‘Silicon Six’ accused of avoiding almost $278bn in US corporation taxes over 10 years

Analysis finds Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Netflix, Apple and Microsoft averaged 18.8%, compared with 29.7% US average

The big American tech firms known as the “Silicon Six” have been accused of paying almost $278bn (£211bn) less corporate income tax in the past decade compared with the statutory rate for US companies making the same profits.

Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Netflix, Apple and Microsoft generated $11tn of revenue and $2.5tn of profits over the past 10 years.

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‘Welcome green shoots’: warm March weather gives 1.1% lift to UK retail sales

Spring sunshine boosted spending on gardening, DIY and food products, but households are still ‘prudently budgeting’ as bills rise

Warm weather in March helped give a lift to retailers despite a late Easter, with sales of gardening, DIY, food, and health and beauty products getting a boost from the spring sunshine.

Purchases for Mother’s Day also helped retail sales climb 1.1% last month, according to a British Retail Consortium-KPMG survey, keeping pace with February despite trading against a much stronger period a year before and a downturn in visitor numbers on high streets and in retail parks as more sales shifted online.

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Trump officials step up defiance over man wrongly deported to El Salvador

Administration advances new misrepresentations of US supreme court order in case of Kilmar Abrego García

The Trump administration on Monday misrepresented a US supreme court decision that compelled it to return a man wrongly deported to El Salvador, using tortured readings of the order to justify taking no actions to secure his release.

The supreme court last week unanimously ordered the administration to “facilitate” the release of Kilmar Abrego García, who was supposed to have been protected from deportation to El Salvador regardless of whether he was a member of the MS-13 gang.

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Couple arrested for breeding exotic cats in Spain – BBC

  1. Couple arrested for breeding exotic cats in Spain  BBC
  2. Spanish police pounce on exotic cat smuggling ring  DW
  3. Couple arrested for selling exotic cats including protected species like white tigers and pumas  CBS News
  4. A network of exotic animal trafficking uncovered in Spain: among those seized are animals from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia  Оперативні новини України та Світу
  5. Tigers and pumas allegedly sold in Mallorca  Majorca Daily Bulletin
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Iranian foreign minister to visit Moscow ahead of second Iran-US meeting – Reuters

  1. Iranian foreign minister to visit Moscow ahead of second Iran-US meeting  Reuters
  2. Opinion | Trump and the Atomic Ayatollah  WSJ
  3. Why Trump's nuclear talks with Iran could be far more successful than Biden's  CNBC
  4. Tehran says next round of Iran-US nuclear talks in Oman after Rome named by officials  AP News
  5. Trump says Iran must ditch ‘concept of a nuclear weapon’ ahead of more talks  Fox News
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Russia’s Palm Sunday attack against Ukraine triggers calls for more US pressure on Putin – The Hill

  1. Russia’s Palm Sunday attack against Ukraine triggers calls for more US pressure on Putin  The Hill
  2. Palm Sunday Attack Leaves Sumy Residents Doubtful of a Ukraine-Russia Cease-Fire  The New York Times
  3. Ukrainian forces 'strike Russian brigade' behind deadly missile attack on Sumy  Sky News
  4. Analysis: Trump calls Sumy missile strike a ‘mistake.’ But Russia’s war seems to be raging on exactly to Putin’s plan  CNN
  5. If Truth Becomes the Enemy of Peace, There Will Be No Peace  National Review
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US college students detained in Denmark after alleged Uber driver dispute

Two students traveling on spring break were arrested and charged with assault in Copenhagen, police say

Two American college students traveling for spring break were arrested in Copenhagen, charged with assault, and held in a Danish prison for two weeks following an alleged dispute with an Uber driver, Danish police said.

The family of Owen Ray, a 19-year-old studying at Miami University in Ohio, said he and an unnamed friend have been forced to forfeit their passports and remain in the country.

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Hungary passes constitutional amendment to ban LGBTQ+ public events, seen as a major blow to rights – CNN

  1. Hungary passes constitutional amendment to ban LGBTQ+ public events, seen as a major blow to rights  CNN
  2. Hungary Changes Constitution to Mandate Two Genders  The New York Times
  3. Hungary's parliament votes to limit rights of dual nationals and LGBTQ+ people  BBC
  4. Budapest goes 'Gray Pride' as protesters in muted tones mock Pride ban law  Le Monde.fr
  5. Hungary’s Legislation Targeting LGBTQ+ Community Leaves Hollywood Film & TV Productions In Limbo  Deadline
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Mohsen Mahdawi, Palestinian green card holder and Columbia student, detained by Ice

Mahdawi was at a naturalization interview in Vermont when he was taken in move his lawyers say is ‘retaliation’

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian green card holder and student at Columbia University, was apprehended by US immigration authorities in Vermont on Monday, according to his lawyers and a video of the incident.

Mahdawi, who was a leader of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia last spring, was arrested by Ice on Monday morning in Colchester, Vermont, while he was attending a naturalization interview, his lawyer said in a statement to the Guardian.

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Senior Labour figures call for review of Chinese investment in UK infrastructure

Government’s rapprochement with Beijing may risk national security in wake of British Steel crisis, party members say

Senior Labour figures have urged the government to review Chinese investment in UK infrastructure in the wake of theBritish Steel crisis, warning that a rapprochement with Beijing could risk national security.

Government officials insisted on Monday the country remained open to funding from Chinese companies even after a dramatic weekend during which ministers wrested control of the Scunthorpe steelmaking plant from the Chinese owners, Jingye.

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The Trump administration trapped a wrongly deported man in a catch-22

The US says it can’t aid in his return as he’s in El Salvador; El Salvador says to help would be like ‘smuggling’ him back

It is difficult to find a term more fitting for the fate of the Maryland father Kilmar Abrego García than Kafkaesque.

Abrego García is one of hundreds of foreign-born men deported under the Trump administration to the Cecot mega-prison in El Salvador as part of a macabre partnership with the self-declared “world’s coolest dictator”, Nayib Bukele.

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