Volkswagen one of the worlds biggest car makers finds itself back in court today as the company once again faces the fallout of the diesel gate emissions cheating scandal. Hundreds of thousands of german vw customers have joined a first of its kind grouped proceeding to seek compensation from the automaker. The firm admitted in 2015 to using Illegal Software to cheat on emissions tests in 11 million vehicles worldwide. So far the scandal has cost the group over 33 billion, however the vast majority of that sum, 22 billion, has gone to the us in in fines, compensation and legal costs. Vw owners in the uk will be watching with interest as around 117,000 claimants are part of a similar action, also seeking compensation from the auto giant. Simon duval smith, editor of automotive purchasing and supply chain magazinejoins me now. Morning. Talk is through this case. What is it that the group, who were taking vw to court, what do they have to prove . Well, there are 50 questions which are going to be brought up by the court. It is to prove that serious financial damage and cost was done to the buyers and owners of these vehicles. This is in the accelerated depreciation of the vehicles because of the scandal. There is also a great deal of reputational damage. In europe anything particularly germany, owners dont really want to be seen as being the dirty chap on the block with a dirty car belching out diesel fumes and cheating the emissions. For the owners of the vw cars at the time this scandal first emerged, vw did say we will fix your vehicles, we will sort them out, at cetera. In many cases, i we will sort them out, at cetera. In many cases, i assume we will sort them out, at cetera. In many cases, i assume these german owners of vw cars have had that process put through, did they . Yes, quite a lot have. You can never do a recall, as its called, fast enough to keep everybody happy and a lot of the german owners have gone to no win, no fee lawyers and started their own actions. This class action is quite in europe and could set a precedent. How do you think it will go . Its a little bit like politicians. If they would just confess quickly and pay up quickly they could obligated out of the way ina year. They could obligated out of the way in a year. So you think the courts will side with the class action . Volkswagen have said they dont think there will be any conclusion that will cost them money but i think its gone too far for that. This could take a long time, up to 2023 if all the appeals process is exhausted. Given the cost of going to court for volkswagen, they are a very big company but dont have limitless finances. It would seem to make more sense for them to try and conclude in a year or two by making significant offers. Its going to cost a lot of money anyway and lawyers are quite expensive so its going to cost them even more if they drag it out. For volkswagen, how has that impacted them in terms of their standing and sales and profits . Volkswagen are seen in america like apple, the friendly face of automotive brands with the old vw beetle bug and so on. Theyve rebranded themselves in europe, they changed logos and a whole different ethos and also its come at a time quite conveniently in a way that we are moving towards elect vehicles which are obviously much, much cleaner and in which are obviously much, much cleanerand ina which are obviously much, much cleaner and in a way this will be a big help for them. Thank you for coming in. We will keep an eye on how things are panning out. Hong kong has now been gripped by protests against the beijing backed government for more than four months. Theyve been led by young people fighting against the extradition bill, and for universal suffrage, as well as demands for an inquiry into police actions. And as our Asia Business correspondent Karishma Vaswani reports, behind all of this is growing resentment as economic inequality rises to its highest level in 45 years. In a city of bright lights and big dreams, prospects for Young Hong Kongers are dim. Dicky and his friends are students yet to face the real world but, behind the comradery and carefree smiles, lies anxiety about their futures. I want to change my familys life for them because, in hong kong, they have to work hard to pay for maybe their food price. When i grow up i cannot do that. Even when i graduate from the university i will live with my family. Why . I spent lots of money to buy a small flat which limited my imagination of my life. These issues are not why young people have taken to the streets but it has fuelled their resentment of a system they feel has neglected them. 0ur Education Programme is quite old fashioned. Our economy is dominated by a handful of powerful families. They are reluctant to immerse in high Tech Industry, even though maybe some young people want to get into the high Tech Industry but, basically, there are not a lot of good chances for them. Those bleakjob prospects have made things like buying a home out of reach for most hong kongers. Consider this statistic, more than half of hong kongs households do not earn enough to own their own home. And average hong konger would have to save the entire salary for 18 years just to be able to do that. Government subsidised housing, like these flats, were meant to be the solution but there are not enough of them. There is more than enough land in hong kong but developers see little incentive to build public housing. If they develop into Residential Housing on a private basis, they fetch ten times as much. Foe public rental housing they would then lower their profits roughly about five ties as much. And i must say, in the last 10 15 years, the government has not been buoyant enough to make sure that we will meet land supply in the medium term. Hong kong was a city built for business but, while business thrived, others were left out. The government now recognises it needs to fix things but it may be too little, too late. Karishma vaswani, bbc news, hong kong. Further evidence now of a slow down in the global economy. Japan and china have both posted weak manufacturing data. Lets go to our Asia Business hub where shara njit leyl is following the story. How other countries doing . Not terribly welcome betrayed warmaking and impact. Start with china is one of the players of a trade war. Factory activity contracting, it stood at 49. 