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This week, an Advocate General gave a landmark opinion that the VAT exemption for the management of certain special investment funds can apply to property management, as well as to other fund management services. The opinion represents a completely ...

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Following the publication by the European Commission of the conclusions on best available techniques (BAT) in the waste sector on 17th August 2018, the operators are required to submit a reconsideration file (“dossier de réexamen”...

HEALTH AND SAFETY In the courts - cameras to broadcast from the Crown Court for the first time The government has announced new legislation which will permit the sentencing remarks of High Court and senior judges in certain criminal cases to be film...

There have been many examples of high profile health and safety incidents in recent years, including major rail disasters, the serious incident at Alton Towers and of course the tragedy at Grenfell Tower. These have rightly received high profile, wi...

ENVIRONMENT Long Awaited Environment Bill Back in Parliament The UK Environment Bill seeks to deliver “the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth” by setting a “gold standard” for environmental protect...

On 4 March 2020, the European Commission adopted its eagerly awaited European Climate Law proposal which will enshrine into EU legislation the European Union’s commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (the “2050 Ob...

  HEALTH & SAFETY So what now? Where low occupancy poses water-borne risks Most organisations during this pandemic have rightly focused on the health and safety of employees and the general public in tackling the spread of the virus. Whilst...

The Lagos State Government has discharged 48 more COVID-19 patients from its isolation centres.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu disclosed this via his official Twitter handle on Thursday.

This brings the total recovery case in the state to 406. 

The governor said the patients, who were all Nigerians, include 32 males and 16 females.

He said, “The patients, 28 from the Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, six from Lekki, one from Onikan and 13 from LUTH Isolation Centre, were discharged having fully recovered and tested negative to #COVID19 in two consecutive readings.”

The Plateau State Government has discharged the state’s index case of Coronavirus from one of its isolation centres at Jos University Teaching Hospital after she made a full recovery.

Nathan Shehu, Consultant Physician, Infectious Disease, at JUTH, confirmed the recovery, saying she was fit to reintegrate into society.

He said, “The patient has recovered and is fit to reintegrate into the community. She no longer poses a risk. 

“The patient came asymptomatic; after treatment, her samples were taken and they all are negative, so she is discharged and can go home.

“The advice we will give her is the same we will give those in the community. She should maintain social distance, respiratory and cough etiquette and hand hygiene.”

The consultant, who was involved in managing the patient, urged the public not to stigmatise those treated and discharged.

Sixteen patients receiving treatment for Coronavirus in Kano State have been discharged after recovering from the disease.

This brings the total number of discharged patients in the state to 22.

Mallam Muhammad Garba, Commissioner for Information in the state, made this known in a statement on Thursday. 

Garba said among those discharged were Prof Abdulrazak Garba Habeeb of the Department of Medicine, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Bayero University, who is also the Co-chair of the state’s Prevention Task Force on COVID-19, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, the state’s Commissioner for Health among others.

The commissioner pointed out that all the patients have tested negative for the disease after the two follow up tests and have therefore reached full recovery.

Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has ordered visiting officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to go into isolation at a quarantine centre for 14 days.

Bello gave the directive on Thursday night when the NCDC officials led by Dr Andrew Noah showed up at the Government House, in Lokoja, the state capital.

The agency had sent a delegation of rapid response team to ascertain the true status of Kogi as a COVID-19-free state. 

The governor said that the step was to ensure that the laid down procedure of checkmating the scourge by NCDC was strictly followed.

Presenting a letter titled: “Deployment of Rapid Response Squad to help in fighting COVID-19,” Dr Noah explained that the mission of the NCDC was to provide logistics to all states of the federation of which Kogi could not be left out.

He said two members of the team would be left behind to help the state and support efforts already in place.

Speaking shortly after receiving the letter, Bello outlined steps taken so far by the state to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

He then asked that the NCDC officials be subjected to testing and isolated in the state quarantine centre or leave the state immediately if they refused.

Nigeria has recorded 381 new Coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 3526.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control disclosed this in a Twitter post on Thursday. 

The agency said, “381 new cases of ‪#COVID19; 183 in Lagos, 55 in Kano, 44 in Jigawa, 19 in Zamfara, 19 in Bauchi, 11 in Katsina, nine in Borno, eight in Kwara, seven in Kaduna, six in Gombe, five in Ogun, four in Sokoto, three in Oyo, three in Rivers, two in Niger, one in Akwa Ibom, one in Enugu and one in Plateau.

