News Headlines - 18 December 2017
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into the Netherlands' tax treatment of Inter IKEA, one of the two groups operating the IKEA business.
The Commission has concerns that two Dutch tax rulings may have allowed Inter IKEA to pay less tax and given them an unfair advantage over other companies, in breach of EU State aid rules.
▽Toyota pledges to introduce electric or hybrid versions of all cars by 2025
Toyota will have an electrified or hybrid version of all vehicle models by 2025 as it phases out combustion-only models and aims to draw half its sales from electrified vehicles by the end of the next decade... To further that progress, Toyota will have more than 10 pure EVs for sale from 2020, starting in China, the company said at a press briefing in Tokyo. Following that, its pure EVs will go on sale in Japan, India, Europe and the US.
▽Top contractors searched over bidding for maglev project：The Asahi Shimbun
Two more major construction companies are under investigation in a widening scandal over suspected bid-rigging for contracts related to Japan's first high-speed maglev train line... Investigators will soon search the offices of Taisei Corp. as well as Obayashi Corp. to ascertain if there was a concerted effort among the nation's four "super general contractors" to collude on the project being overseen by Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai).
▽Pope warns Japan over 'excessive' competitiveness | Daily Mail Online
Pope Francis warned Japan on Monday over a culture of "excessive" competitiveness in schooling and the workplace as well as an obsession with consumerism... He said he saw "several problems" in Japanese society, such as "excessive competition, competitiveness, consumption, consumption, consumption, consumption and more consumption".
▽Princess Charlotte to start nursery school in January - BBC News
Princess Charlotte will begin attending a London nursery school in January, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have announced.
The couple's daughter, aged two, will start at the Willcocks Nursery School, close to their Kensington Palace home.
