French Tax on Rich Deemed Discrimination

Hollande

French President Francois Hollande's plans have run into a slight problem.

Much like US President Obama, he had proposed and strongly supported a higher tax rate on the rich.

Hollande's plan would have added a seventy-five percent tax rate for those who make more than one million euros a year.

Parliament had approved the tax, in September, and it had already been calculated into the 2013 budget.

However, on Saturday, the Constitutional Council decided that such a tax "failed to recognise equality before public burdens".

According to them, because the tax singled out individuals, it was a form of discrimination.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that the government will still go ahead with the new tax rate, adding "the government will propose a new system that conforms with the principles laid down by the decision of the Constitutional Council".

China Requires People to Visit Elderly Parents

China passed new legislation, on Friday, that requires people visit their elderly parents, "often".

Under the new law, parents who feel neglected or abandoned can sue their children, for not visiting them enough.

The law does not say just how often "often" is.

It was made as an attempt to bring back the importance that family once had, for the Chinese.

Very few assisted living and retirement home options are available, in China, leaving the elderly dependent upon family or charity.

23 Pakistani Police Missing After Taliban Attack

Twenty-three Pakistani police are believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban, on Thursday.

Militants attacked two police outposts in the Darra Adam Khel tribal region, killing two officers.

Twenty-five officers had been stationed, between the two outposts, but only the two dead were found.

On Friday, Pakistan announced that it might punish the tribe, if the police are not rescued.

The tribe was given until Monday to accomplish their mission, or financial aid from the government may be cut off.

Under Pakistani tribal law, tribes can be held responsible for attacks which happen in their territory.

3 Officers Wounded, Gunman Killed in New Jersey

Three police officers were wounded in their own station, early Friday morning.

An as of yet unidentified man had been brought into the Gloucester Township Police station for a domestic abuse case.

While undergoing processing he began to struggle with officers, and somehow managed to get hold of one of their guns.

Officers shot the man, killing him, but not before he had shot and wounded three of their number.

One of the officers required surgery for his wounds, at Cooper University Hospital , while the other two were treated and released for minor wounds.

Velayat 91 Underway in Iran

Velayat 91, Iran's latest war games, began on Friday, and will continue through Wednesday.

Taking place in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, and northern parts of the Indian Ocean the games will be Iran's largest ever, geographically.

Guardianship 91, as it would be in English, is set to involve almost all of Iran's navy, amphibious forces, and land to sea missile batteries, as well as some of their air power.

During the games, Iran will once again show the world how easy it would be for Iran to close off the Strait of Hormuz, through which forty percent of the world's oil travels.

Iran did so last December as well, prompting US and allied forces to hold their own war games there, in August, to test how they would fight to keep it open.

Infant Recliners Being Recalled

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission ordered a recall, on Thursday.

One hundred and fifty thousand Nap Nanny Generations One and Two and Chill infant recliners are being recalled.

Five infants have died and ninety-two been injured, while using the recliners, made by Baby Matters.

The commission noted that Baby Matters refused to participate in the recall.

Baby Matters says that as long as the recliners are properly used, no injures will occur.

President George H W Bush's Statement on The Death of General Schwarzkopf

Schwarzkopf, left, Bush, right

From his hospital bed at Methodist Hospital in Houston, former President George H. W. Bush released a statement regarding the death of retired General H. Norman Schwarzkopf.

"Barbara and I mourn the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation. A distinguished member of that Long Gray Line hailing from West Point, General Norm Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomized the 'duty, service, country' creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great Nation through our most trying international crises. More than that, he was a good and decent man, and a dear friend. Barbara and I send our condolences to his wife Brenda and his wonderful family."

General Norman Schwarzkopf, Dead at 78

Retired General Norman Schwarzkopf died on Thursday, at the age of seventy-eight, in Tampa, Florida.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, August 22, 1934, H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. grew up to the army life. In 1956, he graduated from West Point and his first tour saw him in Berlin before the Wall was built. He then came back to the states and went to USC where he received his masters in mechanical engineering, graduating in 1964. Following that he taught at West Point, for one year, before applying to be sent to Vietnam, where he served, before coming back to teach two more years.

It was in Vietnam that his reputation to risk his own life for his soldiers came into place, it was also where he became known as Stormin Norman, due to his temper when other units refused to help his. Schwarzkopf rose through the ranks, serving in various locations and commands, until making full general in 1988.

As Commander in Chief of the US Central Command he designed a war game in which Iraq invaded Kuwait, and other nations, in order to take over oil fields, and how they should be defended. The games took place in July of 1990, less than a month before Iraq actually did invade Kuwait, for oil. He was put in charge of a coalition to removed Iraq from Kuwait. His plan was used and because of it, the US ground war only lasted four days.

Stormin Norman retired from the military in August of 1991, after which he became an analyst for NBC. After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, in 1993, he began promoting awareness of it. He continued to work with various charities, after beating cancer, and sat on multiple boards for high profile corporations.

Greenwood Village Woman Shot to Death, Suspect Later Found Dead

Around 07:15, a woman was shot to death Thursday morning, in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

She was found on a ramp between the third and fourth floors of the Promenade Place Apartments' parking garage. According to police, she had been shot twice and there were clear signs of a struggle.

A few blocks away, at the I25 and Belleview light rail station, police found a green Jeep Cherokee that they believed was connected to the case. After talking to it's owner they later released it.

Police announced that they had two people of interest, in the case. They brought one of them in for questioning, the woman's current boyfriend.

The other is a former coworker, of the woman's, who had been fired for harassing her. SWAT had surrounded the man's apartment, and spent four hours negotiating to get him to come out peacefully. Eventually, they forced entry only to find that he had shot and killed himself.

Marcellus Scott, Dead at 22

Aurora, Colorado Police have identified the body found near Peoria and Iliff, on Wednesday.

He was twenty-two year old Marcellus Xavier Scott. 

On Thursday, the coroner announced that he died from Hypothermia.

Police had initially treated the discovery of his body as a crime scene, and called the death suspicious.

They have since back down from that statement, and now say they're waiting to see if tests show Scott was intoxicated.

Marcellus loved film, it had become his passion, and he was looking forward to making a career behind the camera.

"Chimp", as he was known to his friends, will be remembered as a good kid and great friend, who will greatly be missed.