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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Google moved 15.9 billion euros ($19.2 billion) to a Bermuda shell company in 2016, saving it billions of dollars in taxes that year, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, quoting regulatory filings in the Netherlands. Google uses two structures, known as a “Double Irish” and a “Dutch Sandwich”, to shield the majority of its international profits from taxation, Bloomberg reported. “The setup involves shifting revenue from one Irish subsidiary to a Dutch […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday expressed his concern over unrest in Iran during a telephone conversation with counterpart Hassan Rouhani and called for “restraint and appeasement,” his office said. Macron brought up “the number of victims from the demonstrations,” and the two leaders also decided to postpone French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit to Tehran this week to a later date, the Elysee said. The two leaders’ conversation came after […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron will raise human rights issues with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan when they meet next Friday, the Elysee said on Saturday. Erdogan’s visit to France comes as he faces widespread criticism over a far-reaching crackdown against opponents linked to last year’s failed coup attempt, which has seen the arrest of opposition politicians, journalists and activists, and led to accusations of human rights abuses. The meeting “will be an opportunity […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont on Saturday demanded Madrid reinstate his regional government, which was deposed after an independence referendum that Spanish courts judged illegal, as part of a political settlement. “As president, I demand the Spanish government and those who support it… restore all they have expropriated from the Catalans without their say-so,” Puigdemont said from Brussels as he called on Madrid to “negotiate politically.” Puigdemont’s administration followed up the October 1 […]
by Briseida MEMA Agence France-Presse TIRANA, Albania (AFP) – It is Albania’s national symbol, but the eagle may soon only be found on the flag. The majestic bird is threatened with extinction due to widespread poaching of raptors. On the side of a national motorway, just 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of the capital Tirana, a vendor offers motorists a common buzzard for an average price of 7,000-10,000 leks (55-85 euros, $65-100). The buzzard is a protected […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Top Italian chef Massimo Bottura, whose Osteria Francescana was named the world’s best restaurant last year, is in talks to open a community kitchen in Paris that would serve the homeless and other people in need. “Discussions are underway to set up a canteen in the basement of the Madeleine Church,” Jean-Francois Rial, chief executive of the group Voyageurs du Monde, told AFP Thursday. “It is still just a project, nothing […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called an explosion that tore through a Saint Petersburg supermarket, wounding 13 people, “an act of terror.” “As you know, an act of terror took place in Saint Petersburg yesterday,” he said at a meeting of military officers in the Kremlin. The homemade bomb went off in a locker at the supermarket on Wednesday evening, officials said. Anna Mityanina, vice governor of Saint Petersburg, […]
by Patrick Rahir Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Despite taking fire for losing a snap election in Catalonia, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faces the new year better equipped to block a separatist drive in the wealthy region, analysts said. His detractors have called the results of the December 21 election, which saw separatist parties hold on to their majority in the Catalan parliament, a “fiasco” and a “rout” for Rajoy, in power since 2011. Pro-independence parties failed […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The United States and Germany urged China to free an outspoken government critic known as “Super Vulgar Butcher” on Wednesday after he was sentenced to eight years in prison. Wu Gan, who refused to plead guilty to charges of “subverting state power,” was on Tuesday handed one of the harshest punishments meted out to a group of lawyers and activists swept up in a major crackdown two years ago. “The embassies […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Former US President Barack Obama told Britain’s Prince Harry he was concerned social media was “corroding civil discourse,” in what he said was his first interview since leaving the White House, aired Wednesday. “One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities,” he told the prince, who was guest editing BBC Radio 4’s Today program. “They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their […]
