Ex-VW chairman Piech refuses to testify in German emissions inquiry

File photo shows Piech, chairman of the supervisory board of German carmaker Volkswagen, arriving at the annual shareholders meeting in HanoverHAMBURG/BERLIN (Reuters) – Ex-Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech, who resigned after a showdown with former chief executive Martin Winterkorn, has refused to testify to German lawmakers investigating a possible government's role in the VW emissions scandal, according to his lawyer. Piech, also VW's former CEO who spearheaded the carmaker's global expansion, gave testimony to lawyers of U.S. law firm Jones Day last April and to German prosecutors in Braunschweig near VW's Wolfsburg headquarters in December, his lawyer said. The German parliamentary committee of inquiry has expressed its intention to summon Piech.

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Kinky ‘Fifty Shades’ stokes fantasy, not reality, says author

FILE PHOTO - Author E.L. James at the premiere of the film "Fifty Shades Darker" in Los AngelesBy Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – E.L. James, the British author and producer of the erotic "Fifty Shades of Grey" novels and film franchise, knows that her story about an attractive couple engaged in a kinky relationship is very much a fantasy. In the "Fifty Shades" trilogy, Christian Grey is a young handsome billionaire entrepreneur with a penchant for bondage, discipline, dominance, submission and sadomasochism (BDSM) who introduces the beautiful but naive Anastasia "Ana" Steele to his world of whips and sex toys. "It's a wish fulfillment piece that you can escape into, you can become Ana, you can see where you can go to with this guy and change him to be a far better human being, and of course, that's just a fantasy," James, 53, told Reuters.

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With eye on Obamacare, Price takes helm as health secretary

U.S. Rep. Price listens to opening remarks prior to testifying before a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in WashingtonBy Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tom Price was sworn in as U.S. secretary of health on Friday, putting in place a determined opponent of Obamacare to help President Donald Trump dismantle his predecessor's law and reshape the nation's healthcare system. As the nation's top healthcare official, Price now has the authority to rewrite rules implementing the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Twenty million Americans gained health insurance under the law.

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