Tomorrow's newspaper online. 07-15-2013 | Sp

The set-up is typical of swathes of U.S. companies using Ireland to cut their tax bill. A Reuters analysis of Irish and U.S. filings shows that more than 40 percent of the S&P 500 have registered subsidiaries in the country.

That nexus, which has created over 100,000 jobs for Ireland, was laid bare when the U.S. Senate revealed that technology giant Apple had paid little or no tax on tens of billions of dollars in profits channeled through the country.

Ireland, which has courted U.S. business for decades, rejects the Senate's claims that it is a tax haven, but the case has damaged its reputation as it seeks to emerge from an EU-IMF bailout and its export-focused economy dips back into recession.

Company documents in Ireland and filings in the United States shows that many firms have multiple units in Ireland, where corporate income tax is 12.5 percent - about a third of the top U.S. federal income tax rate of 35 percent.

In many cases, several subsidiaries are registered at the offices of Dublin-based law firms.

In Western Union's case, Unit 9, Richview Office Park houses 11 of its 12 Irish subsidiaries. The company made 92 percent of its pretax income outside the United States last year, although a fifth of its staff work in the country.

That allowed the Colorado-based company to cut its effective tax rate to 12.2 percent - about average for a large U.S. company.

Companies, investors and some lawmakers argue it is a firm's duty to keep its tax bill as low as possible so it can invest to grow and return money to shareholders. Western Union said it pays full tax on all profits earned in Ireland.

"The (Irish) tax rate is not that relevant, because nobody pays 12.5 percent," said Jim Stewart, a professor at Trinity College Dublin who specializes in corporate finance and taxation.

"It's about the ease of incorporation, the ability of Irish corporate law and tax law to fit in with IRS (Internal Revenue Service) requirements, and the flexibility that is shown by the Department of Finance and Revenue to any of the multinationals' needs. If they have a problem, the law will be changed."

A spokesman for Ireland's Department of Finance said it did not change laws to suit multinational companies and that its focus was on the local economy.

The No. 2 U.S. carrier is offering $15 a share in cash - an 88 percent premium to Leap's Friday close of $7.98 - to seal the latest of a wave of acquisitions to emerge from a telecoms sector struggling to expand network capacity, as use of bandwidth-hungry smartphones and tablets explodes.

The deal's announcement comes days after Softbank's acquisition of Sprint. No. 4 U.S. mobile operator T-Mobile USA merged in April with smaller rival MetroPCS.

While Leap was one of the last obvious acquisition targets, some analysts and investors are hoping to see another deal involving T-Mobile. Analysts say Sprint could be a keen buyer but such a combination may raise antitrust concerns.

The No. 4 carrier is also considered satellite TV operator Dish Network Corp's last hope if it wants to buy a nationwide wireless network for its airwaves.

And Verizon Communications has been looking to buy out the 45 percent of Verizon Wireless - the No. 1 U.S. carrier - now owned by Vodafone Group Plc.

"The next wave of consolidation is beginning in wireless. This deal ... is an example of such a deal that not only helps AT&T get their hands on more spectrum, customers and revenues, but also further consolidates the industry," said independent telecoms analyst Jeff Kagan.

"Expect to see more deals with Verizon, Sprint and others."

Leap's shares more than doubled to $17 in after-hours trade.

Under the deal, Leap cannot solicit rival bids but AT&T has the right to match rival offers that surface. Also, the companies said Leap shareholders will get the proceeds from a future sale of spectrum in Chicago that Leap bought from AT&T in 2012 for $204 million.

AT&T said it would keep Leap's Cricket brand name.

Including the assumption of debt, the deal would valued at about $4 billion. Under their agreement, AT&T gets all of Leap's stock and about 5 million subscribers for $15 per share in cash or about $1.2 billion. As of April 15, Leap had $2.8 billion in debt, the companies said in a statement.

Major U.S. retailers are experimenting with new e-commerce strategies that could dent demand for package delivery services, particularly demand for shipments over long distances, according to analysts and industry executives.

Amazon.com Inc is building its distribution warehouses closer to customers to save millions of dollars in shipping costs. The world's largest online retailer is also increasingly using its own delivery trucks, cutting UPS and FedEx out of some parts of its fulfillment network.

Meanwhile, major brick-and-mortar retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Best Buy Co Inc and Gap Inc are shipping more online orders from stores close to shoppers, rather than from warehouses hundreds of miles away.

