Verstappen becomes youngest ever F1 winner in Spain

Yahoo – AFP, Timothy Collings, May 15, 2016

Max Verstappen celebrates his first Grand Prix win, taking the top spot in Spain
 on May 15, 2016 and becoming the youngest ever Formula One winner at 18 years
of age (AFP Photo/Lluis Gene)

Barcelona (AFP) - Teenager Max Verstappen became Formula One's youngest ever winner on Sunday when he took full advantage of a first lap crash that eliminated both Mercedes cars to claim a memorable triumph in the Spanish Grand Prix.

In his maiden outing with Red Bull following his unexpected promotion from Toro Rosso, the 18-year-old Dutchman showed supreme composure under pressure as he resisted all attacks to claim a stunning victory in only his 24th F1 race.

He became the youngest race winner, at 18 years and 228 days, replacing four-time champion Sebastian Vettel who had also taken that record as a Red Bull driver.

Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen of the

 Netherlands attends a press conference at the 

Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, just 

outside Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, May 12, 2016. 

The Formula One race will be held on Sunday. 

(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

"It feels amazing, I can't believe it," said Verstappen.

"It was a great race and it felt like an endurance race. To win straight away, in my first race, it's an amazing feeling. From a very young age, my dad has helped me a lot – it’s just amazing."

Verstappen, heralded as the sport's hottest property, proved he has everything required to be a future world champion, but owed some of his good fortune also to Red Bull’s decision to put him on a three-stop strategy while his senior team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was on a two-stop plan.

That prevented the Australian from turning his early control of the race into victory after the opening lap collision between championship leader Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton had left them fuming in a gravel trap at Turn Four and out of the race.

Ricciardo eventually came home fourth, despite suffering a puncture on the penultimate 65th lap, behind the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen who finished second ahead of Vettel.

Verstappen's maiden win on his Red Bull debut was the first in the sport by a Dutchman and the first by the team without Vettel involved in one of their cars.

"It's unbelievable, I can't believe this," said Verstappen's father Jos, who on Saturday had announced he was standing down as his son’s manager.

Valtteri Bottas came home fifth for Williams ahead of Carlos Sainz in a Toro Rosso, Sergio Perez of Force India, Felipe Massa in the second Williams, Jenson Button of McLaren Honda and Daniil Kvyat on his return to Toro Rosso.

Ricciardo was understandably frustrated.

"It's mixed emotions for me," he said. "I was leading and then was pulled to a three-stop strategy and had to pass three cars – that wasn't the plan.

Infiniti Red Bull racing driver Max Verstappen pictured during the during the Spanish

 Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo outside Barcelona

on May 15, 2016 (AFP Photo/Tom Gandolfini)

"In hindsight, it was wrong. Not to be on the podium – that sucks for me. The puncture at the end was just salt in the wounds.

"I don't want to come across as a bad sportsman and, whatever happened on the track, Max crossed the line first. I’m bitter, but not at Max.”

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said: “We are as much in shock as anyone is… We knew there was a chance when both Mercedes went off, but what Max has done is unbelievable.

"He made a two-stop, which was right on the limit, and it worked beautifully for him. It is fantastic for F1 to have a new winner – a youngster on the top step at 18. He can’t even drink the champagne!"

Vettel was generous to his successor as the youngest winner.

“Many congratulations to Max, it is a great achievement to win your first race and this is his day."

Raikkonen, whose second place finish lifted him to second behind Rosberg in the drivers’ championship, said: "I am happy for Max, but disappointed for myself.

"But that’s racing. We tried and we tried. I was fast and I got close, but it was not enough."

After Red Bull promoted Max Verstappen from Toro Rosso, the youngster has \

been losing sleep ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Raikkonen, a 36-year-old veteran of 235 Grands Prix, added: "I raced against his father. In Formula One! And that is scary…"

In an extraordinary race, there was drama from start to finish.

World championship leader Rosberg and Hamilton were scrapping for the lead when they wrecked the team’s hopes of another one-two triumph and revived bitter memories of their collision in the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix on Turn Four.

