VW more than twice the expense of emissions to € 16,2 billion

VW logoImage copyrightReuters
Volkswagen has more than doubled its provisions for scandal diesel emissions by up to € 16,2 billion (£ 12.6 billion).

Last year, he told shareholders that € 6,7 billion was allocated for potential costs or recall.

The increased amount includes the cost of fixing cars that violate the norms of air pollution, buying vehicles and legal expenses.

This step, like the German automakers have agreed to withdraw the 630,000 diesel vehicles to configure the software to ensure the engine.

German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Mercedes Benz, Opel and the Porsche, and Volkswagen and Audi will adjust the parameters, elevated levels of emissions such as nitrogen dioxide in some diesel vehicles.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said that he would ask the producers if they offer a similar fix for car owners in the UK.

Daimler shares fell 4.6% in Frankfurt after the owner of Mercedes said he began an internal investigation of its testing at the request of the US Department of Justice of diesel fuel.

He said the net profit for the first quarter fell by a third to € 1,4 billion to contain costs associated with the launch of the new E-Class series. The more-than-expected decline occurred despite a 2% increase in revenue to € 35 billion, as sales rose 7% to 683.885 vehicles.

Mercedes carImage copyrightAP
VW Executive Officer Matthias Mueller said he could not put a figure on the total cost of the scandal emissions to a final agreement was not reached with the US authorities.

the company also can not release preliminary findings from the study are not ordered Jones Day law firm to reach an agreement, he said.

VW still face fines US Department of Justice as part of the expected settlement of civil and possible criminal charges.

On Thursday, the US Supreme Court revealed details of the deal between VW and the US Department of Justice for more than 500,000 of its American owners of diesel vehicles affected by the cheating emissions.

The deal will include the purchase of shares and "substantial" compensation to owners of mostly two-liter vehicles.

US District Court Judge Charles Breyer said he expected an agreement between VW and controls a total area of about 90 000 large cars and SUVs, to decide "promptly". The final details of the proposed package will be announced in June.



VW losses

The increase in appropriations emissions VW pushed to an annual loss before taxes in the amount of € 1,3 billion compared to a profit of € 14.7 billion last year.

VW expected volume of group sales to fall 5% in 2016.

Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter said: "We are again working in extremely difficult conditions in which global demand for new vehicles is reduced, exchange rates and interest rates remain extremely volatile and competition in many of our markets is enhanced."

VW shares closed down 1.7% in Frankfurt on Friday, and more than 40% lower than at this time last year.

Evercore ISI analysts said in a note: "Investors should be exempted from the fact that VW has put a number on the financial risk associated with the vast majority of its diesel issues ... management should now be able to deal with the turnover planned VW brand more actively.

NordLB analyst Frank Schwope, who has a "hold" rating on the shares of VW, said: "The crisis in Wolfsburg is far from over yet."

Artificial Intelligence: Go Lee Se-dol master wins against AlphaGo program

AI Media captionGoogle lost to Lee Se-dol after winning three consecutive games

Master game player Guo won his first match against the computer program Google, after losing three in a row in the competition the best of the five.

Lee Se-dol, one of the best players in the world, said his victory over AlphaGo was "priceless."

Chinese board game is considered to be a much more difficult task for the computer than chess, and wins AlphaGo were seen as a landmark moment for artificial intelligence.

The fifth game will be played on Tuesday.

Lee Se-dolImage copyrightReuters
Image captionMr Lee is one of the greatest players in the game today
Go is a game of two players who take turns putting black and white stones on a grid of 19-by-19. Players win by taking control of more territory on the board.

Commentator Michael Redmond said AlphaGo played well until the middle of the game, but in the course of 78, Mr. Lee played brilliantly.

Speaking after his victory, Mr Lee said: "I never congratulated so much, because I won one game."

Google representatives said that the defeat was "very valuable" for AlphaGo, as it identified the problem that now they can try to fix it.

Tweet by Demis HassabisImage copyrightOther
Image captionDeepMind executive director Demis Hassabis reacts to news
In the first game of the series, AlphaGo triumphed very narrow margin - Mr. Li led most of the match, but AlphaGo managed to create a strong leadership role in its final stages.

