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Volkswagen: The scandal explained

By BBC News

What is Volkswagen accused of?

It's been dubbed the "diesel dupe". The German car giant has admitted cheating emissions tests in the US. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), some cars being sold in America had devices in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, changing the performance accordingly to improve results.

VW has had a major push to sell diesel cars in the US, backed by a huge marketing campaign trumpeting its cars' low emissions. The EPA's findings cover 482,000 cars in the US only, including the VW-manufactured Audi A3, and the VW brands Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat. But VW has admitted that about 11 million cars worldwide are fitted with the so-called "defeat device".

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The device sounds like a sophisticated piece of kit

Full details of how it worked are sketchy, although the EPA has said that the engines had computer software that could sense test scenarios by monitoring speed, engine operation, air pressure and even the position of the steering wheel.

When the cars were operating under controlled laboratory conditions - which typically involved putting them on a stationary test rig - the device appears to have put the vehicle into a sort of safety mode in which the engine ran below normal power and performance. Once on the road, the engines switched from this test mode.

The result? The engines emitted nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times above what is allowed in the US.

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What has been VW's response?

The case against VW appears cast-iron. "We've totally screwed up," said VW America boss Michael Horn, while group chief executive Martin Winterkorn said his company had "broken the trust of our customers and the public". An internal inquiry has been launched.

With VW recalling almost 500,000 cars in the US alone, it has set aside €6.5bn (£4.7bn) to cover costs. But that's unlikely to be the end of the financial impact. The EPA has the power to fine a company up to $37,500 for each vehicle that breaches standards - a maximum fine of about $18bn.

Legal action from consumers and shareholders may follow, and there is speculation that the US Justice Department will launch a criminal probe.

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Are VW's problems confined to the US?

Certainly not. Other countries, including Italy, France and South Korea, are opening investigations. Throughout the world, politicians, regulators and environmental groups are questioning the legitimacy of VW's emissions testing. France's finance minister Michel Sapin said a "Europe-wide" probe was needed in order to "reassure" the public.

At this time, only cars in the US named by the EPA are being recalled, so owners elsewhere need take no action. However, with about 11 million VW diesel cars potentially affected, further costly recalls and refits are possible. Half of the company's sales in Europe - VW's biggest market - are for diesel cars. No wonder the carmaker's shares plunged around 30% in the first couple of days after the scandal broke - with other carmakers also seeing big falls in their stock prices.

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Surely, VW heads will roll?

It's still unclear who knew what and when. In 2014, in the US, regulators raised concerns about VW emissions levels, but these were dismissed by the company as "technical issues" and "unexpected" real-world conditions. If executives and managers wilfully misled officials, it's difficult to see them surviving.

Inevitably, attention will focus on Mr Winterkorn, who recently saw off a bitter power struggle with former VW's chairman Ferdinand Piech. The engine rigging scandal could re-open old wounds. What's more, Mr Winterkorn ran the core Volkswagen brands between 2007 and 2015. "Winterkorn either knew of proceedings in the US or it was not reported to him," car analyst at Evercore ISI Arndt Ellinghorst said.

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Are other carmakers implicated?

That's for the various regulatory and government inquiries to determine. California's Air Resources Board is now looking into other manufacturers' testing results. Ford, BMW, and Renault-Nissan said they did not use "defeat devices", while other firms had yet to respond or simply stated that they complied with the laws.

The UK trade body for the car industry, the SMMT, said: "The EU operates a fundamentally different system to the US - with all European tests performed in strict conditions as required by EU law and witnessed by a government-appointed independent approval agency." But it added: "The industry acknowledges that the current test method is outdated and is seeking agreement from the European Commission for a new emissions test that embraces new testing technologies and is more representative of on-road conditions."

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That sounds like EU testing rules need tightening, too

Environmental campaigners have long argued that emissions rules are being flouted. "Diesel cars in Europe operate with worse technology on average than the US," said Jos Dings, of the pressure group Transport & Environment. "Our latest report demonstrated that almost 90% of diesel vehicles didn't meet emission limits when they drive on the road. We are talking millions of vehicles."

Car analysts at the financial research firm Bernstein agree that European standards are not as strict as those in the US. However, the analysts say in a report that there is therefore "less need to cheat". So, if other European carmakers' results are suspect, Bernstein says the "consequences are likely to be a change in the test cycle rather than legal action and fines".

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It's all another blow for the diesel market

Certainly is. Over the last decade and more, carmakers have poured a fortune into the production of diesel vehicles - with the support of many governments - believing that they are better for the environment. Latest scientific evidence suggests that's not the case, and there are even moves to limit diesel cars in some cities.