"We have spoken to both drivers and it is not a clear cut decision – we have lost 43 points after lots of effort by the team in the last few difficult weeks," said a strained Toto Wolff, the team chief.

"Let's see what the stewards decide."

Another reprimand for Hamilton, if it was to come, would be his third of the season and signal an automatic 10-place grid penalty for the Monaco Grand Prix, diminishing his ability to revive a serious title defence.

On the day of Verstappen's emphatic arrival, it seemed also to be a signal that times are changing and a new era may be about to unfold.

Related Articles:

Dutch teenager Max Verstappen wins the Spanish Grand Prix

"The Energy of the Future" - Dec 7, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… The New 'Message' from Space

Let me tell you what the message is that is being communicated: Unlock to 44 percent! This is the message: The Human race has passed the marker and is ready for the next step in evolution. I am talking about the old soul. You are the ones who will be first to get this message. It is you, and some of your "old soul" children, who are starting to feel and accept this!

Let me tell you in this lesson today that the first thing that this unlocking will begin to create is what we're going to call Akashic acuity. You're going to start remembering, and it's about time. Can you celebrate this? It's about time that when you're born you don't start from scratch, in the dark, and doing everything all over again. Instead, you remember!

I want to talk to some individuals who are listening to this and are in this room. Have your grandchildren had the audacity to tell you who they used to be? Don't raise your hand; I know you're here. They feel it, and they know it, and out of the mouths of these babes come the most profound information that this planet has ever heard! They knew who they were! Some will point their fingers at you and say, “Don't you remember? I was your mum in another life.” That's a bit disconcerting, isn't it?

I want you to remember one of the premises of incarnation, the one that we have given you over and over. You incarnate in family groups. There's a reason for this, so there is comfort and joy. It's so you don't have to learn the energy of each related person, all over again, each time. The energies of the family stay together and you can accomplish more that way. There's always a benevolent reason for these things. Every single attribute of the esoteric system of life, whether it's your grids or reincarnation, is benevolent. Did you hear that? It's a beautiful system, and not random. It's not about judgment; it's not about punishment. It is, instead, about the love of God for you, and what I'm about to tell you is what is changing is energy.

Akashic Acuity

So we have established that you are moving into this new radiation, and we have established that it intersects the sun. The sun blasts your magnetic field with it (via the solar wind) and the magnetic field talks to your DNA. Suddenly, there is the potential some of your DNA is being unlocked. The attributes of unlocking Akashic acuity will help you to remember who you've been. Now, with this remembrance comes energy - not about who you were, but rather it gives you the energy of what you did. I don't mean physically; I mean energetically and mentally. Old souls carry with them experience. When you look into the eyes of a child, you're going to see wisdom just waiting to break out. Dear ones, these children are different. They are not going to go through what you did! They have a whole new set of issues, and most of their issues are trying to navigate the old issues you create for them!

There's something we brought up in a former channelling called the wisdom factor. Now, the wisdom factor is caused by Akashic acuity. After living Human life over and over, you start remembering the wisdom that you have gained through these past lifetimes. You don't necessarily remember who you were, but rather the fact that you were at all and the experiences you had. Imagine a child coming into the planet knowing how to read? Imagine a child coming into the planet knowing not to touch something hot? Where did it come from? You're going to see more of this, and a feeling of "been there, done that".

Akashic acuity is remembrance of experience during past lifetimes. As the child grows, that remembrance becomes pure wisdom. As the child starts to awaken and the pineal opens, something else happens. The grid starts talking to the child through the DNA, and in the grid is also the information from the time capsules we spoke about in past channellings. The time capsules start feeding the planet with increased wisdom and knowledge. You don't have to reincarnate to awaken even further! Akashic acuity means suddenly Humans know more than other children have in the past - much more. …”

Nissan to be fined for 'emissions cheating' in South Korea

Yahoo – AFP, Jung Ha-Won, May 16, 2016

South Korea is fining Nissan for allegedly manipulating emissions data on a
popular diesel sports utility vehicle (AFP Photo/Toshifumi Kitamura)

Seoul (AFP) - South Korea said Monday it will fine Nissan for allegedly manipulating emissions data on a popular diesel sports utility vehicle, bringing the Japanese car giant into a widening global scandal that has already ensnared Volkswagen and Mitsubishi.

