Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and other banks have profited for years by arranging short-term loans of stock in Danish companies, a maneuver that has deprived Denmark of substantial tax revenues. With the banks’ help, stock owners avoid paying Danish authorities the dividend taxes they would otherwise owe. The lost revenue is significant: It equals roughly 1.1% of the budget deficit of the Danish government last year, or about 70 Danish crowns ($10) for each resident.   read more

In the U.S., officials have derided “inversion deals,” which allow a U.S. company to move its headquarters overseas to cut its tax bills. In Ireland, they are celebrating them. The Irish government Tuesday revised the country’s economic growth rate in 2015 to 26.3% from a preliminary estimate of 7.8%. Ireland’s economy has been on the upswing since the country repaid its bailout, and at play was the magic of those inversion deals and other sleights of finance.   read more

The statistics probably reflect that Americans tend to drive more miles and for longer periods, said Dr. Guohua Li. "The more you're on the road, the more you're exposed to the potential for a crash," agreed Erin Sauber-Schatz, lead author of the CDC report. U.S. drivers also more often speed, drive drunk and take other risks, Li said. The U.S. toll went up last year to 35,200, as drivers racked up more miles behind the wheel as a result of an improved economy and lower gas prices.   read more

Immigration agents never told them they had to file for asylum within one year after they entered the country, nor did they present a viable path for meeting that deadline. "Plaintiffs' ability to seek asylum has been thwarted by a government process that is anything but fair; indeed, it conflicts with fundamental notions of due process..." the complaint states. The 1996 law created an expedited removal process for undocumented immigrants caught within 100 miles of the border.   read more

The U.S., Singapore, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Israel are getting the biggest bang for their buck in economic and digital innovation. The Geneva-based World Economic Forum says in its new Global Information Technology Report that trends suggest individuals, not business or government, are driving the digital revolution and an already large gap in infrastructure between rich and developing countries is widening.   read more

"Much of the information upon which File 17 was written was based on what's in the 28 pages," said former Sen. Bob Graham. He believes the hijackers had an extensive Saudi support system while they were in the U.S.: "File 17 said, 'Here are some additional unanswered questions and here is how we think the 9/11 Commission, the FBI and the CIA should go about finding the answers.' " Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir denies allegations of Saudi complicity, saying that there is "no there there."   read more

The promotion for military-led Thailand could ease tensions with the U.S., its longtime ally. The Thai government reported an increase in prosecutions and convictions for trafficking and had lobbied hard for an upgrade after two years on the lowest ranking, which it had shared with the likes of North Korea and Syria. It is now on the "tier 2 watch list," which is for governments that do not fully meet the minimum standards of combating trafficking but are making significant efforts to do so.   read more

The United Arab Emirates warned its citizens on Sunday to avoid wearing traditional clothing when traveling abroad, apparently in response to an episode in Ohio last week in which a businessman from Abu Dhabi, dressed in robes and a head scarf, was confronted by the police at gunpoint because a hotel clerk thought he might be a terrorist. Police videos showed officers drawing and cocking rifles. One officer could be heard saying, “There he is!” Another shouted, “Get on the ground!”   read more

The European Commission said Wednesday that it has no choice but to extend approval of the herbicide glyphosate through 2017, after EU member states failed to either approve or ban the chemical. The European Union’s current approval of glyphosate was set to expire on June 30. However, a lack of consensus left the commission with a single choice as the EU’s executive body: extend glyphosate’s license for another 18 months in hopes that the member states will make a unified decision.   read more

Religious charities get millions of dollars of federal money to detain young, unaccompanied immigrants but deny them health services even if they have been raped, and punish them for asking for reproductive health care, claims the ACLU. The lawsuit tells of four young pregnant women, two of whom were raped on their journey to the U.S.. They were unable to get contraception or abortion through their detainers and had to be transferred to different states, away from the few friends they had.   read more

Obama and Peña Nieto have cooperated to intercept desperate Central American refugees in Mexico before they can reach the U.S. border. These refugees are then typically deported to their home countries — which can be a death sentence. In effect, we have pressured and bribed Mexico to do our dirty work, detaining and deporting people fleeing gangs in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. This solved a political crisis that Obama faced, but it betrays some of the world’s most vulnerable people.   read more

The investigation revealed that more than 200 strikes, most by drones, have been conducted to defend ground forces battling a rising insurgency, despite the fact that combat missions came to an end in 2014. These strikes represent more than 60% of all US airstrikes in the country. This suggests the US has been drawn quietly yet significantly into fighting the Taliban-led insurgency. Washington has appeared to make its airwar against the Taliban official by relaxing its rules in Afghanistan.   read more

It was one of the biggest nuclear accidents in history, and the U.S. wanted it cleaned up quickly and quietly. The Air Force told the men sent to clean up the spilled radioactive material: “Don’t worry.” “There was no talk about radiation...” said Frank Thompson, who spent days searching the contaminated fields. “They told us it was safe, and we were dumb enough, I guess, to believe them.” Thompson now has cancer in his liver, lung and kidney. Yet the Air Force still insists it was safe.   read more

Organizers said 65,000 people had attended the protest. That would make it the largest demonstration since 1995, when two American Marines and a Navy sailor were arrested over the rape of a 12-year-old girl, an episode that shook the tight military alliance between the United States and Japan and is still bitterly remembered by many Okinawans. “Vicious crimes cannot be tolerated,” the governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, said at the rally.   read more

Afghans feel less secure than at any recent time as Afghan battlefield deaths continue to escalate and civilian casualties hit a record high. Afghan civilian casualties in 2015 hit the highest level since the U.N. group began systematic documentation in 2009. "As fighting and suicide attacks have increased in more populated areas, the number of women and children included among the civilian casualties has also increased," the report said.   read more

The judge said "it is highly improbable that Congress absentmindedly forgot to mention an intended private action" when it created a statutory scheme with express provisions for private enforcement in certain circumstances. Godbey had rejected Texas' motion to block more Syrian refugees. He concluded then the dispute is a political issue that is not up to the states or federal courts. Federal officials argued in January that Texas had failed to prove the refugees are a threat to the public.   read more