French court overturns ultra-rich tax - Europe - Al Jazeera English

French court overturns ultra-rich tax - Europe - Al Jazeera English
France's constitutional council has overturned a 75 percent upper tax rate on income above $1.32m, which was due to be introduced in 2013 by the socialist government.
The council's decision on Saturday, made in response to a motion by opposition conservatives, is a huge blow to President Francois Hollande who had made the rate his flagship tax measure as he sought to have the rich contribute more towards reducing the budget deficit.
While the planned upper tax band was mainly symbolic and would only have affected a few thousand people, it shocked

Greek official caught in financial scandal - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Greek official caught in financial scandal - Europe - Al Jazeera English
Politicians in Greece are calling for the country's former finance minister to be investigated for allegedly removing the names of three of his relatives from a list of suspected tax evaders.
George Papaconstantinou, the minister who helped design the country's first austerity measures, was quickly kicked out of his socialist Pasok party after his family members were found missing from a list of Greeks with Swiss bank accounts that authorities were using to investigate possible tax evasion.
In a statement announcing his ejection on Saturday, Pasok said there were "clear indications" that names of family members had been deleted from the list.

Swiss rig owner admits role in Gulf oil spill - Americas - Al Jazeera English

Swiss rig owner admits role in Gulf oil spill - Americas - Al Jazeera English

The US Justice Department reached a $1.4bn settlement with Transocean Ltd., the owner of the drilling rig that sank after an explosion killed 11 workers and spawned the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed settlement announced on Thursday resolves the department's civil and criminal investigation of the Switzerland-based Transocean's role in the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster, the worst environmental disaster in US history. In pleading guilty, the department said, Transocean had admitted its rig crew was "negligent" in securing the well.

Assange to publish 'million more files'

WikiLeaks founder says his work "will not be cowed", as his whistleblowing site promises to publish more documents. Last Modified: 21 Dec 2012 08:32

Assange has praised jailed US soldier Bradley Manning, saying the young man has "maintained his dignity" [Reuters]

Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblower website WikiLeaks, has said he will release over a million more documents in the coming year that will affect "every country in the world". The activist made a rare public appearance on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has spent the last six month in refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden for alleged sex crimes. Addressing a 200 cheering crowd of supporters and international press, Assange said: "WikiLeaks has already over a million documents prepared to be released. Documents that affect every country in the world. Every country in this world. And in Australia an un-elected senator will be replaced by one that is elected." Assange refused to give up his self-imposed incarceration saying he was holed up at the embassy for fear of the US investigation into his activities.

Russia 'not concerned' about fate of Assad

President Vladimir Putin distances himself from Syria's Bashar al-Assad, saying nation is more important than regime. Last Modified: 20 Dec 2012 14:51

President Vladimir Putin was speaking at his annual press briefing in Moscow on Thursday [AFP]

Russia's main concern in Syria is the fate of the country and not that of President Bashar al-Assad, President Vladimir Putin has said. Speaking at his annual press briefing in Moscow on Thursday, Putin said he wanted to ensure that any solution to the conflict in Syria must prevent the opposition and government forces just swapping roles and continuing to fight indefinitely. "We are not concerned about the fate of Assad's regime. We understand what is going on there," Putin said. "We are worried about a different thing: what next? We simply don't want the current opposition, having become the authorities, to start fighting the people who are the current authorities and become the opposition - and [we don't want] this to go on forever." In his speech, Putin denied propping up Assad and stressed that Moscow was only seeking to avert a perpetual civil war.

Putin signs anti-US adoption bill

Russian president approves controversial legislation considered the most "anti-Western" during his 13-year rule. Last Modified: 28 Dec 2012 12:21 http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/12/20121228111918186278.html

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law controversial parliamentary legislation, banning the adoption of Russian children by American families, the Kremlin has said. The law, considered a retaliation for a US law punishing Russian officials implicated in the 2009 prison death of the whistle-blowing attorney Sergei Magnitsky, will come into force on January 1, the Kremlin said on Friday. The highly contentious law was easily passed by both houses of parliament and is widely seen as the strongest piece of anti-Western legislation considered during Putin's 13-year rule. On Thursday Putin accused the United States of "acting brazenly and arrogantly" by allegedly refusing Russian officials access to adopted children who were reported to be harmed by their new US families. In the past 20 years, Americans have adopted more than 60,000 Russian children, according to the US State Department. In criticising the proposed law, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell says "it is misguided to link the fate of children to unrelated political considerations.'' Bargaining chip Critics of the bill say Russian orphanages are woefully overcrowded and the fate of vulnerable children should not be used as a bargaining chip in a bilateral feud. "These children are not even offered to foreigners until they get a certain number of [adoption] refusals from Russians," said Sigayeva, a neatly styled brunette who heads the New Hope Christian Services Adoption Agency. "These are children with complicated diagnoses, really complicated. They are very ill children." But Putin rejected the argument of those who believe the law limits the opportunities of children who would struggle if they remain in Russia. "There are lots of places in the world where living standards are higher than they are here," said Putin. "And what? Are we going to send all our children there? Perhaps we should move there ourselves?" He also cited Israel as an example of a country that does not send its children abroad despite domestic concerns about the security situation there. The Israelis "always fight for their national identity", said Putin. "They form a single fist and fight for their language and their culture." US families adopted an estimated 1,500 Russian children last year and are the number one foreign destination of the country's orphans. A presidential adviser on children's rights said on Wednesday that 46 pending US adoptions may be abandoned when the law enters into force in January 1. More than 650,000 children are considered orphans in Russia - though some were rejected by their parents or taken from dysfunctional homes. Of that total, 110,000 lived in state institutions in 2011, according to the Ministry of Science and Education. watch video to find out why. jacob k.

Greek official caught in financial scandal

Pasok party ejects former finance minister for allegedly removing relatives' names from list probed for tax evasion. Last Modified: 29 Dec 2012 07:09

Papaconstantinou denied knowing which relatives had appeared on the bank list investigated for tax evasion [AFP]

Politicians in Greece are calling for the country's former finance minister to be investigated for allegedly removing the names of three of his relatives from a list of suspected tax evaders. George Papaconstantinou, the minister who helped design the country's first austerity measures, was quickly kicked out of his socialist Pasok party after his family members were found missing from a list of Greeks with Swiss bank accounts that authorities were using to investigate possible tax evasion. In a statement announcing his ejection on Saturday, Pasok said there were "clear indications" that names of family members had been deleted from the list. "Obviously, Mr Papaconstantinou no longer belongs to PASOK,'' it said, adding that "there is an obvious and huge issue of responsibility of Mr George Papaconstantinou". A court official said two of Papaconstantinou's cousins and their husbands, of whom three had been on the list, were involved in two accounts in a Swiss HSBC bank branch.