Diesel sales were already slowing, so the VW scandal comes at a bad time. "The revelations are likely to lead to a sharp fall in demand for diesel engine cars," said Richard Gane, automotive expert at consultants Vendigital.

"In the US, the diesel car market currently represents around 1% of all new car sales and this is unlikely to increase in the short to medium term.

"However, in Europe the impact could be much more significant, leading to a large tranche of the market switching to petrol engine cars virtually overnight."

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Test shows how old your body really is

By  BBC News

Scientists say they have developed a way of testing how well, or badly, your body is ageing.

They say it could help predict when a person will die, identify those at high-risk of dementia and could affect medicine, pensions and insurance.

The team at King's College London say looking at "biological age" is more useful than using a date of birth.

However, the work, published in Genome Biology, provides no clues as to how to slow the ageing process.

The test looks for an "ageing signature" in your body's cells by comparing the behaviour of 150 genes.

It was developed by initially comparing 54,000 markers of gene activity in healthy, but largely sedentary, 25 and 65-year-olds and then whittling them down to a final 150.

Prof Jamie Timmons, from King's College London, told the BBC News website: "There's a healthy ageing signature that's common to all our tissues, and it appears to be prognostic for a number of things including longevity and cognitive decline.

"It looks like from the age of 40 onwards you can use this to give guidance on how well an individual is ageing."

And while some lifestyle decisions, like spending all day on the sofa, could be bad for your health they do not appear to affect the speed your body ages.

The team believe combining lifestyle factors and your biological age would give a more accurate picture of your health.

Death's door?

The researchers tried the test out on samples from a group of 70-year-old men in Sweden.

They worked out who was ageing well and who was ageing very rapidly and were able to predict who would die in the next few years.

"You could actually pick out people who had almost no chance of being dead, and you have people who had an almost 45% chance of being dead," said Prof Timmons told the BBC.

There are plans to pilot the test in organ transplants in the UK to see if people who are technically old, but have a young "biological age", can still donate organs safely.

The researchers say it could also alter cancer screening, with people who are ageing rapidly needing to be screened at a younger age.

He said that it could be used in conjunction with other checks to identify those at highest risk of developing the neurodegenerative disease and to enrol them in clinical trials.

"What we really need now are tools to identify those most at risk in 10, 20 years time and I think that's where this research will really have an impact," he added.

Worth a pension?

The research group at King's are aware that being able to check your biological age could have wide-ranging consequences from pensions to insurance premiums.

Prof Timmons told the BBC: "It raises a number questions, no doubt, and strenuous debate, but we are judged by our age already so this might be a smarter way of doing it.

"You might decide not to pay so much into your pension and enjoy your life as it is now."

Dr Neha Issar-Brown, from the UK's Medical Research Council, said: "This new test holds great potential as with further research, it may help improve the development and evaluation of treatments that prolong good health in older age."

Dr Eric Karran, from the charity Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "One of the biggest questions in human biology is how we age, and how this process impacts our wider health and risk for conditions like Alzheimer's.

"There is much interest in developing a blood test for diseases like Alzheimer's but such a test would need rigorously validating to show it was accurate and sensitive before it could be used in the clinic."

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Catalan president steps up breakaway plan

The Financial Times

Catalan leaders will take their campaign for independence from Spain to a new level, with a plan to establish the region’s own diplomatic service, central bank, tax authority — and possibly even its armed forces.

The plan could be put into practice as soon as next month, provided that voters in the prosperous northern region hand a sufficiently large majority to pro-independence parties in a regional election on September 27. “This is not about declaring independence immediately. This is about starting a process that leads to an independent Catalan state,” Artur Mas, the Catalan president, said in an interview with the Financial Times.

“One crucial task for the next government will be to create the state structures that will succeed those of the Spanish state: the tax authority, for example, which we have already worked on for the past year and a half, or social security or the central bank,” he added.

The idea of building a state within the Spanish state — sure to infuriate Madrid — comes after the central government has repeatedly rejected pleas from Mr Mas and others to allow a formal referendum on Catalan independence.

The pro-independence camp has responded by styling the regional election, less than three weeks away, as a quasi-referendum on independence. If their parties win an outright majority, they have vowed to establish a government lasting no longer than 18 months to carry out the institutional spadework that would lead the region towards independence.

