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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

WASHINGTON (AP) ¡ª No one budged at President Donald Trump's White House meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday, so the partial government shutdown persisted through a 12th day over his demand for billions of dollars to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. They'll try again Friday.In one big change, the new Congress convenes Thursday with Democrats taking majority control of the House, and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said outside the White House that there would be rapid passage of legislation to re-open the government ¡ª without funds for the border wall. But the White House has rejected that package, and Trump said ahead of the session with the congressional leaders that the partial shutdown will last "as long as it takes" to get the funding he wants."Could be a long time or could be quickly," Trump said during lengthy comments at a Cabinet meeting at the White House, his first public appearance of the new year. Meanwhile, the shutdown dragged through a second week, closing some parks and leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay.Democrats said they asked Trump directly during Wednesday's private meeting held in the Situation Room why he wouldn't consider their package of bills. One measure would open most of the shuttered government departments at funding levels already agreed to by all sides. The other would provide temporary funding for Homeland Security, through Feb. 8, allowing talks to continue over border security."I said, Mr. President, Give me one good reason why you should continue your shutdown," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said afterward. "He could not give a good answer."Added Schumer, "We would hope they would reconsider."House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said there's no need to prolong the shutdown and he was disappointed the talks did not produce a resolution. He complained that Democrats interrupted Homeland Security officials who were trying to describe a dire situation at the border."We were hopeful that we could get more of a negotiation," said McCarthy.He said the leaders plan to return to the White House Friday to continue negotiations.The two sides have traded offers, but their talks broke down ahead of the holidays. On Wednesday, Trump also rejected his own administration's offer to accept .5 billion for the wall. That offer was made when Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials met with Schumer at the start of the shutdown. Instead, on Wednesday Trump repeatedly pushed for the .6 billion he has demanded.Making his case ahead of the afternoon session with Democratic and Republican leaders, he said the current border is "like a sieve" and noted the tear gas "flying" overnight to deter arrivals."If they knew they couldn't come through, they wouldn't even start," Trump said at the meeting, joined by Cabinet secretaries and top advisers, including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.Trump complained that he had been "lonely" at the White House during the holiday break, having skipped his getaway to Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He claimed his only companions were the "machine gunners," referring to security personnel, and "they don't wave, they don't smile." He also criticized Pelosi for visiting Hawaii.At the Capitol on Wednesday, Pelosi said she hoped Republicans and the White House "are hearing what we have offered" to end the shutdown.Trump contended the Democrats see the shutdown fight as "an election point" as he celebrated his own first two years in office. He promised "six more years of great success."The partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22. Funding for the wall has been the sticking point in passing funding bills for several government departments.Pelosi, who is expected to become speaker on Thursday, said Tuesday that Democrats would take action to "end the Trump Shutdown" by passing legislation Thursday to reopen government."We are giving the Republicans the opportunity to take yes for an answer," she wrote in a letter to colleagues. "Senate Republicans have already supported this legislation, and if they reject it now, they will be fully complicit in chaos and destruction of the President's third shutdown of his term."But the Republican-led Senate appears unlikely to consider the Democratic funding bills. A spokesman for GOP leader Mitch McConnell said Republicans would not take action without Trump's backing.Even if only symbolic, passage of the bills in the House would put fresh pressure on the president. At the same time, administration officials said Trump was in no rush for a resolution to the impasse, believing he has public opinion and his base on his side.The Democratic package to end the shutdown would include one bill to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security at current levels ¡ª with .3 billion for border security, far less than Trump has said he wants for the wall ¡ª through Feb. 8 as talks continued.It would also include another measure to fund the departments of Agriculture, Interior, Housing and Urban Development and others closed by the partial shutdown. That measure would provide money through the remainder of the fiscal year, to Sept. 30.___Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman, Kevin Freking and Jill Colvin contributed to this report. 5270

