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WASHINGTON ¡ª The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits declined last week to a still-high 837,000, evidence that the economy is struggling to sustain a tentative recovery that began this summer. The Labor Department¡¯s report, released Thursday, suggests that companies are still cutting a historically high number of jobs, though the weekly numbers have become less reliable as states have increased their efforts to root out fraudulent claims and process earlier applications that have piled up. For example, California, which accounts for more than one-quarter of aid applications, simply provided the same figure it submitted the previous week. The state had said it would stop accepting jobless claims online so it could tackle a backlog of 600,000 claims. 780

Volkswagen has been fined another €800 million (6 million) over its diesel emissions scandal, this time because of failings at its Audi subsidiary.Volkswagen said Tuesday it accepted the fine imposed by German prosecutors, waving its right to appeal. It said the penalty would hit earnings this year."As a negative special item, [it will] reduce the group earnings for fiscal year 2018 accordingly," it said in a statement.The penalty by Munich prosecutors is just the latest consequence of the scandal that emerged in 2015 and initially wiped out billions off the company's value.Volkswagen admitted cheating on clean air rules with software that made emissions look less toxic than they actually were.The fine concludes the Munich prosecutors' investigation into the company. However, probes into executives, including Audi's former CEO Rupert Stadler, continue, the prosecutors said.The €800 million fine comprises a €5 million penalty for administrative offenses, the maximum allowed under German law.On top of that, prosecutors ordered Volkswagen to repay €795 million they said the company made from the cheating. The prosecutors said this included profits from the sales of affected vehicles.In this case, the diesel emissions cheating affected nearly 5 million cars sold by the Volkswagen group in Europe and the United States, prosecutors said. Specifically, it concerned V6 and V8 diesel engines manufactured by Audi and installed in Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche brands, and Audi vehicles equipped with EA 189 and EA 288 engine made by Volkswagen.Shares in Volkswagen (VLKAF) and Audi (AUDVF) were trading higher on Tuesday. Volkswagen stock is down 11 percent so far this year. 1699

VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) - A man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl while she rode in an ambulance. The California Highway Patrol launched an investigation into the Feb. 21, 2017 incident involving 34-year-old David Carpio, a private ambulance company employee. The girl was being transported to Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside when Carpio assaulted her and asked for her Snapchat information to start a relationship with her, investigators said. A CHP investigator posing as the girl communicated with Carpio through social media and text messages over several months, during which time officials gained damaging information. Other alleged female victims also came forward with claims against Carpio, saying he had sexually assaulted them when he was their neighbor. One of the women was 16 years old at the time of the encounter. Carpio pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges and was sentenced Thursday for sexual penetration of a minor and sexual battery. 1022

WASHINGTON (AP) ¡ª Acting in lawsuits involving absentee ballot deadlines in three battleground states, the Supreme Court has allowed extensions for ballots in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to remain in place.But it has refused a plea for a relaxed deadline in Wisconsin.In each case, Democrats backed the extensions, and Republicans opposed them.All three states have Democratic governors and legislatures controlled by the GOP.Last week, the Supreme Court tied 4-4 by upholding the ruling from Pennsylvania's Supreme Court that would allow election officials to receive and count ballots until Nov. 6, even if they don't have a clear postmark.On Wednesday, the justices denied the motion to expedite a review of the state's Republican Party's appeal to exclude mail-in absentee ballots after the elections were over."There is simply not enough time at this late date to decide the question before the election," Justice Samuel Alito said in a statement alongside Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. "That does not mean, however, that the state court decision must escape our review."Alito added that state officials informed county election boards to segregate ballots received between 8 p.m. on Election Day and 5 p.m. on Nov. 6.At first blush, the different outcomes at the Supreme Court seem odd because the high court typically takes up issues to harmonize the rules across the country.On Wednesday, the justices said absentee ballots in North Carolina could be received and counted up to nine days after Election Day.On Monday, the justices stated that ballots in Wisconsin must be received by Election Day in order to be counted, the Associated Press reported.But elections are largely governed by states, and the rules differ from one state to the next.Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in consideration of either motion, the justices said. 1877

WASHINGTON (AP) ¡ª It's not just audiotapes.Omarosa Manigault Newman has a stash of video, emails, text messages and other documentation supporting the claims in her tell-all book about her time in the Trump White House, a person with direct knowledge of the records told The Associated Press Friday.Manigault Newman has made clear that she plans to continue selectively releasing the pieces of evidence if President Donald Trump and his associates continue to attack her credibility and challenge the claims in her book, "Unhinged." She's already dribbled out audio recordings of conversations, and video clips, texts or email could follow, according to the person who described what Manigault Newman has called a multimedia "treasure trove." The person was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly and asked for anonymity.RELATED: Omarosa releases recording of Lara Trump offering campaign gig"I will not be silenced. I will not be intimidated. I'm not going to be bullied by Donald Trump," the former Trump aide told The Associated Press this week as she seemed to dismiss a threat from Trump's campaign. She spoke to the AP hours after Trump's campaign announced it was filing an arbitration action against her alleging she'd violated a signed agreement with the campaign that prohibits her from disclosing confidential information.She told PBS in a separate interview this week: "I have a significant amount, in fact, a treasure trove, of multimedia backup for everything that's not only in "Unhinged," but everything that I assert about Donald Trump."RELATED: Listen: Omarosa taped call with Trump after she was firedManigault Newman claims Trump officials offered her a job on the campaign as a way of silencing her, after she was fired from the White House. She's accused Trump of being racist and suffering from a mental decline.The White House has countered by branding Manigault Newman as a disgruntled former staffer with credibility issues who is now trying to profit from a book based on false attacks against an individual she has called a mentor and has admired for more than a decade.Trump has also lashed out at Manigault Newman, calling her a "lowlife," ''wacky and deranged" and a "dog."RELATED: Trump calls Omarosa a 'dog' in latest attack on ex-aideSimon & Schuster this week also dismissed threatened legal action from Trump's campaign. A campaign attorney told Simon & Schuster in a letter that "Unhinged" violated Manigault Newman's confidentiality agreement, but the publisher responded that it was acting "well within" its rights."Unhinged" has spent the past few days at No. 2 on Amazon.com's best-seller list, trailing only Rachel Hollis' lifestyle book "Girl, Wash Your Face."Manigault Newman was director of communications for a White House office that networks with various constituency groups until she was fired last December by chief of staff John Kelly, citing "significant integrity issues." Before joining the administration, Manigault Newman handled African-American outreach for Trump's presidential campaign. She has known Trump since 2003, when she became a contestant on Trump's TV show, "The Apprentice."RELATED: Trump campaign suing Omarosa for violating non-disclosure agreementShe has already released several secret audio recordings, including of the meeting in which she was fired by Kelly.In another recording, Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is heard offering Manigault Newman ,000 a month - after she was fired from the White House - for a campaign job requiring her to be "positive." Lara Trump is a senior adviser on Trump's re-election campaign.Manigault Newman also alleges that tape exists of Trump using a racial slur while working on "The Apprentice." Trump has denied this, saying on Twitter that "I don't have that word in my vocabulary, and never have. She made it up."___AP National Writer Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this report. 3938

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