Trump's claim of Irish corporate tax cut is 'fake news', says prime minister
Leo Varadkar denies plans to cut rate from 12.5% to 8%
President is proposing to cut US corporation tax to 20%
The taoiseach, Leo Varadkar: ‘Our corporate profit tax is 12.5 percent%,
has been for a very long time through changes of government, through
recessions and through periods of growth.’
Photograph: Niall Carson/PA
The Irish prime minister has accused Donald Trump
of peddling “fake news” after the US president wrongly claimed that
Ireland plans to further reduce its much-criticised 12.5% corporation
tax.
Trump angered Irish officials with his comments at a White House briefing on Monday, in which he alleged that Ireland was going to cut the tax on corporations such as Apple, Google and Facebook to 8%.
“I hear that Ireland is going to be reducing their corporate rates down to 8% from 12,” Trump told reporters.
But the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, denied the allegation during prime minister’s questions in the Dail (Irish parliament) on Wednesday.
“I can confirm that President Trump’s claim that we are proposing to
reduce our corporation profit tax to 8% is indeed fake news. There is no
such plan to do so,” Varadkar said in response to a parliamentary
question.
Ireland’s low 12.5% corporation tax has been used as key fiscal
policy to attract some of the world’s largest multinationals to the
country.
The likes of Apple, Microsoft and other mainly US corporations flock
to Ireland to use it as a beachhead into the European market. But fellow
EU states such as France have criticised the 12.5% rate, accusing the
Irish of bribing multinationals with low-tax sweeteners. Successive Irish governments have robustly defended the 12.5% rate, arguing that it has created hundreds of thousands of jobs through foreign direct investment.
In response to the latest criticism of the tax rate from across the
Atlantic, Varadkar said: “Our corporate profit tax is 12.5%, has been
for a very long time through changes of government, through recessions
and through periods of growth, and it is as much that certainty that is
as important to business as anything else.”
Trump has argued that the United States should reduce corporation tax
at home to 20% to stop the flight of American multinationals, often
from the hi-tech or big pharma sectors, from relocating to Ireland.
The United States has also recently come under criticism in Northern
Ireland over plane-making giant Boeing’s attempt to have import tariffs
imposed on rival Bombardier because the latter receives state support.
Boeing’s legal actions in the US have put in peril up to 2,000 jobs
in Bombardier’s Belfast plant which manufactures the wings for its
C-series jets.
The extraordinary past of the international criminal "Living dangerously" 2017
An Estonian criminal caught in Dublin with a list of Hutch associates
previously went on the run from police; spent 13 years in a Soviet
prison; and led one of the bloodiest gang wars in Eastern European
history.
Imre Arakas, nicknamed The Butcher, is currently being questioned at a
Dublin garda station over his connections to the Kinahan crime cartel.
On Tuesday armed gardaí stormed a house in Blakestown, West Dublin
where they discovered 58-year-old Arakas and two other known associates
of the Kinahan gang.
Gardaí suspect that the 58-year-old was being
primed for a series of attacks on the rival Hutch gang. Yesterday
Independent.ie revealed that detectives attached to the Drugs and
Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) also found a list of Hutch associates and
disguises.
It sounds like a plot from a Hollywood gangster movie but
Independent.ie can reveal that it is just the latest chapter in a
colourful criminal career that has spanned four decades and the entire
continent.
We can also reveal Arakas:
Led Soviet police on an 87 day manhuntSpent 15 years in maximum security prisons behind the Iron CurtainDuring the 1990s he was a senior member of a Tallinn gang who led a bloody war against the Russian mafiaWas convicted in 2011 over a bizarre plot to fake the murder of a senior businessmanWas questioned by police after a media mogul was targeted with a Molotov cocktailAnd admitted recently that he “continues to live dangerously”
Hailing from Estonian capital Tallinn, Arakas is not your typical career criminal.
Journalist
Tarmo Vahter, who has written extensively on the subject for Ekspress
newspaper, said Arakas first came to the attention of authorities in
1977, aged just 18.
88Imre Arakas (Image: Tiit Blaat/Delfi/Ekspress Meedia)
The aspiring actor, who was interested in art in school, was caught
painting anti-communist graffiti on a number of buildings and a police
van in the capital city ahead of the November 7 Russian Revolution
anniversary.
He was quite good looking and he was a boxer and an artist
He was convicted of the offence but avoided jail after one of his
teachers spoke up for him in court and he was sentenced to two years in
prison with conditional discharge.
Arakas later attempted to get into acting college but narrowly missed out and instead decided to flee the Soviet Union.