8 in september, slightly higher than the previous month but anything under the 50 level we know marks contraction rather than expansion. Its industrial output shrank more than expected in august by1. 2 , the shrank more than expected in august by 1. 2 , the latest sign that economy and its manufacturers are facing intensifying pressure from us china trade war. At the same time, japanese retail sales grew faster than expected mostly because there was a lot of strength in private spending ahead of tomorrows nationwide sales tax increase. South korea unveiled industry numbers today and even though its industrial output rose ever so slightly in august, production in its mining, manufacturing, gas and Electricity Industries the World Trade Organization is set to rule on a us request fell amid its trade row with japan. Thank you so much. Lets squeeze in some other business stories. Wto arbitrators are scheduled meeting at 10 am local time in geneva to finalise the 15 year old case brought by washington. The us is seeking compensation for what it says are illegal subsidies granted by european governments to the plane maker airbus. The crown prince of Saudi Arabia Says Oil supplies could be disrupted, and Oil Prices Rise to unimaginably high numbers, unless the world comes together to counter the threat from iran. In an interview with the cbs programme, 60 minutes, Mohammed Bin Salman said he would prefer a political solution, because war between saudi arabia and iran would ruin the global economy. The Health Secretary, matt hancock, says hes looking very seriously at making vaccinations compulsory for all School Children in england after receiving legal advice on the issue. The latest figures show a fall in the take up of all routine jabs for under 5s in the last year. Simonjones reports. We just wejust do we just do about there. A massive drive is needed according to the Health Secretary to get more children vaccinated. He told an event at the conservative Party Conference that he is very worried. When we, the state, provide services to people, then its a 2 way street. Youve got to take your responsibilities to so i think theres a very strong argument for having compulsory vaccinations for children, for when they go to school because otherwise they are putting other children at risk. Measles is a serious illness that can lead to an infection in the brain. Just over 90 of children aged two were vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella last year in england. That is a drop of 91. 2 in the previous year. The world health 0rganizations target is 95 which scotla nd 0rganizations target is 95 which scotland and Northern Ireland already achieved. Here at the department of health errors been much discussion about what can be done increase vaccination rates. The Health Secretary believes the public would back his idea and he says he has already taken legal advice from within government about how they might go about it stop the British Medical Association has deviously stopped short of calling for compulsory vaccinations. It wants adequate resources to make sure vaccination programmes reach those most in need and a crackdown on social Media Companies who failed to stop the spread of false and misleading information. Simon jones, bbc news. More detail coming up at six oclock. More detail coming up coming up at 6 oclock, six oclock. Coming up at 6 oclock, on breakfast dan walker and Louise Minchin will have all the days news, business and sport. This is the briefing from bbc news. The latest headlines saudi arabias crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman says he takes full responsibility for the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi, but denies ordering the killing. Deadly fire triggers riots at an overcrowded refugee camp on the greek island of lesbos. Volkswagen, one of the worlds biggest car makers, finds itself back in court today as the company once again faces the fallout of the dieselgate emissions cheating scandal. Now, its time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. We begin with the i in the uk, its website reports on a meeting due to take place between opposition leaders here to decide on whether to call a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnsons government. Austrias die presse reporting on the countrys Election Results with the headline historic lead for the 0vp its former chancellor, aged just 33, has made a comeback after being forced out by controversy. The times reports on the Health Secretary here looking at whether he can make it a legal requirement for children to be immunised as vaccination rates fall. Nbc sports celebrates what it calls mothers day as athletes Shelly Ann Fraser pryce and Alysson Felix have a record breaking day at the world championships. And, finally, prince harry makes the front page of the telegraph after writing about the important of caring for conservation, saying hes not bothered if people call him a hippy. With me is eileen burbidge, a partner at passion capital, a Technology Venture fund based in london. There are so many different stories to tell about borisjohnson, about the conservative party, their conference is under way in manchester. This looks at the fact that while the conservatives are in manchester in parliament, today they may all come together and come up with a plan to go ahead with a vote of no confidence. With a plan to go ahead with a vote of noconfidence. If the opposition leaders can come together to agree to do that and agree who they would wa nt to to do that and agree who they would want to lead, that is the point. All the opposition leaders are saying, listen, we need to actually take an ideal brexit off the table, we need to ta ke ideal brexit off the table, we need to take Boris Johnson ideal brexit off the table, we need to take borisjohnson out from his leadership position because he
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