The Pulse: Facebook to Get $429 Million Tax Refund
By: Marissa Stevens
Updated: February 17, 2013
This is Saturday night's edition of -- The Pulse.
Number five -- If there is one sure way to cause a disturbance on an airplance, it is to use a racial slur and to slap a toddler. Investigators said Joe Rickey Hundley of Idaho directed a racial slur at a two-year-old boy who was crying on a Delta Airlines flight. The boy's mother said other passengers rushed to help her, and the FBI said Hundley will face a charge of simple assault.
Number four -- Iceland wants to ban internet pornography. The Nordic Nation calls explicit online images a threat to children. It is already illegal to print and distribute pornography in Iceland, but if the country bans internet porn it would be the first western democracy to try and block adult images online.
Number three -- Facebook is receiving a lot of frowns for its recent tax breaks. Reports show Facebook's profits in the last year at $1.1 billion, and their combined federal and state income tax bill at zero dollars. The company is actually going to get a refund of $429 million, thanks to one tax deduction for executive stock options. President Obama believes this should not happen, and so far Facebook has declined to comment.
Number two -- Pope Benedict the XVI met with the Italian Prime Minister as they both prepare to step down at the end of the month. The Vatican said 35,000 people have already requested tickets to his final general audience in Saint Peter's Square, February 27. The 85-year-old pope stunned the world last week with the announcement that he was resigning because of advancing age. He is the first pope to resign in 600 years.
Number one -- Many in Russia are struggling to return to normal after a meteor strike shattered windows, rattled nerves, and injured more than 1,000 people. Workers are sweeping up broken glass, boarding up holes and fitting new panes of glass in some buildings. Authorities have sealed off a nearby frozen lake where at least some of the fireball appeared to have fallen, but so far, divers have found no trace of the meteor. Local officials have estimated the damage at more than $33 million.







