German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Testify on Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a staunch defender of the country's car industry, testifies this week before a parliamentary investigation into Volkswagen AG's diesel cheating that is looking into any relationship between her lobbying and the scandal.

Lawmakers will focus on Ms. Merkel's close relationship with former Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn and a meeting she held in April 2010 with Arnold Schwarzenegger, then governor of California, and Mary Nichols, head of the state's environmental agency, the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, when Ms. Merkel attacked California's limits on diesel emissions.

Germany's parliament formed the committee in July to determine whether Ms. Merkel and her government knew of problems with Volkswagen diesel engines years before U.S. regulators in September 2015 disclosed it had rigged engines to cheat on tough U.S. emissions tests.

A right to repair: why Nebraska farmers are taking on John Deere and Apple

Farmers like fixing their own equipment, but rules imposed by big corporations are making it impossible. Now this small showdown could have a big impact

There are corn and soy fields as far as the eye can see around Kyle Schwarting’s home in Ceresco, Nebraska. The 36-year-old farmer lives on a small plot of land peppered with large agricultural machines including tractors, planters and a combine harvester.

Parked up in front of his house is a bright red 27-ton Case tractor which has tracks instead of wheels. It’s worth about $250,000, and there’s a problem with it: an in-cab alarm sounds at ten-minute intervals to alert him to a faulty hydraulic connector he never needs to use.

Because farm machinery is now so high-tech, the only way to silence the error message is by plugging in a special diagnostic tool – essentially computer loaded with troubleshooting software that connects to a port inside the tractor – to identify and resolve the problem. Only manufacturers and authorized dealers are allowed that tool, and they charge hundreds of dollars in call-out fees to use it.

Nebraska is one of eight states in the US – including Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Wyoming, Tennessee and Kansas – seeking to pass “right to repair” legislation. All eyes will be on the “cornhusker state” when the bill has its public hearing on 9 March, because its unique “unicameral legislature” (it’s the only state to have a single parliamentary chamber) means laws can be enacted swiftly. If this bill, officially named LB67, gets through, it may lead to a domino effect through the rest of the US, as happened with a similar battle over the right to repair cars. These Nebraska farmers are fighting for all of us. read more »