A 13000000000. 00 euro tax spilled a u. S. Slapped on apple that on behalf of our allies will the tech giant have to pay out doubling doesnt even want the money well talk about why. And south africa reopens good schools up despite rising coronavirus cases many of them lack basic facilities and that has people worried theyll become breeding grounds for the covert 1000 bucks. Plus flooding in bangladesh forcing more than a 1000000 people from their homes about a 3rd of the countrys now under water after some of the heaviest monsoon rains in decades forecasters are warning more rain is on the way. Im brian thomas good to have you with us today you. President donald trump has signed an executive order ending hong kongs special trading privileges he also announced sanctions against officials and banks involved in beijings crackdown on human rights in the territory china has condemned the move and says it will impose sanctions and turn on u. S. Citizens well go live to beijing after this and other escalation of tensions between the u. S. And china trump took actions against china in retaliation for its recent moves on hong kong he authorized sanctions on banks and officials involved in imposing a tough new security law that effectively terminates the semi autonomous territories unique status the u. S. Move comes to weeks after beijing pass a new law that many say represses fundamental democratic freedoms in the city the law prohibits what beijing views as subversive activities and gives the police sweeping powers to conduct searches and make arrests something the authorities made ample use of as soon as the law was passed. Trump also revoked Hong Kong Special trading status today also signed an executive order ending u. S. Preferential treatment for Hong Kong Hong kong will now be treated the same as mainland john no special privileges no special it treatment and no export of Sensitive Technology is without its privileges hong kong could lose its position as a bustling im competitive Financial Hub wiping out businesses and threatening livelihoods. As the deep freeze between the 2 superpowers shows no signs of knowing hung cons residents are left out in the cold. Lets cross over to beijing now in our correspondent that is building a good morning to you mathias how much pressure is this move by washington putting on the communist party in beijing. Well 1st of all it puts a lot of pressure on the hong kong economy hong kongs Business Model was to be part of the International Community and. Living by International Business rules but being closely aligned to china now hong kong will have to redefine its economic position china seems to see it in the future more like an offshore location for Chinese CompaniesChinese Capital started to flow into hong kong after the National Security law whereas International Businesses are cautious. Is so the communist party seems to think that it can manage this transition and keep hong kong that way these sanctions on individuals off the whole communist party of course will put pressure on some of them the us along with other western countries have been a major destination for them to send their kid children to study a siege in pings own daughter has studied in the u. S. So this might anger them but it will it will not very likely change their course a materialist beijing has responded to the move by promising retaliation what do you think we can expect. Well what beijing has done so far in response to another act that is very similar and it also targets individual stakeholders in the Chinese Government this in jump policy act was that they have issued similar sanctions on individual us politicians not this will not harm us politicians in the same way us politicians do not send their children to study in china they do not travel frequently to china they also do not bring. Their funds or their personal assets into china so this is probably not the most powerful tool that china has china could of course retaliate against american businesses in china the americas ways to do this to target them with investigations to change tariffs etc and it might also retaliate by. Not fulfilling its obligations from the trade one phase deal so far however this is not what weve seen china has Just Announced buying more agricultural got goods from the u. S. Ok that certainly is a good signal but what about the broader context where does this move leave us chinese relations. Chinese u. S. Relations are at a historical low they have never been as bad as they are now in the last past 40 years and the fact that the 2 countries my agree on selling some Agricultural Products of course does not speak to their ability to solve the problems between them because these problems they have are various their trade problems that have not been able to be that theyd both sides have not been able to tackle in this in this agreement for example talking about High Tech Corporation etc their strategic geo strategic and military problems the South China Sea for example where china has extended its. Its reach into into the sea that is bordered by several nations in South East Asia and the us and also the International Maritime court have renounced these claims by china there has been also quite a harsh statement just now also from the if u. S. Foreign ministry that says that chinas claims are illegal it reaches out to the security of taiwan which is de facto independent but claimed by china and where china is also ramping up its threats and it extends to a lot of the International Relations of china with other nations