After losing the second match in the deep mind, Lee Se-dol said he was "speechless," adding that the car AlphaGo plays "almost the perfect game".

In the third game of the commentators said that Lee Se-dol brought his "top game", but that AlphaGo won "in great style".

AlphaGo system was developed British computer company DeepMind, which was bought by Google in 2014.

She created her own experience studying old games and teasing game patterns.

DeepMind executive director Demis Hassabis said AlphaGo "played himself, a different version of itself, millions and millions of times, and each time there is progressively a little bit better."

"He learns from his mistakes," he told the BBC.




Media captionA quick guide to Go
Go, is believed to date back to several thousand years ago in China.

The use of black and white stones on a grid, players will have the upper hand, surrounding their opponents with their own part.

Rules easier than chess, but he usually has a range of 200 strokes, compared with about 20 in chess - there are more possible positions in Go, than atoms in the universe, according to a team in DeepMind.

It can be very difficult to determine who wins, and many of the best players to rely on human instinct.

Minister: "Legacy" landline charges should be abolished

Telecoms Engineer Picture copyright
Homeowners signing up for broadband packages may be exempt from the rent on their land line if they do not use it, in accordance with the proposals to be discussed by the Minister of Culture.
Ed Vaizey said charges of about £ 18 per month are "obsolete."
He wants homeowners to pay only for those services that they use to describe the current system as "billing system analog in a digital world."
Minister welcomes BT, TalkTalk, Virgin and Sky for discussion.
One in five home owners do not make fixed line calls, but have to pay for landline connections.
Mr Vaizey said: "If the company came up with a different pricing structure that is fine, as long as consumers can see what they are paying."
According to the minister, ending hidden costs, such as line rentals may mean other products are becoming more expensive, but he wanted transparency around pricing.
Price confusion
Advertising watchdog, the ASA, and control communications, Ofcom's, need to introduce new rules on how such packages are sold in May, after a study found there was widespread confusion about the price.
A spokesmen for BT said. "Any use of the broadband uses a landline I think the focus is more on ensuring clarity about the charges when companies advertise their broadband packages.
"BT glad to meet with the minister and other players in the industry to discuss ways to make costs more understandable for consumers."
BT Openreach logoImage copyrightPA
Business services
In a separate development, said Ofcom's BT to install high-speed cables for the business faster and reduce the prices charged for them.
It follows my review on the "leased lines", which are used by large enterprises and the mobile operators and broadband data transmission on their networks.
Most of these lines are owned and maintained by the name BT competing suppliers.
BT animal needs to be done to meet the growing expectations.
Ofcom said BT speech was not "acceptable", but the company says that some of the recommendations of the regulator has done little to help her "to lay the basis for improving services."
Draft proposal protrude less than a month after Ofcom has promised measures to improve the work of the BT Openreach, which is his business is responsible for the telecommunications and broadband infrastructure.
In February, the regulator stopped demanding it was split from the BT, but said it was still an option.
The BT 'relied on'
Ofcom said that Openreach takes too much time to install leased lines and does not provide reasonable assurance that services will be provided by the date of the first customers.
The proposed regulation would apply to high-speed "Ethernet" services, which are the most common type of leased lines used by enterprises, as well as the older cables.
BT said the construction of new high-speed lines is often difficult and requires street works, which created delays beyond its control.
Jonathan Oxley, Director of Ofcom's Competition Group, said: "BT relies on many companies to install these lines, but its performance was not acceptable.
"These new rules would mean companies across the UK benefit from faster setting times, greater certainty as to the timing of installation and quick repair, if it all goes wrong."
Ofcom said in 2011 the average time between a customer order line and be ready to use increased from 40 to 48 working days.
She wants that reduced to 46 days before the end of March 2017 and returned in 40 days by 2018.
Ofcom plans to reduce the wholesale price BT charges for leased lines within three years, and expects that these reductions must be transferred to enterprises.
However, the BT said it will not do anything to help him improve customer service.
Bank of England to work with the new body cybersecurity
The first task of the new center of the UK Cyber Security will work with the Bank of England, the government announced.
Work will include the establishment of standards for the financial sector in terms of sustainability of the type of cyber threats that could undermine the economy of the UK.
The new body - now renamed the National Center for Cyber Security (NCSC) - was opened in the last year the Chancellor.
It is designed to bring the experience of the UK in the cyber one place.
Kieran Martin, now a senior official in the DSP, will be the first head in the NCSC.
"We must have a one-stop shop that people inside and outside the government can go," Matthew Hancock, Minister for the Cabinet Office told the BBC, saying that the NCSC will strive to be an authoritative source in the UK information security information.
The new center is designed to deal with the criticism of the existing mechanisms, as too opaque.
Increased access
DSP is the lead agency on cybersecurity, but because it's secret intelligence service in Cheltenham, it has not always been available or set to exchange information and communicate more broadly.
The new center is designed to remedy this problem by having a foot in the closed world of intelligence and public and corporate spaces.
The center will work with regulators - such as banks - provide advice to the private sector.
It will also work with other government agencies, critical national infrastructure and the wider business community and the public.
The greater the potential risk to the country, the closer the facility is likely to be associated with a particular department or business.
In the event of future violations, such as that of cyber-Talk-Talk in the past year, it is likely to be the center, which acts as the focal point for communications and consultations.
Those involved stress that the role of government is to protect the country from cyber-attacks, and to promote good practice, but that the responsibility for any attack that does take place will still rest with those who owns the data.
NCSC will be based in London and is expected to fully open for business in October.
Along with Ciaran Martin, Dr. Ian Levy, currently Technical Director of Cyber Security at GCHQ, joined as technical director.

