Kate Bush returns to stage after 35 years

Kate Bush in 1980 -- a year after her last tour. She started a 22-show run in London Tuesday.Kate Bush dazzles in first show in 35 years"Most ambitious piece of theatrical pop ever seen" on UK stage, says one reviewDavid Gilmour, Bjork, Lily Allen on handBush best known in U.S. for "Running Up That Hill"

(CNN) -- After 35 years away, British singer Kate Bush returned to the stage Tuesday night -- and the response was rapturous.

"There was something thrilling about seeing the often bonkers but still delightful imagination of Bush run free after all this time," wrote Bernadette McNulty in the UK Telegraph about the show at London's Eventim Apollo, which included giant paper airplanes, reptilian monsters and sets with odd perspectives. Novelist David Mitchell ("Cloud Atlas") contributed some of the narrative.

"She moves with a lithe grace, clearly still drawing on the mime training she underwent as a teenager forty years on. Her voice too is in remarkable condition: she's note-perfect throughout," wrote Alexis Petridis in the Guardian.

"The most ambitious piece of theatrical pop ever seen on a British stage," noted the Independent.

The show, titled "Before the Dawn," has been hotly anticipated for months. The 77,000 tickets, for a run of 22 concerts, sold out in minutes back in March. Fans are coming from all over the world to see her -- and, in some cases, paying dearly for the privilege.

Among those in attendance: David Gilmour (who helped get her career started), Bjork, Lily Allen and actress Gemma Arterton.

The first-day visitors were glad they came.

"It was just hypnotic," one spectator told the Telegraph.

"Kate Bush last night was phenomenal, one of the best shows I've ever seen," wrote singer Anna Calvi on Twitter.

Kate Bush last night was phenomenal, one of the best shows I've ever seen

— Anna Calvi (@annacalvi) August 26, 2014

The show wasn't without its complaints -- mainly over a request to not use smartphones.

"(Personnel) are patrolling for phones in a very intense way," noted the Guardian in a live blog.

Bush is known for her acrobatic voice and expansive, thoughtful albums, that have sometimes come out years apart -- which only makes her fans more frantic in anticipation. In the U.S., she's probably best known for the 1985 album "Hounds of Love," which contained the single "Running Up That Hill," and her duet with Peter Gabriel, "Don't Give Up," which appeared on Gabriel's 1986 album "So."

She has been reluctant to perform live for a number of reasons. There have been rumors of stage fright and fear of flying. She became a mother and wanted to raise her son, Bertie (who was a key supporter in bringing her back, she wrote in the show program.) There was also a dark experience at the beginning of her previous tour, in 1979, when her lighting director died in a fall.

Kate Bush to perform live for the first time in 35 years

As recently as 2011, she was uncertain she would ever play live again.

"I still don't give up hope completely that I'll be able to do some live work, but it's certainly not in the picture at the moment because I just don't quite know how that would work with how my life is now," she told the UK music publication Mojo.

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'Glee' returns! New scoop from the cast

The cast of "Glee" in season 5. "Glee" returns Tuesday nightThe show will be permanently set in NYCKristin Chenoweth and Gwyneth Paltrow will appear together

(EW.com) -- The wait for Glee fans is finally over!

The Fox musical comedy returns Tuesday night with a brand-new episode titled Frenemies, where Santana auditions and snags the role of Rachel's understudy in Funny Girl, causing a feud resulting in Rachel moving out. Back in Lima, Tina and Artie battle to be the class valedictorian. Last month, Fox confirmed the show would be moving permanently to New York City for the remainder of the current season and for season 6, which will be the series' last. EW talked to the cast on the Glee set while celebrating their special two-part 100th episode airing March 18 and March 25, when several past members of the New Directions come back to McKinley for a week to celebrate what the now-disbanded (!) glee club did for them. Read on to find out exactly when we will be saying goodbye to Lima, plus some teases about upcoming performances. Can you say foam party?

Bye-bye, Lima!