Seoul said it would order recalls of hundreds of Qashqai model SUVs after tests revealed an emission defeat system that made the vehicle appear to be less polluting than it really was.

The decision follows an investigation into 20 diesel-powered cars that began last December after German carmaker Volkswagen admitted having installed devices aimed at cheating emissions tests in 11 million diesel engines.

Nissan would be fined 330 million won ($280,000), the environment ministry said Monday.

"Our investigation... concluded that Nissan illegally manipulated emission data," it said in a statement.

Japanese transport ministry officials raid theTokyo headquarters of Mitsubishi after

the firm admitted manipulating fuel economy figures. Rough cut (no reporter narration)

Hong Dong-Kon, a ministry official handling transport-related regulations, added: "A group of auto industry experts we consulted with also agreed that this is a clear manipulation of emission data."

State tests showed the Qashqai switched off its emission reduction device when the car temperature reached 35 degrees Celsius to stop the vehicle from overheating, whereas other cars waited until the temperature reached 50 degrees.

The ministry also said that when the Qashqai's emissions reduction device stopped working, the level of emissions was about the same or higher than the Volkswagen cars equipped with emissions-cheating software systems.

Nissan will be given 10 days to present its opinions on the Qashqai issue before Seoul officially carries out punitive measures, the environment ministry said.

VW crisis

VW was plunged into its deepest-ever

 crisis last year when it emerged it had

 installed defeat devices into cars all over

the world (AFP Photo/Odd Andersen)

Nissan insisted it "does not manipulate data related to our vehicles" in a statement sent to AFP.

"Nissan has not and does not employ illegal defeat or cheat devices in any of the cars that we make."

The statement added: "Furthermore, following stringent testing and using similar standards to the Korean tests, EU authorities have concluded that Nissan vehicles they tested used no illegal defeat device.

"Although the conclusions reached by the Korean authorities are inconsistent with those of other regulators, Nissan will carefully assess and consider appropriate next steps.

The company said it was "committed to upholding the law" and was "continuing to work with the Korean authorities".

Unlike its rivals Volkswagen and Mitsubishi, Nissan -- Japan's number two automaker -- has so far avoided being embroiled in any emissions or fuel economy cheating scandals.

Mitsubishi last month admitted it had been falsifying fuel-economy tests for years, manipulating data to make cars seem more efficient than they were in reality.

The scandal includes mini-cars produced by Mitsubishi for Nissan as part of a joint venture, but Nissan is said to have had no part in the cheating.

Volkswagen emissions scandal (AFP Photo)

Nissan threw a surprise lifeline to Mitsubishi last week by offering to buy 34 percent of its shares, but its top executive warned Friday that he would kill the $2.2 billion offer if the Mitsubishi scandal spreads beyond Japan.

VW was plunged into its deepest-ever crisis last September when it emerged it had installed defeat devices into cars all over the world.

The automaker has acknowledged 11 million vehicles are fitted with software that reduces pollution levels only when the car is being tested for emissions.

In late April the company said it was setting aside 16.2 billion euros ($18.2 billion) in provisions to cover the anticipated costs of the scandal.

Last November Seoul ordered Volkswagen Korea to recall more than 125,000 diesel-powered cars sold in the Korean market and fined the firm 14.1 billion won.

Dutch company court upholds €324,000 fine for Ryanair

DutchNews, May 10, 2016

Photo: Ryanair.com

The Dutch company court has upheld a €324,000 fine imposed on budget airline Ryanair by the Dutch consumers authority ACM. 

The ACM fined Ryanair for not adding all unavoidable costs to the cost of air tickets displayed on its website, in violation of consumer protection regulations. This meant most travellers paid ‘considerably more’ for their tickets, the ACM said in March. 

