Facebook, Google and Amazon to be forced to open up tax books by the European Union

The European Commission is bringing forward plans to make major multinationals such as Google, Amazon and Facebook disclose exactly where and how much tax they pay across the continent.
The draft legislation being tabled on Tuesday was proposed before the latest Panama Papers scandal, but comes amid a growing clamour to force the biggest companies to pay their fair share.
The plan was expected to include rules requiring businesses earning more than £600 million a year to open up their tax affairs to public scrutiny, revealing their profits and accounts in every country in which they operate within the EU.

Since the Panama Papers, a new clause has reportedly been added to require the companies to say how much money they make in so-called “tax havens”. A final, more general statement would reveal profits in the rest of the world, treated as a single item.
According to The Guardian, commission president Jean-Claude Juncker is said to be in favour of pushing through the initiative.
But is has come under early fire from both campaigners who say it will be toothless and business groups warning some multinationals could be put off operating in Europe altogether.
There are also some concerns surrounding the fact that there is no common view between EU members states on what constitutes a tax haven.
The plans will be presented by Britain’s EU Commissioner, Lord Hill, who told the BBC: “This is a carefully thought through but ambitious proposal for more transparency on tax.
"While our proposal on [country-by-country reporting] is not of course focused principally on the response to the Panama Papers, there is an important connection between our continuing work on tax transparency and tax havens that we are building into the proposal.”

With banks, mining and forestry companies already covered by similar reporting rules, the new proposals would see transparency brought to around 90 per cent of corporate revenues in the EU.
It remains to be seen what powers the EU would have to actively tackle tax minimisation, beyond the process of naming and shaming.

Syria conflict: Russian helicopter crashes, killing two crew

Two Russian military pilots have died after their helicopter crashed near the central Syrian city of Homs.

The aircraft, an M-28H attack helicopter, was not shot at, Russia's defence ministry said.
The crash happened in the early hours of Tuesday, the ministry said. The bodies were recovered and brought to Russia's Hmeimim air base.
Russia joined the Syrian conflict in September, launching air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
A "cessation of hostilities" came into force in February including the Syrian government and nearly 100 rebel factions, but not the so-called Islamic State (IS).
Russia withdrew most of its forces from Syria but officials said in March they would continue air strikes.
More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed in nearly five years of civil war. Millions more have been displaced.

Boko Haram crisis: 'Huge rise' in child suicide bombers

Boko Haram's use of child bombers has increased over the last year with one in five suicide attacks now done by children, the UN's child agency says.

Girls, who are often drugged, were behind three-quarters of such attacks committed by the militant Islamist group in Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad.
It is an 11-fold increase with four attacks in 2014 compared to 44 the next year, including January 2016.
The change in tactics reflects the loss of territory in Nigeria by the group.
The seven-year insurgency, which has mainly affected north-eastern Nigeria as well as its neighbours around Lake Chad, has left some 17,000 people dead.
Unicef says up to 1.3 million children have been forced from their homes across four countries: Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger.
The UN report has been released as Nigeria approaches the second anniversary of the kidnapping by Boko Haram of more than 200 girls from their boarding school in the Nigerian town of Chibok.
Their abduction sparked the global campaign Bring Back Our Girls, but none of the girls have yet been found.
The report, Beyond Chibok, says that boys abducted and recruited into Boko Haram's ranks are forced to attack their own families to demonstrate their loyalty.
Girls are exposed to severe abuse including sexual violence and forced marriage to fighters.
The girls who are used for bombings are often drugged and then explosives are strapped to their bodies.
According to the report, Cameroon has the highest number of child suicide attacks, involving children who are as young as eight.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden", has often targeted schools during its insurgency.

Unicef says more than 1,800 schools have been closed, damaged, looted, set on fire or used to shelter those left homeless in north-eastern Nigeria and Cameroon.
Children have also been separated by from their parents during the conflict, with Unicef putting the figure at more than 5,000.
Over the last 15 months, most of the areas controlled by the militants have been retaken by a multi-national force and the militants are now thought to operate from hideouts in Nigeria's Sambisa forest, near the border with Cameroon.
The report says the frequency of all suicide bombings increased from 32 in 2014 to 151 last year, giving this breakdown:

• 89 in Nigeria
• 39 in Cameroon
• 16 in Chad
• Seven in Niger.                                
  

  Boko Haram at a glance

   

• Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
• Launched military operations in 2009
• Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, hundreds abducted, including at least 200 schoolgirls
• Joined so-called Islamic State, now calls itself IS's "West African province"
• Seized large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate
• Regional force has retaken most territory last year

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BUILD UP

PSG VS MAN CITY                          
  Ahead of the Champions League quarter-final between PSG and Man City we pick out 15 match facts.

