Venezuela's Maduro says Colombia's Uribe plotting to kill him

May 1 (Reuters) - Post position for Saturday's 139th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs after Wednesday's draw (listed as barrier, HORSE, jockey, trainer) 1. BLACK ONYX, Joe Bravo, Kelly Breen 2. OXBOW, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas 3. REVOLUTIONARY, Calvin Borel, Todd Pletcher 4. GOLDEN SOUL, Robby Albarado, Dallas Stewart 5. NORMANDY INVASION, Javier Castellano, Chad Brown 6. MYLUTE, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss 7. GIANT FINISH, Jose Espinoza, Tony Dutrow 8. GOLDENCENTS, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill 9. OVERANALYZE, Rafael Bejarano, Todd Pletcher 10. PALACE MALICE, Mike Smith, Todd Pletcher 11. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelas-maduro-says-colombias-uribe-plotting-kill-him-202801147.html

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How You Can Lower Your Self Employment Taxes | Free Web ...

The end of tax time typically brings renewed interest in business structures. Fresh from filling out their tax forms, sole proprietors and partners in a general partnership are often concerned about self employment taxes and wonder if there?s a way to legally keep more of their hard earned money.

If you have a sole proprietorship or general partnership, read on to learn if incorporating or forming an LLC for your business can help you reduce self employment taxes. In addition, if you?re thinking about starting a business this year, you have an opportunity to start off right with a formal business structure.

An Intro to Self Employment Taxes

The self employment tax is an extra tax that self employed business owners, independent contractors and other independents need to pay. Self employment taxes are how sole proprietors (and partners in a general partnership) pay social security and Medicare payroll taxes.

When you?re an employee at a company, you split these taxes with your employer (typically, each pays 7.65 percent of eligible wages for the tax). But when you?re self employed, you?re essentially both the employer and the employee and thus, you?re responsible for both contributions.

Note that self employment taxes were reduced for 2011 and 2012, but are set to rise to the regular level for tax year 2013. This provides added incentive to take a look at your business structure for the years ahead.

LLC and S Corporation: Can They Lower Self Employment Taxes?

The LLC and S Corporation are popular business structures for small businesses, freelancers and entrepreneurs. Many small businesses begin as a sole proprietorship or general partnership and then ultimately transition to an LLC or S Corporation.

Both entities let you ?pass through? your taxes. Meaning, the company itself doesn?t pay taxes, but profits and losses are passed on to your personal tax return. This is an important distinction from the general C Corporation that must file its own taxes (and often results in an increase in taxes for the small business owner).

For the S Corporation and LLC taxed as an S Corporation, you?re able to split your profits into two payment types ? salary and S Corp distributions. You pay social security/Medicare tax only on the salary portion. This means that if your business made $80,000 in profits and you pay yourself $40,000 in salary and $40,000 in distributions, you only have to pay social security tax on the $40,000 salary.

Sounds good, right? Why not take it a step farther and pay yourself $1,000 in salary and $79,000 in distributions? That way you can really minimize your self employment (social security/Medicare) taxes. However, that type of compensation is not allowed, as the IRS requires you pay yourself a ?fair and reasonable? salary and these distributions are watched very closely. You?ll have to pay yourself fair market rate for whatever services you provide to the company. Yet even so, small business owners can often significantly reduce their self-employment taxes by setting up as a corporation or LLC.

For example, if you?re running a sole proprietorship and you?re bringing in more in profit than a ?fair and reasonable? salary, then it probably makes sense to form an S Corporation or LLC that?s taxed as an S Corporation.

Bear in mind that with a formal business structure, you?re generally required to operate your business at a higher administrative level than with the sole proprietorship (where there?s no paperwork at all). If you?re concerned about having too much paperwork and legal formalities, opt for the LLC and then elect to be taxed as an S Corporation. In general, the LLC has fewer legal requirements than corporations (S Corporations and C Corporations).

The Other Upside: Protecting Your Personal Assets

While lowering one?s taxes is often the driving force behind incorporating, LLCs and S Corporations offer another significant benefit for the small business. That is, protecting your personal assets.

With a sole proprietorship or general partnership, your own personal savings, property and other assets are at risk to settle any debts of the business. Yet once your business becomes an LLC or S Corporation, it exists as its own entity. This offers a shield between your personal assets and the business, giving you added peace of mind.

