Tokyo, July 31 (IANS) Japan’s transport ministry has issued a corrective order to Toyota Motor Corporation, mandating improvements in its business practices following the discovery of improper vehicle testing procedures for seven additional models.

Toyota Motor President Sato Koji on Wednesday was summoned and given the correction order by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The issue first surfaced in June when it was revealed that Toyota had falsified performance test data on seven models to secure the necessary certification for mass production, which led to the suspension of shipments for three models that were already in production.

In early July, Toyota conducted an internal investigation and reported no wrongdoing beyond the initial seven models, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, a thorough investigation by the ministry, including an onsite inspection of Toyota’s headquarters, uncovered further malpractice involving seven more models.

The corrective order requires Toyota to devise and implement fundamental measures within a month to prevent future occurrences, and the auto giant must provide quarterly progress reports to the ministry.

This marked the fourth time the ministry has issued a correction order under the Road Transport Vehicle Act amended in 2019. It was the first time for Toyota to have received such an order.

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Warsaw, July 31 (IANS) Poland’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 4.2 percent year-on-year in July, marking the highest level in 2024, according to data published Wednesday by the Central Statistical Office (GUS).

The flash estimate of GUS indicates that prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 3.2 percent year-on-year, fuel prices for private means of transport by 1.2 percent, and energy prices by 10 percent.

Month-on-month, fuel costs remained at the same level, food prices fell by 0.5 percent, while energy prices saw a significant rise of 11.8 percent.

“As a result of a 10 percent increase in energy costs, consumer prices rose by 1.4 percent month-on-month in July. This is the strongest jump since January 2023. Inflation has accelerated from 2.6 percent in June to 4.2 percent, the highest level in 2024,” said Bartosz Sawicki, an analyst at a financial company registered in Poland, Xinhua news agency reported.

ING Economics analysts also attribute the increase mainly to high energy prices. They predict that inflation will stay in the range of 4 to 5 percent year-on-year until the end of 2024 and will peak in the first quarter of 2025 at around 6 percent.

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Bucharest, July 31 (IANS) Moldova is set to receive a loan worth 37.3 million euros for budgetary support from the World Bank, the country’s parliament said after ratifying the agreement on Wednesday.

The World Bank will also supply Moldova with a grant worth 5 million U.S. dollars. The loan and grant will be paid out in one installment.

The loan has a 29-year maturity and a nine-year grace period and comes with 11 conditions, which Moldova has already fulfilled, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, under another agreement also ratified today, Moldova will receive 10.5 million dollars of non-refundable financing from the World Bank to help meet the state budget’s needs.

This amount will also be disbursed in a single installment once 11 conditions are met, including amendments to the Law on Social Benefits, the Labor Code, legislation of the Energy Vulnerability Reduction Fund, and the Law on Competition. The deadline for these changes is June 30, 2026.

Both agreements, signed on July 11, support the Moldova Supporting Growth and Resilience Development Policy Operation Project.

The project aims to improve residents’ access to the labor market, adjust the legal framework for social assistance, align competition and state benefit legislation with EU standards, enhance governance and competition in the energy sector, strengthen the financial system, and promote sustainable forest management and climate commitments.

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Rome, July 31 (IANS) Some 114 million euros (123.4 million US dollars) were stolen through internet frauds in the first six months of this year in Italy, the country’s postal and communication police in charge of cybercrime announced Wednesday.

The figure marked a 71 percent increase compared to the total registered in the country in the same period of 2023.

Overall, investigators uncovered around 14,000 incidents of cyber fraud and other online financial crimes from January to June, representing a 10 percent increase, the police force said, Xinhua news agency reported.

In their annual report issued in December last year, postal police said some 65 businesses of all sizes were among those affected by cyber frauds in 2023. Sums stolen from such companies last year amounted to over 19 million euros, of which 6 million euros were retrieved by law enforcement agencies.

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Jerusalem, July 31 (IANS) Israel launched a state fund that will allocate a total of 155 million U.S. dollars to 18 selected financial entities for investment in venture capital (VC) funds supporting startups, said the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) on Wednesday.

The fund, initiated by the IIA in collaboration with the finance and innovation ministries, aims to support Israeli hi-tech companies, strengthen connections between institutional investors and local VC funds as in leading global markets, and enhance the stability of the local VC market against economic shocks.

The IIA noted in a statement that the fund will significantly boost innovation within Israel’s tech ecosystem.

Major institutional investment entities in Israel submitted applications totaling about 500 million U.S. dollars, Xinhua news agency reported.

Under the program, the IIA will provide matching funding for institutional investments in Israeli VC funds and will waive its share of the returns from the investments to boost the returns for institutional investors.

The IIA will also share investment losses with the institutional entities.

The investment policies also require the IIA not to intervene in the investment decisions of the institutions or the VC fund managers, who will be able to invest the funds, the statement said.

During the first four years following the fund’s investment, institutional entities can purchase the state’s share at an annual compound interest rate of 1 percent, it said.

Additional incentives will be offered to institutional entities investing in VC funds that focus primarily on deep-tech companies, it added.

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