California

USA: RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan will remain in prison

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, was denied parole Thursday by California’s governor, who said the killer remains a threat to the public and hasn’t taken responsibility for a crime that altered American history.

Kennedy, a U.S. senator from New York, was shot moments after he claimed victory in California’s pivotal Democratic presidential primary. Five others were wounded during the shooting at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

USA: Plane hit by train after crashing on train tracks in California

Jan 10 (Reuters) - Police in Los Angeles, California, pulled the pilot from a crash-landed Cessna seconds before the aircraft was hit by a train on Sunday, sending debris flying in all directions.

Dramatic video obtained by Reuters shows several officers freeing the man from the downed plane, which had crashed shortly after takeoff in the Pacoima neighborhood, according to local media. The officers and pilot are just a few feet away from the tracks when the passing train destroys the plane.

USA: Marine officer blames bad information for sinking tragedy

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) — A Marine Corps battalion commander testified Friday that in retrospect he would have halted the exercise that killed nine of his Marines whose amphibious assault vehicle sank off the Southern California coast but at the time he did not have accurate information to make such a decision.

Lt. Col. Michael J. Regner said his decisions were based in part on what other commanders told him, including that all the Marines had completed their swim certifications and that the aging vehicles they were in had been fixed and were ready for the mission.

USA Official: California COVID surge could ease next month

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California surge in coronavirus cases has shut down schools and sidelined thousands of police, firefighters, teachers and health care workers but officials are hoping it will be short-lived.

“My hope is that, you know, by the time we get to February, we’re on the downside of seeing that massive amount of community transmission,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday.

USA: Bid fails to dismiss Kobe Bryant crash photos lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lawyers for Los Angeles County have failed to persuade a federal judge to end Vanessa Bryant’s lawsuit over gruesome photos of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant, her daughter Gianna and seven others.

U.S. District Judge John F. Walter on Wednesday rejected a county motion that would have dismissed the case, saying that “there are genuine issues of material facts for trial,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Twitter bans Rep. Greene’s personal account for COVID claims

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter said Sunday it had banned the personal account of far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for multiple violations of the platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy, the latest strike against the firebrand whose embrace of conspiracy theories has been called “a cancer” for the GOP and led the House to boot her from committees.

USA: Holmes jury to resume deliberations after holiday break

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — After an extended holiday break, the jury weighing fraud charges against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes will get back to work Monday.

The eight men and four women who will determine Holmes’ fate spent much of their holiday season behind closed doors in a San Jose, California, courthouse, weighing reams of evidence presented during a three-month trial that captivated Silicon Valley.

USA: Holmes jury resumes deliberations after closed-door meeting

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The jury weighing fraud charges against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes will resume their lengthy deliberations amid some intrigue raised by a closed-door meeting among her attorneys, federal prosecutors and the judge presiding the case.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila held the “in camera” hearing Tuesday morning with two of Holmes’ lawyers, Kevin Downey and Lance Wade, along with a two of the prosecutors, Jeffrey Schenk and Robert Leach, according to a court filing late Tuesday night. Holmes was not present at the 23-minute hearing.

USA: Biden's administration earns "incomplete" in first-year foreign policy for anti-China approach: Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has earned an "incomplete" grade in its first-year foreign policy because of its anti-China approach, said an op-ed published recently on the Los Angeles Times.

In the article titled "Does the Biden administration deserve a passing grade in foreign policy," Gregory F. Treverton, former chairman of the U.S. National Intelligence Council, wrote that "on the Biden administration's first-year report card, its approach toward China earns it an 'incomplete' in foreign policy."

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