The Obama administration on Wednesday will propose cutting the top tax rate for corporations to 28 percent, and pay for it by eliminating dozens of tax loopholes companies now use to lower their rates, a senior administration official said.

From a simple mud-walled house above a steep Kabul hillside buried deep in snow, the Taliban's former guardian of virtue and once-feared scourge of vice sees a revolution under way.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed for calm on Wednesday after officials said at least six people were shot dead and dozens wounded in protests over the burning of copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, at NATO's main base in the country. The U.S. embassy said its staff were in "lockdown" and travel had been suspended as thousands of people expressed fury over the burning, in protests that flared for a second day in several cities.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday urged Washington to establish a "predictable, transparent and sustainable" relationship ahead of a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to repair damaged ties.

With one of the world's most expensive yachts and a cricket and Formula One team, billionaire Vijay Mallya is known as India's Richard Branson or simply, the "King of Good Times". Owner of the world's second-largest liquor maker, it is his chairmanship of debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines that is currently making headlines, not the usual write-ups in society pages of his jet set lifestyle.

India once again wilted against quality pace bowling as Sri Lanka defeated them by 51 runs in the eighth match of the one-day Tri-series at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday. India, who were shot out for 178 by the Australian pace battery during a 110-run loss at the same venue on Sunday, were all out for 238 in 45.1 overs against Sri Lanka, chasing 290 for victory.

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign regularly rips Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney for his economic policies. On Tuesday, it added former Senator Rick Santorum to its list of top targets.