"UPS and FedEx are not only watching this, they are likely concerned about it," said Lou Tapper, an executive at third-party logistics company Longistics, who worked at FedEx for 18 years. "Big companies like Amazon and Wal-Mart will dictate which direction this goes. Those are the companies that FedEx and UPS need to fill their planes and trucks."

United Parcel Service Inc, the world's largest package delivery company, on Friday cut its earnings forecasts, blaming overcapacity in the global air freight market, customers trading down to slower but cheaper shipping services, and a slowing U.S. industrial economy.

The move came after FedEx Corp said in June that it was raising shipping rates and cutting jobs and costs, as excess capacity in the air freight market had more than offset increased shipments.

Both package delivery companies set their fees according to zones that correspond to the distance a package has to travel.

For instance, FedEx's Zone 2 is zero-to-150 miles from origin to destination, while Zone 4 is 301-to-600 miles. Shipping a 10-pound package in two days through Zone 4 costs $25.80, while the same package in Zone 2 costs 32 percent less at $17.50, according to FedEx's latest rate card for consumers.

UPS uses similar zones for its domestic ground delivery service, which takes four to five days. Zone 4 costs $9.20, while Zone 2 costs $7.94 for a 10-pound package.

Retail companies get discounts for shipping big volumes of goods, but the percentage differences between the zones are similar, according to Joel Anderson, president of walmart.com.

In an interview with ARD television, Merkel also said she expected the United States to stick to German laws in future, the closest she has come to acknowledging that its spying techniques may have breached German rules.

The question of how much Merkel and her government knew about reports of intrusive surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency in Germany has touched a raw nerve and could yet affect the outcome of September's election.

Merkel said tighter European rules were needed.

"Germany will make clear that we want Internet firms to tell us in Europe who they are giving data to," she told ARD.

"We have a great data protection law. But if Facebook is registered in Ireland, then Irish law is valid, and therefore we need unified European rules," she said, adding that people were rightly worried about what happened to data outside Germany.

"Germany will take a strict position," she said.

Last month, U.S. officials confirmed the existence of an electronic spying operation codenamed PRISM. Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden said it collects data from European and other users of Google, Facebook, Skype and other U.S. companies.

In a separate leak, the United States was accused of eavesdropping on EU and German offices and officials.

Merkel clearly pointed the finger at the United States.

"I expect a clear commitment from the U.S. government that in future they will stick to German law," she said.

SENSITIVE SUBJECT

Government snooping is a particularly sensitive subject in Germany due to the heavy surveillance of citizens practiced in the communist East and under Hitler's Nazis. A magazine report last week saying German spies were colluding with the NSA caused outrage.

Merkel dispatched her interior minister to Washington last week to get answers on the spying but he has been derided by opposition parties for failing to present any U.S. assurances or concessions.

The scandal is turning into an election issue and Merkel, tipped to win a third term, needs to make sure she does not give the impression that she knew more than she has let on.

Her opposition Social Democrat rival Peer Steinbrueck accused Merkel of failing to live up to her oath.

A list of requirements issued by the health ministry also tells elderly people or those with chronic diseases to postpone their pilgrimage.

Thirty-eight people have died from the virus in Saudi Arabia.

Millions of Muslims from around the world are expected to take part in the Hajj this October.

Once a year, pilgrims make the journey to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and pray together before the Kaaba.

Muslims also travel to the site at other times, as well as visiting the Masjid Al-Nabawi, or Mosque of the Prophet, in Medina.

Health officials urged people taking part to maintain personal hygiene standards, use a tissue when sneezing and coughing, and have the necessary vaccinations.

The MERS (Middle East respiratory-syndrome) coronavirus emerged in the Arabian peninsula in September 2012 and is part of a large family of viruses, which includes the common cold and Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

The World Health Organization has so far confirmed of a total of 80 cases of infection, including 44 deaths worldwide.

Hazem el-Beblawi, a 76-year-old liberal economist appointed interim prime minister last week, is tapping technocrats and liberals for an administration to govern under a temporary constitution until parliamentary elections in about six months.

He named another liberal economist, Ahmed Galal, who has a doctorate from Boston University, as finance minister. His job will be to start repairing the state finances and rescue an economy wrecked by two and a half years of political turmoil.

A former ambassador to the United States, Nabil Fahmy, accepted the post of foreign minister, a sign of the importance the government places in its relationship with the superpower that provides $1.3 billion a year in military aid.

Mohamed ElBaradei, a former senior U.N. diplomat, was sworn in as vice president, a job he was offered last week.

Government officials had earlier said the finance job would be offered to Hani Kadry, an official who oversaw Cairo's loan negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. It was not immediately clear why Kadry did not end up in the job.

