Over the weekend, Rihanna was a bridesmaid at her longtime friend Sonita’s wedding.
The pair first met at The Combermere School in Barbados and have remained close ever since.
Rihanna shared a few cheeky snaps with the bride in matching robes.
She also hilariously ducked the bridal bouquet toss.
Showing up the bride at her own wedding is a major no-no, but that’s a risk you have to take if your BFF is Rihanna. It’s basically impossible for someone with that much star power to not steal the show, but the Barbados-born singer managed to tone it down for her hometown pal’s wedding over the weekend.
According to Loop, Rihanna has been friends with Sonita Alexander, a family physician and event promoter, since they attended the Combermere School in Barbados. Amidst rumors of a Cuban-based film project with “Atlantic” star Donald Glover, the Rihanna jetted back to her home country to join Sonita and 9 other bridesmaids for the August 18th wedding celebration. Alexander had all of her bridesmaid — including Rih, walked down the aisle in a royal blue Bridesmaid gown. See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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https://briefnews.eu/rihanna-was-the-perfect-bridesmaid-at-her-childhood-friends-wedding-and-totally-ducked-the-bridal-bouquet/feed/0EU rules Amazon ducked $294 million in taxes, takes $15 billion Apple tax case to court
https://briefnews.eu/eu-rules-amazon-ducked-294-million-in-taxes-takes-15-billion-apple-tax-case-to-court/
https://briefnews.eu/eu-rules-amazon-ducked-294-million-in-taxes-takes-15-billion-apple-tax-case-to-court/#respondWed, 04 Oct 2017 11:33:32 +0000http://briefnews.eu/eu-rules-amazon-ducked-294-million-in-taxes-takes-15-billion-apple-tax-case-to-court/
The European Union continued to intensify its crusade against U.S. tech giants today by demanding that Amazon pay $ 294 million in taxes to Luxembourg while taking Ireland to court over its failure to collect $ 15 billion in taxes from Apple.
In a ruling issued today, the European Union said it found that Luxembourg had violated State Aid Rules by giving “undue tax benefits” to Amazon. EU rules forbid members states from giving special tax treatment to individual companies, arguing that it harms competition among member states.
The EU began its investigation three years ago of a tax ruling originally made by Luxembourg in 2003. This treatment allowed Amazon to avoid $ 294 million in taxes, which the EU says it must now repay to Luxembourg.
“Luxembourg gave illegal tax benefits to Amazon,” said Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner in charge of competition policy, in a statement. “As a result, almost three-quarters of Amazon’s profits were not taxed. In other words, Amazon was allowed to pay four times less tax than other local companies subject to the same national tax rules. This is illegal under EU State aid rules. Member States cannot give selective tax benefits to multinational groups that are not available to others.”
The EU investigation found that Luxembourg’s tax ruling allowed “Amazon to shift the vast majority of its profits from an Amazon group company that is subject to tax in Luxembourg (Amazon EU) to a company which is not subject to tax (Amazon Europe Holding Technologies).
In a statement emailed to reporters by an Amazon spokesperson, the company denied any wrongdoing:
“We believe that Amazon did not receive any special treatment from Luxembourg and that we paid tax in full accordance with both Luxembourg and international tax law. We will study the Commission’s ruling and consider our legal options, including an appeal. Our 50,000 employees across Europe remain heads-down focused on serving our customers and the hundreds of thousands of small businesses who work with us.”
The Amazon tax scheme echoes that of another U.S. tech giant, Apple, which is facing a far greater tax payment of $ 15 billion after the EU found last year it used a tax ruling by Ireland to dodge taxes. Ireland appealed that ruling, but EU rules require it to still make an effort to recover the money as it awaits the results of the appeal.
Today, the EU said that Ireland had failed to move to recover the tax money from Apple, missing a January deadline to do so. The EU referred the case to the European Court of Justice, saying Ireland still is claiming it may not begin the recovery process earlier than March 2018.
The aggressive stance by the EU reflects the broader frustration across Europe that U.S. tech giants have been using various member states to dodge taxes. Last month, the EU began to take formal steps to levy higher taxes on U.S.-based tech companies operating in Europe.
]]>https://briefnews.eu/eu-rules-amazon-ducked-294-million-in-taxes-takes-15-billion-apple-tax-case-to-court/feed/0James Bond news: SS-GB lead Sam Riley was almost the NEW 007 but ducked out and here’s why
https://briefnews.eu/james-bond-news-ss-gb-lead-sam-riley-was-almost-the-new-007-but-ducked-out-and-heres-why/
https://briefnews.eu/james-bond-news-ss-gb-lead-sam-riley-was-almost-the-new-007-but-ducked-out-and-heres-why/#respondFri, 17 Feb 2017 14:39:28 +0000http://briefnews.eu/james-bond-news-ss-gb-lead-sam-riley-was-almost-the-new-007-but-ducked-out-and-heres-why/
As Bond producers wait to hear whether Daniel Craig will be up for another 007 adventure or not, speculation surrounding a replacement has been rife.
Now it turns out that SS-GB lead Riley was hotly tipped to be the new James Bond.
The news came ten years ago after he starred in Joy Division biopic Control, as Ian Curtis.
However, in a recent interview with The Telegraph, the privately educated actor revealed why he stepped away from his chances at global stardom.
It turns out the 37-year-old actor found all the celebrity attention too much.
He revealed: “My wife [German actress Alexandra Maria Lara] said the night after the [Control] premiere: ‘I’ve been working in this business for 15 years and haven’t had that moment.’
“It threw me a lot higher up the food chain. I arrived a lead actor.”
Instead Riley went to live with his family in Berlin, where he could have a relatively normal life.
The actor continued: “I felt protected there from what everybody was going to try to make me into after Control – a cash cow.
“‘While the moment’s hot, let’s get him in as many things as possible.’
“I was nervous about it, I think, and still am. It’s a twisted mix between being jealous of the success of some of my colleagues and at the same time being very happy that no one knows who I am.”
SS-GB is a new BBC drama, based on the book of the same name, set in an alternate 1941 Nazi-occupied Britain.
Riley stars as widowed detective Douglas Archer, who works with the Germans to keep his position.