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WASHINGTON (AP) ¡ª A federal judge on Monday ordered North Korea to pay more than 0 million in a wrongful death suit filed by the parents of Otto Warmbier, an American college student who died shortly after being released from that country.U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell harshly condemned North Korea for "barbaric mistreatment" of Warmbier in agreeing with his family that the isolated nation should be held liable for his death last year. She awarded punitive damages and payments covering medical expenses, economic loss and pain and suffering to Fred and Cindy Warmbier, who alleged that their son had been held hostage and tortured.Warmbier was a University of Virginia student who was visiting North Korea with a tour group when he was arrested and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March 2016 on suspicion of stealing a propaganda poster. He died in June 2017, shortly after he returned to the U.S. in a coma and showing apparent signs of torture while in custody.In holding the North Korean government liable, Howell accused the government of seizing Warmbier for "use as a pawn in that totalitarian state's global shenanigans and face-off with the United States.""Before Otto traveled with a tour group on a five-day trip to North Korea, he was a healthy, athletic student of economics and business in his junior year at the University of Virginia, with 'big dreams' and both the smarts and people skills to make him his high school class salutatorian, homecoming king, and prom king," the judge wrote. "He was blind, deaf, and brain dead when North Korea turned him over to U.S. government officials for his final trip home."The arrest and death of Warmbier came during a time of heightened tension between the U.S. and North Korea over the country's nuclear weapons program. President Donald Trump held a first-of-its-kind summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2018 and plans another next year.The judgment may be mostly a symbolic victory since North Korea has yet to respond to any of the allegations in court and there's no practical mechanism to force it do so. But the family may nonetheless be able to recoup damages through a Justice Department-administered fund for victims of state-sponsored acts of terrorism, and may look to seize other assets held by the country outside of North Korea.Fred and Cindy Warmbier, who are from a suburb of Cincinnati, said they were thankful the court found the government of Kim Jong Un "legally and morally" responsible for their son's death."We put ourselves and our family through the ordeal of a lawsuit and public trial because we promised Otto that we will never rest until we have justice for him," they said in a statement. "Today's thoughtful opinion by Chief Judge Howell is a significant step on our journey."The lawsuit, filed in April, describes in horrific detail the physical abuse Warmbier endured in North Korean custody.When his parents boarded a plane to see him upon arrival in the U.S., they were "stunned to see his condition," court documents say.The 22-year-old was blind and deaf, his arms were curled and mangled and he was jerking violently and howling, completely unresponsive to his family's attempts to comfort him. His once straight teeth were misaligned, and he had an unexplained scarred on his foot. An expert said in court papers that the injuries suggested he had been tortured with electric shock.A neurologist later concluded that the college student suffered brain damage, probably from a loss of blood flow to the brain for five to 20 minutes.North Korea has denied that Warmbier was tortured and has said he contracted botulism in custody, though medical experts said there was no evidence of that.The complaint also said Warmbier was pressed to make a televised confession, then convicted of subversion after a short trial. He was denied communication with his family. In June 2017, his parents were informed he was in a coma and had been in that condition for one year.Though foreign nations are generally immune from being sued in U.S. courts, Howell cited several exceptions that she said allowed the case to move forward and for her to hold North Korea liable. Those include the fact that North Korea has been designated by the U.S. as a sponsor of terrorism, that the Warmbiers are U.S. citizens and that North Koreans' conduct amounts to torture and hostage taking.The penalty awarded by Howell to the Warmbiers and to Otto Warmbier's estate includes punitive damages as well as damages for economic losses, pain and suffering and medical expenses.The lawsuit was brought on the Warmbiers' behalf by Richard Cullen, a prominent Virginia lawyer and former U.S. attorney. He told The Associated Press that while "nothing will ever bring Otto back to the Warmbiers or erase their memories of his horrid last 18 months," the judge's order was "very good news for his family and friends." 4916

Walmart recently introduced an app that is geared for employees to help consumers find products.The voice assistant app "Ask Sam" allows Sam's Club, which first developed it, and Walmart employees to look up prices, store maps, locate products, and emergency alerts, the company announced in a press release."While all associates go through emergency training, we wanted to provide managers with an additional way to quickly and effectively alert associates to emergency situations," said Walmart's Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer Meng Chee in the statement. "We created an emergency feature in Ask Sam ¨C the Emergency Alert Button ¨C empowering managers to make quick decisions during high-stress situations. With the push of a button, clear and instructive emergency alerts are sent to all associates on and off the clock through multiple associate applications."The app has also made it possible for employees to learn news about COVID-19, Chee said."In addition to guidance from their managers, having access to the answers and information they need at their fingertips gives associates confidence as well as more time on the floor with customers," said Chee. 1189

WASHINGTON ¡ª A bipartisan quartet of congressional leaders is pushing hard for a long-delayed COVID-19 aid package.A deal could come as early as Wednesday on legislation that would extend help to individuals and businesses and ship coronavirus vaccines to millions.Negotiations on COVID-19 relief have intensified after months of futility.The top Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress met twice Tuesday in hopes of finally cementing an agreement that would revive subsidies for businesses hit hard by the pandemic, help distribute new coronavirus vaccines, fund schools and renew soon-to-expire jobless benefits.Then Wednesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he and Congressional leaders will not leave Washington for the holiday until a COVID-19 relief bill is passed.¡°The Democratic Leader and I worked into the evening alongside the Speaker of the House and the House Republican Leader," McConnell said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "We made major headway toward hammering out a targeted pandemic relief package that would be able to pass both chambers with bipartisan majorities."The Senate majority leader said money is needed not only for the American people suffering from the economic fallout caused by the pandemic, but to help re-up the Payment Protection Program and for vaccine distribution.¡°Congressional leaders on both sides are going to keep working until we get it done,¡± McConnell said.The Washington Post and Politico report the package would amount to nearly 0 billion in relief and may include a new round of stimulus checks, though the dollar amount for the possible direct payments isn¡¯t yet known.The package would reportedly exclude aid for state and local governments, as well as leave out liability protections. Both were contentious items between Democrats and Republicans.The negotiators will be back at it early Wednesday as a government funding deadline looms Friday at midnight. 1951

VIDEO: I asked President Trump to cite specific evidence as to why mail-in ballots are fraudulent. I told him I covered politics for 5 years in Colorado (an all mail-in ballot state) and never heard @SenCoryGardner complain once. #copolitics @DenverChannel @KOAA pic.twitter.com/AebXDaDf4f— Joe St. George (@JoeStGeorge) June 22, 2020 348

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

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