While most small business owners I know have little time to spare, I encourage you to take some time and investigate the various business structures. Speak with a tax advisor to learn more about your own personal situation.

As self employment taxes?are set to rise back to the pre-2011 levels, it?s smart to act now to get ready for your 2013 taxes and beyond.

Grasping Money Photo via Shutterstock

The post How You Can Lower Your Self Employment Taxes appeared first on Small Business Trends.

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Roadside bomb kills three British soldiers, nine Afghans

LONDON (Reuters) - Three British soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, Britain's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday, in the deadliest single attack on the British military there in more than a year.

Nine Afghans were also killed in Tuesday's explosion that hit the soldiers' vehicle while it was on a routine patrol in Nahr-e Saraj district in the southern province of Helmand.

Another six British soldiers were wounded in the blast, which occurred two days after the Islamist Taliban movement launched its spring offensive, saying it would target foreign military bases and diplomatic areas.

"We have paid a very high price for the work we're doing in Afghanistan," Prime Minister David Cameron said in a morning interview on ITV television.

"It is important work because it's vital that country doesn't again become a haven for terrorists, terrorists that can threaten us here in the UK."

The three British soldiers were the first to be killed by an attack while travelling in a Mastiff, an armored vehicle designed to withstand roadside bombs and sent to Afghanistan after a debate about whether previous equipment was adequate.

"Their deaths come as a great loss to all those serving in Task Force Helmand," said Major Richard Morgan, a spokesman for the task force. Their families have been informed.

A total of 444 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since Britain's military involvement there began in October 2001, including six this year.

British troops are handing over security operations to Afghan forces and are due to end combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of next year.

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/three-british-soldiers-killed-afghan-attack-065733524.html

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Laying bare your finances to apply for health care

WASHINGTON (AP) ? After a storm of complaints, the Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled simplified forms to apply for insurance under the president's new health care law. You won't have to lay bare your medical history but you will have to detail your finances.

An earlier version of the forms had provoked widespread griping that they were as bad as tax forms and might overwhelm uninsured people, causing them to give up in frustration.

The biggest change: a five-page short form that single people can fill out. That form includes a cover page with instructions and another page if you want to designate someone to help you through the process.

But the abridged application form for families starts at 12 pages, and grows as you add children. Most people are expected to take another option, applying online.

The ease or difficulty of applying for benefits takes on added importance because Americans remain confused about what the health care law will mean for them. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Tuesday found that 4 in 10 are unaware it's the law of the land. Some think it's been repealed by Congress. In fact, it's still on track.

And it's a mandate, not a suggestion. The law says virtually all Americans must carry health insurance starting next year, although most will just keep the coverage they now have through their jobs, Medicare or Medicaid.

At his news conference Tuesday, President Barack Obama hailed the simplified forms as an example of how his team listened to criticism from consumer groups and made a fix. The law's full benefits will be available to all next year, he emphasized, even if Republicans in Congress still insist on repeal and many GOP governors won't help put it into place.

When the first draft of the application turned out to be a clunker, "immediately, everybody sat around the table and said, 'Well, this is too long, especially ... in this age of the Internet,'" Obama recounted. "'People aren't going to have the patience to sit there for hours on end. Let's streamline this thing.'"

The flap over the application forms was a "first test" of the administration's ability to confront problems as they emerge, said Sam Karp, vice president of programs at the California HealthCare Foundation.

"Being nimble enough to identify, then fix, problems will be critical to successfully enroll millions of Americans who will become newly eligible for coverage," he said.

The applications will start becoming familiar to consumers less than six months from now, on Oct. 1, when new insurance markets open for enrollment in every state. Most people already signed up in their employer's plan don't need to bother with the forms.

Filling out the application is just the first part of the process, which lets you know if you qualify for financial help. The government asks to see what you're making because Obama's Affordable Care Act is means-tested, with lower-income people getting the most generous help to pay premiums. Consumers who aren't applying for financial help still have to fill out a five-page form.

Once you're finished with the money part, actually picking a health plan will require additional steps, plus a basic understanding of insurance jargon.

