January, 2017

• 5 January

  VW ordered to face US investor suit over diesel cheating

  

    Bloomberg Volkswagen AG must face claims it misled US investors after installing so-called defeat devices in diesel vehicles used to cheat emissions tests. A San Francisco federal judge also rejected a request to dismiss shareholder claims against former VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn, who said investors in VW’s American depositary receipts couldn’t prove he knew the extent of the company’s …

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• 5 January

  Top US intelligence officials to testify on Russian hacking

  

    WASHINGTON / AP Senior US intelligence officials face questions at a Senate hearing that will be dominated by the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia meddled in the presidential election to help Donald Trump win. The Armed Services Committee’s cyber threats hearing on Thursday comes a day before the president-elect is to be briefed by the CIA and FBI directors …

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• 5 January

  Marine faces hearing in Parris Island hazing probe

    QUANTICO / AP A Marine Corps staff sergeant accused of cruelty and mistreatment following an investigation of hazing at the Parris Island training center is facing a preliminary hearing. The staff sergeant is one of four Marines facing military judicial proceedings this week related to the hazing investigation. The Marine Corps launched a probe after the March 18 death of …

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• 5 January

  Armed guards at Sweden’s N- power stations in Feb

    STOCKHOLM / AP A spokesman for one of Sweden’s three nuclear power plants says they will have armed guards outside the facilities starting next month in a decision made by the country’s nuclear watchdog. Anders Osterberg of the Oskarshamn power station says “the elevated level” was based on a general security assessment, not a specific threat. Osterberg said Thursday in …

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• 5 January

  Greek police recapture convicted far-left militant in Athens

    ATHENS / AP Greek police on Thursday recaptured a convicted far-left militant wanted for more than four years after she absconded during her trial on domestic terrorism charges. Pola Roupa, 48, was arrested during an early morning raid in Athens, police said, while a 25-year-old Greek woman suspected of aiding and sheltering Roupa was also taken into custody. Roupa was …

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• 5 January

  Pressure on Obama to grant last-minute pardons, commutations

  

    Washington / AFP Under mounting pressure to free convicts as a last act, President Barack Obama is planning at least one more batch of pardons and commutations before leaving office in two weeks, but don’t expect many famous offenders to make the list. The list of bold names appealing to Obama for compassion in his final weeks includes accused leaker …

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• 5 January

  Philippines’ Duterte open to joint naval drills with Russia

  

    Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will consider joint naval exercises with Russia, his spokesman said on Thursday, months after he decided to reduce military drills with the US. At a briefing in the presidential palace, spokesman Ernesto Abella said Duterte saw this week’s visit by two Russian warships to Manila would enhance friendship between the navies. Duterte, who in …

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• 5 January

  Fire burns on oil platform in Gulf of Mexico

    NEW ORLEANS / AFP The Coast Guard says it’s responding to a fire on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. A Coast Guard news release says the fire was reported around 2:30 a.m. Thursday on an oil platform about 80 miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana. The Coast Guard says four people aboard …

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• 5 January

  Sterling’s post-Brexit depression looks overblown

  

    One of the most tangible consequences of the UK’s June vote to quit the European Union was the immediate collapse in the value of the pound. The combination of a huge political upset — which saw the resignation of a national leader — and the prospect of a wounded economy drove sterling lower on the foreign exchange market in …

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• 5 January

  War of operating systems moves into everything else

  

    The operating system war has started again. The once white-hot fights over the dominant operating software for PCs and smartphones are settled, of course. Microsoft won PCs. In smartphones, Android won on volume and Apple Inc. won on profits. Now that computing is spreading into everything from jet engines to T-shirts, the old and new tech combatants are vying …

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