when ten people have been killed in road accidents linked to poor visibility the coming winter rains are expected to bring some relief. to. the paradise papers another leak of global tax avoiders britain's queen is listed and rock star bono along with one hundred twenty international companies like america's apple facebook and nike paradise papers show once again how the global elite avoid paying taxes taxes governments need to fund schools hospitals and roads it's not illegal to move your money offshore into low tax countries but you do need highly specialized lawyers to ensure income you make in a high tax country is taxed in a place where the rates are rock bottom. this is how the system functions.

a german i.t. company for example registers it's peyton's through a subsidiary based in ireland where the tax rate is much lower than at home. even though the product primarily sells in germany the income is booked in ireland. as a result only a small part of the company's profits are taxed in germany at a rate of thirty percent. most is taxed in ireland at only twelve percent. that's completely legal but companies try to avoid making them a new vis public because it could be bad for their image apple for one paradice paper say apple is always searching for ways to worm out of taxes become pinions millions with its iconic smartphones tablets and computers it could scare off some consumers if they know the premium prices they pay are not even taxed at local rates but while countries like britain and germany have made some attempts to close loopholes small account. it's like island have benefited by slashing their tax

rates sometimes were blocked blocked by the fact that the member states considerate that they should be you careful on this or that. and now we're in different period that's what i call the you transparency. it's high time that everybody goes in the same direction to eliminate forward and to combat tax evasion. the e.u. commission aims to publish a blacklist of tax havens by the end of this year it's hoped naming and shaming them will encourage more transparency in the murky world of offshore phones and investment. the ritz carlton hotel in riyadh is normally a popular meeting place for saudi arabia's rich and powerful but mobile phone footage has emerged showing how the luxury hotel has become a prison the rich and famous arrested this week in a corruption crackdown now sleeping on mattresses saudi leader crown prince

mohammed bin found man on the left of this poster with his father king so man means business. hospital have said you know detention of people on charges of corruption water who are in positions of high or thorazine and possess lots of money and who trade throughout most of the world's continent also proves that the economic side is considered important to our leadership and walk away. among those arrested printout will lead been told one of the world's richest men. from riyadh tallest skyscraper he controls luxury hotel chains broadcasters and a real estate empire the site of the arrests more than twelve hundred private bank accounts were also frozen. traders at the riyadh stock exchange were initially nervous following the move with investors worried that since those arrested control such vast assets there could be a negative impact on the economy or even the oil price. but the mood soon lightened

a little while and i thought first impression is that there is a wide welcome from investors and there are important signs from these decisions that no one is above the law even a prince or minister kind of always with yet questions remain is this really about fighting corruption or is it simply a way of eliminating political and commercial opponents. german industrial giant siemens reported an impressive eleven percent rise in a new will net profits to six billion euros but it could have been even better if its power division hadn't weighed so heavily on the bottom line this year. fourth quarter profits of the ailing power and gas unit the company's second biggest after health care plunged forty percent. later this month siemens decides on up to six thousand job cuts in the division. germany's economy is on a long term role that's the conclusion of the government's economic advisory panel

the so-called five stages in their annual report they forecast two percent g.d.p. growth this year and a slight increase to two point two percent next that promises a continuing tax bonanza the five say just say the government should use the extra cash to fund more education research and infrastructure improvement. the european commission wants the block's car makers to cut their fleets greenhouse gas emissions by a further thirty percent by twenty thirty in brussels this week a proposed drastic fines for companies which don't manage to throttle their emissions and doing the same timeframe the commission wants thirty percent of new registrations to be electric or alternative drive cars to encourage that it's putting up eight hundred million euros to expand car charging stations throughout europe. american companies signed contracts worth a total of some two hundred fifty billion dollars during u.s. president donald trump's visit to china the contract to cover the energy aviation

and electronics sectors. aircraft maker boeing launched a thirty two billion dollar order for three hundred of its planes. trump has previously complained bitterly that china takes advantage of america in trades though this week he said he doesn't actually blame them for doing so. social network twitter has doubled the length of a tweet to two hundred eighty characters it hopes more words will generate more profits investors have been pushing for a change user numbers have long been flat and even begun declining this year that means less revenue from the network targeted that twitter has three hundred thirty million users tweeting including tommy trump. what we are witnessing here should have ceased long ago nigeria's high court ruled gas flaring by oil companies illegal as far back as two thousand and five. but only

