She was put in prison for protesting the kremlins crackdown on socalled game propaganda tonight she shares her story with us. Golf its good to have you with us it is a major win for the Irish Government the tech giant apple and for Companies Looking to do business here in europe today accord struck down a 2016 decision by the European Union that ordered apple had to pay the Irish Government 13000000000 euros in back taxes it was money that ireland did not even want ireland take the case to europe the 2nd highest court has long denied that its tax arrangements with apple amounts to illegal state aid the European Commission is expected to appeal todays rule. To the European Court of justice. The ruling hands a big legal victory to apple the e. U. General court said the e. U. Commission did not succeed in showing that the tech giant had received an illegal economic advantage in ireland over its low taxes the decision is a major blow to Competition Commission moderator vested his efforts to crack down on low tax regimes in the block. The commission fully behind the objectivity that all companies should pay their fair share of tax if Member States give certain Multinational CompaniesTax Advantages not available to their rivals this harms the fair competition in the e. U. The e. U. Commission has 2 months time to decide if it wants to challenge the ruling in need use highest court the core of the problem is that the e. U. Does not have one common tax code at the moment firms officially pay 12. 5 percent Corporate Tax in ireland thats compared with the e. U. Average of 21. 3 percent officially companies in germany have to cough up at least 30 percent. That alone has attracted Many Companies to ireland and in fact apple paid far less tax at times for example as little as 0. 005 percent in 2014 when the tech giant paid just 50 euros tax on every 1000000 euros in profit its the 2nd ruling that the e. U. Commission has lost last year the institution lost a case against starbucks which was accused of owing 30000000. 00 euros in back taxes to the netherlands it all shows how difficult it is to crack down on cases of alleged Corporate Tax avoidance. Every morning on the big table by Clifford Coonan from b. W. Business clifford everyone knows that ireland when youre talking about the european you know ireland is the place to go for a low Corporate Tax rate so this decision where does it leave the European Commission in its fight against tax avoidance when its a major setback i think when we you know when we saw a couple years ago 4 years ago to have the unit initial finding we thought that it looked like it was going to pay the money back and since then now that the European Court has very definitely said. That it doesnt have to theres another stage in this we have to sort of counter and jews of thing where we have the Irish Government joining apple in defending it which seems strange but to think about its reputation. Has tried to capitalize on this reputation as a low tax environment because its a small country in a big block and it needs to find ways to compete within this block it doesnt have the manufacturing of germany or the or of france so it has to it has to find its way to compete so that if the Irish Government had demanded that back tax money you could have basically said goodbye to future. Deals headquarters being put in ireland i think so i mean i think that stuff why they were so they have to kind of go along with apple because otherwise you know no ones going to look at our land i mean its an attractive investment place in many ways beyond the tax rate but the tax rate is a definitely a big sweetener what do you think the repercussions are going to be across europe and im thinking about you know our lives next door neighbor. Britain i think this is a very interesting after breakfast and is the only English Speaking country left in the e. U. Really. Going to malta and so i think a lot of people i think theres definitely has to be an element that to keep on and on side and keep it in the block its going to have to be allowed to keep this tax regime even though the germans particularly hated the french dont like it on the has been pressured to change it but i think its the kind of thing that theyre going to theyre going to allow are going to keep particularly as britain is most likely is very likely to try and compete with a. Arland for a low tax English Speaking. For investment so if thats the reality on the ground what does it mean then for this story because we know theres probably going to be an appeal so its not the end of the affair its not the end of the affair but unsee how the appeal goes but definitely its a big setback also everything has changed because of the coronavirus you know i mean what was competition competition rules dont mean the same thing now we have the big lufthansa bailout there while ago that ryanair was an Irish Company was complaining about because they said. So i think its going to be interesting to see how develops clifford couldnt from the business that is always thank you. Or russian lawmakers have begun the process of formally outlawing same sex marriages theyve submitted draft legislation to explicitly ban gay marriage and adoptions including those by transgender people the changes were championed as part of president putins constitutional reforms which russians voted overwhelmingly to support earlier this month its part of the kremlins widening crackdown on the rights. Behind this barbed Wire Activists whove dared to publicly criticize the kremlins policies. One of them is honest. She spent 15 days in whats officially called special detention facility number 2 her crime protesting the trial of an l g b t activist. The activist is charged with spreading homo sexual propaganda after publishing an image of gay couples accompanied by the subtitle family is where love is. In some cities people took to the streets to support the activist. Who was among them. That landed her behind bars. In the Detention Center i lay on the floor and cried i was desperate because the accusations against me were false but the arrest report says for instance that i took part in a mass protest with 50 people that ended in 5 30 pm. I was in fact alone in this