In addition, Ryanair only operates an English language customer service desk, but fails to note this on the website, the ACM said. 

The original fine was €370,000 but this was lowered after one charge was found to be not proven.

Ryanair has now revised its booking process and prices do ‘include all foreseeable and unavoidable fees and surcharges’, the ACM said.

Video: 8,400 tonne railway bridge moved into place overnight

DutchNews, May 7, 2016

Photo: Rijkswaterstaat

A massive operation to place 255 metre long railway bridge over the A1 motorway near Muiderberg has been completed three hours ahead of schedule, the transport ministry said on Saturday. 

The 8,400 tonne bridge had to be moved 400 metres from the location where it had been assembled to the correct site over the highway. The A1 was closed at 20.00 hours on Friday night to enable the work to take place and reopened at 09.00 on Saturday morning. 

The bridge was put in place by 03.00 but then had to be adjusted millimeter by millimeter to make sure everything joined up. 

Transport ministry spokesman Henk Voerman said the entire operation had proceeded smoothly. ‘It was really imposing to watch, particularly from close up when those enormous wheels began to move,’ he told RTL news. 

Work will now continue on the bridge and it will be opened in August when the old railway bridge will be demolished.

Time lapse of the entire operation

Dutch electric and hybrid car fleet tops 200,000

DutchNews, April 26, 2016

Photo: DutchNews.nl

Some 60,000 electric and hybrid cars were bought in the Netherlands last year, taking the total number on the Dutch roads to around 211,000, the national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday. 

This may be an increase of over 33% on a year ago, but electric or hybrid cars still account for just one in 40 of the cars on the Dutch roads, the CBS said. 

Just one in 20 of the total is a fully electric vehicle, and the Tesla Model S is the most popular of these. In terms of the hybrids, the Mitsubishi Outlander, the Volkswagen Golf plug-in hybrid and the Toyota Auris lead the pack in popularity.

Related Article:

Report: Berlin sets electric car subsidy at 4,000 euros

A host holds up two kinds of electric car charging plug interfaces.

Dutch students open world's first pop-up drone cafe

Yahoo – AFP, April 23, 2016

A drone brings drinks to customers in the world's first drone cafe in Eindhoven

Would you like a drone with your cocktail? The world's first cafe using the tiny domestic unmanned aircraft as servers has opened in a Dutch university.

The pop-up drone cafe will be serving up all weekend as part of celebrations for the "Dream and Dare" festival marking the 60th anniversary of the Eindhoven University of Technology.

The 20 students behind the project, who spent nine months developing and building the autonomous drone, aim to show how such small inside craft could become an essential part of modern daily life.

"It has potential as a useful tool for human kind. We see it as the next mobile phone. You choose and you programme it like you want," student and project leader Tessie Hartjes told AFP.

The drone, nicknamed Blue Jay, which resembles a small white flying saucer with a luminescent strip for eyes, flies to a table and hovers as it takes a client's order, who points to the list to signal what they would like.

"The blue eyes of the first drone load" up by scanning the list to register the order, said Hartjes.

"Once it's fully loaded, then the order is ready. And another one comes with the order in a cup in the grip."

The cafe is offering four different alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails, which are either bright blue or green -- the same colour as the drone's "eyes."

The drinks are picked up and carried by a set of pinchers underneath the drone, in a bid to show that these aerial machines could be used to carry out delicate missions such as delivering medicines or even helping to track down burglars.

Each drone has cost about 2,000 euros to build, in a project funded by the university which the students say aims "to give a glimpse of the future".

Thanks to sensors and a long battery life they can fly inside buildings and navigate crowded interiors, unlike other drones, which rely on a GPS system.

"The Blue Jay is an intelligent bird that lives in complex, social environments," the students say in a video presenting their work.

They believe the drone's applications could be endless: as extinguishers to put out fires, alarm systems to warn of intruders or mini-servants which would respond to commands such as "fetch me an apple."

"We believe that one day, domestic drones will be a part of society. One day, a drone could be a friend," says one of the students in the video presentation.

