Audi boss arrested in diesel probe

Yahoo – AFP, June 18, 2018

Stadler's arrest is the most high-profile yet in the dieselgate crisis (AFP Photo/
CHRISTOF STACHE)

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - Audi chief executive Rupert Stadler has been arrested in connection with parent company Volkswagen's "dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal, German prosecutors said Monday.

The dramatic development comes a week after Munich prosecutors raided Stadler's home after charging him with fraud and the falsification of documents that allowed diesel vehicles equipped with cheating software to be sold to European customers.

Prosecutors said the arrest was justified because of the "risk of concealment of evidence".

Audi confirmed the arrest to AFP, declining to give further details.

"For Mr Stadler, the presumption of innocence continues to apply," a spokesman said in a statement.

Stadler's arrest is the most high-profile yet in the dieselgate crisis, which started when the Volkswagen group admitted in 2015 to equipping some 11 million diesels worldwide with "defeat devices" designed to dupe pollution tests.

VW's luxury subsidiary Audi has long faced suspicions that its engineers developed the software used in the scam.

Audi's former head of engine development was taken into custody in September 2017.

German authorities earlier this month ordered the recall of some 60,000 Audi A6 and A7 cars across Europe to remove illegal emissions control software, using a different technique however than the one at the heart of dieselgate.

Former VW chief executive Martin Winterkorn stepped down soon after the scandal broke in September 2015, while successor Matthias Mueller was hastily replaced earlier this year.

Both are suspected of knowing earlier than they have so far admitted about the cheating, meaning they may have failed in their duty to inform investors in the car giant about the financial risks.

US prosecutors also indicted Winterkorn last month, saying he knew of the company's emissions cheating as early as May 2014 but decided to continue.

Present boss Herbert Diess has been accused of knowing about diesel cheating before it became public -- an allegation rejected by the firm last month.

The scandal has so far cost the VW group more than 25 billion euros ($29 billion) in buybacks, fines and compensation, and the company remains mired in legal woes at home and abroad.

Dutch may soon pay workers using pedal-power

Yahoo – AFP, 15 June 2018

The Netherlands has tens-of-thousands of dedicated bicycle paths criss-crossing
its flat polders and canals

Dutch employees using pedal power to get to work may soon be reimbursed for their efforts, as the Netherlands look at ways to fight ever-growing congestion on its busy roads and highways.

"Let's get out of our cars and onto our bikes," Dutch deputy infrastructure minister Stientje van Veldhoven said this week, as she announced new measures to push even more citizens from four wheels to two.

"I want to stimulate cycling with the aim of getting 200,000 extra people out of their cars to cycle three billion kilometres more on their bicycles," she said in a press release.

One innovative idea is to compensate employees for cycling to work, with Van Veldhoven proposing a reimbursement of 19 cents ($0.22) per kilometre cycled from home and back.

Van Veldhoven is to discuss the proposal and other ways of promoting bicycle use through fiscal rewards such as subsidies to buy bicycles "with major national employers and small and medium enterprises," her ministry said in a statement.

Bicycle-mad Netherlands already counts more than 22 million cycles in a 

country of 17 million

Bicycle-mad Netherlands already counts more than 22 million cycles in a country of 17 million, according to the umbrella BOVAG federation of Dutch transport dealerships.

The country also has tens of thousands of dedicated bicycle paths criss-crossing its flat polders and canals.

"Bicycles play an important role when it comes to reachability, quality of life and health," Van Veldhoven said.

"It reduces traffic jams and gives people forced to use cars more space," she said.

More than half of people's daily trips in the Netherlands are less than 7.5 kilometres and more than half live less than 15 kilometres from work.

"With the development of the electric bicycle, this distance can easily be covered," the ministry added, saying that some 100 million euros have been budgeted to increase bicycle roads and bicycle parking space.

The Netherlands has tens-of-thousands of dedicated bicycle paths criss-crossing its flat polders and canals

Bicycle-mad Netherlands already counts more than 22 million cycles in a country of 17 million

Dutch King Willem-Alexander on a bicycle at the opening
of theInternational Bicycle Congress 'Velo-City 2017'

VW says will pay 1 bn euro German fine over emissions cheating

Yahoo – AFP, June 13, 2018

Another billion down the drain over dieselgate (AFP Photo/HAROLD CUNNINGHAM)

Berlin (AFP) - Auto giant Volkswagen said Wednesday it would pay a one billion euro ($1.2 billion) fine imposed by German prosecutors for diesel emissions cheating.