house but then hour later the judge just ignores. Your block but there are many others like anastasio who have suffered from what seems to be openly arbitrary policing russia has been rocked for months by waves of intimidation of political critics but it doesnt seem to be doing the kremlin any harm in a referendum to change the constitution to allow president Vladimir Putin to potentially stay in office until 2036 passed overwhelmingly with an official 78 percent of votes. The results seem to have emboldened putin. Here in moscow last week dozens of people protested in individual Single Person protests against the arrest of a journalist many ended up detained themselves. Single person protests do not require a police permit. Yet human rights observers say that in the last 4 and a half weeks 270 russians have been arrested for demonstrating peacefully. This is the states answer to the civil courage of its citizens who dare to resist restrictive and repressive measures as citizens are showing their rage and the state oppressors them for it. All of this for silencing of political activists the jailing of government critics and of protesters is nothing new but what is striking is that such cases are becoming increasingly frequent again yet activists like i understand you have refused to let these repressive tactics shut them down. Its it is aiming at me that if we dont organize ourselves to have some influence over the situation if we dont decisively say no to even i dont want to see it then nothing will change then well be stuck in prison cells again after our statements our posts are like some tweets. This week the police cracked down again with maximum force when protesters gathered outside a Detention Center and moscow. Heres a look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world u. S. Secretary of state says new sanctions against a russian gas pipeline isnt project there in the works the same would penalize firms that helped construct the nord stream to pipeline the troubled ministrations says the pipeline which runs from russia to germany would make europe more dependent on Russian Energy new satellite images show that ethiopia has started filling its controversial grand renaissance dam on the nile river the move is likely to spark protests from both egypt and sudan which depend on water from the talks between the 3 countries ended in deadlock earlier this week flooding is continuing to take its toll on northeastern india is a psalm state over 2000000 people have been displaced there the floods also inundated most of causing wrong a National Park which is home to rare rhino species iran says at least 7 ships have been damaged in a blaze that broke out at a shipyard in the southern port of blue share there have been a string of unexplained fires and explosions at military nuclear and industrial sites across the country since late june. Police in germanys black forest are still searching for a man who disarmed 4 officers at gunpoint in the scaped with their weapons. They say they are looking into a manifesto that could possibly have been written by the 31 year old suspect he fled into the woods near the southwestern town of open now after dissolving the officers on sunday passers by had alerted police to a man who they said was wearing camouflage and carrying a bow and arrow. Gluco is in open now to give us his update the black forest in the southwestern corner of germany is known for its spooky tales and now they have a true one since sunday hundreds of heavily Armed Police Officers have been combing this wooded mountainous region for a local man they say is armed and dangerous thats after a routine encounter with him by 4 Police Officers in this small town of open l. Ended with those officers handing over their Service Weapons when they said he pulled a pistol on them and they felt threatened and needed to deescalate the situation he said to have run off with their weapons and possibly some of his own into the nearby woods where hes been ever since investigators say he knows the woods very well its like a 2nd home they call him a loner a social outcast and he himself is alleged to have written perhaps a manifesto that calls for an end to relying on technology and getting back in touch with nature in the woods around you now police are looking for him but theyve so far come up with nothing and they say theyll keep on looking for him they have the patience and the resources to do it even as they say theyre going to be reducing their visible presence and continuing the hunt in the background. Reporting from the black forest in germany. Well this week on conflict zone t w sara kelly confronts the zimbabwean foreign minister over 8 coronavirus scandal the countrys recently fired Health Minister is facing prison time after being accused of illegally awarding a huge contract to a company that so the government expensive spacemen these masks were apparently costing the government 28. 00 per mask theres been public uproar over that hes facing 15 years in prison if convicted will your citizens see real consequences well that is exactly the testimony all for how the and the corruption drive in this country is operating because they he has been arrested and he has been charged and therefore it means. And what it means vent has. No no no its not being caught and released remember this is justice in this country hes going to appear in court and of the evidence is going to be presented and then it to be up to the judiciary. To convict him or not but thats does not it is not the disposability of of of this that i believe. You can watch the full interview right here in about 15 minutes or you can watch it online to d. W. Dot com slash conflict zone. Youre watching the news heres a reminder of our top story of this hour the European Union court has ruled that the tech giant apple does not have to pay ireland 13000000000. 00 euros in back taxes the European Commission had pursued the case says it has yet to decide whether to appeal to the European Court of justice youre watching news from berlin ill be back at the top of the hour with more will be used followed by the day i think to see event. Combating the pandemic. Where does research stand. What are scientists learning