- Wall Street stocks hit fresh records as oil prices slide
- Strike-hit Boeing leaves experts puzzled by strategy
- NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
- Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
- Ex-Stasi officer faces verdict over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Role of government, poverty research tipped for economics Nobel
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
Ex-Audi boss faces verdict in German 'dieselgate' case
Ex-Audi CEO Rupert Stadler is Tuesday expected to be convicted and sentenced over the "dieselgate" scandal, the highest-ranking former executive to be punished over the emissions cheating controversy that rocked the car industry.
He confessed last month to his role in the saga but, as part of a plea deal, is expected to avoid jail time and instead face a hefty fine and suspended sentence.
The 60-year-old admitted he allowed vehicles equipped with manipulating software to remain on sale even after learning of the scam.
German car giant Volkswagen -- whose subsidiaries include Porsche, Audi, Skoda and Seat -- plunged into crisis after admitting in September 2015 that it had installed software to rig emission levels in 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide.
The so-called defeat devices made the vehicles appear less polluting in lab tests than they were on the road.
Throughout his trial, which started in 2020, Stadler had denied wrongdoing.
But last month at a Munich district court, his lawyer said that Stadler "neglected" to inform business partners that cars with so-called defeat devices were still going on the market.
His defence team have previously said that under the plea deal, he will face a suspended sentence of up to two years, and will make a payment of 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million).
Volkswagen had always insisted that the diesel trickery was the work of a handful of lower-level employees acting without the knowledge of their superiors.
Stadler himself was not accused of instigating the scam.
- Massive scandal -
But German prosecutors say Stadler knew about the scheme by July 2016 at the latest and nevertheless allowed thousands more vehicles with defeat devices to be sold until early 2018.
By admitting that he failed to intervene, Stadler faces a conviction for fraud by negligence.
Stadler had been Audi's chief executive for 11 years when he was arrested in 2018. He was also a member of the management board at Volkswagen group.
He spent four months in pre-trial detention owing to prosecution concerns that he would try to influence witnesses.
Also on Tuesday the court will deliver its verdict in the case of co-defendant Wolfgang Hatz, a former Audi and Porsche manager, who pleaded guilty in April.
Hatz, who at one point was head of engine development at Audi, admitted that he helped arrange the installation of emissions-cheating software.
An Audi engineer who previously confessed will also be sentenced.
Volkswagen's former CEO Martin Winterkorn was also supposed to stand trial for fraud over the scandal, but his case has been indefinitely postponed due to his poor health.
The "dieselgate" saga shocked Germany and is seen as the country's biggest post-war industrial scandal.
It has already cost VW tens of billions of euros in fines, legal costs and compensation to car owners, mainly in the United States.
The fallout has also accelerated development of environmentally-friendly electric vehicles, requiring huge investments in a tough economic climate.
Y.Uduike--CPN