Toyota recalls more cars over airbag issues

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Japan carmaker Toyota has once again recalled hundreds of thousands of vehicles to fix a problem caused by faulty air conditioning units. The news adds to the world’s biggest auto makers’ safety woes.

Toyota Motor Company was recalling 885,00 vehicles worldwide over a defect that could prevent airbags from deploying, the Japanese carmaker said Friday.
The recall was affecting primarily its Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid and Venza models made between 2012 and 2013. Some 800,000 of these cars were sold in North America, while the rest was owned by customers in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
German customers were not affected by the recall Toyota added, as these models were not sold in Europe's biggest car market.
According to Toyota, the recall was caused by water leaking out from the air conditioning condenser unit onto the airbag control module. The leak could trigger a short circuit so that airbag warning lights turn on or the airbag itself could be disabled and might not deploy in an accident.
Moreover, the problem could cause the power-steering system to fail, making it difficult to turn a vehicle, especially at lower speeds.
Toyota said the defect had already caused two minor injuries, but no accidents. The latest recall takes the total number of cars to be repaired by Toyota free of charge to 6 million vehicles this year.

DW.DE

Toyota adds another recall to a series of flaws this year

The world's biggest auto maker, Toyota, has said it's recalling hundreds of thousands of vehicles worldwide over two defects reported by customers. This time, inverters and engine bolts have to be fixed. (04.09.2013)

The world's biggest auto maker by sales, has faced a series of recalls in recent year, including one related to unintended acceleration, in which vehicles have raced out of the driver's control.
In the US car market, Toyota had more vehicles recalled than any other manufacturer for four of the last five years. This year the Japanese are well-positioned for the top spot, as well.
uhe/hc (dpa, AFP)

Russia and China sign landmark oil deal

DW.DE 

Russia’s crude producer Rosneft and China's oil giant Sinopec have struck a new deal that will boost deliveries by another 10 million tons per year. The deal is a sign of closer energy ties between the two countries.

Russia plans to deliver an additional 100 million tons of crude oil to China over the next decade, Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev announced during a visit to Beijing on Tuesday.
Speaking to Chinese news agency Xinhua, Medvedev said the contract signed between Russian crude producer Rosneft and Chinese oil firm Sinopec was worth $85 billion (62 billion euros).
Under the agreement, Sinopec will make an advance payment of between 25 and 30 percent of the total cost of the 10-year contract, which will start in 2014.
"These are normal terms that apply to our clients," Russian news agency Interfax quoted Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin as saying during the signing ceremony in Beijing.

Russia and China strike oil deal

According to latest statistics, China imported 24 million tons of Russian crude oil in 2012. During the high-profile talks in Beijing, the leaders of the energy-hungry Asian powerhouse were also discussing Russian natural gas deliveries with the heads of Russia's top oil and gas producers, who were part of the government delegation.
Prime Minister Medvedev sounded optimistic that a gas delivery contract might be signed by the end of the year.
"We are now reaching a final agreement on a formula under which gas will start flowing from Russia to China. Now we still need to agree on a price," Medvedev said.
The gas deal, which is said to have a volume of 38 billion cubic meters of gas per year, has been held up for year by differences over the price of the gas. The dispute has caused China to turn to the Central Asian energy market for gas, which might lead Moscow to make price concessions toward Beijing.
uhe/kms (AFP, dpa)

EU ministers set date for Turkey accession talks

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EU foreign ministers have green-lighted the resumption of talks with candidate state Turkey. Negotiations have been stalled for three years by political tensions and, more recently, violent crackdowns on protesters.

European Union foreign ministers announced on Tuesday that talks with Turkey over becoming a member state would resume on November 5. The announcement came as the ministers from the 28-member bloc met in Luxembourg.
This will be the 14th of 35 negotiation chapters with Turkey. Each chapter corresponds to a different topic to be evaluated by the bloc in order to assess whether a candidate complies with EU standards and rules.
"A European Turkey is important for Europe and for Turkey," Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told journalists in the run-up to the Tuesday's meeting. "This is a sign that the EU and Turkey want to deepen their relations further."
Turkey applied for membership to what was then the European Economic Community in 1987. Progress in accession talks stalled three years ago over disagreements with France and Germany and continued political tensions with Cyprus.
Government crackdowns on mass protests across Turkey over the summer prompted further concern among EU leaders. It also delayed an agreement reached in June by the EU to take up negotiations once again.
A report released by the European Commission last week recommended moving forward with Ankara. The analysis of Turkey's progress, which was included in a larger report entitled "Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2013-2014," criticized Turkey for its use of violent force "in the face of dissent." However, it also said signs of progress would allow negotiations to resume, citing in particular judicial reforms and the commencement of a peace process with Kurdish groups in the country's south east.
Germany backs move
German Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Link said Berlin supported the move, as Turkey had "improved in many areas."
"We think this is the right signal to animate the accession negotiations now," he added.
The delayed progress has tired many in Turkey who were once enthusiastic about joining the European Union.
In reaction to last week's EU Commission report, the Turkish minister responsible for EU relations, Egemen Bagis, said the lack of progress had fatigued Turkish citizens and was the reason behind growing disinterest in talks with the EU.
Link expressed hope on Tuesday that the announcement would be "a signal to Turkish citizens that the EU would truly like to open up."
"This way, we will get the momentum needed to also discuss with Turkey the difficult remaining points," Link said.
kms/pfd (AFP, dpa)