Related Article:

Eindhoven students open ‘world’s first’ drone cafe

More carmakers caught in headlights of VW engine-rigging scandal

Yahoo – AFP,  April 22, 2016

Volkswagen has admitted it installed illegal software into 11 million 2.0 liter
and 3.0 liter diesel engines worldwide (AFP Photo/Josh Edelson)

Berlin (AFP) - Major names in the auto industry found themselves caught in headlights of a global engine-rigging scandal on Friday as Volkswagen booked one of the biggest losses in its history over the scam.

As VW announced it was setting aside 16.2 billion euros to cover the costs of the scandal, the German government revealed that an emissions probe found that 16 major car brands -- ranging from France's Renault to Italy's Fiat to Japan's Nissan -- showed up irregularities.

German carmakers would have to recall Audi, Mercedes, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen vehicles in Europe after failing the test, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said, adding that Berlin was unable to require foreign car makers that did not fall under its jurisdiction to take similar action.

The latest revelations amounted to another aftershock rocking the automobile sector, already vulnerable after VW's scandal erupted in September with the admission that the group had installed so-called "defeat devices" aimed at cheating emissions tests into 11 million diesel engines worldwide.

Volkswagen has admitted it installed illegal software into 11 million 2.0 liter 

and 3.0 liter diesel engines worldwide (AFP Photo/John SAEKI, Adrian Leung)

This week, the pain spread to Asia, where Japan's Mitsubishi Motors confessed that it cheated on fuel-efficiency tests.

And late Thursday, top of the range German maker Daimler announced that it was launching an internal probe into its emission certification process at the request of the US authorities.

France's biggest automaker PSA Group was also not spared, as the country's anti-fraud squad raided its premises as part of a government probe into emissions after "anomalies" were found in three vehicles.

16 car brands hit

The latest trouble to hit the sector arises from a probe carried out into the emission values of all vehicle models on German roads.

Of 53 models tested, 22 models were found to emit high nitrogen oxide values and possess a technical device that raised questions.

The models in particular have devices that, under specific temperatures, switch off systems that are meant to remove harmful nitrogen oxide from cars' exhaust.

Daimler -- owner of Mercedes-Benz -- announced that it was launching an internal

 investigation, "into its certification process related to exhaust emissions in the United 

States upon the request of the US Department of Justice (DOJ)" (AFP Photo/

\Paul J. Richards)

The systems for cleaning pollutants are deactivated at low temperatures to protect motors or prevent a possible accident, as is allowed by EU regulations, but it was not clear whether some makers used this provision to bend the rules.

Dobrindt said that besides German brands Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes, Opel and Porsche, as well as France's Renault, "other manufacturers (affected) are ... Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Dacia, Fiat, Hyundai, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Nissan and Suzuki."

Meanwhile, independent of the German probe, Daimler -- owner of Mercedes-Benz, announced that it was launching an internal investigation, "into its certification process related to exhaust emissions in the United States upon the request of the US Department of Justice (DOJ)."

Daimler pledged to "investigate possible indications of irregularities and of course take all necessary actions," it said as its shares went into a tailspin on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

In Asia, Japan's transport ministry sent officials to raid a Mitsubishi Motors research and development centre for a second day on Friday.

Mitsubishi said it would halt production and sales of the affected models -- mini-cars sold in Japan including many made for rival Nissan -- and warned that the number would likely rise, as it looks to vehicles sold overseas.

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi has admitted it manipulated pollution data

in more than 600,000 vehicles (AFP Photo/Toshifumi Kitamura)

VW skids deep into red

For its part, VW said it sank into a loss of 1.582 billion euros in 2015, due mainly to the 16.2 billion euros in provisions it has been forced to set aside to cover regulatory fines, lawsuits and recall costs of the scandal.

"The emissions issue significantly impacted Volkswagen's finances," said Matthias Mueller, group chief executive.

VW had only just reached an agreement with US regulators -- who had first broken the scandal -- to offer US owners of some 480,000 illegally polluting diesel cars options of "substantial compensation" and to fix the cars, or to buy them back.