Sunday marks a week without serious street violence. In the day's after Mursi's fall, clashes between the army, his Islamist supporters and Mursi's opponents killed more than 90 people.

In a speech to a hall full of military officers on Sunday, the army chief who removed the president, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, justified the takeover. He said the president had lost legitimacy because of mass demonstrations against him.

Sisi said he had tried to avert the need for unilateral action by offering Mursi the option of holding a referendum on his rule, but "the response was total rejection". He insisted the political process remained open to all groups - though Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood has shunned dealings with "usurpers".

"Every political force without exception and without exclusion must realize that an opportunity is available for everyone in political life and no ideological movement is prevented from taking part," Sisi said.

MURSI HELD INCOMMUNICADO

Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president, has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed location since the army removed him from power on July 3, three days after millions marched to demand he resign on the first anniversary of his inauguration.

The federally funded centers have been a safety net in the nation's poorest areas since 1965, offering primary care and mental health services to 22 million people, more than a third of them without insurance.

When the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, takes full effect on January 1, the 1,200 clinics plan to help enroll many of the newly insured. That campaign is expected to bring 10 million new patients within a year.

But with scant funding to improve their services and level of care, the centers are scrambling to ensure they can keep the new patients. The fear is that, over time, many of the insured patients will look for better service at private practices and hospitals, diverting a fresh source of much-needed income for the centers.

"There's a big competitive reality coming for us," said Don Blanchon, executive director of Whitman-Walker Health, a community health center in Washington. "We're finally getting to the point where this is really about how good we provide care, and it's about outcomes."

That is precisely what worries Raymond Martins, chief medical officer at Whitman-Walker.

"If patients have to wait too long or can't get an appointment, they'll go somewhere else," Martins said. "The care model that the health centers operate sure as hell needs to be able to compete with private practice and hospital-based doctors."

The wait time for an appointment at Whitman-Walker is typically between three weeks to six weeks, but at many other centers it can take months. To prepare for the health reform influx, Whitman-Walker hopes to rent more space, doubling its exam room capacity and tripling the number of dental chairs.

Health center directors said they want to become a preferred provider for patients with options, rather than a last resort.

A provision of the healthcare law provides incentives for them to become registered Patient Centered Medical Homes. A PCMH is a healthcare model in which a team, led by a primary care physician, provides comprehensive care throughout a patient's lifetime.

The Republican-controlled legislature gave final passage to the measure on Friday and sent it to the Republican governor to sign into law. Perry had called a second special session of the legislature to get the bill passed.

"Most people, I think, in this country - and in Texas, certainly - believe that six months is too late to be deciding whether or not these babies should be aborted or not. And we put the limit at five months in this bill," Perry told the CNN program "State of the Union."

The Texas measure marks the latest effort by Republicans at the state level to impose new restrictions on abortions, which were legalized nationally in a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

"This gets back to the issue of should the states be able to make these decisions or should we allow this big, cumbersome federal government to decide for all of us," Perry added. "I happen to be one of the people that believes that the federal government should do a few things and do them well, and then allow the states to make the decisions on these types of issues."

The Texas measure would make Texas the 13th of the 50 U.S. states to pass a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy - a provision based on disputed research suggesting fetuses feel pain at that point. Current limits are 26 weeks in Texas.

The measure also would impose a series of new requirements on abortion clinics and doctors who perform abortions, mandating that doctors have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic and creating stricter guidelines for how doctors administer abortion-inducing drugs.

Critics, led by Democratic state Senator Wendy Davis, have said the restrictions could force most of the abortion clinics in Texas to close, prompting Texas women to turn to illegal, unsafe means if they want an abortion.

"Well, I don't agree with her premise and I don't agree with her numbers," Perry said, referring to Davis, who he has criticized in recent weeks in highly personal terms. "And I think history will prove that she is wrong by asserting that."

Schmidt did not provide details about the nature of the meetings during comments to reporters at the annual Allen and Co media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho on Thursday. He noted that Google Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora, who joined him at the press briefing, was leading many of the discussions.

The two companies are in "constant business discussions on a long list of issues," Schmidt said.

Schmidt once sat on Apple's board of directors, but the relationship between the two companies has frayed as competition has increased. Apple created the smartphone market with its iconic iPhone, but Google's Android mobile software is now featured on three of every four smartphones sold globally.

Apple has sought to lessen its reliance on Google's online services, most famously in 2012 when it dumped Google's Maps product in favor of its own mapping software. Apple's maps service however proved to be ridden with errors, and Google ended up updating its map application for the latest version of Apple's iPhone.

