Law

Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

The state of Michigan is not exactly known for its balmy weather this time of year.

And residents reasonably do what they have to do to cope with often extreme winter temperatures.

Last Thursday a man named Taylor Trupiano of Roseville, Michigan did what a lot of people do in cold climates.

He walked out of his house, started his car, turned on the heat, and went back inside for a few minutes while his engine and vehicle interior warmed up.

Confirming recent leaks, Volkswagen - whose former head of US regulatory compliance was arrested on Saturday - said it was in "advanced discussions"  with US authorities to resolve charges related to its diesel emissions scandal, and has negotiated a “concrete draft of a settlement” that would see it pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties, and would require the German carmaker to enter a guilty plea to various criminal charges, strengthen compliance systems and install an independent monitor for three years.

A murder investigation has been launched after the head of the Russian Consular service in Athens was found dead in his home in Greece. According to Greek police,  a senior diplomat at Russia’s embassy in Athens was found dead in his apartment. The death comes just weeks after Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was gunned down in Ankara. According to Press TV: According to Protothema portal on Monday, 55-year-old Russian consul, Andrei Malanin was found dead on his bathroom floor by another member of embassy staff.

Lately Twitter just can't seem to get anything right.

While Jack Dorsey's social network has been frequently in the news for cracking down on outspoken members of the "alt-right", or those accused of harrassment such as Martin Shkreli most recently, it has also been accused of taking a soft hand on those who post real threats, such as terrorist who use the social network to coordinate attacks.

A 2014 article in The Atlantic titled "How ISIS Games Twitter" described how "extremists of all stripes are increasingly using social media to recruit, radicalize and raise funds."

While various other carmakers, such as GM, Ford, Fiat and Toyota, have had their share of headaches in recent weeks worried if and when Trump will tweet about them next, the epicenter of all car scandals over the past two years remains Volkswagen, and sadly for the German carmaker things continue to get worse: according to the NYT, the FBI haed arrested a Volkswagen executive on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.