Such a government would include, for the first time, a minister in charge of external affairs, tasked with setting up a Catalan diplomatic service. “We currently have commercial offices, and offices abroad that deal with tourism and culture. But we don’t yet have a network of external services like a state has. All that will have to be designed by the future government in the next 18 months,” Mr Mas said. Aside from building the institutions of a future independent state, the legislature would also initiate the process of drafting a separate Catalan constitution.

The most sensitive task, he added, would be to prepare “the design” for a future Catalan military. “Defence is the most delicate of all these aspects, and there is no consensus about this in Catalonia,” Mr Mas said. “But my party and I personally believe that Catalonia has to remain part of Nato. And as a member of Nato we have to pay our dues . . . It would be impossible for Catalonia not to have its own defence structure, even though it would be a light one.”

Spain’s conservative government, which also faces re-election this year, insists that regions have no right to determine their own political future — let alone to secede from the Spanish state.

In recent years, however, Catalonia’s pro-independence movement has tested that stance to the limit. Independence rallies have drawn hundreds of thousands of protesters on to the streets of the prosperous region — a spectacle that is due to be repeated on Friday, when Catalans mark their national day. Last November, Mr Mas and the regional government also organised an informal independence poll in which 2.3m Catalans took part. Though the vote had no legal consequence, it was widely seen as another sign of Catalan disaffection with Spain, which has heightened in recent years by disputes over financial burden-sharing and demands for greater regional autonomy.

“In the past three years we have made more progress than in the previous three centuries,” Mr Mas said, speaking in the sumptuous medieval palace in the centre of Barcelona that is the seat of the Catalan presidency.

This month’s regional election is intended to mark the beginning of the Catalan endgame — by delivering a genuine popular mandate for a break with Spain. To that end, Mr Mas’s conservative Convergencia Democratica party has formed a common electoral list with the left-wing Esquerra Republicana movement — the first time the two main pro-independence parties have joined forces. Together with a smaller, far-left pro-independence party known as CUP, the list hopes to secure an absolute majority in parliament — with the power to press ahead with the statehood plan.

“If we have a majority in parliament on the night of September 27 we will continue with the process. If we don’t have a majority, it is evident that the process cannot continue,” Mr Mas said.

Critics argue that Mr Mas and his allies are putting the electoral bar too low. They note that the region’s electoral system will allow the pro-independence bloc to win an absolute majority in parliament with as little as 45 per cent of the vote — much less than would be needed in a straight in/out referendum along the lines of the Scottish plebiscite last year.

Mr Mas acknowledged that an absolute majority of votes would give even more “strength and legitimacy” to the independence push than a majority of seats in parliament. But he insisted that the result would be valid all the same: “In a parliamentary election you count seats not votes.”

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16 hábitos españoles que perdí cuando me mudé a Inglaterra

por Matador Network

1. Dormir con persiana.

Como dice la página de Facebook homónima, la persiana es un gran desconocido más arriba de los Pirineos. Afortunadamente, lo que sí existe es el papel de aluminio, que puede convertirse en un gran aliado para forrar tu ventana y poder dormir a pierna suelta.

2. Comer pan del día.

Con esto no quiero decir que no existen barras de pan normales. Por supuesto que las hay, pero para ello tendrás que desplazarte a una gran superficie comercial. En su lugar, tienes pan de molde de todas las marcas, tipos y tamaños que, no lo dudes, acabarás por aborrecer.

3. Ver el sol.

No importa que sea agosto, en Inglaterra lloverá. Siempre. No importa que sea verano y veas a través de las redes sociales a tus amigos españoles de terraza en terraza, en Inglaterra seguirás con tu abrigo, que será más que un mejor amigo porque estará contigo los 12 meses del año. Además, en el remoto caso de que por la mañana luzca un sol radiante, recuerda que es más que probable que por la tarde sople un viento espantoso, al caer la noche diluvie y de madrugada caiga la nevada del siglo. Todas las condiciones meteorológicas en un día: sí, has leído bien.

4. Pisar suelo de gres.

Y en su lugar cambiarlo por una moqueta. ¡Qué decir de la moqueta! Parece tan mullida, caliente y confortable, y en realidad es un foco de microbios. Si no quieres que te coman, ya sabes que tendrás que tener a mano una hoover, ¿no?

5. Dar por hecho que en invierno todos se abrigan.

Está nevando y crees que no puede existir en la tierra lugar más frío que ese. Te enfundas el abrigo más gordo que tienes, bufanda y guantes, y luego sales a la calle. Entonces ves a una inglesa en minifalda, sandalias de verano y una fina chaqueta y piensas: “Una de las dos es la rara”.