Along with his friend they got hold of a small boat and their plan
was to travel by sea to Sweden. However the plan hit a fairly
significant stumbling block when their motor failed a short distance
into their journey.
“It was Soviet made, so it was always going to fail,” joked Mr Vahter.
Not put off by this initial setback Arakas decided to try again. This
time he believed that if he was going to escape he would need a weapon
because armed Soviet border guards were patrolling the seaside. And so
he and two friends decided to rob a police sports club, which was a
shooting gallery.
In the course of the robbery one of the raiders
kicked an old woman who was working in the gallery at the time.
Nevertheless they escaped with 13 pistols and over a thousand rounds of
ammunition.
Imre Arakas - archived image from 1979
“It was a very serious and dangerous crime in the Soviet Union,” Mr
Vahter said. “At the start the Soviet police had no idea who did it. It
happened before a Supreme court election and investigators thought it
was maybe a terrorist attack.”
Following a tip-off police tracked down Arakas and his accomplices.
However,
he escaped their grasp again just days later when he fled from a court
hearing through the streets of Tallinn. The court was located in
Stenbock house, which is now the Estonian Prime Minister's office.
During his daring escape Arakas jumped eight metres from a hill and managed to evade the police.
The
escape and subsequent 87-day manhunt elevated Arakas to cult-hero
status in his native Estonia and today many people still view him as a
“Robin Hood character”.
“He was quite good looking and he was a
boxer and an artist. It’s very unusual because he was not a typical
criminal at all,” Mr Vahter explained.
The KGB and Soviet police were afraid that Arakas may target the
highest Communist party official in Estonia and his photo was published
in newspapers and on television. He became well-known and recognised.
Eventually he was captured and given the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Because there were no maximum security jails in Estonia at the time
he spent the majority of this time in Russia alongside some of the most
dangerous criminals from across the massive state.
“I think that
he has seen in his life a lot of things. A lot of things that ordinary
people have not seen and would not want to see.
“It was a terrible
time in prison in the 1990s and the 1980s. A lot of people were killed
and Arakas survived. It was a very tough time and he survived. He is a
survivor. I think that he has a lot of experiences.”
He went into prison in 1979 a bright-eyed boy but he came out a hardened criminal 13 years later.
In
1990 Arakas was sent from Russia, with other Estonian prisoners back to
Estonia. He was in Rummu prison, where during one year 52 prisoners
were killed. Not all of them were his friends, but 45 of them were
personally known by Arakas.
“It was like war,” he said during an interview.
Some Estonian politicians started to call for Arakas release, because
of his anti-Soviet past. One of the politicians was his former
classmate Mart Laar, who has served twice as Estonian PM.
Arakas was released in the summer of 1992.
Tallinn had changed dramatically - the Berlin Wall had come down and Estonia was now an independent state.
However some of the remnants of the Soviet era remained, including its criminal gangs.
Post
Times journalist Joosep Vark said Arakas quickly found himself in the
middle of one of the largest gang wars in European history.
“There
was a Russian mafia in Estonia but the ethnic Estonian mafia wanted to
push them out. Arakas was part of the ethnic Estonian mafia, he was one
of their leaders.”
Are you still living dangerously? I ask. 'Maybe a little yes,' Arakas responds.
Mr Vark said over 100 people were killed in the bloody feud and Arakas narrowly escaped death on several occasions.
In
late October 1997 five bullets were shot at him but none landed. Arakas
then shot the gunman three times in the back but the shooter managed to
flee and was never located.
Arakas spent just a short time in prison from December 1996 to March 1997 after he was convicted of possessing illegal firearms.
At
the turn of the century, with most of his gangland associates now dead
or serving lengthy terms in prison, Arakas left Estonia and set up home
in Marbella Spain.
But he wasn’t safe here either and in December 2001, his car was shot at.
The
Estonian was hit several times but managed to flee in his vehicle. Four
Estonians were charged and two of them were jailed, Mr Vark said.
Five
years later Arakas was back in the headlines again when a Molotov
cocktail exploded in a home connected to a well-known media business
owner in Estonia.
Arakas was arrested in connection with the crime but was not tried.
However
in 2011 he was again back in the familiar surroundings of Tallinn court
house charged in relation to a bizarre murder plot.
The now
50-year-old gangster was accused of staging a murder attempt on a
businessman in a bid to get the businessman’s partner jailed.
The unusual plan backfired when police got wind of the details and Arakas was arrested alongside the businessman.
He
was convicted in December 2012 in Tallinn and was sentenced to 14
months in prison. However it was a conditional discharge and because of
this he was not sent to prison.
Over the last number of years
Arakas has lived in Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain and is regularly
spotted at court hearings in his native Estonia.