The German giant had faced a court deadline for solutions to the emissions scandal and San Francisco district court judge Charles Breyer said the agreement in principle would give owners of its 2.0 liter diesel cars choices for compensation which also included cancelling the contracts for those under lease.

The offer, which will likely cost Volkswagen billions of dollars, also included the creation of a fund for environmental protection, the company said at a court hearing.

Details of the proposal between Volkswagen USA, the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency were not immediately released.

Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt gives a statment to the media in Berlin, 

Germany, April 22, 2016. German car manufacturers will recall 630,000 Porsche, 

Volkswagen Opel, Audi and Mercedes vehicles to fix diesel emissions management

 software, a German government official said on Friday, widening a clampdown on 

pollution in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal. Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch

But it appeared to be enough to allow Volkswagen to avert a huge trial over how it would deal with the scandal that has already deeply damaged the company.

The so-called "dieselgate" scandal led to the departure of VW's chief executive Martin Winterkorn.

The German giant, which has abandoned its ambitions of becoming the world's biggest carmaker ahead of Toyota in the wake of the scandal, has already started recalling some eight million vehicles affected in Europe.

The scandal has greatly tarnished the reputation of a company once regarded as a paragon of German industry.

The recall operation in Europe is expected to take all year. And while VW is footing the bill, it is not expecting to have to pay European owners compensation, much to the chagrin of consumer protection groups.

Related Articles:

German automakers to recall 630,000 cars after emissions probe

Mitsubishi Motors to pay owners of fuel-cheating cars: report - New

Automaker Mitsubishi admits manipulating fuel-efficiency tests

Automaker Mitsubishi admits manipulating fuel-efficiency tests

Yahoo – AFP, Natsuko Fukue, 20 April 2016

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi on Wednesday admitted it manipulated fuel-efficiency tests in more than 600,000 vehicles, after reports of misconduct sent its Tokyo-listed shares crashing earlier in the day.

The embarrassing revelation comes in the wake of a massive pollution-cheating scandal at Volkswagen (LSE: 0P6N.L - news) that erupted in September and which the German giant is still struggling to overcome.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) also marks the latest blow for Japan Inc after auto parts giant Takata (Frankfurt: 7TK.F - news) was hammered by an exploding air bag defect blamed for at least 11 deaths, and as Toshiba (Swiss: TOSH.SW - news) tries to recover from a huge accounting scandal.

Mitsubishi said it would halt production and sales of the affected vehicle models -- mini-cars sold in Japan -- and warned that the number of affected vehicles would likely rise.

The maker of the Outlander sport utility vehicle also said it would launch a probe into cars it sold overseas.

"We found that with respect to the fuel consumption testing data... (the company) conducted testing improperly to present better fuel consumption rates than the actual rates," Mitsubishi president Tetsuro Aikawa told a Tokyo news briefing.

He added that the testing method was "different" from one required by Japanese law, and warned that the automaker's bottom line would take a hit.

"This is not a simple problem and we need time (to assess the impact)," Mitsubishi's top executive said.

"But I'm sure there will be an impact. The damage will be big."

The problem affected about 625,000 vehicles, including mini-cars "eK Wagon" and "eK Space", and the "Dayz" and "Dayz Roox", which Mitsubishi produces for rival Nissan.

The rigged figures were discovered after Nissan found inconsistencies in fuel-economy data and reported it.

"In response to Nissan's request, Mitsubishi admitted that data had been intentionally manipulated in its fuel economy testing process for certification," Nissan said.

Independent investigation

Japan's number-two carmaker ordered a halt to sales of the vehicles that Mitsubishi produced and tested.

A company spokesman declined to comment on the future of Nissan's business relationship with its smaller rival.

"Our focus is on our customers," he said.

Mini-cars, or kei-cars, are small vehicles with 660cc gasoline engines that are hugely popular in the Japanese market, but have found little success abroad.

Mitsubishi sold more than a million vehicles at home and overseas in its latest fiscal year.

"Taking into account the seriousness of these issues, we will also conduct an investigation into products manufactured for overseas markets," the carmaker said in a statement.

