i m ashleigh banfield. good to have ali here all week. in the battle over the bush-era tax cuts, playing politics with your takehome pay and nothing hort of the presidency is on the line here. if the two parties can t agree on extending those tax cuts by the end of the year, a typical american family making $70,000 a year could get hit with a tax increase of $3,000. that is a lot of pain. right now house republicans are busy crafting a plan to extend those tax cuts for everyone across the board rich, poor and everything in between. this is a plan that cannot get through the democratic-controlled senate. the president making a big push to let those tax cuts expire for the wealthiest of us americans. here s what s at stake. we ve got the bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year. and i feel very strongly that the middle class tax cuts, which would affect 98% of americans, should be extended further. now is not the time for a tax increase on the middle clas
bales is the suspect in the killing deaths of afghan civilians. there s no explanation so far why he could face 17 murder charges. bales is being held in a military prison in the u.s. the u.s., france, and other countries are condemning the overthrow of the government in mali. there s been no sign of mali s president since renegade soldiers staged the coup on thursday. the borders are closed. those are the top stories from cnn, the world s news leader. i m zain verjee and world business today starts now. good morning, from cnn london, i m nina dos santos. and good afternoon from cnn hong kong, i m andrew stevens. you re watching world business today. and the top stories this friday, march the 23rd. the u.s. president talks up his energy policies throwing his support behind part of a controversial oil pipeline. hong kong s top job goes to a vote this weekend, but a string of scandals has turned this election on its head. and fans line up for the hunger games.