So when will the show say goodbye to Ohio for good? The 100th episode is divided into two parts, and Lea Michele told EW that by the end of that second episode, it'll be the Big Apple from then on. Some are calling episode 101 the Lima season finale, as it will also feature the graduation of the current seniors before some of them make the move east.

New to New York

Rachel, Santana, and Kurt will be joined in the city that never sleeps by Artie (going to film school), Sam (to model), and Blaine (to get married?). Michele also told us that Amber Riley's Mercedes will be popping up in a couple of episodes too. But what about Jane Lynch and Sue Sylvester? Lynch said she hasn't been written into any of the New York scripts yet but is not officially done with the show by any means.

Fox confirms 'Glee' moving setting exclusively to NYC

"I guess we have to get back into our characters"

Darren Criss wanted to make it clear that just because the show's setting is moving to New York, that doesn't necessarily mean the entire cast is. Joking that many people have asked if the show's move meant he had to move permanently too, Criss said, "I don't know if you understand how TV works. We don't actually shoot in Lima, Ohio." Of course a lot of the show will be filmed in New York, but the majority of production is likely to remain in Los Angeles, for now. But the vibe of the group seems different. Michele noted that at one point while filming, the cast was talking to each other and so in the moment catching up, that they didn't realize that they had actually begun to tape the scene and had called action. Whoops. Michele isn't sure if any of what they were actually talking about got into the episode but was quick to note at the time, "I guess we have to get back into our characters."

No more school stories

The show is going to take on more adult-oriented stories in New York, dealing with real post-high school life issues. "We are gonna take some time just in NY. See where that takes us," executive producer Brad Falchuk said. "We're really excited about adult stories out of high school when nobody gives a hoot about you. How does that feel to suddenly be nobody from being the biggest hero?"

Klaine forever after?

"When you move in with somebody in any relationship, it's going to be a challenge. I think they are going to face some challenges together and see if they can get through them or not," Criss teased about the post-proposal life of Blaine and Kurt in New York together. "There are some cool, very adult themes that are exciting to explore. Fans that have gotten older while watching the show can relate."

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The foam party you wish you were invited to

Though details are still wrapped up, Falchuk teased that guest stars Kristin Chenoweth and Gwyneth Paltrow, both reprising their roles from earlier seasons of the show, appear in some amazing musical numbers together, including one centered around Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) and lots of foam. Luckily, everyone got to join in on the fun too. "Let's just say, we party. It's a party like all the time on Glee. You might want to quote me exactly how I said that," Criss playfully said. Criss joined the show after both blond bombshells had already made their guest appearances, so he didn't get to work with them. But now? "I was closer than I ever thought I would get to Gwyneth Paltrow in my lifetime, so I'll take it!"

Plus, here is the list of fan-favorite songs that will be in the 100th episode:

1. Keep Holding On* featuring Mark Salling (Puck)

2. Valerie* featuring Naya Rivera (Santana) and Heather Morris (Brittany)

3. Defying Gravity* featuring Lea Michele (Rachel), Chris Colfer (Kurt) and Amber Riley (Mercedes)

4. Raise Your Glass* featuring Matthew Morrison (Will) and Kristin Chenoweth (April)

5. Toxic* featuring Naya Rivera (Santana), Heather Morris (Brittany) and Dianna Agron (Quinn)

6. Happy featuring Gwyneth Paltrow (Holly), Kristin Chenoweth (April), Matthew Morrison (Will), Darren Criss (Blaine) and Amber Riley (Mercedes)

7. Party All the Time featuring Gwyneth Paltrow (Holly)

8. Total Eclipse of the Heart* featuring Matthew Morrison (Will) and Kristin Chenoweth (April)

9. Loser Like Me* featuring Darren Criss (Blaine), Kevin McHale (Artie), Chord Overstreet (Sam) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina)

10. Be Okay featuring Lea Michele (Rachel) and Naya Rivera (Santana)

11. I Am Changing featuring Amber Riley (Mercedes) and Chris Colfer (Kurt)

12. Just Give Me a Reason -featuring Dianna Agron (Quinn) and Mark Salling (Puck)

13. Don't Stop Believin'* -featuring Lea Michele (Rachel), Darren Criss (Blaine), Chris Colfer (Kurt), Matthew Morrison (Will), Kevin McHale (Artie) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina)

See the original story at EW.com.

