German court suspends diesel scandal trial of former Volkswagen CEO Winterkorn
The regional court in Braunschweig on Tuesday cited an unspecified health issue that meant Winterkorn, 78, was not in a condition to face trial.
The court said in a statement that it had 'provisionally terminated' the proceedings. It said the health issue represented a 'temporary impediment' and would continue to be reviewed with the help of an expert so that proceedings could resume if Winterkorn recovers.
Winterkorn went on trial in September, 2024 but the proceedings were suspended a few days later after Winterkorn had an accident.
Germany's code of criminal procedure allows for a court to provisionally terminate proceedings 'if the absence of the indicted accused or some other personal impediment prevents the main hearing being held for a considerable time.'
Prosecutors say Winterkorn knew about the illegal software well before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its discovery of the violation in September 2015. He resigned days later. He has said he learned about the practice only shortly before the announcement and earlier testified during civil proceedings that the allegations against him 'are not correct.'
In May, four former Volkswagen managers were convicted of fraud and two of them given prison sentences for their part in the manipulation of emissions controls.
The former head of diesel development was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, and the head of drive train electronics to two years and seven months by the court in Braunschweig. Two others received suspended sentences of 15 months and 10 months.
Monday Mornings
The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week.
The company has paid more than $33 billion in fines and compensation to vehicle owners. Two VW managers received prison sentences in the U.S. The former head of the company's Audi division, Rupert Stadler, was given a suspended sentence of 21 months and a fine of 1.1 million euros ($1.25 million). The sentence is still subject to appeal.
.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
42 minutes ago
- Global News
U.S. stops some arms shipments to Ukraine as Kyiv expresses disappointment
Ukraine is forging ahead with embryonic plans for joint weapons production with some of its international allies, top officials said, while the U.S. announced it was halting some arms shipments promised to help Ukraine fight off Russia. Those plans come at what appears to be a key point in the all-out war launched by Moscow nearly three-and-a-half years ago. A renewed Russian push to capture more Ukrainian land has put Ukraine's short-handed defenses under severe strain, and Russian missiles and drones are battering Ukrainian cities. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to find a peace settlement, meanwhile, have stalled. As Washington has distanced itself under U.S. President Donald Trump from Ukraine's war efforts, a bigger onus has fallen on European countries to pressure Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday held their first direct telephone call in almost three years. Macron's office said that during their two-hour conversation, the French leader underlined France's 'unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity' and called for a ceasefire. Story continues below advertisement Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that officials are preparing with a sense of urgency for upcoming meetings with European Union countries and other partners to talk about cooperation in weapons manufacturing. 'One of the key topics will be weapons production – our joint investments, joint projects,' Zelenskyy said in his daily address on Tuesday evening. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that draft legislation on joint weapons production with international allies is expected to be put to a vote in the Ukrainian parliament later this month. The proposed laws were shown to national defense companies on Tuesday, Umerov said. 1:46 Trump says Putin 'has to end' Russia-Ukraine war The program includes plans to create a special legal and tax framework to help Ukrainian defense manufacturers scale up and modernize production, including building new facilities at home and abroad, according to Umerov. Story continues below advertisement Earlier this week, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a visit to Kyiv that Germany aims to help Ukraine manufacture more weapons more quickly. He was accompanied on the trip by German defense industry representatives. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The U.S. is halting some weapons deliveries to Ukraine out of concern that its own stockpiles have declined too far, officials said Tuesday. Certain munitions were longer-term commitments promised to Ukraine under the Biden administration, though the Defense Department didn't provide details on what specific weapons were being held back. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. chargé d'affaires, John Hinkel, on Wednesday to discuss ongoing defense cooperation. Deputy Foreign Minister Maryana Betsa thanked the U.S. for its continued support, but emphasized the 'critical importance' of maintaining previously allocated defense packages, especially for bolstering Ukraine's air defense. Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of the Ukrainian parliament's national security and defense committee, called the decision to halt the shipments 'very unpleasant for us.' 'It's painful, and against the background of the terrorist attacks which Russia commits against Ukraine, it's a very unpleasant situation,' he told reporters in Kyiv. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Pentagon's decision will help bring a settlement closer, because 'the fewer weapons supplied to Ukraine, the closer the end of the (war) is.' Story continues below advertisement 3:02 Putin says 'the whole of Ukraine is ours' in theory, may take city of Sumy The United States has been Ukraine's biggest military backer since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022. Under Trump, there have been no new announcements of U.S. military or weapons aid to Ukraine. Between March and April, the United States allocated no new aid to Ukraine, according to Germany's Kiel Institute, which tracks such support. For the first time since June 2022, European countries surpassed the U.S. in total military aid, totaling 72 billion euros ($85 billion) compared with 65 billion euros ($77 billion) from the U.S., the institute said last month. Washington's latest decision could remove some of the most formidable weapons in Ukraine's battlefield arsenal. Analysts say Ukraine's European allies can fill some of the gaps and provide artillery systems. But they don't possess alternatives to the U.S.-made HIMARS missiles and air defense systems, especially Patriots, which are crucial to help defend Ukrainian cities from Russian air attacks. Story continues below advertisement It's not clear how much weaponry Ukraine possesses or what its most urgent needs are.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Award-winning international correspondent launches a new journalism platform