“3526 cases of ‪#COVID19 in Nigeria. Discharged: 601, deaths: 107.” 

The Nigerian Civil Society Organisations have recommended modalities that would ensure citizens’ participation in the conduct of the proposed virtual public hearing on the controversial Infectious Diseases Bill.

The group said that public scrutiny of the bill can only be achieved through a broad-based engagements of stakeholders. 

In a statement jointly signed by 69 civil organisations on Thursday in Abuja, the groups stated that any legislative process that does not guarantee active and free participation of the people would fail and not be accepted.  

The statement noted that the proposed public hearing, which would be held via video conferencing be scheduled to hold between two to three days and representatives of organizations be allowed to make presentation for five-10 minutes.

The rights group also asked the lawmakers to provide information on the committee responsible for the coordination of the hearing.

According to the statement, "The committee responsible for organising these activities should conduct citizen outreach and share this information widely with the public through diverse media platforms. 

"This is critical to ensure broad awareness and participation and enhance legislative transparency" 

They said the virtual public hearing on the bill must be comprehensive, and conform with the dictates of the constitution. 

The Courts Service has initiated a pilot virtual hearing programme (“Pilot Programme”), with Courts of a number of jurisdictions participating, in light of the ongoing nationwide Covid-19 restrictions. It is anticipated that, following c...

Update | 23. 4. 2020: The Parliament passed the act on certain measures to mitigate the effects of the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus epidemic on tenants of business premises. The new act will be effective once signed by the President and published in the C...

Reconsidered employment related Government measures The Government modified the previously introduced wage subsidies: wage subsidies for researcher and developer employees and short-time allowance can be applied for on more favourable terms, the app...

The Government introduced tax reliefs and extended deadlines The Government decided on the tax reliefs previously announced, postponing the deadlines in connection with the annual report to 30 September. The payment of health services contribution b...

A number of measures have been introduced in Ireland in recent weeks in light of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Irish Revenue has also published a number of welcome guidelines and confirmations in an attempt to mitigate any detrimental effects...

Eversheds Sutherland El Heni is the only law firm in Tunisia that has been nominated top tier in all  practice areas Foreign Firm, Banking & Finance, Commercial/Corporate/M&A by international independent law firm directory, The Legal 50...

By Wilmar Salim, Keith Bettinger, and Micah Fisher HONOLULU (June 21, 2019)—With a population of more than 30 million, greater Jakarta is the largest metropolitan area in Southeast Asia and one of the most densely populated urban regions in the world. The city is a major economic engine for Indonesia, accounting for approximately 25 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Yet urban poverty remains an intractable problem, and Jakarta’s infamous traffic congestion paralyzes commerce, leaches productivity, and contributes to air pollution and associated health hazards.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Sherry P. Broder HONOLULU (August 28, 2019)—Since the 1950s when plastics were first produced, more than 150 million tons of plastic debris have accumulated in the world’s oceans. Marine plastic litter includes large items, such as nets, floats, and other fishing debris, plus tiny microplastic particles that are pervasive and practically invisible to the naked eye—but equally harmful. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that more than 35 percent of all the primary plastics that end up in the oceans are microplastics and that most of these tiny particles originate from textiles. Ingestion of plastic particles by fish, bivalves, and other seafood is particularly concerning for humans, in part because little is known about the pesticides that are...

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By East-West Center HONOLULU (October 4, 2019)—President Donald Trump first laid out a vision for a “free and open Indo-Pacific” at the November 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Vietnam. From the start, statements describing the emerging US Indo-Pacific strategy have recognized the central role of Southeast Asia. The US approach to the Indo-Pacific focuses on three vital areas: enhancing shared prosperity, championing good governance and civil society, and ensuring a peaceful and secure regional order. Two recent visitors to the East-West Center described the potential role of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the US Indo-Pacific strategy and spelled out several steps that the United States needs to take to strengthen US-ASEAN...