1. Only once (in six games) has an English club beaten Paris SG at the Parc des Princes in European competition. It was José Mourinho's Chelsea in September 2004 (3-0).
2. The last three Champions League knockout encounters between Ligue 1 and Premier League clubs have all seen the French team eliminate their English counterpart.
3. Manchester City have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in their history. They have won only one of their six games in the Champions League knockout stages (D1 L4).
4. Manchester City have kept fewer clean sheets than any other of the 2015/16 quarter-finalists in this season's Champions League (1 in 8 games).
5. No team has scored more goals than Manchester City in the final 15 minutes of games in the Champions League this season (6).
6. Manchester City have picked up six cards in eight games (all yellows), the lowest total of any team in the Champions League this season.
7. Paris SG have been eliminated in the quarter finals in each of the last three campaigns. Their last (and only) Champions League semi-final appearance to date was in 1994/95.
8. Paris SG have lost only one of their last 38 home games in European competition (W25 D12), that was against Barcelona in April 2015 (1-3).
9. Paris SG have the joint-best defensive record in this season's Champions League (3 goals conceded in 8 games, level with Atlético & Real Madrid). PSG are also the only team yet to concede a goal in the second-half of a Champions League game in 2015/16.
10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored in each of his last four Champions League games. Only twice before has he gone five in a row in the competition.
11. Kevin Trapp has made more saves in this season's Champions League than any other goalkeeper among the remaining quarter-finalists (30 saves out of 33 shots on target faced).
12. Thiago Motta has completed 171 more passes than any other player in this season's Champions League.
13. If they play, it will be David Luiz and Thiago Silva's 50th appearance in the Champions League. Bacary Sagna could also reach that milestone in this game.
14. Sergio Aguero has scored 16 goals in his last 18 Champions League starts.

     15.  The only previous encounter between Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain was in December 2008, in the Uefa Cup group stages. It ended 0-0 at the Etihad. It was Man City's only previous competitive game against a French club.                                                                                                                 

             REAL MADRID VS VFL WOLFSBURG
           

Only Real Madrid would follow their best result of the last two years with their worst, but that is what happened to them last week. Three days after Zinedine Zidane’s side fought their way back into the La Liga title race, by overturning Barcelona at the Nou Camp, they risked throwing away a generous draw in the Champions League by losing 2-0 at Wolfsburg.
For a team which defines itself by how it does in the Champions League, and which went to Germany heavy favourites to put one foot into the semi-finals, it was a catastrophic result. All of the optimism built up by the Clasico win was undermined, all the hope that Madrid were back on the right path was under threat.
What that game was, as Madrid were picked apart by a far cleverer, humbler team, was a simple reminder of what a mess that club has become during the second Florentino Perez era. This is a team who put a club legend with no relevant coaching experience in charge half-way through a season in which they were still expecting to compete on all fronts. This is a team which, in the seven years since Perez returned to the presidency in 2009, has won one slightly fortunate Champions League and one pyrrhic La Liga title.

But with so much riding on tomorrow’s game – it is hard to see how Zidane will survive the summer if Madrid lose – the coach could only sound optimistic about his team’s chances. This is a side, after all, who won at Barcelona. “We were 13 points behind Barcelona when they scored against us, now it is four,” he pointed out. “Anything is possible in football, that is its beauty. This club has produced extraordinary comebacks before, here at the Bernabeu.”
The problem for Madrid is that 2-0 is such an awful first-leg score. They cannot concede, or else they will have to score four goals to go through. So they must attack against a side who has every incentive just to sit in and play on the break. If Real throw too many men forward then Julian Draxler and Andre Schurrle will be ready to pounce.

 
“We know that we have got a better chance if we keep a clean sheet,” Zidane said, with some understatement. “But more than anything else, we have just got to play our game. It's going to be an intense game, we're going to fight, we're going to run but most important is playing football.”
The game may become a tactical battle in which Madrid have to up the ante on Wolfsburg without leaving themselves too exposed at the back. This is not something Madrid have excelled at since allowing Xabi Alonso to leave two years, taking much of their tactical balance with them. Casemiro is the closest they have found to a replacement, which says a lot.
 
“We have to play this game with our heads,” Zidane said. “We're not going to win this game in 10 or 15 minutes, whatever happens, whether they score or we score. It gets more difficult if they score but it's not over. We have to concentrate from the first minute until the end of the game.”

AWCON Qualifiers: Super Falcons held to a draw in Senegal

                                                                                                                                                                    
The Nigerian Women Football team, the Super Falcons played out a 1-1 draw with host Senegal in the African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifying match on Friday.
The reigning Africa Champions had hoped to secure victory away but it was not to be as they were forced to share the spoils with their hosts.
The Nigerian ladies went on the score sheet first in the encounter which went down at the Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor before the Teranga Lionesses of Senegal rallied for an equalizer to still keep the game open going into the second leg.
Substitute Chioma Wogu who replaced an injured Desire Oparanozie, netted on the brink of half time to hand the Super Falcons a narrow lead against the host going into the break.
However, seven minutes into the second half, Senegal found the back of the net to restore parity.
Hard as Nigeria tried to get back in front, they could not and would have to kill the game in the return leg billed for Tuesday, April 12 in Abuja.