Australia, Singapore Ground Boeing 737 MAX 8s As Doubts About Safety Grow

Despite a reassuring (for some) statement from the FAA affirming that Boeing’s 737 MAX 8 planes remain “safe” for flight, more countries on Tuesday have opted to ground the planes, including Singapore and Australia, in a rare break with US air-travel regulators.

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Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said on Tuesday that it had suspended the operation of all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft flying to or from the country. Since no Australian airlines fly the aircraft (though its Virgin Air recently ordered dozens of new MAX 8s), the decision only impacts the Singaporean airlines SilkAir and Fiji Airlines, according to the FT.

“This is a temporary suspension while we wait for more information to review the safety risks of continued operations of the Boeing 737 MAX,” said CASA’ chief executive and director of aviation safety, Shane Carmody, in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Meanwhile, Virgin Australia has 40 MAX aircraft on order, and said it was “closely watching the situation”, and hinted that it could change its order depending on the outcome of the investigation.

“With our first aircraft delivery not due until November this year, we believe there is sufficient time to consider the outcome of the investigation and make an assessment,” a Virgin spokeswoman said.

So far, more than half of the airlines flying the 737 MAX 8 have grounded the planes. Yesterday, China, Ethiopia and Indonesia grounded said they would wait for more details of Sunday’s crash to emerge, while a few Latin American countries followed suit. The plane only entered service in 2017, have grounded the aircraft, according to the New York Times.

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Though Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have continued to use the aircraft, following the FAA’s advice, they said they would be keeping an eye on events.

The planes are typically used for international flights, or covering long distances domestically:

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Boeing has delivered 350 of the aircraft since it entered service, and has a backlog of more than 5,000 orders.

Boeing shares closed off the lows on Monday, but appeared to be headed lower once again in pre-market trading.

Google’s $3b tax haven loophole probed

By: Jesse Drucker, The Sydney Morning Herald

The US Internal Revenue Service is auditing how Google avoided federal income taxes by shifting profit into offshore subsidiaries, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The agency is bringing more than typical scrutiny to how the company valued software rights and other intellectual property it licensed abroad, said the person, who requested anonymity because the audit isn’t public. The IRS has requested information from Google about its offshore deals after three acquisitions, including its $ US1.65 billion purchase of YouTube, the person said. The transfer overseas of these kinds of rights rights has enabled Google to attribute earnings to foreign units that pay lower taxes, Bloomberg News reported a year ago.

Last year Bloomberg said Google had cut its taxes by $ US3.1 billion ($ 3 billion) in the three years prior using a technique that moves most of its foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands to Bermuda.

While Google’s potential liability isn’t clear, similar deals between companies and offshore arms are often the subject of disputes over hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes, said Daniel Frisch, an economist at Horst Frisch, which advises businesses on transfer pricing – the allocation of income between units in different countries. In 2006, the IRS settled a case with drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline for $ US3.4 billion.

“The very biggest transfer-pricing tax disputes are over transfers of intangibles to offshore subsidiaries,” said Frisch, whose firm is based in Washington.

Google, owner of the world’s most popular search engine, has cut its worldwide tax bill by about $ US1 billion a year using a pair of strategies called the “Double Irish” and “Dutch Sandwich”, which move profits through units in Ireland, the Netherlands and Bermuda. Google reported an effective tax rate of 18.8 per cent in the second quarter, less than half the average combined US and state statutory rate of 39.2 per cent.

To read more, visit:  http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/googles-3b-tax-haven-loophole-probed-20111018-1lu0v.html

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Google Glitch in Flight Service Included World Trade Center

By NewsCore, FOXNews.com

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Google removed an unfortunate glitch in its newly-launched Flight Search service Wednesday that included the World Trade Center in a list of airports.

The Twin Towers were once listed as a destination for aircraft because they boasted a helipad. However, the landing spot was closed in 1984, well before the buildings were destroyed on 9/11.

Despite the information being outdated and inaccurate it was still listed this week on a list of airports on Google’s flight search service, albeit marked “unavailable,” alongside John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International.

The mistake was spotted by a user who contacted an Australian newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald.

The paper alerted Google to the gaffe and by 11:00 a.m. EDT Wednesday the Flight Search feature did not show the World Trade Center as a destination.

To read more, visit:  http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/14/google-removes-wtc-reference-from-new-flight-search-service/

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