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Robin Roberts returns to 'GMA' studio

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Neil Patrick Harris returns to Broadway for one night only

For one night only, Neil Patrick Harris will reprise his role from 2004's "Assassins." Neil Patrick Harris will reprise his role in the Tony Award-winning production of "Assassins"The whole gang of presidential assassins will reunite for the December 3 performanceThe show will take place at Studio 54 -- where the revival opened on Broadway in 2004

(EW.com) -- Neil Patrick Harris and the rest of the killer gang of presidential assassins will reunite for one night only to reprise their roles from the 2004 Tony Award-winning production of "Assassins."

The December 3 performance will benefit Roundabout Theatre Company's musical program.

Stephen Sondheim's characteristically dark, witty musical -- which first played Broadway from 1990-91 -- explores the personal lives and motivations of the people who have attempted (both successfully and unsuccessfully) to kill American presidents.

Harris plays Lee Harvey Oswald in the play, while Michael Cerveris will revive his role as John Wilkes Booth (for which he won a Tony for best featured actor in a musical), and Denis O'Hare will reprise his Tony-nominated role as Charles Guiteau, who murdered POTUS 20 James A. Garfield.

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In addition to "How I Met Your Mother" star Harris, several more cast members have made waves on TV since they starred in Roundabout's Assassins revival, including "True Blood's" Denis O'Hare (a 2012 Emmy nominee for "American Horror Story"), "Girls' " Becky Ann Baker, and "Sex and the City"? favorite Mario Cantone.

The benefit will take place at Studio 54 -- where the revival opened on Broadway in April 22, 2004. Tony winner Joe Mantello will return to direct.

See full article at EW.com.

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Paul Ryan releases two years of tax returns

From Paul Ryan 2011 tax returns

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Mitt Romney's campaign released two years of vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's tax returns Friday, which show that he and his wife paid a 15.9 percent effective tax rate on an adjusted gross income of $215,417 in 2010 and a 20 percent rate on $323,416 in 2011--a weighted average of just over 18 percent for both years.

The documents were posted Friday on Romney's campaign website alongside Romney's financial disclosures.

On top of Ryan's $174,000 annual salary as congressman, he reported earning dividends of $29,987 in 2011 and $26,052 in 2010, the documents show.

The Ryan family gave $15,591 to charity over that two-year period, most of which--$12,991--was donated in 2011.

According to financial disclosure documents filed earlier, Ryan's net worth ranges between $2 million and $7.7 million.

Romney has released one year of returns so far and, despite pressure from Democrats to release several years of documents, he plans to release only his 2011 returns once they are prepared, he said.

During a meeting with reporters earlier this year, Ryan said that he does not prepare his own taxes.

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Romney requested 'several' years of tax returns of VP contenders

CHARLOTTE - Mitt Romney requested "several" years of tax returns from his potential running mates, a senior adviser to the candidate said Saturday, suggesting that those considered for the ticket may have been required to reveal more financial documents that the candidate himself.

In a briefing with reporters in Virginia Saturday, senior adviser Beth Myers, who was charged with headed the vice president selection process, declined to specify exactly how many years of tax returns were required, saying only that "several" were requested.

Several, by definition, implies more than two years.

Romney, who has been under intense pressure to release more of his own tax returns by both Democrats and members of his own party, has so far released his 2010 returns and an estimate for his 2011 returns.

The campaign has said that the full 2011 returns will be released sometime before the November election.

When asked why he does not put the criticism to rest and just release more of his tax returns, Romney has said that no matter how many he decided to make public, there will always be a call to give more.