The world's No.1 Internet search company, Google has moved to extend its reach into new markets in recent years, acquiring mobile phone maker Motorola Mobility, offering high-speed Internet service in a few U.S. cities and developing wearable computers and technology for self-driving cars.

Schmidt said that Google's self-driving automobile technology was years, rather than decades away from commercial availability but that "the exact way in which it all plays out is not obvious to me."

The steel penetrator was fired at a 10-tonne cube of ice to simulate the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa.

It hit the block at a speed of 340m/s and decelerated rapidly, but its structure remained intact, as did its interior components.

Researchers say the penetrator would be a robust and inexpensive way to land instruments on other worlds.

These might be seismometers to study the interior of Mars, or a miniature organic chemistry laboratory to check for microbial activity on icy Jovian satellites.

Scientists envisage several penetrators being deployed at once, carrying perhaps a network of sensors to widely separated locations in the sub-surface.

Being able to get just a few metres down is key, because if life exists anywhere else in the Solar System, it is likely to be buried away from harsh space radiation. Thursday's test was certainly spectacular.

The full-size, 20kg projectile slammed into the ice block at just under the speed of sound, producing a huge plume of snow.

Space 'ploughshare'

The probe experienced a peak deceleration of 24,000g. To put that in context, an ejecting fighter pilot might experience 12-14g.

Its paintwork was scuffed a little after coming to rest against the roof of the concrete holding box, but the projectile was otherwise unaffected by the violent encounter.

"It was really successful because the entry velocity was higher than expected and all the systems we've looked at so far have survived," Marie-Claire Perkinson, the programme's industrial leader from Astrium UK, told BBC News.

The latest demonstration was conducted at Pendine in West Wales. This is where defence company QinetiQ operates a long rocket track on which objects can be accelerated to high speed before impacting a target. Normally, this would be a new type of missile that needed to be tested before entering military service.

"It's a classic case of swords to ploughshares," said QinetiQ fellow Phil Church.

"This is a civilian project where we are applying a lot of our technical capabilities in simulation, experiments and materials, but which we wouldn't be able to do without the Ministry of Defence research over the past 30 to 40 years underpinning it all."

The space penetrator has itself been in development for almost 10 years, and was originally proposed for a British lunar mission called Moonlite.

That venture was eventually shelved, but the idea of a "hard lander" was so compelling, the European Space Agency decided to pick up the concept.

The announcement is the latest sign of disarray in the armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has regained the upper hand more than two years into an insurgency that grew out of Arab Spring-inspired pro-democracy protests.

It follows growing rivalries between the FSA and the Islamists, who have sometimes joined forces on the battlefield, and coincides with attempts by the Western and Arab-backed FSA to allay fears any U.S.-supplied arms might reach al Qaeda.

Members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a hardline Islamist group, killed Kamal Hamami of the FSA Supreme Military Council on Thursday. Also known by his nom de guerre, Abu Bassir al-Ladkani, he is one of its top 30 figures.

Rebel commanders pledged to retaliate.

"We are going to wipe the floor with them. We will not let them get away with it because they want to target us," a senior rebel commander said on condition of anonymity.

He said the al Qaeda-linked militants had warned FSA rebels that there was "no place" for them where Hamami was killed in Latakia province, a northern rural region of Syria bordering Turkey where Islamist groups are powerful.

Other opposition sources said the killing followed a dispute between Hamami's forces and the Islamic State over control of a strategic checkpoint in Latakia and would lead to fighting.

The FSA has been trying to build a logistics network and reinforce its presence across Syria as the U.S. administration considers sending weapons to the group after concluding that Assad's forces had used chemical weapons against rebel fighters.

The anti-Assad Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, said the FSA and the Islamic State have had violent exchanges in several areas of Syria over the past few weeks, showing growing antagonism between Assad's foes.

"Last Friday, the Islamic State killed an FSA rebel in Idlib province and cut his head off. There have been attacks in many provinces," the Observatory's leader Rami Abdelrahman said.

Two of Hamami's men were wounded in Thursday's attack, he said by telephone.

Syria's conflict turned violent in the face of a crackdown on protests. Civil war ensued with disparate rebel groups taking up arms and the Observatory says more than 100,000 people have been killed. U.S. congressional committees are holding up plans to arm the rebels because of fears that such deliveries will not be decisive and the arms might end up in the hands of Islamist militants.

Mr Morsi's supporters are gathering in their thousands in the east