California

USA: Apple’s app store goes on trial in threat to ‘walled garden’

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — On Monday, Apple faces one of its most serious legal threats in recent years: A trial that threatens to upend its iron control over its app store, which brings in billions of dollars each year while feeding more than 1.6 billion iPhones, iPads, and other devices.

The federal court case is being brought by Epic Games, maker of the popular video game Fortnite. Epic wants to topple the so-called “walled garden” of the app store, which Apple started building 13 years ago as part of a strategy masterminded by co-founder Steve Jobs.

USA: 3 killed, 27 hospitalized after boat capsizes off San Diego

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A packed boat being used in a suspected human smuggling operation capsized Sunday and broke apart in powerful surf along the rocky San Diego coast, killing three people and injuring more than two dozen others, authorities said.

Lifeguards, the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies responded around 10:30 a.m. following reports of an overturned vessel in the waves near the rugged peninsula of Point Loma, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

USA: 76,000 California inmates now eligible for earlier releases

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is giving 76,000 inmates, including violent and repeat felons, the opportunity to leave prison earlier as the state aims to further trim the population of what once was the nation’s largest state correctional system.

More than 63,000 inmates convicted of violent crimes will be eligible for good behavior credits that shorten their sentences by one-third instead of the one-fifth that had been in place since 2017. That includes nearly 20,000 inmates who are serving life sentences with the possibility of parole.

USA: California Democrats to hear from Newsom as recall heats up

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom will address the Democratic Party faithful Saturday as he mounts a campaign to keep his job.

His address to thousands of activists at the California Democratic Party’s annual convention, held virtually, comes on the heels of state elections officials announcing that a preliminary count shows the recall effort against him has enough signatures to make the ballot.

USA: Police video shows California man died after police held him

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Police in the Northern California city of Alameda released body cam footage late Tuesday that shows officers pinning a man to the ground for more than five minutes during an arrest last week that ended in his death.

Mario Gonzalez, 26, stopped breathing after an April 19 scuffle with police at a park in Alameda.

A police statement said Gonzalez had a medical emergency after officers tried to handcuff him.

His family contends he was killed by police who used excessive force.

USA: California recall has enough signatures to make ballot

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Organizers of the recall effort against California Gov. Gavin Newsom collected enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot, state election officials said Monday, likely triggering just the second such election in state history.

“The people of California have done what the politicians thought would be impossible,” said Orrin Heatlie, the retired county sheriff’s sergeant who launched the recall effort last year. “Our work is just beginning. Now the real campaign is about to commence.”

US shooting: LA police killed man wearing body armor in Hollywood

LOS ANGELES, April 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Los Angeles police said officers shot dead a driver wearing body armor who had reversed into a patrol car in Hollywood.

The officers were responding to a call when a car pulled in front of them on Sunset Boulevard, hit the brakes and backed into their vehicle, the LA Police Department tweeted Saturday.

“The driver of the car exited, was wearing body armor, & had his right hand concealed behind him,” LAPD tweeted.

Video: California deputy shoots Black man within a minute: USA

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A white sheriff’s deputy in the San Francisco Bay Area shot and killed a Black man in the middle of a busy intersection about a minute after trying to stop him on suspicion of throwing rocks at cars last month, newly released video showed.

Graphic body camera footage showing Deputy Andrew Hall shooting Tyrell Wilson, 33, within seconds of asking him to drop a knife was released Wednesday, the same day prosecutors charged Hall with manslaughter and assault in the fatal shooting of an unarmed Filipino man more than two years ago.

USA: California governor declares drought emergency in 2 counties

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Standing in the dry, cracked bottom of Lake Mendocino, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency Wednesday in two Northern California counties where grape growers and wineries are major users, an order that came in response to arid conditions affecting much of the state and the U.S. West.

USA: California terror suspect was barred from buying gun

Sacramento (US), Apr 18 (AP-PTI) The man accused of going on a shooting rampage at a Southern California business, killing four people, should not have been allowed to buy or own guns because of a California law that prohibits people from purchasing weapons for 10 years after being convicted of a crime.

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