Geir Moulson

Associated Press

People gather to watch the sun set behind the Throgs Neck Bridge at LIttle Bay Park Wednesday, April 8, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York. While New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York could be reaching a 'plateau' in hospitalizations, he warned that gains are dependent on people continuing to practice social distancing.

16.8M on Unemployment

About 6.6 million workers applied for unemployment benefits last week.

Members of the cabinet talk prior to the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.

Germany May Spend $44B Ditching Coal

In January, a government-appointed panel recommended Germany stop burning coal to generate electricity by 2038 at the latest.

In a Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009 file photo, Ferdinand Piech, the chairman of the supervisory of the board of VW, delivers his speech during the Volkswagen extraordinary general meeting in Hamburg, northern Germany. Piech has died, according to German media reports Monday, August 26, 2019. He was 82.

Longtime VW Exec Dies at 82

Ferdinand Piech, a grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, was an auto industry mainstay for more than four decades.

In this Sept. 7, 1976 file photo Austria's Niki Lauda behind the wheel of his Ferrari 312 T2 on the track of Florano after a near fatal crash on Aug. 1 during the German Grand Prix. Three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda, who won two of his titles after a horrific crash that left him with serious burns and went on to become a prominent figure in the aviation industry, has died. He was 70.

F1 Great Niki Lauda Dies at 70

In 1976, he was badly burned when he crashed during the German Grand Prix, but he made an astonishingly fast return to racing just six weeks later.

In this Feb. 20, 2019 photo a man holds a weapon of the gun maker Heckler & Koch in Berlin, Germany. The regional court in the German city of Stuttgart has convicted two former employees of gun maker Heckler & Koch over their role in delivering weapons that ended up in troubled areas of Mexico. It has fined the company 3.7 million euros ($4.2 million), the value of the proceeds.

Gun Co. Ex-Workers Convicted

Human rights groups say firearms delivered to Mexico often end up in the hands of drug cartels.

In this Aug. 2, 2017 file photo the exhaust pipes of a VW Diesel car are photographed in Frankfurt, Germany. The chairman of Volkswagen says that diesel exhaust tests involving monkeys were 'totally incomprehensible' and the matter must be 'investigated fully and unconditionally.' Monday's comments by Hans Dieter Poetsch, reported by the dpa news agency, come in the wake of a report by the New York Times that a research group funded by auto companies exposed monkeys to diesel exhaust from a late-model Volkswagen, while another group was exposed to fumes from an older Ford pickup.

Automakers Face Heat Over Monkey Tests

Diesel exhaust tests were carried out on both monkeys and humans.

In this Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017 photo a car is connected to a charging station for electric vehicles in Hamburg, Germany. Major automakers say their joint European electric car recharging network will open its first stations this year in Germany, Austria and Norway in what the companies hope will be a big step toward mass acceptance of battery-powered cars.

Carmakers Join Forces

A group of major automakers plans to open hundreds of fast-charging stations for electric cars.

The headquarters of German steel giant Thyssenkrupp is pictured, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017 in Essen, Germany. The company announced a planned 50-50 joint venture with Tata Steel of India.

Steel Merger, 4,000 Lost Jobs

The move would create the second-largest steel company in Europe.

From right to left : Harald Krueger, CEO of German car maker BMW, Dieter Zetsche, chairman of German car maker Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz cars and Matthias Mueller, CEO of German car maker Volkswagen have taken seat to attend a so-called diesel summit on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017 in Berlin. German government officials and automakers meet to discuss the future of diesel vehicles, after a nearly two-year saga of scandal spread from Volkswagen to others in the sector.

5M Diesels to Get New Software

German automakers also agreed to come up with self-financed incentives to encourage drivers to get older vehicles off the road faster.

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VW Rejects Allegations

The company faces suits at a court in Braunschweig, Germany, from shareholders. They argue that, under German law, VW should have disclosed information two weeks before it did.