前大众汽车老板因柴油丑闻遭起诉 BBC News . Hello , I ' m Jerry Smit . German prosecutors have charged the former boss of Volkswagen Martin Winterkorn with fraud over the diesel emission scandal .
Four other executives has also been charged . Here is Danny Eberhardt . All five executives are accused of a number of offenses within a single criminal act ,
which prosecutors say was a particularly serious case of fraud and a violation of competition law . Martin Winterkorn is also accused of breaching his role as guarantor to the authorities and customers .
Prosecutors say he knew about the illegal manipulation of diesel engines for more than a year before the scandal broke in September 2015
and failed to stop the distribution of vehicles that had software designed to cheat emissions tests . Mr . Winterkorn has maintained he only knew about the problem shortly before it became public .
European Union countries have approved plans for trade talks with the United States . EU ministers have authorized the European Commission to seek a deal to eliminate tariffs on industrial goods and to reduce regulatory barriers .
The US also wants talks on liberalizing trade in agricultural goods , something the EU has not agreed to . A group of Dutch poultry farmers is taking the government to court over a contaminated eggs scandal two years ago .
The discovery that eggs were contaminated with insecticide meant they had to be destroyed and millions of chickens killed . Anna Holligan reports . The farmers accused the government ' s food and product safety board of negligence .
They argue officials ignored reports from November 2016 that the banned chemical had been found in eggs after the use of a delousing agent made by a Dutch - Belgian company called Chick Friend .
The government has consistently blamed this firm , which is now bankrupt for the damages . Last year an official report criticized egg producers , government inspectors and ministers for failing to prioritize food safety .
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