Benefits begin Jan. 1, and nearly 30 million uninsured Americans are eventually expected to get coverage.

While the first drafts of the applications were widely panned, the new forms were seen as an improvement. Still, consumers must provide a snapshot of their finances. That potentially includes multiple sources of income, from alimony to tips to regular paychecks.

On the list: unemployment, pensions, Social Security, other retirement checks and farming and fishing income. Individuals will have to gather tax returns, pay stubs and other financial records before filling out the application.

"Given the amount of information necessary to determine eligibility, it's hard to see how the forms could be any shorter," said Robert Laszewski, a former insurance executive turned industry consultant.

Although the new forms are more concise, the administration wasn't able to get rid of complexity. One question asks family applicants with at least one member covered through a job for "the lowest-cost plan that meets the minimum value standard offered only to the employee." Huh?

Administration officials expect most people to apply online. The process will route consumers to either private plans or Medicaid. Identification, citizenship and immigration status, as well as income details, are supposed to be verified in close to real time through a federal "data hub" pinging Social Security, the Homeland Security department and the Internal Revenue Service.

Under Obama's overhaul, insurers will no longer be able to turn away the sick or charge them more. The pitfalls of giving the wrong answer to a health care question will be gone, but consumers who underestimate their incomes could be in for an unwelcome surprise later on in the form of smaller tax refunds.

One section eliminated in the new form asked applicants if they also wanted to register to vote. Some congressional Republicans had criticized that, calling it politically motivated.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/laying-bare-finances-apply-health-care-181303050.html

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Ireland publishes bill on life-saving abortions

DUBLIN (AP) ? Ireland unveiled a long-awaited bill Wednesday that lays down new rules governing when life-saving abortions can be performed, a point of potentially lethal confusion for women in a country that outlaws terminations.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny, speaking to reporters after his government published the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, said he hoped the coming weeks of debate would not turn bitter. But he warned Catholic conservatives within his own party to back the bill or be expelled.

"I do hope that we can bring everybody with us, on an issue that I know is sensitive," said Kenny, who said his government was seeking only "a clarification of rights within existing law."

Kenny said the bill would set a maximum 14-year prison sentence for anyone involved in an illegal abortion, whether doctor or patient. The current law, dating to 1861, sets the maximum penalty at life.

Kenny's government took action following the death of a woman last year from blood poisoning after she was refused a termination because her dying fetus still had a heartbeat. The bill, if passed, would change nothing for the vast majority of an estimated 4,000 Irish women who travel annually for abortions in England, nor the growing number who order miscarriage-inducing drugs over the internet.

Anti-abortion activists, including many in Kenny's own Fine Gael party, protest that the proposed law could become a platform for eventual wider access to abortion in Ireland. Malta is the only other European Union country that bans it.

Activists particularly oppose the bill's provisions for women who threaten to kill themselves if they are denied a termination. The bill specifies that three doctors ? the woman's obstetrician and two psychologists ? must determine that the suicide risk is substantial. If denied, the woman would have a right of appeal to a panel of three other doctors.

Most other life-saving abortion cases would require certification by two doctors, or just one in emergencies requiring an immediate decision.

The bill, published after weeks of government infighting on its terms, faces lengthy debate and likely amendments. Kenny wants it passed by July.

During parliamentary debate, left-wing opposition lawmakers who want broader access to abortion accused Kenny of hypocrisy.

"What you've presented is the absolute minimum," lawmaker Clare Daly told Kenny. "The clear intention is to make it so restrictive that most women will not even bother. Instead they'll continue to make the journey to Britain so that you can continue to pretend that there's no Irish abortion."

Countering government claims that Ireland had one of the world's lowest rates of maternal death, Daly said more pregnant women would have died from complications or killed themselves if not for Ireland's "proximity to Britain."

Ireland's abortion law has been muddled since 1992, when the Supreme Court ruled that abortions should be legal when doctors deem it necessary to save the woman's life. The judges defined a credible suicide threat as one reasonable ground.

That ruling was made in the case of a 14-year-old girl who had been raped by a family friend, a crime that her parents reported to police. The government ordered the girl not to travel to England for an abortion, and she threatened to kill herself if forced to give birth. The Supreme Court ruled that she should receive an abortion in Ireland, given her suicide threats. The girl then miscarried.