International Appeal to curb steel overproduction

Chinese steel plant Image copyright Getty Images
Image captionChina rejects claims dumping price
international group of countries began production called for urgent measures to curb overproduction.
The call comes after days of international negotiations to find measures to overcome the crisis in the industry has failed.
The joint statement comes from the US, Canada, EU, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Turkey and Switzerland.
record production in China in recent months has led to criticism that it distorts international markets by selling steel at a loss.
The statement calls for "continuing international dialogue" to remove the "policy market distortion" and to promote greater transparency in the global industry.
On Monday, representatives from more than 30 countries met in Belgium, but concluded that only an excess of production capacity had to be dealt with in a quick and structured way.
US clearly pointed a finger at China, saying the country will face action if it did not cut overcapacity possible trade.
But China has rejected suggestions that he subsidized its unprofitable steel companies, and the meeting ended without any formal agreement.
Media captionIs China is to blame for the problems of the UK steel industry?
production record
China is the world's largest steel producer, which is about 822 million tons per year.
On Tuesday, the country said that its production was a record last month as profit growth encouraged more production.
With the domestic market of China slowing down, their manufacturers were looking for export markets such as the EU.
This has led to accusations of unfair competition that Chinese manufacturers "dumping" Steel production to foreign markets - it is not just to sell them cheaply, taking advantage of their lower production costs, but in reality sell them at a loss.
Global steel capacity
63.7bn
tons in 2015
67.5% used in 2015
70.9% used in 2014
OECD
Getty Images
Tata Steel in India has recently announced plans to sell its loss-making UK business, with reference to the "rapidly deteriorating" trading conditions due to global overproduction.
In 2015, the EU imposed anti-dumping duties for six months on certain steel imports from China and Taiwan.
The EU and China have clashed over the alleged dumping of products such as wine, solar panels and steel pipes.

Yen strength drags down Japan exporters

Falls on Wall Street have been followed by many Asian markets opening down on Friday.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 has shed 1.48% or 221.56 points at the start to 15,516.17.
The strength in the Japanese yen is in putting pressure on shares in exporting companies. The yen surged to a 17-month high against the US dollar overnight.

The dip in the US currency follows the release of Federal Reserve minutes.
The minutes published earlier this week pointed to concerns about the US central bank’s limited ability to tackle a global economic slowdown.