"In order to conduct an investigation into these issues objectively and thoroughly, we plan to set up a committee consisting of only external experts. We will publish the results of our investigation as soon as it is complete."

Earlier Wednesday, Mitsubishi shares plunged 15.16 percent to 733 yen ($6.73) after local media reported the faulty emissions tests.

"This may be different from Volkswagen's issue, but the market has become very sensitive to such kind of news," Seiji Sugiura, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center, told Bloomberg News.

"It may have a similar impact in terms of sales and the company's reputation."

The fall in Mitsubishi's stock was its biggest one-day plunge since 2004.

At that time, Mitsubishi was struggling to launch a turnaround as it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, hit by a lack of cash and a series of huge recalls linked to serious defects.

"It's not the first time for Mitsubishi to have this kind of issue, and this definitely won?t help them rebuild their reputation," Sugiura said.

Volkswagen has been hammered by a global scandal that erupted when it emerged that it had installed emissions-cheating software in 11 million diesel engines worldwide.

The costs of the scandal are still incalculable but are expected to run into several billions of dollars as a result of fines and lawsuits.

South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia in 2014 agreed to pay $100 million to settle a US government investigation into exaggerated fuel efficiency on 2012 and 2013 car models sold in the United States.

Related Article:

Mitsubishi Motors to pay owners of fuel-cheating cars: report

'Reverse photosynthesis' could change fuel production

Researchers in Denmark have discovered that a certain enzyme causes sunlight to break down the chemical bonds in plants. The finding could improve industrial processes such as the production of biofuels.

Deutsche Welle, 17 April 2016

Photosynthesis is a process in which plants convert sunlight into chemical energy that can be later released as fuel. But now, a group of scientists from the University of Copenhagen have found that adding an enzyme called monooxygenase to the process causes sunlight to break down plant material instead of helping create it. They refer to this phenomenon as "reverse photosynthesis."

The discovery could be applied to processes that require the breakdown of chemical bonds, such as the production of bioethanol, which is made from biomass via a fermentation process.

In a press release, Professor Claus Felby from the Plant Science Centre at the University of Copenhagen, the head of the study, called the discovery a "game changer" that could transform the production of fuels and chemicals, increasing efficiency and decreasing pollution.

Great usage potential

The first step to producing bioethanol is breaking down cellulose, an organic material that forms the walls in plant cells. This is exactly what happens when monooxygenase is added to the photosynthesis process.

Ethanol is widely used as engine fuel

"Basically, we have found a new way of using solar energy - going directly from sunlight to chemistry," Felby told DW. "This opens up a lot of possibilities."

The scientists' lab tests indicated that applying this process resulted in much faster production of ethanol and at lower temperatures. The duration of some of the chemical reactions was reduced from hours to minutes when sunlight was involved.

Ethanol has a multitude of uses in the modern world, mostly as engine fuel, but also as an ingredient in medical and personal care products.

The team also found that the same process can be applied to oxidizing methane. This produces methanol, a key ingredient in the manufacture of different chemicals.

"Methanol currently requires very large and expensive steel units to produce," explained Felby. "If our method was applied to this process, you would only need small, simple production units, something similar to a greenhouse."

Need to test large-scale application

While the process has proven effective in a lab environment, the scientists need to do further research to determine how it would work in real life.

"We are now working on exploring this," David Cannella, a co-author of the study, told DW. "You need to make sure that sunlight penetrates the organic material that you are converting, and we still need to work out how to do this."

Cannella feels optimistic about the commercial applicability of the process, as does Felby.

"We have to determine the exact amount of light needed for the process and how and when to apply it," said Felby. "But that's just a question of engineering."

He added that going directly from sunlight to chemical energy results in very little energy loss: "It's a near-perfect process."

Travel firms to brief holidaymakers on their trip’s environmental footprint

DutchNews, April 12, 2016

A Fokker 70 takes off from Schiphol
airport. Photo jvanderwolf via
Depositphotos

Dutch travel firms are to start informing holidaymakers how much environmental damage their trip is doing by listing ‘holiday footprints’ in brochures and on websites, travel sector organisation ANVR says in Tuesday’s Volkskrant. 

