Victims

• The House Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved five bipartisan bills on March 25, 2026, providing tax relief to natural disaster victims, sexual assault survivors, and pre-school teachers while enhancing IRS customer service and whistleblower protections. • Key measures include the Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act (H.R. 5366, passed 41-0) and the Supporting Early-childhood Educators’ Deductions Act (SEED Act, H.R. 5334, passed 43-0), allowing up to $350 annual deductions for classroom expenses for standard deduction filers. • The IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act (H.R. 7959) strengthens protections for tax fraud informants; all bills received strong bipartisan support amid ongoing tax proposal discussions.

Michael Rousseau says his lack of French overshadowed families’ grief after Mark Carney and Quebec denounced his videoSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe chief executive of Air Canada has apologized for his inability to express himself in French after politicians called for his resignation for his English-only message of condolence after Sunday’s deadly crash in New York.Air Canada’s CEO, Michael Rousseau, has been criticized for the four-minute condolence video posted online that included only two French words – “bonjour” and “merci”. Continue reading...

Father of Grace O’Malley-Kumar calls decision to take sample from his daughter after her death ‘disgusting’The father of a university student killed while trying to protect her friend from Valdo Calocane in Nottingham told an inquiry it is “disgusting” the stabbing victims were tested for drugs and alcohol but their killer was not.Sanjoy Kumar, Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s father, said he could not understand why the diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic had not been tested for drugs while in custody after the attacks. Continue reading...