Mr Schmidt told the Edinburgh Television Festival yesterday that
Google "loves" Britain and would pay more tax if it were legally
required to do so. He said the company's hands were tied by Britain's low
tax demands.
"It is true we could pay more tax but we would have to do so voluntarily.
It's called paying the legally minimum amount of tax required," he said.
Mr Schmidt's comments come after months of
surrounding the UK's
corporate tax system, which has seen campaign group UK
controversy
Uncut
target high
street chains including Vodafone, Boots and Barclays.
MOSCOW — When a young man lost both his arms this week in the waters off Russia’s east coast, officials and residents initially had trouble believing what had happened. But a day later, when a teenager’s legs were ripped up in the same waters, all doubt vanished.
Large sharks have been sighted in the region only rarely, scientists said, and attacks until now were unheard of.
The first victim, a 25-year-old computer programmer, had been out for an evening swim with his wife on Wednesday at a popular vacation spot near Russia’s border with North Korea.
“It was only about 300 feet,” Ms. Udovenko said, according to the Interfax news agency. “About halfway there, Denis noticed something in the water and screamed, ‘Swim faster, it’s a shark.’ ”
Late on Thursday, the Russian news media reported a third attack, citing local residents, though officials did not immediately confirm it.
Witnesses gave varying descriptions of the shark, putting its size at 6 to 12 feet long. After reviewing the accounts, several scientists said they believed it was probably a great white.
That body of water is home to seals and other shark prey, but not in sufficient densities to sustain large sharks. A hungry great white, lacking its typical prey, Dr. Astakhov said, “could certainly have attacked a human.
Another draw for a great white might be water temperature. The waters in the region have been several degrees higher than normal, making a more attractive environment for great whites, according to Mr. Zgurovsky.
Russians’ blasé attitude toward danger is a source of national pride, and despite the ban on swimming, local news media reported Thursday that beachgoers continued to take to the water.