Exclusive: Pakistan's army chief makes Afghan peace "top priority"

WANA, Pakistan/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's powerful army chief has made reconciling warring factions in Afghanistan a top priority, military officials and Western diplomats say, the newest and clearest sign yet that Islamabad means business in promoting peace with the Taliban.General Ashfaq Kayani is backing dialogue partly due to fears that the end of the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan in...

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Ind. taxpayers to see $111 credit from surplus

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana taxpayers will receive a $111 credit on their state income tax returns next year as the state distributes part of its budget surplus.Gov. Mitch Daniels on Wednesday announced the credit that will be $222 for couples filing joint returns. The credit represents the automatic taxpayer refund plan that Daniels pushed through the state Legislature last year.That refund kicked...

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Lawmakers urged to resolve property tax inequities

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — County and real estate officials urged the Legislature on Wednesday to deal with a thorny problem of property tax inequities among New Mexico homeowners, also known as "tax lightning," when taxes skyrocket on some residential property.At issue are widely varying valuations of residential property for tax purposes and continuing fallout from a more than decade-old law intended...

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Exclusive: India's fiscal deficit could reach 5.5-5.6 percent of GDP in 2012/13 - source

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's fiscal deficit could reach 5.5-5.6 percent of GDP in the current fiscal year that ends in March, forcing the government to borrow up to 400 billion rupees ($7.2 billion) extra from the market, a senior government official told Reuters on ThursdayJust last month, subdued tax revenue and higher spending on subsidies forced the government to revise its fiscal deficit target...

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Italy's lower house approves Monti's budget plans

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved a package of budget measures including a sales tax hike and a cut in some payroll taxes, aimed at helping the government reach its deficit-cutting targets.Approval was expected after Prime Minister Mario Monti's government won three confidence votes on Wednesday that it had called to speed up passage of the budget.The measures...

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Connecticut Job Shops and Contract Manufacturers Join the MFG.com Manufacturing Marketplace

Connecticut manufacturers prove to be uniquely qualified for entrance into the largest global manufacturing ecosystem.Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) December 18, 2012MFG.com, the world’s largest online manufacturing marketplace for made-to-order parts, announced that prominent Connecticut-based manufacturers have joined the MFG.com marketplace.A few of the recent additions include:Perfection Screw & Rivet...

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Vint Cerf, Award-Winning Computer Scientist and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, Joins TruthMarket™ Board of Advisors

Dr. Vint Cerf, one of the true “Fathers of the Internet,” an international authority on digital communications and outspoken advocate for a free and open Internet adds global perspective to TruthMarket’s Platform for Crowd-funding Public Challenges to False Political, Commercial and Science Claims.Atherton, California (PRWEB) December 18, 2012Today Truth Seal Corp. announced that Vinton G. Cerf,...

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Alibaba Becomes Largest e-Commerce Company - Impact for Retail Brands

Simon Jackson, chief commercial officer at brand protection company NetNames, comments on the news that Alibaba has become the largest ecommerce company in the world.(PRWEB UK) 18 December 2012“The news that Chinese online marketplace Alibaba has become the largest ecommerce company in the world has important implications for brand owners in the retail and consumer goods industries. The fact that...

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Samsung waves the white flag in European Apple patent suits

Even though Samsung (005930) won an important victory against Apple (AAPL) in the United States this week, the company has apparently decided to abandon some of its efforts on the European front. The Verge reports that Samsung “will drop its lawsuits against Apple for standards-essential patent infringement in Germany, the U.K., France, Italy and the Netherlands.” A Samsung spokesperson told The...

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Romtec Announces New Sidewalk Restroom

Romtec Inc. is bringing its expertise in public restroom design to the urban marketplace with The Sidewalk Restroom.Roseburg, Ore. (PRWEB) December 18, 2012Romtec Inc. is bringing its expertise in public restroom design to the urban marketplace with The Sidewalk Restroom. Urban restrooms have been a source of difficulty for many metropolitan areas across the United States, and the Sidewalk Restroom...

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Iraq's Sunni leaders accuse PM of crackdown

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Sunni leaders accused Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of a political crackdown after troops raided the finance minister's office and home, threatening to reignite a crisis a year after the last American troops left.The raids and detention of the Sunni minister's staff came hours after President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who often mediated among the fractious Sunni, Shi'ite...

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World stocks fall as US budget negotiations stall

BANGKOK (AP) -- Heightened uncertainty about the outcome of budget negotiations in Washington among President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and other Republican lawmakers drove world stock markets lower Friday.If a compromise is not in place by Jan. 1, the Bush-era tax cuts will expire and spending cuts will kick in automatically — a one-two punch to the economy that many experts fear will...

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55 people drowned or missing off Somali coast

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency says 55 people have drowned or are missing after an overcrowded boat capsized off the Somali coast.UNHCR said the incident late Tuesday represented the biggest loss of life in the Gulf of Aden since February 2011, when 57 Somali refugees and migrants drowned while attempting to reach Yemen.The U.N. says five people survived Tuesday's accident. The survivors...

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ECB's Weidmann sees no "big leap" toward EU fiscal union

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens Weidmann expects little progress toward a European fiscal union because there is little political will to relinquish national sovereignty, he was quoted as saying in an interview."I do not see the big leap toward fiscal union," Weidmann said in an interview with German magazine Wirtschaftswoche published online.Weidmann, who...

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Malala asks Pakistan not to rename college for her

MINGORA, Pakistan (AP) — A 15-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for promoting girls' education has urged Pakistan to reverse a decision to rename a college in her honor to avert militant attacks on students, an official said Friday.Malala Yousufzai, who became a symbol of youth resistance to the Taliban, made the request after students broke into the school, tore down Malala's pictures...

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