PHOENIX — A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual "wives" including 10 underage girls was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for coercing girls as young as 9 years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults, and for scheming to...
California to Consider Requiring Mental Health Warnings on Social Media Sites
SACRAMENTO — California would be the first U.S. state to require mental health warning labels on social media sites if lawmakers pass a bill introduced Monday. The legislation sponsored by state Attorney General Rob Bonta is necessary to bolster safety for children online, supporters say, but industry officials vow to...
New California Sen. Adam Schiff Wants to Be More Than a Trump Antagonist
WASHINGTON — Democrat Adam Schiff stood on the Senate floor almost five years ago as a House impeachment manager and made a passionate case that Donald Trump should be removed from office for abusing the power of the presidency. "If right doesn't matter, we're lost," he told the senators, his...
Bookstore Staffers Receive Holiday Bonuses From Author James Patterson
NEW YORK — Staffers at Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama, San Francisco's City Lights Books and The Nook in Cedar Falls, Iowa, are among 600 booksellers receiving $500 holiday bonuses from James Patterson, the bestselling novelist who has been awarding independent store employees since 2015. "Booksellers save lives. Period,"...
Man Is Charged With Burning American Flag During Washington Protest Over Netanyahu Visit
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities have charged a man with burning an American flag in the nation’s capital during protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July. Michael Snow Jr., 24, of Durham, North Carolina, is charged with destruction of federal property over the burning of the...
OpenAI Releases AI Video Generator Sora but Limits How It Depicts People
SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI has publicly released its new artificial intelligence video generator Sora but the company won't let most users depict people as it monitors for patterns of misuse. Users of a premium version of OpenAI's flagship product ChatGPT can now use Sora to instantly create AI-generated videos based...
Justice Department Ignored Some Policies When Seizing Reporters’ Phone Records, Watchdog Finds
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors sidestepped some Justice Department rules when they seized the phone records of reporters as part of media leak investigations during the Trump administration, according to a new watchdog report being released as the aggressive practice of hunting for journalists' sources could again be resurrected. The report...
Negotiations Over the War in Ukraine Could Start ‘in the Winter,’ Poland’s Leader Tusk Says
WARSAW, Poland — Poland's prime minister said Tuesday that negotiations over Russia's war in neighboring Ukraine could start "in the winter," as his country prepares to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on Jan. 1. "Our presidency will have, among others, joint responsibility for the shape of...
Republican-Led States Roll Out Plans That Could Aid Trump’s Mass Deportations
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — As President-elect Donald Trump assembles his administration, Republican governors and lawmakers in some states are already rolling out proposals that could help him carry out his pledge to deport millions of people living in the U.S. illegally. Lawmakers in a growing number of states are proposing...
Dodgers Expect Ohtani to Be Ready to Hit but Not to Pitch for Opener
DALLAS — The Los Angeles Dodgers expect Shohei Ohtani to be ready to hit when the reigning World Series champions open their season in Japan against the Chicago Cubs on March 18 and 19. "I don't think he'd have it any other way," manager Dave Roberts said Monday of the...