6. Beber un cubata en condiciones.

En Inglaterra no se estila eso de llenar la copa con alcohol hasta la mitad. Mejor que lo asumas cuanto antes para que no te indignes al observar que echan únicamente un mísero shot.

7. Dar poco las gracias.

Si has ido a Inglaterra para superar el nivel de inglés “de instituto”, los primero que debes saber es que “please”, “thanks“ y “sorry” son las tres palabras básicas del idioma. Las usarás a todas horas y hasta pensarás que te has vuelto la mar de educado.

Te contaré una anécdota. Hace unos años estaba barriendo la calle, muy próxima a un contenedor. Se me acercó un señor y me dio una bolsa llena de basura para que yo la tirara por él (qué majo, sí) y, en un acto reflejo, yo, que soy muy agradecida, le dije: “Thanks!”. No me preguntes por qué pues, de hecho, lo triste es que no fue irónicamente.

8. Pensar que un filete solo tiene dos puntos de cocción.

En España, cuando pides un plato de carne, enseguida te pregunta el camarero si lo quieres muy hecho o poco hecho. Fin de la historia. En Inglaterra, más vale que tengas muy claro cómo te gusta el filete porque tienes unas cuantas posibilidades de elección: blue, rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well, well-done, overcooked.

9. Dar besos a los amigos.

A los españoles se nos nota a leguas que lo somos porque en cuanto vemos a un amigo o conocido nos lanzamos a besuquearle. ¡Cuidado!, pues los ingleses son menos fogosos y se lo pueden tomar como una invasión de su espacio. Mejor, dales la mano.

10. Lavarme las manos con la temperatura óptima.

Ese gran invento que llegó a España hace unas décadas -de aunar en un solo grifo el agua caliente y fría para graduarla a gusto del usuario- en Inglaterra no acaba de aterrizar. Así que o te quemas o te congelas, no hay término medio.

11. Conducir por la derecha.

Desde siempre hemos sabido que los británicos son de los pocos que conducen por la izquierda pero, qué pasa, cuesta acostumbrarse.

12. Cenar tarde.

Cuando llegas a Inglaterra piensas que podrás acostumbrarte a su horario de comidas. Consideras que desayunar “fuerte” no puede ser tan malo, pero cenar a las 18.00 horas es algo que, por más que se intente, se atraviesa.

13. Tapear.

Ni patatas, ni aceitunas, ni tan siquiera cacahuetes. Cuando te sirvan tu pinta no esperes nada que lo acompañe porque por mucho que esperes, nada vendrá.

14. Salir de fiesta hasta el amanecer.

 Qué tiempos aquellos en los que eras el rey de la pista y cerrabas todos los bares, ¿verdad? La buena noticia es que en Inglaterra puedes seguir haciéndolo; la mala, que será sustancialmente más pronto que en España.

15. Pedir “dos” cervezas con la mano.

Los españoles, que somos muy gesticulares, cuando vamos a pedir dos pintas, solemos levantar los dedos índice y medio (con la palma mirando hacia nosotros) para reafirmar nuestro deseo. Pues bien, es hora de saber que en el mundo anglosajón este gesto se considera ofensivo.

16. Comer productos frescos.

Los supermercados ingleses son un fenómeno a observar. En estos establecimientos el pescado es otro gran desconocido (como la persiana) a excepción de la merluza y del atún enlatado, claro. Los productos cárnicos, por su parte, abundan sobre todo en forma de hamburguesas, hot dogs y otras modalidades envasadas que precisan solo cinco minutos de microondas. ¿Quién no ha dejado alguna vez su cena en manos de Rustlers? ¿A que también alguna comida? Seamos sinceros: sabemos que no es sano, pero la tentación es grande

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Spanish state broadcaster TVE accused of political bias

For more than 50 years millions of Spaniards have sat down each night to watch the Telediario, the flagship news programme of state broadcaster TVE. In recent months, however, the channel has not just been reporting the news — but making it as well.

TVE and its news programmes stand accused of blatantly favouring the government of Mariano Rajoy and his ruling Popular party, while sidelining opposition voices.

The channel’s own journalists have grown so concerned about political interference that they sent a delegation to Brussels this month to make a formal complaint to the European parliament. In a seven-page document, they describe TVE as a “propaganda instrument in the service of the government” — and chronicle a series of alleged journalistic lapses and manipulations.

With regional elections only a month away and a general election at the end of the year, Spain’s national broadcaster has turned into a crucial political battlefield.