like india for example that is driven closer to the u. S. So theres a vast vast vast set of problems that both sides seem not to be able to tackle at the moment not at all thanks very much for that mathias building a for us today from beijing. Lets get you briefed on some the other stories making the news at this hour the u. S. Supreme Court JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg has been admitted to a Washington Hospital to receive treatment for a possible infection shes 87 and was one of the 4 liberals on the Supreme Court if shes replaced for Health Reasons a new trump appointee could tilt of court in a more conservative direction. Thousands of libyans have protested against the government in the positive because of Economic Hardship brought on by to over 1000 of them burned political effigies they want to thirtys to do more to reactivate the economy and its massive layoffs levy has been hard hit by the pandemic. Well should apple pay ireland 13000000000 euros in back taxes arland says no a Court Rulings due out today on that disputed will have huge implications for Corporate Taxes throughout the European Union the European Commission how to order the Irish Government to collect that money from apple from apple but both the tech giant and the Irish Government appealed. Early this year then irish Prime Minister leo varadkar and apple chief executive tim cook had an anniversary to celebrate 40 years since apple started manufacturing in r. L. And over the decades the e. U. Country in the us i phone maker have both profited from the arrangement apple gets a massive tax break but it provides employment for Multinational Companies the favorable situation in ireland is practically unrivaled in europe at the moment firms officially pay 12. 5 percent Corporate Tax in arland 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 is 0. 005 percent in 2014 when the tech giant paid just 50 euros tax on every 1000000 euros in profit. That was the last straw for e. U. Competition commissioner my creative s. Here in 2016 the European Commission ordered apple to pay arlin 13000000000 euros in back taxes but dublin and apple both appeal the ruling. With the decision coming up in a few hours lets talk with Arthur Sullivan from v. W. Business good day to yours or nice nice to see you again this ruling has major ramifications far beyond arland even beyond the e. U. Whats at stake here ok so brian on one side here you have the European Commission and its 2016 decree that apple owed the irish state 13000000000 euros in back taxes because of what they had said was a spokes sweetheart tax arrangement unique to apple which amounted to state it so if that ruling is upheld today that would be a major win for the or being commission the most powerful body and its ongoing battle to sort of crack down on tax avoidance across the block would also be a blow for apple i mean they can definitely foot the bill we know that the money is literally currently waiting in an escrow account and its 13000000000. 00 for apple isnt that much but it would be a symbolic blow for the Irish Government would also be a blow certainly to their entire tax system on the other hand if i had an apple a wind case it would be a major blow to the commissions attempts to try and crack down like i said and it may well stop them in their tracks before it really gets the kind of steam that they want to get going with this making each spend more on why this is an economic trojan horse for ireland most countries would jump on the 13000000000. 00 windfall tax profits its one of the real quirks of this story and i think its why its captured the imagination not just in ireland and also across the world really so you would think ireland is told youre old 13000000000 euros and at the moment the irish state like many states around the world are spending a fortune because of the coronavirus yet their state is quite afraid of having to actually accept this money for what it would potentially mean for its entire economic model so for the last 30 years irelands economic model has largely been based on attracting high levels of investment from abroad primarily from the United States so if a ruling today or in the future was to happen and its important to say that this ruling with no matter what happens with the appeals that will go further ok so this isnt it today no its not it today but if it was to happen that it was a negative ruling either today or in 2 years for the irish model then the ultimate cost to the irish market could be a lot more than 13000000000. 00 euros and just put that in context. The total amount of u. S. Investment in art and sound at about 340000000000. 00 euros 400000000000 dollars 1000000000 dollars thats more than it than a typical year vires g. D. P. And its more than total u. S. Investment and the middle east africa and the bric countries combined so its a major major thing for the economic model and in that context 13000000000 is not much at all ok and this is this is creating a lot of tensions inside the e. U. Ireland doesnt want to pay brussels wants to wants it to pay wants to accept the money rather and it desperately needs the cash from ireland this 13000000000 would flow back to brussels much of it to fill the loopholes that the tax the liberties creating in ireland to help pay for their Coronavirus Crisis funded 750000000000 those are the numbers were talking about right now exactly so this very week the e. U. Is having major major discussions on this. Fund so billions of yours has been spent across the block to try and