germany's carmakers found themselves under fire this week for their involvement with exhaust testing involving humans and animals in two thousand and thirteen and fourteen subjects at a clinic and often inhaled varying concentrations of nitrogen dioxide for long periods several times a week the car makers were testing the effects of the exhaust gas on humans. a company called the european research organization for environmental health commission the study. german car makers v.w. di miller and b.m.w. along with parts supplier bosch financed the tests. books wagon is still struggling with its emissions cheating scandal from twenty fifteen the release this week of the emissions tests unleashed a new wave of the nick nation. it's absolutely understandable that

people are outraged the tests on monkeys and even on humans cannot be justifiably. environmentalists groups however say the german government is part of the problem and that politicians have been in bed with the automotive lobby for years. chancellor merkel is really the first chancellor she even fights in brussels to make sure that emissions regulations are less strict and if possible not controlled until. this latest scandal delivers another blow to the german car industry is image especially revelations that monkeys were used in diesel emissions testing the automakers have apologized for their involvement while the university of often defended its research methods as ethically in line with the stablished testing protocols. siemens workers from the east and cycled hundreds of kilometers to the annual. shareholders meeting in munich to

protest plans to dress to slash the company's workforce. we're continuing to fight for our future as long as we continue to do so and see a chance we're going to keep going as even c.e.o. joke is appointed to market trends in his defense of the cuts. in the declining market for fossil fuels is not temporary so it reflects the expectation of a dramatic development which we can and must address with structural measures. siemens is to shed seven thousand jobs worldwide half of those cuts are set for germany it's a bitter pill for workers to swallow especially with siemens posting solid profits overall. if you're in china trying to skype chat with colleagues in the u.s. think again what about surfing google or using twitter and facebook sorry game over . the chinese government is banning virtual private networks which have helped

users bypass online censorship. businesses also use them to move their data securely. the government has assured foreign companies they can now fully access the internet without v.p. ends by using state approved portals. but many firms are nervous about exposing their data to the chinese. this won't impact security that's because government telecom companies just provide a channel a network that can't see any content related to your company for businesses that follow chinese laws and regulations this is guaranteed constitution stipulates that citizens have the freedom to communicate and that corporate communications will be protected. privacy however comes at a cost many small and mid-sized companies are troubled by the usage fees for the

state owned software well over one thousand euros a month. that's more than many small businesses will be able to shoulder in the long run. in a state visit to beijing british prime minister to resume a signed a number of economic agreements to forge closer trade ties with the world's second largest economy this before britain is to leave the e.u. in twenty nineteen deals with some nine billion pounds up out of the u.k.'s bid to improve access to the chinese market. reported its third consecutive annual loss and twenty seventeen the frankfurt lender was in the red for nearly half a billion euros the bank pointed to recent us tax reforms for the continued slump which impacted total write offs for the year. but other issues continue to plague the banks' balance sheets including fines it's still paying after being found guilty of market manipulation. legislators in hong kong have approved

a ban on ivory trading they set maximum penalties of more than one hundred thousand euros and ten years in prison for the sale of ivory in their territory this follows last year's ban in mainland china hong kong's ivory market one of the world's largest has been linked to mass elephant poaching in africa. waiting in line for water has become part of everyday life in cape town. and conserving it a civic duty from february first water consumption has been limited to fifty liters per person per day. in comparison germans consume one hundred twenty leaders on average. they only now have the airplane more than ten years he says he did. the only planting now. over the past twenty years cape town's

population has doubled to four million. add to that the two million tourists that come every year and it's no surprise that the city's water needs have skyrocketed. such stuff but what can you do we all need the water. most residents are taking the restrictions in stride but if it doesn't rain soon and the city's water isn't drastically reduced by mid april the south african city could find itself in a desperate situation. tourists in havana met by locals eager for their business. some travelers choose just state run tours while others prefer smaller private outfits. and dining in family run

eateries. but last august the government instituted a ban on new private companies saying it was necessary to enable the passage of laws to illegal practices in the tourism industry once those new laws are in place privatisation could continue apace but six months later there's no sign of progress many of the party is divided on the future of privatisation. surprised when privatisation was suddenly suspended back then in august many thought the ban would soon be lifted and they'd be able to set up private businesses again but now more and more cubans believe that there is some internal disagreement with the government about the privatisation. cuba's privatization process got underway in twenty ten the economy then was in a mess and the government was forced to cut felson of jobs entrepreneurship seems

to offer a solution the move led to a rush of new small businesses from industrious street sellers to hairdressers and proprietors of bed and breakfasts. but the cuban state still controls eighty percent of the economy and many now fear the government isn't serious about relaxing their ban on privately owned businesses. soaking on an electronic cigarette looks like smoking but there's really no smoke at all but comes out of the cigarettes as bait which is why officio call it they ping the record company two hours north of berlin are experts in beijing culture riccardo is one of germany's biggest manufacturers and retailers of the cigarettes demand for of a thing continues to grow as does the workload at ricardo. demand is developing fast so it's difficult for us to stay on top of orders we play will be

at the same level as regular smokers. we expect it will be like this for a while that come with. the cigarettes or a kind of modern. aromatic liquids are placed in a chamber within the device and heated with a battery powered coil until they turn into inhalable vapor. the vapor liquids containing greedy and secluding glycerol and nicotine but in lower doses than in cigarettes. the packaging for the liquids is highly colorful perhaps to send the message that they're not so bad for your health that's because manufacturers are anxious to offer an alternative to cigarettes but scientists urge caution in. compared to normal cigarettes they're likely significantly less harmful but that doesn't mean they're harmless. the vapor contains certain noxious substances that you're inhaling. and when you breathe a man hundreds of times a day for years you can't be certain what the long term effects will be.

in the last fifteen years the number of tobacco smokers in germany has declined by half. this has challenge big tobacco's billion dollar industry to rethink its strategy. with some two million people in germany already of a thing ricardo is betting their products will continue to lure regular smokers into partaking in a smoke free habit. this week in nuremberg the world's largest toy expose exhibited the industry's newest technology the trend in kids toy making is programmability it's the adult world in miniature even traditional toys are getting high tech make-a like diggers for the sandpit. and even board games where your smartphone or tablet instructs each special agent

what to do next. today there are two worlds classical toys and electronic toys they're developing side by side and as they do they're creating new possibilities for toys you could have all of which is bringing exciting change to the toy fair to. the gaming generation has long enjoyed bringing a virtual edge to real world fun like teaming up to play laser tag and linking up to multiple players online with smartphones and why five. but there comes a point when kids just need to get moving no matter how old school that may be.

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