Latest
intelligence suggest that he is connected to an East European organised
crime group in Spain but has connections to a number of international
crime groups including the Kinahan crime cartel.
Despite his
criminal background Arakas continues to court the limelight and even
featured on an award-winning advertisement (below) for the Ekspress
newspaper. The ad featured a picture of Arakas under the headline “There
are people, with whom you are afraid to speak. We will do it for you”.
Mr Vahter has spoken to Arakas on a number of occasions and in
one telling interview in 2015 he asked the gangster what he did for a
living.
“I got the answer: ‘I will not tell it now.’
“He tells me, that he has enough money, to live, how he likes.
“I ask him: ‘How would you like to live?’
“He said: ‘I am very lazy.’
“’Are you still living dangerously?’ I ask.
’Maybe a little yes,’ Arakas responds.”
Online Editors
mardi 29 novembre 2016
Trump picks Chao for Transportation, Price for HHS
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump made two Cabinet selections on Tuesday, choosing fierce Obamacare critic Georgia Rep. Tom Price to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and Elaine Chao, who served in the Cabinet of George W. Bush, to serve as the secretary of the Department of Transportation.
Trump announced his choice of Price, while the selection of Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, was confirmed by a person with knowledge of the decision but not authorized to speak publicly.
Price is “exceptionally qualified” to lead an effort to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s health care law, Trump said in a statement. The president-elect’s transition team did not immediately respond to questions about the congressman’s past commitment to transform Medicare into a voucher-like system, a position at odds with Trump’s repeated campaign promises not to cut the popular health care program that serves an estimated 57 million people.
“Chairman Price, a renowned physician, has earned a reputation for being a tireless problem solver and the go-to expert on health care policy, making him the ideal choice to serve in this capacity,” Trump said.
Chao led the Department of Labor for several years under Bush.
U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., a fierce critic of Obamacare, has been picked to run the Department of Health and Human Services. | AP Photo
The president-elect appeared to still be torn over his choice for secretary of state. He summoned former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to New York for dinner Tuesday night to discuss the post for a second time. He was also meeting with Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who is getting new attention from Trump’s team. On Monday, Trump spent an hour with retired Gen. David Petraeus, another contender.
Trump’s decision to consider Romney for the powerful Cabinet post has sparked a public backlash from some of his closest aides and allies. Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has warned that it would be a “betrayal” to Trump supporters if he selected Romney, who was a severe critic of the president-elect during the campaign.
Even as he weighed crucial Cabinet decisions, Trump appeared distracted by outside issues — or eager to create distractions himself. He took to Twitter early Tuesday to declare that “nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag.” He warned that those who do should face “perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!”
Trump offered no context for his message. The Supreme Court has ruled that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment.
The president-elect spent the weekend tweeting his opposition to recount efforts in up to three states led by Green Party candidate Jill Stein and joined by Hillary Clinton’s team. He also falsely claimed that millions of people had voted illegally in the presidential election and provided no evidence to back up the charge.
Trump won praise from Republicans Tuesday for his pick of Price to serve as health and human services secretary. A six-term congressman and orthopedic surgeon, Price has been a leading critic of Obama’s health care law. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be a leading figure in Republican efforts to repeal the measure.
Incoming Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Price “has proven to be far out of the mainstream of what Americans want” for programs that help seniors, women, families and those with disabilities. His nomination, Schumer said, is “akin to asking the fox to guard the henhouse.”
Trump’s team also announced Tuesday that Seema Verma has been chosen to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Jason Miller, a transition team spokesman, said at least one other Cabinet post would be announced in the afternoon. He did not elaborate.
Transition aides said Trump was likely at least a few days away from a decision on secretary of state. Romney has support from Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is heading the transition effort.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a loyal Trump ally, was initially seen as the leading contender to helm the State Department. But questions about his overseas business dealings, as well as his public campaigning for the job, have given Trump pause.
Trump is now said to be considering Giuliani to head the Homeland Security Department, according to those close to the transition process.
Fourth quarter - Penn State 31, Michigan State 12.
No. 7 Penn State is hosting Michigan State and hoping for its 10th win. More importantly, the Nittany Lions can win the Big Ten East with a victory following Ohio State's win over Michigan. ESPN has the telecast, and we'll have live updates and scoring here on Bleacher Report.
One of the most bitter rivalries in college football is revived Saturday when Auburn travels to Tuscaloosa to take on the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl.
Head coachNick Saban's Tide have won the past two meetings and four of the last five. The only one of those they didn't come away with was the historic "Kick Six" victory by the Tigers in 2013.
Keep it right here for all your scoring and live-blogging action.
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