And while Romney's own father, George Romney, released 12 years of tax returns during his bid for the presidency, the candidate today cites Sen. John McCain as the one who set the precedent to release just two years.

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Romney slams Obama’s attacks, won't release tax returns

(Evan Vucci/AP)Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of running a campaign based on "falsehood and dishonesty" and brushed aside suggestions—including from some Republicans—that he should release more years of tax returns.

In a Monday interview with "Fox & Friends," the presumptive Republican nominee rejected a claim from Chicago Mayor and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel who accused him over the weekend of  "whining" about attacks on his record at Bain Capital.

"I think when people accuse you of a crime you have a reason to go after them pretty hard, and I'm going to continue going after him," Romney said, arguing that Obama's attacks are "misdirected" and "dishonest." "What does it say about a president whose record is poor that all he can do in his campaign is attack me?"

Romney slammed Obama for running a "campaign based on falsehood and dishonesty," insisting it won't have "long legs" this fall. Asked if he should have been more aggressive in pushing back against Democratic attacks on his record at Bain, the ex-governor argued that the "best offense is to look at the president's record."

"Wouldn't it be interesting, Mr. President, if you spent some time looking at your record," Romney said.

Obama's attacks "may work in Chicago," Romney added, "but it won't work across America."

Romney ignored suggestions, including from a growing number of conservatives, that he should release more than two years of his tax returns, arguing it would only give more ammunition to the Obama campaign.

"John McCain ran for president and released two years of tax returns. John Kerry ran for president and his wife, who has hundreds of millions of dollars, she never released her tax returns. Somehow this wasn't an issue," Romney told Fox News. "The Obama people keep on wanting more and more and more, more things to pick through, more things for their opposition research to try and make a mountain out of and distort and to be dishonest about."

Romney insisted Americans care more about the economy and jobs than "attacks."

"The issue people care about is who can get the economy going again to help people have a brighter future," the presumptive GOP nominee said.

Romney's interview came as his campaign signaled a stronger pushback against the Obama campaign this week. On Monday, the campaign launched an attack on what it called Obama's "political payoff," accusing the president of working on behalf of campaign donors instead of the middle class.

In a statement to reporters, the Romney campaign accused Obama of "rewarding wealthy donors and administration insiders with taxpayer dollars." Among the examples they cited were federal loans to the failed energy company Solyndra, an example Romney has emphasized on the trail for months, and the Westly Group, a venture capital firm headed up by a major Obama donor whose portfolio of companies reportedly received tens of millions in economic stimulus money.

"Do you want to have an economy where political appointees in Washington, D.C. are making decisions about where investments go and where… taxpayer dollars is spent based on people's connections and how much money they raised in the last campaign cycle?" Ed Gillespie, a senior adviser to Romney said on a conference call with reporters. "Or do you want an economy that is driven by private sector investment decisions in allowing people to spend more of their hard earned money and make decisions for themselves?"

After days of blistering attacks from Democrats, Romney aides also aimed to counter perception that Obama's offensive is hurting Romney with voters. The campaign circulated a memo from Romney pollster Neil Newhouse that argued the race is closer than ever in spite of the Obama campaign outspending the Romney camp by millions of dollars in advertising. (The memo did not acknowledge the millions conservative groups supporting Romney's campaign have spent on the Republican candidate's behalf.)

"President Obama's campaign will never have a more substantial advertising advantage than it has had over the past few weeks, yet there is no evidence to suggest that the ballot has moved," Newhouse wrote. " If throwing the kitchen sink at Gov. Romney while leveraging a two-to-one ad-spending advantage doesn't move numbers for the president, that's got to tell you something about the state of the electorate."

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Republican governors to Romney: release tax returns

WILLIAMSBURG, Va.—The nation’s governors have a host of their own problems to worry about—that pesky Medicaid expansion for example—but that doesn’t mean they’re not keeping a close eye on 2012’s biggest ticket: the presidential election.

