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German prosecutors have said they are conducting a preliminary investigation of manipulation at carmaker Volkswagen. Prosecutors of the German state Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) said in a statement they were looking into an investigation against Volkswagen employees as they had received a number of criminal complaints from citizens. 

Yesterday, VW's investor relations team popped out this presentation, external for investors in Munich. Entitled "Stability in Volatile Times" it does, on page 22, make mention of "tightening environmental regulation and major trends driving substantially higher investment and engineering needs today." So they are on the case then?

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The European Parliament's environment committee has just voted to update the European Union's Euro5/6 regulation, which limits pollutants from road vehicles. A proposed amendment by the Greens/EFA group, which is part of a cross-party compromise in the vote, was adopted with a large majority. The amendment means the test procedure for measuring pollutant emissions based on actual driving conditions (the so called Real Driving Emissions test) should be in place for 2017, with European Parliament approval.

Live page reader Brian writes in with a pertinent question. VED (Vehicle Excise Duty) is based on emissions.

Germany's transport ministry has denied that it knew about the technology Volkswagen used to cheat emissions tests despite acknowledging only months ago that it knew of a general gap between 'test' and on-road emissions. Volkswagen has admitted it used software to recognise when a car was being checked in a test centre, switching the engine to economy mode and injecting chemicals to cut emissions in order to record 'test' results below those seen in normal driving conditions. Earlier this year, members of the Green party challenged the government on the discrepancy between emissions in the test environment and during normal driving. 

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Sergei Pugachev - a Russian tycoon once known as "Putin's banker" - has said he filed a $12bn (£8bn) compensation claim against the Russian state. In the claim at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague he said Russia had carved up his empire after he fell out with President Vladimir Putin. Russia accuses Mr Pugachev, 52, of embezzling millions of dollars. An Interpol arrest warrant has been issued for him at Moscow's request. Mr Pugachev denies the charges.

Image source, Markit

Economic growth in the eurozone slowed in September but despite the monthly dip, it still expanded at the fastest quarterly rate in four years, the closely watched Markit purchasing managers index shows.Markit's flash composite estimate, externalfell to 53.9 points in September from 54.3 points in August. That's still a healthy level above the 50 points mark which separates expansion from contraction in the economy. The readings "pointed to steady growth of the eurozone economy at the end of the third quarter," Markit says. Moreover, the average reading of 54 points over the three months to September was the highest seen since the second quarter of 2011. That said, the data won't ease fears over the impact of the slowdown in global growth. 

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This may come as a bit of a surprise, but there has been a company collecting royalties to "Happy Birthday To You" for years. But no longer will it be able to do so after a US federal judge ruled it's copyright to the song is invalid. Warner/Chappell acquired the copyright - which was originally filed in 1935 - in 1988. But Judge George King ruled that the original copyright was only granted for specific arrangements of the music, not the song itself. The tune was composed by two Kentucky sisters in 1893.

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Delays and cost overruns at two nuclear reactors under construction in France, external and Finland have scared off potential investors in a planned nuclear reactor in the UK, EDF's chief executive has said.

The French utility plans to build two European Pressurised [nuclear] Reactors (EPRs) at Hinkley Point with two Chinese partners. But Jean-Bernard Levy, chief executive of EDF told French newspaper Les Echos the company has been unable to find other investors for the £16bn project. Earlier this week, the government pledged to underwrite £2bn of the project.

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“This is not a situation where you can have one rogue engineer in the corner of the workshop” says one former Ford and Mazda executive on Business Daily.

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On Tuesday we brought you the story of how Martin Shkreli, the head of Turing Pharmaceuticals had boosted the price of a the drug Daraprim  which is used to treat people with AIDS, from $13.50 to $750 per pill - a 5,000% hike in the price. Well, it's caused a bit of a storm in the US and Mr Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager, faced a backlash on social media , externaland from medical groups. He has since said he will lower the price, although he didn't say by how much. 

The Daily Telegraph says, external House of Fraser reported higher profits and sales after being taken over by China's Sanpower. A 31% rise in online sales helped, the paper reports. The Wall St Journal says the Obama administration is asking US corporations to air their grievances about operating in China ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit. 

The Financial Times says, external European research suggests Google may be charging marketers for YouTube adverts that its own systems show are robots rather than people. The Times says, external City traders spoke of a bloodbath yesterday as commodity prices fell, leading to drop in shares. More fears of a Chinese slowdown were blamed. 

BBC Radio 5 Live

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Sir Michael Moritz, co-author of Leadership with Sir Alex Ferguson, says footballers are undervalued compared to hedge fund managers. Sir Michael, an early investor in some of Silicon Valley's biggest names, including Google, Linkedin, Yahoo and Whatsapp. He tells 5 Live he also thinks they should be paid more.