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Abby G. Frazier and Laura Brewington HONOLULU (November 11, 2019)—Of all the earth’s environments, alpine regions are arguably the most vulnerable to climate change. This is especially true for alpine areas on islands. Island ecosystems are also particularly vulnerable to damage from human activity and the invasion of alien species due to their isolated and limited land areas.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Marcus Noland HONOLULU (November 19, 2019)—Rising diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Japan are putting American security interests at risk. Yet the United States government appears detached, unable to facilitate a rapprochement between its two allies. This is a critical moment because a South Korea-Japan intelligence-sharing agreement, aimed at North Korea, is due to lapse on 22 November this year.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

A close look at the evidence suggests that China has not been engaged in “debt-trap diplomacy” in the Pacific, at least not so far. Nonetheless, if future Chinese lending continues on a business-as-usual basis, serious problems of debt sustainability will arise, and concerns about quality and corruption are valid. By Jonathan Pryke HONOLULU (March 2, 2020)—In an atmosphere of heightened geostrategic competition, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has raised questions about the risk of debt problems in less-developed countries. Such risks are especially worrying for the small and fragile economies of the Pacific.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By James H. Spencer, Sumeet Saksena, and Jefferson Fox HONOLULU (1 April 2020)—The current COVID-19 pandemic, which started in Wuhan, China, underscores what the public health community has warned about for more than two decades—the risk of viral diseases capable of spreading from animal to human hosts. The first outbreaks of “bird flu” (highly pathogenic avian influenza―HPAI, subtype H5N1) raised similar concerns 20 years ago―concerns that have persisted with the outbreak of SARS in 2002–2004 and COVID-19 today. New outbreaks of avian influenza are also still occurring in poultry and humans, primarily in Asia but also in other parts of the world.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Lora Saalman HONOLULU (14 April 2020)—Artificial intelligence (AI) is an increasingly important component of weapons systems, with both positive and negative implications for nuclear deterrence. Integration of AI into military platforms has the potential to allow weaker nuclear-armed states to reset the imbalance of power, but at the same time it exacerbates fears that stronger states may further solidify their dominance and engage in more provocative actions.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Rebecca Strating HONOLULU (24 April 2020)—Many argue that China’s increasingly aggressive posture in the South China Sea is an attempt to unilaterally alter the US-led regional order, which includes an emphasis on freedom of navigation. In response, the US has stressed the importance of support from “like-minded” states—including Japan and South Korea—in defending freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and elsewhere. This characterization, however, disguises important differences in attitudes and behavior that could hinder joint efforts to push back against China.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Andrew Mason, Sang-Hyop Lee, and Donghyun Park HONOLULU (8 May 2020)—Elderly populations in Asia are expanding more quickly than other age groups. Low fertility rates result in fewer children and eventually fewer working-age adults, while elderly populations are living longer.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

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Introduction On 31 January 2020, the OECD issued a further update on its work on the taxation of the digital economy. The catchily titled “Statement by the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS on the Two-Pillar Approach to Address the Tax Chal...

Given the development of the COVID-19 situation, it was anticipated that the UK government Budget would have a very different focus than originally expected. Trailed as the showcase fiscal policy event of the new Conservative government, it was alw...

The UK HMRC Stamp Office has released details of how it will temporarily change its procedures to allow for the submission and payment of stamp duty in respect of transfers of shares in UK companies. The standard requirements of HMRC in order to st...

The UK government announced at the March Budget that they intend to introduce a requirement for large businesses to notify HMRC where they adopt an “uncertain tax treatment”.  The proposal is designed to improve HMRC’s ability...

No support in the Corona crisis... The measures already initiated by the German Federal Government and the EU Commission to support and secure liquidity in the Corona crisis are focused on the industries directly affected by Corona/ COVID 19. They ...

Tax relief for volunteers and donations in the Corona crisis The Corona crisis poses enormous challenges for the whole society. In order to mitigate the spread of the pandemic, a wave of helpfulness and solidarity has been raised to assist the fello...

In line with the Federal Ministry of Finance's press release dated 3 April 2020, Germany and Austria have concluded a mutual agreement for Covid 19-related home office activities on 15 April 2020, which relates to the application of the Double Tax ...

As part of the EU’s general clampdown on certain forms of aggressive tax planning, Directive 2011/16/EU (commonly known as DAC6) will soon require taxpayers and intermediaries across the EU to start reporting information in relation to certain...