization argue that innocent American citizens will not be targeted because they are not committing crimes.

They accept that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear, said Paul. They also seem to think that the government always does good. Do they remember the interning of the Japanese?

Instead of reauthorizing the FISA Amendments Act as-is, Wyden suggested four ways to reform the legislation.

First off, 702 needs an expiration date, he said. It should not be permanent. Its had an expiration date because of the changes in technology. Wyden stressed that the law requires reevaluation every few years in light of rapid technological change.

He also pushed for a legal prohibition on collection of about communication, adding new voices to the FISA court where the judges currently only hear the governments side of the debate and lack technology experts and increased transparency of how many people are targeted in backdoor searches of Americans using 702.

We have lowered the standard below the Fourth Amendment for foreign persons, said Sen. Paul. Do we want a government whos going to look at our every transaction, everything we do through a lower standard?

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Rand Paul Wants Government's Hands Off Your Emails | Sojourners - Sojourners