QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We have informed the United Nations and Iran that we will not issue a visa.”

Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, who said the U.S. will deny entry to Hamid Aboutalebi, Iran’s choice for ambassador to the U.N., because of his links to the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 Article 1A

Obamas, Bidens release ’13 tax returns

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama paid $98,169 in taxes on $481,098 income last year, according to tax returns the White House released Friday on the White House website. They paid an effective federal income tax rate of 20.4 percent.

The 42-page document shows the Obamas reported donating $59,251 to 32 charities. That works out to 12.3 percent of their adjusted gross income. Their largest charitable gift, $8,751, went to the Fisher House Foundation, which supports military families.

The Obamas also released their Illinois income tax return showing they paid $23,328 in income taxes to their home state.

Separately, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, paid $96,378 in federal tax last year on adjusted gross income of $407,009. They paid an effective federal income tax rate of 23.7 percent, according to their tax returns.

They paid $16,444 in taxes to their home state of Delaware.

Jill Biden, a community college professor, also paid $3,470 in income tax to Virginia, where she teaches.

The Bidens donated $20,523 to charity last year.

Virginia official argues for gay marriage

RICHMOND, Va. - Same-sex couples have the same right to marry as interracial heterosexual couples, Virginia’s attorney general said Friday in papers urging an appellate court to uphold a judge’s ruling that the state’s gay-marriage ban is unconstitutional.

Attorney General Mark Herring is backing two same sex couples who filed a lawsuit challenging state laws and a constitutional provision barring gay marriage in Virginia and denying recognition of such unions performed in other states. U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen in Norfolk struck down the laws in February but put the ruling on hold while it is appealed.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments May 13.

Judge OKs Detroit payment to 2 banks

DETROIT - Detroit can move ahead with a plan to settle a ruinous multimillion-dollar debt with two banks for $85 million, a judge said Friday as he also urged the bankrupt city and other creditors to reach more deals.

Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes signed off on the agreement to pay UBS and Bank of America.

The settlement is just a small portion of the city’s $18 billion in liabilities, which include $12 billion not secured by taxes or other revenue.

Each bank will get $42.5 million spread out over a number of years - a “reasonable” amount, Rhodes said.

Rhodes had denied earlier proposals for $220 million and $165 million as too generous.

Detroit had pledged casino-tax revenue in 2009 as collateral to avoid defaulting on pension debt payments. It allowed the city to get fixed interest rates on pension bonds with the banks, but the arrangement became too costly when interest rates plunged.

The city had owed $288 million on the so-called swaps deal, made in 2005 and 2006.

12 Iowans had ballots wrongly rejected

IOWA CITY, Iowa - At least 12 Iowa residents wrongly had their ballots rejected in the 2012 presidential election because of inaccuracies in the state’s list of ineligible felons, a review found Friday.

Secretary of State Matt Schultz announced that nine additional cases of improper disenfranchisement were found during a review launched after it was reported in January that three voters were disenfranchised because of bureaucratic mistakes.

The new cases include people who weren’t felons but were wrongly included on the list and former offenders who had their voting rights restored and should have been removed.

Schultz, a Republican, is running for Congress and has made fighting voter fraud the focus of his tenure. His office funded a $280,000 investigation that has led to felony charges against several people who are accused of illegally voting as felons.

Many of them say they were confused by policy changes on how and when former offenders have their voting rights restored, and believed they could vote. Last month, a jury took less than 40 minutes to acquit the first person to contest such a charge after concluding she had no criminal intent.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 04/12/2014