Rejected French tax measures worth 300-500 million euros: finance minister

PARIS (Reuters) - The French Constitutional Council's rejection on Saturday of a 75 percent upper income tax rate and other minor measures in the 2013 budget will affect some 300-500 million euros worth of tax revenues, Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said."The rejected measures represent 300 to 500 million euros. Our deficit-cutting path will not be affected," Moscovici told BFM television.He...

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AP Sources: 'Fiscal cliff' deal emerging

WASHINGTON (AP) — Working with Congress against a midnight deadline, President Barack Obama said Monday that a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" was in sight but not yet finalized. The emerging deal would raise tax rates on family income over $450,000 and individual income over $400,000 a year, increase the estate tax rate and extend unemployment benefits for one year."There are still issues left...

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Despite deal, taxes to rise for most Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) -- While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth...

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'Mini-trial' expected at hearing for suspect in Colorado movie theatre shootings

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - A suspect appears in court Monday, nearly six months after a bloody rampage in a Colorado movie theatre left 12 people dead, for a hearing that might be the closest thing to a trial the victims and their families will get to see.James Holmes, a former neuroscience graduate student, is charged with killing 12 people and injuring 70 by opening fire in a darkened theatre showing the...

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Lawmakers dig in heels on debt crisis, McConnell suggests crippling US default possible

WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders showed no signs of giving ground to resolve the next step in the financial crisis, with Democrats still talking about higher taxes on the wealthy and the Senate's top Republican suggesting that a crippling default on U.S. loans was possible unless there were significant cuts in government spending."It's a shame we have to use whatever leverage we have in Congress...

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Asian shares slip, Basel ruling supports banks

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian stocks drifted down on Monday as investors booked profits from a New Year rally that had pushed markets to multi-month highs, although financial stocks gained after global regulators decided to relax draft plans for tough new bank liquidity rules.Commodity prices mostly held steady, supported by data showing the U.S. economy continuing on a path of slow but steady recovery...

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Valderrama course creator Ortiz-Patino dies aged 82

MADRID (Reuters) - Jaime Ortiz-Patino, a Spain-based golf promoter who created the famous Valderrama course and who was one of the driving forces behind the growth of the sport in the Iberian nation, has died at the age of 82."Jaime Ortiz-Patino...passed away this morning in the Costa del Sol hospital in Marbella," the Spanish golf federation (RFEG) said in a statement on their website (www.rfeg.es)...

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Stricker headed for semi-retirement

At the end of another long year, and only a month away from the start of another season, Steve Stricker quietly posed a question that sounded out of place for a guy with more than $25 million in PGA Tour earnings over the last six years."What if I went to Kapalua to defend and didn't play again the rest of the year?"When he arrived on the shores of Maui for the season-opening Tournament of Champions,...

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PREVIEW-Golf-Players in paradise for PGA Tour season opener

 If winning breeds winning, then the picturesque Hawaiian island of Maui is a paradise in more ways than one for the select group of players competing at this week's $5.7 million Hyundai Tournament of Champions.The only way to qualify for the elite field of 30 in the PGA Tour's season-opening event was through victory on the U.S. circuit last year and, with no cut and a guaranteed cheque after...

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What Happened to the 2012 Tech Bubble That Never Was

Turns out Facebook's fizzled IPO was a pretty good microcosm for 2012 in startup land: it was all one big fizzle. The final numbers for last year in venture-capital IPOs and acquisitions are in, and while there was no dot-com-era type of explosion, the much hyped new tech bubble appears to have just... petered out. There remains hope, as always, for the unpredictable year ahead. Here are some key...

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