Asked on the sidelines of the National Governor’s Association annual meeting about their diagnosis of Mitt Romney’s campaign, the Republican governors had all kinds of advice for the candidate who comes from their ranks, from release-those-tax-returns-already to give-us-more-specifics.  

Despite the Beltway buzz and grumbling from some conservatives that the former Massachusetts governor has not been nimble or aggressive enough in responding to the Obama team’s attacks, many of the Republican governors here said Romney had hit on an economic message that voters in their states wanted to hear, and lauded his progress.

“I believe he’s moving down the right road, going in the right direction. Is he where he needs to be? No. But can he get there? Yes,” said Utah Gov. Gary Richard Herbert, referring to Romney’s numbers in several swing states, where he is trailing President Obama. “He’s come a long way since when he first ran four years ago and right now, in a dead heat with a current incumbent president who has all the powers of incumbency.” 

Herbert added, indignantly, “”I was in Utah when he was running the Olympics! He wasn't running Bain Capital.”

Despite another mediocre jobs report released this month, the political debate of the past week has been consumed with the question of how involved Romney was in the investment firm from 1999 to 2002, when Bain was investing in firms that outsourced jobs. Romney was on at least a partial leave of absence to run the Salt Lake City Olympics during that time. Filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission show that he was still the owner, chairman, CEO and president of Bain, but he says he wasn't managing the firm’s investments.

A series of media reports about Romney’s role and withering, relentless attacks by the Obama campaign prompted Romney to respond more forcefully than he has against past charges. He went on a media blitz Friday, doing a series of interviews on network television and demanding an apology from the Obama campaign for saying he had lied about his Bain involvement. Instead, the Obama campaign upped the ante Saturday with a potentially powerful new ad focused on outsourcing and the offshore tax shelters Romney listed on his 2010 tax return, the only one he has released so far.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley found himself in hot water for perhaps a little too much candor when he said Romney would do well to release more tax returns, as Democrats have demanded  in recent weeks. “I think he ought to release everything. I believe in total transparency,” Bentley told reporters.  “You know if you have things to hide, then you may be doing things wrong.”

Bentley added, however, that the Obama campaign's focus on outsourcing was a diversionary tactic that voters would see through. “I do believe the Obama campaign is trying to cloud the issue by talking about Bain Capital because they don’t want to talk about 8.4 percent unemployment and I wouldn’t either!” Bentley said (slightly inflating the June jobless rate, which was 8.2 percent).  “If I were them, I’d be talking about all the other things too.”

At NGA—no surprise here--there was a blanket condemnation of the Democratic attacks from the Republican governors. “At the end of the day, people are going to reject that kind of nasty, negative campaign coming from the president of the United States,” said Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad.

The GOP governors said the sniping between the campaigns is irrelevant to people who are hurting for jobs, looking for a speedier recovery, and worried about the nation’s debt. “This fuss we see over this is just not the headline it apparently is inside the Beltway,” said Wyoming Gov. Matthew Mead. “If you ask people what they’re concerned about, they’re concerned about the future of our kids and our grandkids, they’re concerned about the national debt.”

Mead added that Romney had been quick to respond to the Bain attacks, a promising development. “Gov. Romney has made clear when he did these things and when he was in charge of Bain Capital and when he was not,” Mead said. “It’s a bit of a red herring in the sense that you’re talking about somebody that was in the private sector creating jobs and if you want to bring up that contrast, I think he compares quite well with President Obama.”

When asked about whether the Bain attacks had the potential to be damaging in his swing state, full of the white, blue-collar voters among whom they might have the most resonance, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett deflected. “I’m not doing surveys of the people of Pennsylvania,” he said. “You’re doing that. I’m much too busy to be doing those surveys.”

Some of the governors did say they would like to see more specificity from the Romney campaign as the election cycle moves toward the conventions. “It is not just enough to say repeal Obamacare, it’s repeal and replace it with what?” Herbert said. “I know governors are talking about that on the Republican side of the aisle, and we’re talking about it in Utah.”