US stocks closed lower overnight on renewed concerns about the state of the global economy.
Over in South Korea the benchmark Kospi index has also opened down by 0.65% or 12 points at 1,961.10.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 kicked off Friday’s trading session in the red, giving up 50 points or 1% and the index is hovering around 4,915.70.

Petrobras in Brazil ax 12,000 jobs

Petroleo Brasileiro--Petrobras-PBR-logo

State oil company of Brazil, of Petrobras, said it would cut 12,000 jobs by 2020.

voluntary dismissal program will save $ 9 billion in the company, which is struggling with losses following a price-fixing and bribery scandal.

It is also affected by the global downturn in oil prices.

Petrobras, which reported losses for the past two fiscal years, is expected to spend $ 1.23bn on the implementation of the plan of job cuts.

Petrobras has long been one of the largest employers in Brazil, with more than 80,000 employees.

However, he has seen his business suffered a huge drop in oil prices in the world and one of the biggest corruption scandals in the country's history, which went to the heart of the country's government.

The announcement that 12,000 jobs are to be cut over the next five years, the investment is part of the transformation plan over the fate of the company.

Analysis: Daniel Gallas, business correspondent in South America

This is not a good year for oil companies, as there is excess supply in the market and world prices hit records.

But of Petrobras - embroiled in a massive corruption scandal - things are even worse.

The company recorded two consecutive years of heavy losses and stopped paying dividends. Shares fell 50% in value since the beginning of the study.

A Chief Executive Aldemir Bendine to the crisis is to cut.

Petrobras drastically reducing their numbers - employees, assets and investments - in order to become competitive again.

If Petrobras, to become great again, he must first transform ourselves into a smaller and more efficient company.

It reported its biggest quarterly loss to date in the last three months of last year - $ 10.2 billion - after the loss of its oil fields and refinery projects.

Corruption scandal involving price-fixing, bribery and political setbacks in the past two years dented confidence in the business. Some former leaders of Petrobras were imprisoned.

The scandal has also harmed the reputation of President Dilma Rousseff, who was on the board of the company at the time of the crimes.

Ms. Rousseff faces the possibility of impeachment on the misuse of false statements.

Alaska Air to buy Virgin America in the $ 4 billion deal

Horizontal tail of Virgin Atlantic and Alaska Airlines aircraftImage copyrightAlaskaAirlines
Alaska Air Group has agreed to buy Virgin America in the transaction $ 4 billion (£ 2.8 billion) to create the fifth-largest US airline.

This will allow Alaska Seattle expand into profitable hubs such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Two board "unanimously approved" the deal, which will see the Alaska purchase Virgin America for $ 57 (£ 40) per share.

However, the Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson said that "unfortunately, nothing [he] could do to stop the" deal.

This merging of commercial airlines as US Airways and American Airlines first in the United States combined in 2013 to make the largest carrier in the world.

"Sadness"

Sir Richard BransonImage copyrightFrazer Harrison
Image captionSir Richard expressed his "sorrow" in the transaction for the acquisition of Alaska Air Virgin America
Virgin America, which accounts for about 1.5% of US domestic flight capacity was listed on the US stock market in 2014 as an offshoot of the London Virgin Group.

In a company blog, Sir Richard said: "I would be lying if I did not admit that our great sadness combined with another airline.

"Because I am not an American, the US Department of Transportation provided I take some of my shares of Virgin America, as the non-voting shares, reducing its impact on any absorption. So it was not, unfortunately, I could not do anything to stop it" .

He added that the consolidation is a trend that "can not be stopped," with the four airlines currently controlling more than 80% of the US market.

expansion

Alaska and its partner regional airlines, which together account for about 5% of US domestic flight capacity, serving more than 100 cities in the US, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico.

If the transaction is approved by the state of US regulators and shareholders of Virgin America, the companies plan to complete the transaction before January 1, 2017.

Brad Tilden Regional, chairman and chief executive officer of Alaska Air Group, said: "With our extended network and strong presence in California, we offer customers a more attractive flight options to travel non-stop."

Virgin America shares rose 40% to $ 54.52 - just below the offer price - in early trading.

Alaska, which is reported to have beaten competition from rival Jet Blue Airlines for the company, fell 4.7% to $ 78.15.