NEW YORK (AP) — Jane Ferguson has won awards for unflinching reporting from dangerous lands including Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen. So she was unlikely to be intimidated by seeking financing for a new journalism platform, despite tough times for the news industry. 'It's very high pressure,' said Ferguson, founder of Noosphere. 'I'm used to pressure in the field.' Started this year, Noosphere offers journalists a place to showcase work to consumers who are attracted by a more personal style of reporting than they'd normally see on traditional outlets. It's similar to Substack, with a twist. Instead of paying for feeds of individual journalists — the Substack model — people who subscribe to Noosphere for $14.99 a month get access to all of its journalists. There are 20 so far, expected to increase to 24 with the site's upcoming British launch. Ferguson needed a change after 15 years on the road Noosphere — named to reference a state of consciousness advanced by Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin — arrives at a time of flux in the news industry. Consumers are fleeing newspapers and television news and trying different approaches springing up in a new media world. Ferguson raised $1 million to get Noosphere off the ground and is about to announce an additional round of investment. Ferguson, 40, grew up in Northern Ireland, and was attracted to the high-stakes, high-risk world of international reporting. For CNN International and then PBS NewsHour, she worked largely alone, covering stories about famine and war crimes in South Sudan, the conflict in Syria and Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal in 2021. The latter experience left her shell-shocked and heartbroken, wondering if she'd reached the end of that phase of her career. 'I had been on the road for 15 years,' she said. 'I was exhausted, and in some respects, burnt out.' She settled in the United States, teaching — and learning — at Princeton. She took classes in entrepreneurship and built contacts in the business world. Ferguson knew how many of her former international colleagues had to hustle to find outlets for their work, and envisioned Noosphere as a landing spot. Her business partner, Seb Walker, worked at Vice Media, known for its strong international reporting before filing for bankruptcy in 2023. 'It's gotten a lot harder to continue making a living doing this,' said Matthew Cassell, an international correspondent whose credits include Vice. A member of Noosphere's inaugural class of journalists, Cassell has posted videos giving his perspectives on the Israel-Iran war, along with recent reporting from the West Bank. Shrouq Al Aila contributed video from Gaza, showing efforts to distribute aid as the sound of gunfire is heard in the background. Oren Ziv reported from a missile strike in Israel, walking through a hospital's shattered hallways to show the destruction. 'It feels like a really high-quality reporter is Face-Timing you from the field,' Ferguson said, 'which is really cool.' News consumers, particularly young ones, are souring on more stilted, conventional television news reporting, said veteran journalist Kate O'Brian, who is on Noosphere's board of directors. 'The stage has been set for an audience who wants to hear directly from the journalist,' O'Brian said. Ferguson envisions a reporting staff that is roughly half international, half based in the United States. Former CNN journalist Chris Cillizza reports on Washington for Noosphere. Chuck Todd signing is Noosphere's biggest to date Her biggest signing to date is former 'Meet the Press' moderator Chuck Todd. He started a Sunday night show in June, with 'War Room' host Steve Bannon and Trita Parsi, founder of the National Iranian American Council, as his first guests. Todd has hired the former producer for Charlie Rose's PBS talk show, a clue to his ambitions for an eclectic show interviewing interesting people from politics and business. 'Jane's hard to say no to,' Todd said. 'Like any smart executive, she knows what she doesn't know, and goes to find smart people who she thinks know more.' Ferguson's bet is that audiences can only afford so many Substack subscriptions to individual journalists, and that Noosphere will offer access to more at a set price. She's also talked to news outlets interested in acquiring some of the reporters' work. The challenge to getting Noosphere established is an increasingly crowded marketplace, and several of her journalists aren't household names. Noosphere journalists are paid a percentage of subscription fees, and given a greater amount if a subscriber specifically cites that contributor's work in signing on. Ferguson will not say how many subscribers she has yet. 'Substack created a market that did not exist before and I give them huge kudos for that,' O'Brian said. 'This is just a different way of approaching it.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. To succeed, 'you have to offer a lot,' Todd said. 'You can't just offer one or two things. Every hot spot around the world, Noosphere will have journalists on the ground. They have a reasonable chance to be very successful in their lane. The question is how big the lane can get.' Todd said Noosphere's advantage is that it has been created by reporters, a distinction from the lack of journalism experience found among executives in the business, he said. Ferguson, too, has wondered whether journalism can survive the diminishment or death of news organizations. 'The solution for the problems of the industry are going to come from journalists and not media executives,' she said. ___ David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Explosion at a California fireworks warehouse sets off fires and forces evacuations
Smoke and flames rise at a fireworks warehouse near Esparto, Calif., on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (KGO via AP) ESPARTO, Calif. — An explosion at a fireworks warehouse in northern California caused several fires, sending black smoke into the air and forcing evacuations, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. People were urged to avoid the area of Esparto and Madison for several days following the Tuesday night explosion, which set off multiple fireworks and caused a large fire that led to other spot fires and collapsed the building. 'The fire will take time to cool, and once it does, explosive experts must safely enter the site to assess and secure the area,' the Yolo County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. The cause of the explosion was under investigation, the office said. The fire had reached 78 acres (32 hectares) as of Tuesday night, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Esparto is in a rural area about 40 miles (64 kilometres) northwest of Sacramento. 'We do believe this location is owned by an active pyrotechnic licence holder,' Deputy State Fire Marshal Kara Garrett told KXTV. She added: 'This type of incident is very rare, as facilities like this are required to not only follow our stringent California pyrotechnic requirements, but also federal explosive storage requirements.' The Associated Press