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who last month survived a recall election provoked by his moves against public employee unions, encouraged Romney to follow in his mold and campaign as a bold, budget-balancing crusader. Voters were just beginning to receive a clearer economic message from him, Walker said. Now, they need more details on the budgetary end. 

“For him to do well, the R next to his name has to stand for more than just for Republican, it has to stand for reformer,” Walker said.  “We got significant swing votes, independents, even some discerning Democrats voting for me because they like someone who’s willing to take on the tough issues facing our state.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story omitted the Utah governor's first name. He is Gary Richard Herbert.

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Cuban agent returns to U.S. after seeing brother

HAVANA (Reuters) - A Cuban agent on parole who a U.S. judge allowed to return home for two weeks to see his gravely ill brother has gone back to the United States as required, the Cuban government said on Friday.

It said Rene Gonzalez, 55, had spent time with his family, and particularly brother Roberto, who has lung cancer.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard granted Gonzalez his request for the visit with the conditions that he had to obtain permission from the U.S. government and return within 15 days.

Similarly, jailed American contractor Alan Gross has asked Cuban President Raul Castro to allow him a temporary return to the United States to see his 89-year-old mother, who has lung cancer.

Gonzalez, a dual U.S.-Cuban citizen, is one of the so-called Cuban Five convicted of conspiring to spy on Cuban exile groups and U.S. military activities in Florida. Their organization was known as the "Wasp Network."

He served 13 years behind bars and last year was the first of the five men to be released, but was ordered to stay in the United States for a three-year probation.

One of the five is serving a double life sentence for sending information to Cuba that contributed to the shooting down of two private planes in 1996 flown near the island by a Miami-based exile group.

The four people in the planes died in one of the major incidents in the long history of U.S.-Cuba hostilities.

In Cuba, the five men are known as the "Five Heroes" and lauded by the government, which says they were wrongly convicted.

It says the agents were just collecting information on Cuban exile groups planning actions against the island 90 miles from Key West, Florida.

"The Cuban people will not waver in the endeavor that Rene and his four brothers return definitively to the homeland, with the firm certainty they will return," the government said.

So far, Cuba has refused the request by Gross, who is in the third year of a 15-year sentence for illegally setting up Internet networks under a U.S.-funded program the Cuban government views as subversive.

It has hinted at the possibility of swapping Gross, 62, for the four agents still in U.S. jails, but the Obama administration has rejected the idea.

Gross' wife, Judy, had hoped her husband could come home in time for his mother's 90th birthday on Sunday. Their daughter also is suffering from breast cancer.

"I certainly empathize with his (Gonzalez's) family's suffering," Judy Gross said in a recent statement. "I pray that President Raul Castro will find it in his heart to reciprocate the U.S. gesture and give us a positive answer."

The Gross case has stalled modest progress in U.S.-Cuba relations under U.S. President Barack Obama.

(Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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Romney returns show low tax rate; questions linger (Reuters)

TAMPA, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney bowed to political pressure and gave the public a glimpse inside his personal fortune on Tuesday, releasing U.S. tax returns showing he pays a lower effective tax rate than many top wage-earners.

Unlike Americans who rely on a paycheck, Romney earns most of his income from investment profits, dividends and interest. The returns for 2010 and estimates for 2011 showed that he will pay a total of $6.2 million in taxes on income of $42.5 million.

Romney and his wife Ann paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent in 2010 and expect to pay a 15.4 percent effective tax rate when they file their returns for 2011.

Those rates are far below the top income tax rate on wages, which is 35 percent, because the U.S. tax code in recent years has favored investment income over wage income.

Targeting popular unease with rising U.S. income disparity, President Barack Obama on Tuesday night in his annual State of the Union speech at the Capitol will put efforts to make the tax code fairer at the center of his reelection campaign.