a few hundred meters away from these people's fishing village global oil giant shell continues to flare all of its toxic gases with impunity the locals say that every family here has members who suffer from cancer and chronic bronchitis village headmen who are a dark color is at a loss. for more than two decades this. next yeah and sent twenty ten. twenty and so on and so forth and this is twenty seventeen and gas flaring is right behind me you can see. gas flaring produces toxic nitric oxide as well as greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide yet the oil industry has long had the technology to collect the gases released join all production and use them as energy according to university electroboy. it's just that it's simply not profitable enough to do so in poor regions like the niger delta. thanks to gas which is being flat can simply be called back to do before i made available for

it won't use so it's of use increasing. no you move why would would you want to have a direct impact forcing you know forest lake george or the villagers around where the gas is with the use of firewood for your kids for your source of energy so even guys made cheap and we can afford it then they would have to call that. when approached shell refused to comment on the accusations the company shied away from this kind of publicity many of its gas players are barely accessible hidden deep in the jungle. it's a well known residence complain about health issues experts confirm the devastating environmental consequences to the international eye firms remain silent obviously a successful strategy many members of the local political elite seem to be more concerned about oil profits than about environmental damages however we do find a small oil company that's prepared to talk to us. petro diaz says his company

won't repeat the mistakes of the industry giants we are cautious with the environment and we would like to take a bad taste of. this opportunity and completely this that so our plan is by two thousand and eighteen we will not be flaring any gas. can only hope that's not just another empty promise he's begun documenting his villages health problems and if need be he'll take their cases all the way to the courts in europe. but unless he can take command tossed and show its nose this new electro fairy inside out he was the design teams project leader but a maiden voyage is still something special. with aries electric motors a barely audible there are four one in each corner of the ship diesel engines are usually centrally mounted. and he was not to the fore motors mean the

ship doesn't stick firmly to a given course in a steady. veers around a bit when the road is applied. as would have been deemed that's not just a new sensation for the captain it's very can carry up to forty five passengers and six cars powered entirely by twenty four live in polymer batteries they allow an annual saving of fourteen thousand liters of diesel as long as the captain can get used to the electric sailing era. of them and if you want to conserve energy which is fundamental to running a ship like this you've got to be controlled and approach your birth as gently as possible not every captain can do it but then again not everyone is made for electric cars either. demand for environmentally friendly airships is rising not only in the tourist regions but also in cities with poor air quality. obviously there's no smell when you're on the port fairy's and hamburg for instance you can still smell them you smell oil you think you're in

a factory you don't have that on an electric ferry. costs darling styles and entered the market early on and has already designed and built ten electric ships. they built as lightly as possible because every kilos saved means less demand on the expensive batteries and that's crucial to commercial viability. you must assume and we have to be aware when we using steel that we had to minimize weight as far as possible and engineers couldn't just take a conventional approach instead they had to ensure a minimal energy is required to move the vessel. and that they're going to plates and different beam separation as far as possible and that's allowed us to save twenty percent in mass do you know what's out there my side bar. none the less the electric ferry still costs fifteen percent more than diesel driven versions but the municipality of all the village near tear has spent the money quite happily on

clean air on the model where the ferry goes into service in a few weeks time. united against climate change. big challenges for the twenty third u.n. climate conference in bonn. how our nations working to meet their paris agreement targets come twenty three this weekend next on the doubling there's. the sling and the fresh d.w. because i may speak your language to tell you that. for content in dari pashto and order prospects for returning our web special refugee journeys like germany and the prospects for those returning home. join the discussion on d w dot com and

on facebook. prospects for returning. d.w. may for minds welcome to quadriga that will satisfy many back if during a look there is music are you ready for this cup full of holes you visionary and she women's talk long t w a smart women. tactic smart talk say that we broke the record. smart stay shaking fancher the most in the next two posts you'll find out just how this what. d.-w. need for mines. climate change. waste. pollution say. isn't it time for good news eco africa people and projects that are changing our environment for the better it's up to us to make a difference.