Iraqi Kurdistan, officially a federal entity of Iraq, will independently export nearly 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil through Turkey by the end of June, reported Reuters on Wednesday, raising the possibility of further tension with Baghdad, who have deemed all non-centrally approved oil sales as illegal.
Ireland on Tuesday said it was not to blame for Apple’s low U.S. tax payments and had no special rate agreement with the company, a day after the a U.S. Senate committee accused the technology giant of shielding at least $74 billion in profits from U.S. tax officials by setting up subsidiaries – which had no employees or physical offices – in Ireland.
While the spread of H7N9 virus appears to have been brought under control in China, public healthcare experts say the bird flu outbreak has cost the country’s poultry industry more than 40 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) in losses despite Beijing’s swift actions to contain the outbreak.
The new strain of bird flu is reported to have infected 130 people in mainland China since emerging in March, including 35 who died, but no cases have been detected since early May, said Chinese health minister Li Bin at a World Health Organisation meeting in Geneva yesterday.
The Italian government is reportedly considering a “generational handoff” scheme that will see older workers reduce their work hours in order to mentor younger employees at the same job, said the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, in the latest idea to bring down youth unemployment in the country, which has hit 38.4 percent despite possessing the most educated generation in its history.
Germany and Spain have signed an agreement that will place up to 5,000 young Spaniards each year in German jobs or apprenticeships, the Financial Times reported.
The deal, signed by their respective labour ministers on Tuesday, is not believed to be legally binding; but appears to act as a solution for both Spain’s chronic youth unemployment and Germany’s present shortage of skilled workers.
Cupertino-based technology giant Apple has been accused by a U.S. Senate committee of trying to find the “Holy Grail of tax avoidance” by using a “complex web of offshore entities” to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. income taxes.
Between 2009 and 2012, Apple shielded at least $74 billion in profits from U.S. tax authorities by setting up subsidiaries based ostensibly in Ireland, which had no employees or physical offices, that were run by top officials from the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, a Senate investigation unveiled on Monday.
The European Commission on Monday said China cannot be a free-rider in global trade and had to take responsibility for its conduct in global trade systems.
Speaking to the BBC, the European Union’s top trade official Karel De Gucht said China is expected to follow international trade rules with respect to dumping, subsidies and cheap capital.
A visibly angry Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Monday ordered a federal investigation to determine the source of a widespread rumour, which had claimed that the government’s social security fund was about to be shut down – causing widespread panic and a bank run at the state-owned Caixa Economica Federal bank.
Qatar has vowed to invest close to $1 billion in foreign energy infrastructure assets, reported Reuters on Monday, through the creation of a new investment fund, which will be run by three state-owned entities.
The Earth may warm at a slightly slower rate in coming decades than scientists were predicting six years ago, but the world is still likely to be in for a temperature rise of double that regarded as safe, according to a new scientific study.