recover the economies of the continent while at the same time of Companies Like apple Facebook Google receiving these very very loose tax arrangements on avoiding billions in tax the thing is that your being commission is increasingly trying to crack down on this and you have actually the potential at the moment and we just this very day gentleman in the european economy commissioner said in a piece in the Financial Times he suggested that the e. U. Is now willing to use an obscure article article 116 in the treaty a role which would mean that the e. U. Could make major decisions on taxation that it deems to affect the european Single Market without the assent of all the member steps so simply with a qualified majority so if that is to happen for the 1st time that is history it would mean the countries like ireland the netherlands belgium luxembourg they may not be able to block changes to the law on the which would mean that Corporate Tax rates could be cut across the could be increased across the board on the kind of tax ranges weve seen maybe no more so thats thats a potential thing thats been floated ok i think i think that story inside the story could be the big one shaping up moving into the future changing a Corporate Tax law tax law in the north or sullivan from the business desk thanks very much. Its to bangladesh now one 3rd of that country is now underwater after some of the heaviest months and rains in a decade at least a 1000000 people are now on the road forcing their homes by the flooding forecasters warn that major rivers are expected to rise in the coming days. Officials say the flooding began in late june after heavy rains in the northern parts of bangladesh and neighboring india. The countrys share of a 50 rivers while flooding takes place almost every year during the monsoon season this years have been particularly bad the situation in bangladesh has become die off a many especially farmers who depend on their livestock. Thats why. The floodwater is constantly rising need to we know our cattle could go out we need a small boat to do so are we having problems with food to the cooking ovens have been flooded even our beds are under water. So get over that one the floods have destroyed crops and driven people in several impoverished regions from their homes well over a 1000000 people are on the move looking for safety. Now homesteads have been flooded we had a small road out here but it got destroyed last night so were trying to salvage like rice and cones even further in the coming days. Its to south africa that country has now surpassed the u. K. In its number of confirmed coronavirus cases as the countrys president warns of court the greatest crisis in the history of its democracy south africa now has some 300000 cases schools there reopened last month and since then several 1000 teachers and students that become infected or sanitary facilities have made many of south african schools a breeding ground for the virus is adrian crease reports from the city of durban. Lisa other teachers toilets at the Elementary School in kuan yew swell the womans toilet hasnt worked for years so the female teachers have always used the students facilities which are also in a sorry state. I started working here. 25 years. This. Do you think the pits after 25 years i thought. Everything was right. And what i didnt see any change i didnt enjoy working its only that i like this rick id like to. Get on with the rich to pay. It pushes. Because id like to help these poorly. For years she has pressed the ministry of education for support. Lieberman says this new money to fix the hole of the school. Only 3 roofs were repaired last year and even then only partially visiting Teachers Union representative say the roof is not watertight and the rainy season will soon be here critics say for years south africa has suffered from massive corruption and the awarding of government contracts theres no follow up theres no upcoming theyve been meeting for their weapon that is that in our institutions you just to give people to go there do it their way or can then theres no one for chronos there afterwards to change the way that everything was done according to their broker before they paid how were they paid if if their work is not finished because you can see that its not finished trucks deliver water but not enough many tanks remain empty the union says it was irresponsible to open schools like this and with the rapid growth uncovered 19 k. Basis only 2 age groups have begun classes so far but others are to follow in the. The infrastructure of the school has been neglected for us at the moment there are only a few learners here but the teachers fear that if more learners return to school it will be impossible to follow social distancing rules. Have been no covered 9000 cases in the school so far but many parents work just an hours drive away. One of the countrys coronavirus hotspots despite repeated requests we couldnt secure an interview either with the Regional Government or the federal ministry of education. Although once lessons to continue regardless offer frustration and the pandemic. This new future. Tentative in. This country has made this the only thing we can. Use to go to school. Despite the difficult circumstances or war and his students are doing all they can to protect themselves from the coronavirus. Lets cross over now to the correspondent who put the report together for us adrian krishna running astray from cape town good day to adrian after thousands of teachers and students became infected after th