While the ruling had the power of law, a series of governments refused to enact supporting legislation, fearful of a voter backlash in a country that is more than 80 percent Catholic.

Obstetricians long have complained they need clearly defined abortion regulations to avoid lawsuits or even criminal murder charges.

"We're pleased to see legislators doing the job they're paid to do. After 21 years," said Peter Boylan, former master of one of a Dublin maternity hospital.

Boylan said dozens of life-saving abortions had been performed annually in Irish hospitals, but only involving the most clear-cut emergencies. Too often, he said, doctors advised patients to go to England.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2010 that women's lives were being unnecessarily endangered by a system that forced seriously ill women to travel while pregnant.

The government took action after a 31-year-old woman, Savita Halappanavar, died in an Irish hospital in October. Halappanavar, who was 17 weeks pregnant, died from blood poisoning one week after being admitted at the start of a miscarriage. As her condition worsened, doctors rejected pleas to abort the fetus because its heart was still beating. Subsequent investigations determined that by the time the fetus died, it was too late to save the woman.

Some of Ireland's approximately 350 psychiatrists have formed rival lobbying groups. Those opposed argue that abortion is never an acceptable treatment for someone contemplating suicide.

Anthony McCarthy, one of only three psychologists in Ireland who specializes in counseling pregnant women, welcomed the bill ? but forecast its provisions would affect only "a tiny number" of patients.

Over the past 16 years, McCarthy said he'd helped women suffering from self-destructive delusions or hallucinations, who may have stabbed themselves in the stomach or taken drug overdoses in attempts to kill themselves, their fetuses or both. However, he believed that only one of those patients was really serious about suicide.

"The vast majority do not want termination of their pregnancy. They want help with their depression and suicidal thinking," McCarthy said.

___

Online:

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, http://bit.ly/17x26dq

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ireland-publishes-bill-life-saving-abortions-064112720.html

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Pakistan court bans Musharraf from office for life

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ? A Pakistani court on Tuesday banned former military ruler Pervez Musharraf from running for public office for the rest of his life, the latest blow since he returned from exile last month to make a political comeback.

One of Musharraf's lawyers, Saad Shibli, said he would go to the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling, claiming the former leader should not be singled out for punishment for his actions while in power since others were involved.

"About 500 officials at different levels and institutions were part of Musharraf's actions, and if those actions come under scrutiny, all those people should be involved in this matter," Shibli said.

Judges had previously barred Musharraf from running in the parliamentary election scheduled for May 11. The Peshawar High Court handed down the lifetime ban Tuesday after hearing an appeal by Musharraf's lawyer to allow him to run in the upcoming election.

Musharraf returned to Pakistan in March after four years in self-imposed exile, but his fortunes have gone from bad to worse since he arrived. He is currently under house arrest in connection with a pair of court cases against him.

One involves his decision to fire senior judges, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, while in power. The other relates to the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Government prosecutors have accused Musharraf of being involved ? allegations he has denied.

Musharraf seized power in a coup in 1999 when he was serving as army chief and ruled for nearly a decade. He stepped down in 2008 because of growing discontent with his rule.

He returned to Pakistan despite Taliban death threats, but was met by only a few thousand people when his plane landed in the southern port city of Karachi. Analysts said the response showed how little public support he enjoyed in the country.

The run-up to next month's parliamentary election has been marred by violence, much of it carried out by the Pakistani Taliban.

On Tuesday, gunmen killed a politician running for a provincial assembly seat in southwestern Baluchistan province, said local government official Saeed Ahmad.

Abdul Fatah Magsi was gunned down in Jhal Magsi, about 350 kilometers (220 miles) southeast of Quetta, the provincial capital, said Ahmad. The candidate's supporters fired back and killed two of the gunmen. The attack appeared to be the result of a political rivalry, Ahmad said.

The election in the constituency has been postponed, which is mandatory whenever a candidate is killed.

Baluchistan is home to both Islamic militants and separatists who have been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for decades.

____

Associated Press writer Abdul Sattar contributed to this report from Quetta, Pakistan.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-court-bans-musharraf-office-life-104930486.html

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Jason Aldean Files for Divorce From Jessica Ussery

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/jason-aldean-files-for-divorce/

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