WASHINGTON (AP) ¡ª Former President Barack Obama has helped raise a record-breaking .6 million from more than 175,000 individual donors in a grassroots fundraiser for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.Obama is warning Democrats against being ¡°complacent or smug¡± about the presidential race.He is telling them to get engaged with the campaign and says, ¡°whatever you've done is not enough.¡±The small-dollar fundraiser Tuesday kicked off what Obama¡¯s team says will likely be a busy schedule heading into the fall, as he looks to help elect not just Biden but also Democrats running for House and Senate. 619

WASHINGTON (AP) ¡ª Former President George H.W. Bush is returning to Washington as a revered political statesman, hailed by leaders across the political spectrum and around the world as a man not only of greatness but also of uncommon decency and kindness.Bush, who died late Friday at his Houston home at age 94, is to be honored with a state funeral at National Cathedral in the nation's capital on Wednesday, followed by burial Thursday on the grounds of his presidential library at Texas A&M.Before that, his body will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda for a public viewing from his arrival in Washington on Monday until Wednesday morning.President Donald Trump, who ordered federal offices closed for a national day of mourning on Wednesday, is to attend with first lady Melania Trump and other high-ranking officials.Bush's crowning achievement as president was assembling the international military coalition that liberated the tiny, oil-rich nation of Kuwait from invading neighbor Iraq in 1991 in a war that lasted just 100 hours. He also presided over the end of the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union."We didn't agree much on domestic policy, but when it came to the international side of things, he was a very wise and thoughtful man," former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, a Democrat who lost the presidency to Bush in 1988, told The Associated Press on Saturday. He credited Bush's ability to negotiate with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as playing a key role.Related StoriesTrump to designate Dec. 5 as national day of mourning for George H.W. BushFormer President George H.W. Bush's last wordsGeorge H.W. Bush's funeral and memorial services plan"It was a time of great change, demanding great responsibility from everyone," Gorbachev told the Interfax news agency. "The result was the end of the Cold War and nuclear arms race."During that time and after, Gorbachev said, he always appreciated the kindness Bush and his family showed him.In Washington, the former Republican president won praise from leaders of both parties.Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan lauded him for leading the nation with "decency and integrity," while Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi said it was a "privilege to work with him."Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said Bush "befriended political foes, reminding Americans that there is always more that unites us than divides us."At the G-20 summit in Argentina, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was raised in East Germany, told reporters she likely would never have become her country's leader had Bush not pressed for the nation's reunification in 1990.A humble hero of World War II, Bush was just 20 when he survived being shot down during a bombing run over Japan. He had enlisted in the U.S. Navy on his 18th birthday.Shortly before leaving the service, he married his 19-year-old sweetheart, Barbara Pierce, a union that lasted until her death earlier this year.After military service, Bush enrolled in Yale University, where he would become a scholar-athlete, captaining the baseball team to two College World Series before graduating Phi Beta Kappa after just 2 ? years.After moving to Texas to work in the oil business, Bush turned his attention to politics in the 1960s, being elected to his first of two terms in Congress in 1967. He would go on to serve as ambassador to the United Nations and China, head of the CIA and chairman of the Republican National Committee before being elected to two terms as Ronald Reagan's vice president.Soon after he reached the zenith of his political popularity following the liberation of Kuwait, the U.S. economy began to sour and voters began to believe that Bush, never a great orator, was out of touch with ordinary people.He lost his bid for re-election to then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, who would later become a close friend. The pair worked together to raise tens of millions of dollars for victims of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, which swamped New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005."Who would have thought that I would be working with Bill Clinton of all people?" he joked in 2005.Clinton said he would be "forever grateful" for that friendship.___Rogers reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Susan Haigh contributed to this story.Michael Cohen cites personal toll and Mueller cooperation in seeking no jail time after guilty pleas 4436

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House is expected to vote this week on a bill that would bring sweeping reform to the nation's drug policy, by removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act.Democratic leadership in the House is preparing for the vote on the bill, called the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2019. The US House Judiciary Committee approved the measure last November.If made into law, the measure would open up business opportunities for legal marijuana nationwide.Still, many steps need to be taken to put the bill into law. If the measure passes the House, it could stall in the Republican-controlled Senate. Utah has worked on its medical marijuana program in the state since voters approved a proposition in 2018. Since its inception, the program has hit a few roadblocks, including issues registering. 860

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