CNN News:欧盟裁定苹果补缴爱尔兰146亿税款 芝加哥市沦为犯罪频发地
Apple, like many global companies, has its European headquarters in Ireland. Most of Apple's profits from Europe and the region around it are funneled through Ireland. Why? Ireland has one of the lowest business tax rates in Europe. Its main business rate is 12.5 percent.
But officials says Apple has not been paying that, that it's been paying taxes at 1 percent or less in Ireland. International lawmakers say the country gave Apple an unfair tax advantage in exchange for creating jobs in Ireland. So, the European Union has ruled that Apple owes up to $14.6 billion in unpaid taxes.
But Ireland says Apple paid what it owed. So, the country is appealing the decision, along with Apple itself which says it follows the law and is being unfairly targeted.
The U.S. government says that forcing Apple to pay back taxes in Europe could discourage international businesses from investing in Europe. Apple isn't the only company to face this. Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler are also appealing orders to pay back tens of millions from tax deals with other European countries.
首先来看商业新闻,我们要介绍与欧盟及一家著名科技公司有关的经济问题。
和许多跨国公司一样,苹果公司在爱尔兰设立了欧洲总部。苹果从欧洲及周边地区获得的大部分利润都经由爱尔兰之手。为什么?因为爱尔兰拥有全欧洲最低的税率。爱尔兰的主要企业税是12.5%。
但是官员认为苹果公司拖欠税款,因为苹果在爱尔兰缴税不到1%。国际律师表示,爱尔兰给予苹果不公平的税收优势,以换取苹果公司在爱尔兰设置工作岗位。因此欧盟裁定,苹果公司拖欠爱尔兰146亿美元的税款。
但是爱尔兰表示,苹果公司已经缴纳了税款。因此,爱尔兰将就欧盟的裁定提起上诉,而且苹果公司也表示其遵守法律,这是不公平对待。
美国政府表示,强迫苹果公司在欧洲补缴税款可能会阻碍国际企业在欧洲投资。苹果公司不是唯一一家面临这种问题的公司。星巴克和菲亚特也因为利用与其他欧洲国家的税收协议被判补缴数千万税款,两家公司也对裁决提起了上诉。
On U.S. soil, Chicago, Illinois, is a city struggling with incredible crime. According to "The Chicago Tribune", August has become the city's most violent month in almost 20 years and that report came out when there are still two days left in a month. This is based on a number of shootings and murders in the city.
Chicago sees an average of around 82 shootings every week. Its struggling economy and increasing gang violence are two of the reasons why.
RYAN YOUNG, cnn CORRESPONDENT: More than 30 kids have been shot and killed in Chicago just this year, and when you look at the shooting numbers and we'll put this up on a full screen so you can see it.
When you look at this year alone, when you think about the violent crimes — 2,988 people shot in 2015, and 2016, already, 2,800 people have been shot. When you think about that crime that is soaring, 43 percent higher in murders, 48 percent higher in shootings, 27 percent up in robberies.
And look, this has been a conversation across this city, especially when it comes to as many young people that had been shot and killed. It's almost to a point where you can't even get through a day without someone being shot, you have a lot of community members who are asking, what can change?
And when you look at the crime rate compared to Los Angeles and New York, people want to know what the solution will be.
Of course, the crime rate is here. In fact, there have been more murders in this city than New York and L.A. combined. People pointing to gangs as part of the problem but there needs to be a larger outreach, and that's something that people haven't been seeing so far.
在美国境内,伊利诺伊州芝加哥是一座饱受犯罪困扰的城市。据 《芝加哥先驱导报》报道,今年8月成为近20年来芝加哥市最暴力的一个月,这篇报道在8月还剩两天时发布。报道依据该市所发生的数起枪击案和谋杀案得出了上述结论。
芝加哥平均每周发生约82起枪击案。经济不景气和日益增加的帮派暴力事件是枪击案频发的其中两个原因。
cnn记者瑞安·杨:仅今年,就有超过30名儿童在枪击案中被枪杀,大家可以看一下枪击案数据,我们把数据放大到屏幕上,方便大家看到。
仅看今年,就暴力犯罪来说,2015年有2988人遭枪杀,而2016年至今已有2800人被枪杀。大家可以想到,犯罪案件猛增,谋杀案增幅达43%,枪击案增加了48%,抢劫案增加了27%。
芝加哥市进行了一次谈话,内容涉及许多年轻人遭枪杀的问题。在芝加哥,几乎每天都有人被枪杀,许多社区成员都在问,可以改变什么?
将芝加哥的犯罪率同洛杉矶和纽约相比后,人们想知道有什么解决方案。
来看芝加哥的犯罪率。芝加哥发生的谋杀案数量比纽约和洛杉矶的总和还要高。人们认为帮派团伙是造成问题的部分原因,但是还需要采取更广泛的措施,而目前人们还没有看到相关进展。