"The Braunschweig public prosecutor issues an administrative order against Volkswagen AG in the context of the diesel crisis and imposes a fine of EUR1 billion on Volkswagen AG", the company said in a statement.

The German car giant said it had "accepted the fine" and would not lodge an appeal.

"Volkswagen AG, by doing so, admits its responsibility for the diesel crisis and considers this as a further major step towards the latter being overcome."

The prosecutors said the penalty was "one of the highest fines ever imposed on a company in Germany" and stressed that it was unrelated to civil cases seeking compensation or ongoing criminal investigations against the people involved.

The mammoth carmaker admitted in 2015 to fitting 11 million vehicles worldwide with "defeat devices" -- software designed to trick regulators into thinking cars met emissions standards.

In fact, output of harmful fine particulates and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which can cause respiratory and heart diseases, was far higher than legally permitted.

VW's admission had so far cost it more than 25 billion euros in buybacks, fines and compensation, and the company remains mired in legal woes at home and abroad.

VW's chief executive at the time of the diesel scandal Martin Winterkorn stepped down soon after the news broke, while successor Matthias Mueller was hastily replaced earlier this year.

Both are suspected of knowing earlier than they have so far admitted about the cheating, meaning they failed in their duty to inform investors in the car giant about the financial risks.

US prosecutors also indicted Winterkorn last month saying he knew of the company's emissions cheating as early as May 2014 but decided to continue.

The "dieselgate" saga has cast a pall over Germany's vaunted car industry, with suspicions of emissions manipulation since spreading to other companies.

Luxury carmaker BMW and Mercedes-owned Daimler have both had their offices raided by investigators searching for evidence of possible cheating.

In the spiralling scandal, Germany ordered Monday the recall of some 774,000 Daimler vehicles across Europe, citing illegal defeat devices.

VW said in its statement that prosecutors had found that "monitoring duties had been breached ... in the context of vehicle tests".

This had led to 10.7 million cars "being advertised, sold to customers and placed on the market with an impermissible software function" in the US, Canada and worldwide between mid-2007 and 2015, the company said.

Germany orders recall of 774,000 Daimler cars in Europe over emissions

Yahoo – AFP, June 11, 2018

It's Daimler's turn to be in the spotlight over alleged emissions cheating
(AFP Photo/Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - Germany ordered Monday the recall of some 774,000 vehicles from Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler across Europe, citing illegal "defeat devices" designed to conceal high levels of harmful emissions from regulators' tests.

"The federal government will order an immediate official recall because of illegal defeat devices," Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer said in a statement.

The move mostly affects Vito vans and diesel-powered versions of GLC 4x4s and C-class sedans, Scheuer added.

Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche was summoned Monday for crunch talks with Scheuer over emissions irregularities in the firm's vehicles.

"Daimler says the applications in the motor control software the federal government has found fault with will be removed at the greatest possible speed and in cooperative transparency with the authorities," Scheuer said.

So-called defeat devices were at the heart of Volkswagen's "dieselgate" scandal, in which the world's largest carmaker admitted in September 2015 to installing them in 11 million vehicles worldwide.

Vehicles kept to legal emissions limits for harmful substances like nitrogen oxides during lab tests, only to exceed them as much as 40 times in on-road driving.

The scandal has so far cost the world's largest carmaker over 25 billion euros ($29.5 billion) in fines, buybacks and compensation, and senior executives are under investigation over their roles in the cheating.

Other German carmakers have also been forced to recall vehicles to fix manipulated software, although none has so far admitted to mass cheating as Volkswagen did.

Zwolle to get ‘world’s first’ plastic bike path as trials start in September

DutchNews, June 8, 2018

Artists impression: KWS

Zwolle is to get what it says is the world’s first plastic cycle path – a 30 metre long stretch of ‘road’ made of recycled plastic which will be used to test if the technology is suitable to be rolled out in more places. 

The Zwolle bike path will be open to cyclists in September and a second stretch of track will be opened elsewhere in Overijssel province later in the year, civil engineering group KWS said in a website statement. 

