US issues arrest warrants for former VW execs over emissions cheating
Volkswagen to pay $2.8 bn fine in diesel emissions scandal According to the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, the five are accused of conspiring to commit fraud and violating US environmental regulations. At least two were reportedly confidants of former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn.The German daily suggested Berlin will not hand over the accused to the American authorities. It said that if found guilty the suspects would face extremely long jail sentences compared to German sentencing standards. They, however, will be unable to leave Germany due to the risk of being extradited to the United States from a third country.Former Volkswagen manager Oliver Schmidt was arrested earlier this year in Miami as he was about to fly to Germany. He was charged with conspiracy and other crimes in the … [READ MORE...]
Just What Was on Trial in the Bill Cosby Case?
MORRIS Oh, feelings. They obviously had a role to play in this case and yet aren’t the usual basis for a legal strategy. So little of this trial was concrete. Mr. Cosby didn’t take the stand in his defense, which meant the case, in some sense, came down to Ms. Constand’s recollection versus his legacy. AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyWORTHAM As soon as the push notification announcing the outcome of the trial arrived on my iPhone, I began obsessing over what part of the trial cast enough doubt to some of those 12 people. The answer is important, because it reveals so much about our culture’s relationship to women and how they are supposed to function within systems of power. What about Ms. Constand gave the jury pause? Her sexual identity? Her decision to trust Mr. … [READ MORE...]
Entrepreneurship: A New Lure for Spa Customers? A Salt Cave
Nonetheless, salt therapy, also known as halotherapy, a venerable treatment in Central Europe and Asia, is now being offered at spas, resorts and stand-alone facilities in the United States in the form of salt beds, salt rooms and salt booths. Floors and walls that are lined with salt blocks and salt crystals, and zero-gravity chairs (recliners designed to relax the back), are the norm. A device known as a halogenerator grinds sodium chloride into a dry aerosol, then disperses it to mimic the microclimate of a salt cave. AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyPerhaps unsurprisingly, salt spas seem to be sprouting in pockets of the United States that attract the rich. For example, at the Montauk Salt Cave, which opened two years ago in the Hamptons, a session costs $40 for … [READ MORE...]
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Economic Scene: Fisticuffs Over the Route to a Clean-Energy Future
The conclusion of the critique is damning: Professor Jacobson relied on “invalid modeling tools,” committed “modeling errors” and made “implausible and inadequately supported assumptions,” the scholars wrote. “Our paper is pretty devastating,” said Varun Sivaram from the Council on Foreign Relations, a co-author of the new critique. AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyThe experts are not opposed to aggressive investments in renewable energy. But they argue, as does most of the … [Read More...]
Robot Revolution: Amazon’s Move Signals End of Line for Many Cashiers
But it has become increasingly clear that parts of every job will be automated — and that the service sector is next. Although certain service jobs like health aide or preschool teacher still seem safe, others, like those in retail and food service, are already being displaced. It’s not hard to teach a machine to do routine tasks like scanning bar codes, stocking shelves or dunking fries in oil. AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyEight million people, 6 percent of American … [Read More...]
Popularity Contest: Trump Is Offering Populism, Minus the Free Candy
They dust off the policy white paper that the campaign staff issued months earlier, and spend their time on Capitol Hill trying to cobble together a coalition to pass a bill aimed at helping the people who put Mr. Trump in the White House. AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyThe bill has lots of money to fight the opioid epidemic and to invest in communities left behind by the modern economy. There is money to prop up troubled health insurance markets, so that Mr. Trump can say he … [Read More...]
Economic Trends: The Amazon-Walmart Showdown That Explains the Modern Economy
Men’s dress clothing, mine included, can be a little boring. Like many male office workers, I lean toward clothes that are sharp but not at all showy. Nearly every weekday, I wear a dress shirt that is either light blue, white or has some subtle check pattern, usually paired with slacks and a blazer. The description alone could make a person doze. AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyI used to buy my dress shirts from a Hong Kong tailor. They fit perfectly, but ordering required an … [Read More...]
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- Trump Move on Job Training Brings ‘Skills Gap’ Debate to the Fore
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- A President at War With His Fed Chief, 5 Decades Before Trump
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Small Business
Entrepreneurship: A New Lure for Spa Customers? A Salt Cave
Nonetheless, salt therapy, also known as halotherapy, a venerable treatment in Central Europe and Asia, is now being offered at spas, resorts and stand-alone facilities in the United States in the form of salt beds, salt rooms and salt booths. Floors and walls that are lined with salt blocks and salt crystals, and zero-gravity chairs (recliners designed to relax the back), are the norm. A device … [Read More...]
Feature: Aleppo After the Fall
Back in the souqs, I kept trying to superimpose my memories of the place. We passed near the silk merchants’ area, now blackened and silent. Before 2011, I used to stop there and visit a flamboyant young trader with a round, cherubic face. He would give me tea and drape me with scarves. His little stall was covered with pictures of gay icons like Judy Garland, a reference that his Syrian partners … [Read More...]
Your Money
Before You Pay for Financial Advice, Read This Guide
All of this means that the onus remains on savers to ensure the professional they choose is the right one. AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyHere are several questions to ask yourself when considering paying for financial advice.What kind of adviser should I work with?If you’re thinking about hiring a financial planner, read this primer first.You’ll want to hire the type of … [Read More...]
Wealth Matters: Your Child’s Tuition Is Paid While You’re in Tahiti
When Mr. Ross and his wife sailed their yacht Restless on a six-month journey that took them from the Caribbean through the Panama Canal and on to the Galápagos, Tahiti and New Zealand (with several land stops along the way), “It was nice to know someone was looking after our stuff,” he said. AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyHe set up a bank account and gave Total Personal … [Read More...]