Obama will renew his appeal for a "Buffett rule" to ensure that the ultra-wealthy pay their "fair share" of taxes. This idea is backed by multibillionaire Warren Buffett. His assistant Debbie Bosanek - whom he says pays a higher tax rate than he does - will sit with First Lady Michelle Obama for the speech.

One of the wealthiest Americans ever to run for the White House, Romney did not release returns from the years 1984-1999, when he began making his fortune buying and selling companies as a private equity financier with Bain Capital, but those lucrative years did give him a special tax advantage.

THE CARRIED INTEREST EDGE

Romney got about $13 million in income over the past two years from "carried interest," a form of earnings that is available to private equity partners and taxed at the 15-percent investment income tax rate, not the higher wage income rate.

The "carried interest" provision of the U.S. tax code has repeatedly been targeted for elimination by Democrats who say it is unfair, while the private equity industry defends it. A campaign spokesman said that Romney "has not addressed carried interest specifically in this campaign."

The former governor of Massachusetts released his tax returns after a week when his chief Republican presidential nomination rival, former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, questioned whether Romney was hiding financial information and cast him as out of touch with most Americans.

For 2011, about 46 percent of Americans will pay no federal individual income taxes, most of them because they are poor, according to the Tax Policy Center, a think tank.

Counting all U.S. taxpayers, the average tax rate is 11 percent, according to The Tax Foundation, another think tank.

Effective tax rates vary wildly from person to person due to the maze of deductions, exemptions and credits in the tax code, which has not been thoroughly overhauled in 25 years.

Romney's estimated net worth is $190 million to $250 million. "Governor Romney's investments are reported and taxed in full compliance with U.S. tax laws," said Romney campaign counsel Ben Ginsberg on a conference call with reporters.

NEXT ON GOP FIGHT CARD: FLORIDA

The Republican candidates are fighting for the nomination to face Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 general election. The next Republican state primary contest will be in Florida on January 31.

Gingrich scored by attacking Romney's finances and upset him in the South Carolina primary on Saturday. The release of Romney's tax returns was meant to blunt Gingrich. But it could further inflame the debate about the tax code and income inequality, as reflected in the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Romney campaign officials said his tax rate is based mostly on blind trust investment income. Returns for three blind trusts were released. The officials said Romney makes no decisions on how money is invested.

They said that Romney's holdings also include amounts in funds based in the Cayman Islands and other overseas entities.

The Cayman holdings and holdings in a Swiss bank account - closed in 2010 after an adviser decided it could be politically embarrassing to Romney - were reported on tax returns and were not vehicles to avoid taxes, the advisers said.

Brad Malt, who oversees the Romney blind trusts, said on the conference call that Romney's wife's trust had a $3 million bank account at UBS AG, the Swiss banking giant. Malt said he closed the bank account in late 2010.

Malt said that "taxes were all fully paid" on the account, but that "it just wasn't worth it; I closed the account."

The tax returns showed Romney and his wife contributed $7 million to charity over the two years covered, much of it going to the Mormon church. That represents more than 15 percent of the Romneys' income for those years.

COUNTDOWN TO CAPITAL GAINS SCRAP

Romney had capital gains income of $12.5 million for 2010 and an estimated $10.7 million for 2011.

The capital gains tax rate was slashed to 15 percent in 2003 under President George W. Bush. President Bill Clinton had cut it to 21 percent from the 28 percent level set under President Ronald Reagan, who raised it to match the tax rate on wages.

The capital gains rate will jump to 20 percent in 2013 if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, an issue that is sure to prompt an intense political fight later this year.

Asked why Romney was not releasing tax records for the years in the 1980s and 1990s in which he made his fortune at Bain, Ginsberg said the two years covered by the tax returns should give a broad picture of Romney's financial situation.

"We're not going to get into the game of once you give them something, they demand more," Ginsberg said. "This is a fulsome release and we're proud of it."

Malt said Romney had not been audited by the Internal Revenue Service in the last 10 years.

