…As Google CEO says: We’re happy to pay more tax***
Four U.S. citizens were killed and two others injured on Saturday when Taliban gunmen stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 22 people were killed during the hours-long assault.
The State Department confirmed on Wednesday the deaths, adding that the United States strongly condemns the January 20 attack.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who were killed and wish for the speedy recovery of those wounded,” State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said. “Out of respect for the families of the deceased, we have no further comment.”
Six Taliban militants stormed Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel in suicide vests last weekend, Afghan officials said. The 13-hour siege ended when Afghan security killed the last of the militants.
Their goal was to kill foreigners and Afghan officials, according to investigators.
Among the dead were 14 foreigners. In addition to the Americans killed in the attack, six Ukrainians, two Venezuelan pilots for KamAir and a citizen of Kazakhstan and a citizen of Germany also were killed, officials have said.
There was no word on how badly wounded the two injured Americans were.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
In the meantime, the chief executive of Google has declared he is happy for his company to pay more tax, and called for the existing system to be reformed.
Sundar Pichai told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the tax system needed to be reformed to address concerns that some companies were not paying their fair share.
Speaking before the French president, Emmanuel Macron, challenged tech giants to pay more tax, Pichai said: “As a company we paid, over the last five years, close to 20% in tax. We are happy to pay a higher amount, whatever the world agrees on as the right framework. It’s not an issue about the amount of tax we pay, as much as how you divide it among various countries.”
A report issued last autumn estimated that European countries had missed out on €5.4bn in tax revenues from Google and Facebook between 2013 and 2015, because the two tech giants had routed revenues through countries with low corporation tax rates.
Pichai argued that the existing tax system was to blame, as it is based on where a company carries out its research and development.
He pointed out that Google had launched an AI research centre in France this week, which should redress the balance.
“We’re going to be hiring a lot of engineers in France, and we are doing that in Europe. Over time, that normalises the value of tax we pay, as it reflects where you create value,” Pichai said.
The Google chief insisted his company was “open” to any solutions, but argued that global policymakers should take the lead. “We encourage the OECD to actually solve these issues, which would make it much easier for companies to operate.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Pichai also called for world leaders to collectively pledge not to use artificial intelligence systems for warfare.
Pichai said the only way to avoid an arms race in military AI was for countries to work together.
But he also suggested that AI could actually be an “equaliser” between nation states. “Over time people will realise it’s tough to weaponise it because everyone will have the same ability [to fire] back.”
Fox News with additional report from Guardian UK