‘We aim to eventually allow consumers to calculate their own holiday footprint via an app or website,’ ANVR spokesman Gerben Hardeman told the paper. ‘We are still a long way off that. But we are now working with a group of travel firms to determine how we can best inform consumers about what we know already.’ 

By helping consumers to realise the impact of their holiday on the environment, holidaymakers can ‘make a responsible choice’, he said. 

Currently, airline passengers can pay extra to offset the cost to the climate of their journey. The amounts vary from €10 to €100, depending on the way the potential damage is calculated by different airlines. 

The system used by the ANVR has been developed by researchers at several hbo colleges and 10 travel firms. It is based on confidential information from airline manufacturers, airlines themselves and the hotel website Booking.com.

Three Chinese passengers grounded for bad behaviour

Yahoo – AFP, April 11, 2016

Chinese authorities last year declared 11 types of action 'strictly prohibited' on
 flights and at terminals, including damaging airport security facilities and
assaulting crew members (AFP Photo/Greg Baker)

China has banned three passengers from major airlines for "uncivilised behaviour", state media reported on Monday, as the country seeks to instil manners in its increasingly well-travelled populace.

The three were blacklisted for hitting a checkpoint security officer with a can of milk, attacking airline personnel over a flight delay, and refusing to switch off a tablet PC during a landing, the China Daily newspaper said.

They are the first to be included in a system rolled out by the China Air Transport Association in February, and will be unable to book flights with five of China's biggest airlines for up to two years, it added.

Chinese authorities last year declared 11 types of action "strictly prohibited" on flights and at terminals, including damaging airport security facilities and assaulting crew members, according to the China Daily.

Such behaviour has frequently made headlines in the country with the world's worst track record for flight delays.

In January last year, 25 passengers were held by police for questioning after they fought with crew members over a bad weather delay and opened the emergency exits.

In 2013, an official who missed two flights lost his temper at the boarding counter and went on a rampage, violently destroying two computers and attempting to smash a window with a signboard.

In December 2014, a Chinese woman en route back to China from Thailand threw a cup of noodles full of boiling water at a Thai flight attendant and punched the cabin windows, threatening to jump out, in a dispute that began over seat arrangements.

An editorial in the China Daily on Monday said such blacklisting was "long overdue", and that the first punishments would warn other travellers to "toe the line".

"There is no reason for them to be respected when they do not show enough respect for others," it said.

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Dutch to push for EU-wide rules for self-driving cars Europe

DutchNews, April 6, 2016

Photo: Jarino via Depositphotos.com 

Dutch infrastructure minister Melanie Schultz is hoping to reach a deal with her European counterparts on standard rules for self-driving cars. 

Next week’s meeting of transport ministers in Amsterdam will mark the start of efforts to draw up cross-border rules to deal with technologies such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance systems and blind spot monitoring. 

‘The treaty of Vienna dates from 1968 and states a driver must always have control over his vehicle or – and you can see how outdated it is – his animals,’ Schultz told car magazine Autoweek. ‘We need to make new agreements.’ 

‘We need to see how quickly we can do this and how we are going to harmonise the rules,’ Schultz said. ‘And I want my colleagues who are not active in this – and there are a lot of them – to see the advantages of self-driving systems.’ 

Schultz has made self-driving cars a key part of her transport policy and wants the Netherlands to play a leading role in developments. 

Steering wheel

In January, trials of the driverless WEpod shuttle buses began in Wageningen on the university campus roads. The buses, which have no steering wheel or pedals, are electric and have a maximum speed of 25 kph. 

If the campus trials are a success, in June the shuttles will begin to use public roads, travelling a pre-programmed route between Bennekom and the Ede-Wageningen railway station. 

Schultz told Autoweek unified agreements are crucial in a single market. ‘It would be extremely irritating to have to reset the self-driving features in your car every time you cross the border,’ she said.