The plastic road concept was launched by KWS in 2015 and since 2016, the company has further developed the project with plastic pipe maker Wavin and the Total oil and gas group. 

The two pilots will consist of 30 meter long bicycle paths made of hollow prefabricated elements so that water drainage and pipes can be inserted. Their exact location still has to be decided. 

‘These pilots mark an important step towards the developing process and success of the plastic road,’ KWS said. 

‘The objective is to create a road with a smaller ecological footprint than traditional road systems. When the elements reach their end of life expectancy they can be recycled again, contributing to a circular economy and cleaner environment,’ the company said.

Related Article:

Dutch company launches plan for recycled plastic roads

Court clears the way for Rotterdam to ban old petrol and diesel cars

DutchNews, June 6, 2018

Traffic is a major source of inner city pollution. Photo: Depositphotos.com

The highest Dutch administrative court has cleared the way for Rotterdam to ban old diesel and petrol cars from the city centre. 

The outgoing administration had announced plans to ban diesel-powered cars built before 2001 and petrol cars from before July 1992 but were successfully challenged in court by motorists. 

Now the Council of State has found in favour of the city and it will be up to the new, six-party council executive to decide when to implement the ban. 

Meanwhile, motoring organisation ANWB on Wednesday called on the cabinet to draw up rules for city environmental zones, saying motorists are becoming lost in a jungle of bans and restrictions. 

Amsterdam and Utrecht have already banned cars from their city centres and Nijmegen, Leiden, Arnhem and Maastricht are among the other cities where environmental zones could be on the cards. 

Minister

Junior transport minister Stientje van Veldhoven had said earlier she would draw up a set of regulations before the summer, but that deadline may now not be met, the AD reported.

‘I want clarity for both motorists and local authorities,’ the minister told the paper. ‘And it has always been my intention to come up with specific agreements before the summer. These agreements will also cover specific cases, such as invalid cars.’ 

In Amsterdam there is mounting irritation at the spread of Cantas and other mini vehicles, which were originally meant for people with disabilities. They are now proving popular with youngsters because they are not subject to parking restrictions.

First Saudi women get First Saudi women get driving licences

Yahoo – AFP, June 4, 2018

A Saudi woman test-drives a car during an automotive exhibition for women in
the capital Riyadh on May 13, 2018 (AFP Photo/FAYEZ NURELDINE)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia on Monday began issuing its first driving licences to women in decades, state media reported.

"The first group of women today received their Saudi driving licences," the official Saudi Press Agency said.

"The general directorate of traffic started replacing international driving licences recognised in the kingdom with Saudi licences," it added.

The move comes as Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world where women are not allowed drive, prepares to lift its decades-long ban on female drivers on June 24.

SPA said authorities started swapping international licences for Saudi ones in multiple locations across the kingdom, with women applicants made to undergo a "practical test".

It did not specify the number of licences issued.

The move is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's far-reaching liberalisation drive as he seeks to modernise the conservative petro-state.

The self-styled reformer, who recently undertook a global tour aimed at reshaping his kingdom's austere image, has sought to break with long-held restrictions on women and the mixing of the genders.

But casting a shadow on the reforms, Saudi Arabia last week said it detained 17 people for "undermining" the kingdom's security, in what campaigners have dubbed a sweeping crackdown against activists.

Rights groups have identified many of the detainees as women campaigners for the right to drive and to end the conservative Islamic country's male guardianship system.

Authorities said eight of the detainees had been "temporarily released" until their investigation is completed.

Nine suspects, including four women, remain in custody after they "confessed" to a slew of charges such as suspicious contact with "hostile" organisations and recruiting people in sensitive government positions, according to SPA.

Authorities accused the detainees of "coordinated activity undermining the security and stability of the kingdom".

Previous reports in state-backed media branded some of the detainees traitors and "agents of embassies".

Campaigners have dismissed the reports as a "smear" campaign. The crackdown has also sparked a torrent of global criticism.

#UPDATE Saudi Arabia has begun issuing its first driving licences to women in decades, state media reports say https://t.co/s9KFH59Rt0 pic.twitter.com/nKUJ0eJYsr

— AFP news agency (@AFP) June 4, 2018