An auction of memorabilia belonging to Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Berman has been scrapped by authorities after claims the items were stolen from the family. … Read More
Afghanistan – Radio station technician and host murdered in Kapisa Valley
Reporters Without Borders is saddened to learn that the body of Mohammad Hassin Hashemi, a 30-year-old employee of local radio Nadjhrab in the northeastern Kapisa Valley, was found near his home yesterday, 18 days after he disappeared. Hashemi was apparently shot in the head the day after he went missing. His body also bore the marks of blows. “We offer our condolences to his family and fellow workers, and we urge the authorities to establish the circumstances of his murder,” Reporters (…) … Read More
Apple accused of $74bn US tax evasion
The investigation has uncovered a sophisticated scheme involving the creation of an international web of subsidiaries, reports the New York Times. The US Senate in a report blamed Ireland of being a tax haven for the computer maker. In particular the US government condemned Apple’s Irish tax arrangements, which in its view allow the company to lawfully avoid billions in US taxes.Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore said the issue with the two Irish subsidiaries allegedly helping Apple to avoid US taxes arose from other jurisdictions and not the Irish tax system, adding the Irish tax system is “very transparent”.The reports claim the computer maker has shielded around $74 billion in profits over the past four years from the US tax authorities through subsidiaries including two in Ireland. According to the Senate, Apple instead of taking a traditional path of opening accounts in offshore zones, created a chain of subsidiaries, which had no signs of physical presence. These companies officially registered in offshore zones like Ireland had no staff apart from top executives. Each of these companies being an offshore entity was free from taxes as well as the obligation to file tax returns.”Apple wasn’t satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven. Apple successfully sought the holy grail of tax avoidance. It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars while claiming to be tax resident nowhere,” said Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations which is holding Apple’s hearing.Apple has so far denied claims of tax evasion in its testimony saying that the current legislation “has not kept pace with the advent of the digital age and the rapidly changing global economy.” The tech giant argues that as 61 percent of the company’s revenue last year came from international sales, foreign funds are needed for expansion, promotion and competition. The iPad and iPhone maker claims that the US system claims too much from the business – 35 percent of the income, hence the company has to keep much of its funds abroad. In 2012 Apple contributed nearly $6 billion in taxes to the US economy. Apple has become the latest target of the Senate committee led by Democrat Carl Levin and Republican John McCain on investigating tax avoidance by US multinational companies. Other global companies are also in tax avoidance disputes. Google, Starbucks and Amazon are among them, and they have also fallen under suspicion of the UK parliament, which is currently checking their tax integrity. … Read More
Report: Adam Kokesh to be Charged With “Assaulting a Federal Officer”
The video below from a supporter confirms that Kokesh has been charged with felony assault of an officer and that he will not be allowed bail because of “a possibility of a history of excessive drug use.” … Read More
E.On Russia to transfer 100% of 2012’s net profit into dividends
The company has recommended a dividend of 0.29 roubles per share for 2012, worth 18.3 billion roubles ($583 million), General Director Maxim Shirokov said on Friday.E.On Russia also plans to pay its shareholders 40-60 percent of its earnings under IFRS international accounting standards over the medium-term.According to Kommersant daily, German E.On needs money to compensate for the losses the company suffered after the German authorities pledged to turn their back on nuclear energy in favor of green energy. E.On is terminating the operation of the nuclear power plant it owns.The growing share of renewable energy sources and weak demand from industry have significantly reduced the profitability of the German company’s gas division.E.ON Russia’s payment of dividends will become the first time when foreign investors will get dividends from assets purchased during the split of RAO UES of Russia. Several Russian energy producers can boast dividends exceeding 1 billion roubles ($32 million). Others include RusHydro and Mosenergo. The Russian subsidiary of the German company has increased its energy production by 2.78 percent in 2012, according to the Finam business news agency. The increase is mainly due to the expansion of the Surgutskaya GRES-2 power plant – the largest power station in Russia. Two new 400MW units were commissioned to meet the energy requirements of the city of Surgut and Western Siberia, and have increased the existing capacity of the power station by 800MW, to 5,600MW. Investment in the expansion project is estimated at €2.8 billion.E.ON is the largest buyer of Russian gas and also the largest foreign investor in Russia. The expansion programme is part of the company’s investment programme aimed at increasing the clean energy production to 2,400MW.Total power generating capacity of E.ON Russia exceeds one billion watts. The company includes five hydroelectric power plants (Surgutskaya GRES-2, Berezovskaya GRES, Shaturskaya GRES, Smolenskaya GRES and Yajvinskaya GRES) and «Heat networks of Berezovskaya GRES», delivering energy to consumers in the region surrounding the plant. … Read More