FUZZY ANSWERS HURT

The tax issue may have been a factor in Romney's loss to Gingrich in the South Carolina primary last Saturday. It became a distraction to Romney's campaign, and Romney's fuzzy answers on releasing his records aggravated the problem.

First he said he might release them, or might not. When the questions kept coming, he said he would put them out in April, after his 2011 forms were completed. Only after he was defeated in South Carolina did his aides say he would release them this week. Gingrich has released his returns for 2010, but has not released an estimate for last year, as Romney did.

Long considered the front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Romney was staggered by Gingrich's lopsided win in South Carolina, and is looking to regain enough momentum to defeat Gingrich in Florida.

(Additional reporting by Lynnley Browning and Patrick Temple-West; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Eric Walsh)

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What Will Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns Reveal? (ContributorNetwork)

CNN reports GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney will release his 2010 income tax returns on Jan. 24. It will be a first for the candidate as the interest in his finances is high. Romney's vast wealth has come under scrutiny as he made hundreds of millions of dollars at Bain Capital, a company he chaired for over a decade.

Raw Figures

Romney's net worth is estimated as high as $264 million. That income comes from investments, speaking engagements and proceeds from his book entitled "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness." The Associated Press reports Romney said his effective tax rate was around 15 percent. Americans in the top income bracket pay a 35 percent tax rate on income that isn't made from investments.

Romney's income is taxed different if he makes it from investments or is self-employed. Romney wasn't employed at a company in 2010 as his ties with Bain Capital ended in 1999 when he ran for public office. Investments in stocks and savings accounts are taxed at a much lower rate than that of income as an employee paid by a company.

How much of Romney's income tax return released for public inspection will also be interesting. His itemized deductions for charitable donations and interest on mortgages (if any) will reveal how much of a philanthropist Romney is, in addition to how much his homes are worth.

Reasons for Release

Romney's reasons for the revelation to voters are two-fold. First is that he lost the South Carolina primary to Newt Gingrich. Romney's failure to release his tax return was termed a "mistake" by the candidate. The former governor of Massachusetts claimed his income tax return was a "distraction" in South Carolina and may have cost him the race.

Foreign Investments

One thing the income tax returns may or may not reveal is how much money Romney has tied up in the Cayman Islands. The Atlantic Wire reported three days before South Carolina's primary that Romney has at least $8 million in funds based in the Cayman Islands. That small Caribbean nation doesn't pay American income taxes on investments. Although it's not illegal, funds set up in the Caymans are generally used to avoid paying American income taxes.

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Housing financer Freddie Mac returns to profit (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US government-controlled housing financer Freddie Mac reported its first quarterly profit in three and a half years Wednesday, after years of losses on its huge mortgage portfolio.

Bailed out at huge cost to the government during the housing crisis of the past three years, Freddie Mac reported $676 million in net income for the period to March 31, compared to a loss of $6.7 billion a year earlier, and a shortfall of $113 million in the quarter to December 31.

It was the first net gain in 14 quarters for the company, 80 percent owned by the government, after it and its larger sister, Fannie Mae, were rescued to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars at the height of the crisis.

Freddie Mac said it had achieved a positive worth of $1.2 billion in the quarter after write-offs of $2.98 billion (up from $2.77 billion a year earlier) and a $500 million injection from the US Treasury late last year.

It also said it had paid a $1.6 billion quarterly dividend to the Treasury.

Non-performing assets, mainly home mortgages in default, rose to $124 billion dollars -- 6.4 percent of its total mortgage portfolio -- from $117 billion a year earlier.

"Our support of the US housing market remained steadfast during this critical period, funding one out of every four home loans originated and helping more than 62,000 struggling borrowers avoid foreclosure," said chief executive Charles Haldeman in a statement.

But he warned the US housing sector was not clearly recovering.

"Continued improvements on the employment front and in early-stage delinquencies were positive signs during the quarter, but we believe large inventories of unsold homes and a high number of distressed sales will continue to put downward pressure on home prices in many neighborhoods."

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