Argentine court rejects intervention in media case

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina's Supreme Court rejected a proposal by the government to use a new legal regulation to get the top court to intervene in the case of a law opposed by the country's top media group.The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a legal mechanism that allows the highest court to step into cases even when they're being handled by lower courts.The court also accepted an...

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Mexico City seeks beauty in public-space makeover

The plan is as big as this mammoth city: Turn a seedy metro hub into Mexico City's Times Square; clear swarms of feisty vendors and remodel the historic Alameda Central; illuminate the plazas and walkways of a park twice the size of New York's Central Park.Mexico City's government is trying to transform one of the world's largest cities by beautifying public spaces, parks and monuments buried beneath...

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Argentina's fight on defaulted debt takes new step

It's been a decade since Argentina tarnished its reputation worldwide and became an economic misfit by engaging in the biggest sovereign debt default in history, yet it is still haunted by the old bonds.Although Argentina's government restructured nearly all of the debt defaulted in the 2001 economic crisis, President Cristina Fernandez finds herself in a bitter U.S. court fight with holdout creditors...

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A former Argentine economy minister has been sentenced to four years in prison for corruption. Felisa Miceli was forced to quit in 2007 when a bag of money holding $32,000 was found in her office toilet. The unanimous ruling said Miceli was guilty of the "aggravated cover up" on an illegal financial maneuver and obstruction of justice for getting rid of a police report on the money bag. A local court also ruled Thursday that Miceli will be barred from holding any public office position for eight years. Miceli served under President CrVP reads message from ailing Chavez to military istina Fernandez's husband and predecessor, former President Nestor Kirchner.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — In a message read by his No. 2, President Hugo Chavez saluted Venezuela's military and acknowledged he was facing "complicated and difficult" times as he recovers from cancer surgery in Cuba.The message read by Vice President Nicolas Maduro during a military event in eastern Venezuela offered no details on Chavez's condition and it was unclear when the president composed...

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Former Argentine economy minister sentenced

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A former Argentine economy minister has been sentenced to four years in prison for corruption.Felisa Miceli was forced to quit in 2007 when a bag of money holding $32,000 was found in her office toilet.The unanimous ruling said Miceli was guilty of the "aggravated cover up" on an illegal financial maneuver and obstruction of justice for getting rid of a police report...

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House Republicans say resigned to tax hike in fiscal cliff

 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are resigned to seeing some sort of income tax increase in legislation to avoid a "fiscal cliff," but such efforts could be doomed in the absence of spending cuts, some Republican lawmakers say.Congress and President Barack Obama are gearing up for a last-ditch attempt to avoid $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that could halt progress...

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French government says will propose a rejigged 75 percent tax plan

 The French government will redraft a proposal for a 75 percent upper income tax band and resubmit it, the prime minister's office said on Saturday, after the Constitutional Council rejected the measure included in the 2013 budget."It will be presented as part of the next budget law," Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's office said in a statement, without giving a time frame. The statement said...

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French court rejects 75 percent millionaires' tax

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Constitutional Council on Saturday rejected a 75 percent upper income tax rate to be introduced in 2013 in a setback to Socialist President Francois Hollande's push to make the rich contribute more to cutting the public deficit.The Council ruled that the planned 75 percent tax on annual income above 1 million euros ($1.32 million) - a flagship measure of Hollande's election...

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

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 added that the Socialist...

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AP Sources: 'Fiscal cliff' deal emerging

 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 to resolve but...

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