Rice seeds sown in former Fukushima evacuation zone
The first sowing was on Saturday in Tamura’s Miyakojimachi district which had been part of the Fukushima evacuation zone- where locals are still banned from staying overnight. Three farms have plans to seed six hectares.Immediately following the accident, the area was completely sealed off, but day-visits without authorization became possible in April last year.Local farmer Tsuboi Hisao reported “some honest anxiety,” to the Okinawa Times as he laid one of the first seedlings in the ground.Because locals are banned from remaining in the area overnight, Hisao is concerned about having to leave his temporary base to tend his crops at 4.a.m. and is pessimistic about whether he will be able to keep it up.“I want to ask the municipal authorities to allow me to stay at my own house for several days a week,” Hisao told the Japan Times. Farmers will use fertilizer containing potassium on the crops, in order to counterbalance any remaining radioactive caesium which could be absorbed by the plants. The radioactive isotope of caesium is produced through the nuclear fission of the element and has a half-life of 30 years, making it extremely toxic.In January, it was reported that levels of caesium in seafood around the disaster area had not decreased since 2011. The same month, a fish was caught at a port in the area which contained over 2,500 times Japan’s legal limit for radiation.All of the rice will be monitored for radiation levels prior to shipment across the country.The 9.0 earthquake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami and caused nuclear meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant killed at least 16,000 people.A further 87,000 people within a 20km-radius of the plant were forced to evacuate their homes because of the possibility of radiation poisoning.In the effort to rid the Tamura region of its high radioactivity, buildings had been doused with high-pressure water, and earth and plants have been removed from the affected areas.Levels in the Miyakoji district were reported to be as high as 0.7 μSv/h (micro Sieverts per hour) in March by Global Post – three times the eventual government target of 0.23 μSv/h.Workers spent time drilling into the earth, put it in waste sacks, and adding a new layer of topsoil from non-contaminated areas.By Monday, readings for Miyakoji from Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority stood at 0.182μSv/h, meaning that the area was below government targets, at 15.95 mSv/y (milli-Sieverts per year).The average human being absorbs around 2.4 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation a year from nature and their surroundings.In comparison, Chernobyl’s Monday radiation levels stood at 0.19 μSv/h. Ukranian officials last year began to consider growing crops in the 30 – km evacuation zone around the site of the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster.During Chernobyl, a total exposure of 0.35 sieverts (350 millisieverts) was used as the relocation threshold. At Fukushima, the dose was much lower, with radiation exposure of between 3–170 μSv/h being measured within 30km of the plant.Among the former exclusion zones, Miyakojimachi is the only district where decontamination has been completed, and the reintroduction of life to the area has been a slow process, with the first school opening last August, alongside permission being granted for visits to family graves. … Read More
Teargas v stones, bottles: Hundreds of protesters clash with Turkish police near Syrian border
Protesters waved red banners, and lobbed stones and bottles at the officers as the intensity of Saturday’s clashes escalated. Riot police made attempts to disperse the crowds, marching in solidarity with the victims of last week’s attacks. Police prevented the protesters from reaching the center of the town, where the bombs exploded by the city hall and post office. Pockets of the marchers also clamored for a change of government as many people in the town are angry at the government’s response to the attack. They also blame Turkish authorities for decision to take in Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict in their country, saying it has made them a target for attacks. Barriers were broken down, with some detained, and others suffering injuries, according to a local tweet.The parade began with more than 1,000 participants. Local reports stated that the count could have even stood at over 10,000. However, it quickly fragmented, with the number of attendees dwindling to the hundreds. The clashes calmed down after approximately an hour.Last Saturday’s fatal car bombs in Hatay province on the Turkey-Syria border also injured a further 100 when they exploded outside a community hall and a post office in the center of town of Reyhanli. A third, unconnected explosion – likely an accident – also took place in a building containing some Syrian refugees.Residents of the town harbored frustration at the government’s immediate response, also saying that the country shouldn’t be accommodating refugees from Syria.Turkey had been quick to blame Syria for the devastating attacks, with Ankara warning it would take“all retaliatory measures necessary,” raising the prospect of an escalation in the conflict.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came in for criticism for traveling to the United States this week, instead of visiting the town to display support in the wake of its tragedy.Immediately following the blasts, approximately 100 of the city’s residents took to the streets outside Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, calling for Erdogan’s resignation and accusing him of a failed policy towards Syria which they believe led to the assault. … Read More