“I have been with the channel for 30 years, and I have to say that it has never been this bad,” says Alejandro Caballero, president of TVE’s information council, an internal ethics watchdog elected by the channel’s editorial staff. “What we want is a channel that is in the service of the public. What we have is a channel that is an instrument of the government, and that is being put to use by the government.”

Some believe the controversy at TVE is symptomatic of a much broader problem in Spain. Analysts such as Victor Lapuente, a governance expert at Gothenburg university, argue that far too many of Spain’s public institutions — from the judiciary and the prosecution service to the civil service and state-backed media — are made to serve the interests of the government of the day.

“The prevailing culture in Spain is that the victor should enjoy the spoils,” he says, pointing out that “thousands of positions” change hands whenever a new government is elected. “But the problem is not just that people are hired or fired — the problem is that civil servants know that being politically neutral will not help their career prospects.”

Founded in 1957, TVE — short for Televisión Española — served for many years as a propaganda instrument for the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Even when Spain returned to democracy in the late 1970, the station regularly drew fire for alleged political bias. Now, however, the trickle of complaints has turned into a torrent.

Mr Caballero and others say the channel systematically downplays or suppresses items that could damage Mr Rajoy’s government, most notably stories involving political corruption. Critics have also rounded on TVE’s coverage of the Catalan independence movement and of Podemos, the new anti-establishment party, saying both are habitually presented in an unfavourable light or marginalised.

In the case of Catalonia, for example, a September rally drawing more than 1m pro-independence protesters was given almost the same weight as a tiny anti-independence demonstration that took place the same day.
 

Pablo Iglesias, the leader of Podemos, has never been interviewed on TVE’s main channel, despite attracting huge interest from other Spanish and international media. When he was eventually invited to appear on the late-night slot of the broadcaster’s 24-hour news channel, he was confronted by five fiercely hostile interviewers, one of whom “congratulated” Mr Iglesias on the recent release of prisoners from the Basque region convicted of terrorism and murder.

Senior TVE executives strongly deny allegations of political bias. “Our reporting is based on journalistic criteria, not political ones. We always lead with the story of the day,” one top official at the channel said.

In a statement to parliament this month José Antonio Sánchez, TVE’s government-appointed president, insisted that “editorial freedom is respected and neutrality is guaranteed” at the broadcaster, and that it was up to the “independent professional” to prepare the news.

Yet there is growing concern also about some recent appointments at the channel. The past year in particular has seen an influx of executives and journalists from rightwing and pro-government media, raising suspicions among veteran TVE journalists that the channel’s directors are trying to establish a “parallel” editorial team ahead of the general election. The new director of TVE’s regional office in Catalonia, for example, is the former spokesman of the PP leader in the northern region.

The previous Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero did attempt to break the link between state broadcaster and the ruling party by passing a law that required a two-thirds parliamentary majority to appoint the channel’s president. That requirement was abolished, however, shortly after Mr Rajoy took office in 2011 — giving the PP a clear run once again.

Whatever happens after the general election, many TVE journalists hope that the two-thirds provision will be restored — forcing parliament to find a consensus around a new non-partisan leadership. “The next prime minister will have to take some serious decisions about public radio and television in Spain,” says Mr Caballero. “The current model does not work — and we are being taken ever closer to the abyss.”

 

Three areas where TVE has been accused of bias and favouring the government
	Corruption Spain’s state broadcaster is accused of underplaying a string of corruption cases that have engulfed Mariano Rajoy’s ruling Popular party. The centre-right group has been shaken in particular by revelations that Luis Bárcenas, a former party treasurer, presided over an illegal slush fund that it was alleged was used to make undeclared cash payments to senior PP leaders. Mr Rajoy and other officials have repeatedly denied the allegations made by Mr Bárcenas.
	Catalan independence Another area of concern is the Catalan independence campaign, which critics say has struggled to get a fair hearing on Spain’s public television news. Last year’s mass rally in the regional capital Barcelona in support of a break with Madrid — which attracted more than 1m people — was given almost the same attention as a much smaller anti-independence rally. Mr Rajoy has made opposition to Catalonian independence a key plank of his campaign strategy.
	Podemos TVE has also faced accusations of downplaying the rise of the anti-establishment Podemos — “We Can” — movement, and overt hostility towards its leader and founder, Pablo Iglesias. When Mr Iglesias was interviewed on TVE’s 24-hour news channel, one presenter “congratulated” him on the recent release of terrorists from the Basque region. Recent polls suggest Podemos could emerge as one of the biggest parties in the next parliament.

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