California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Amazon is protesting the Pentagon’s decision to award a $10 billion cloud-computing contract to Microsoft, citing “unmistakable bias” in the process.

Amazon’s competitive bid for the “war cloud” project drew criticism from President Donald Trump and its business rivals. The project, formally called the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, pitted leading tech titans Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle and IBM against one another

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) — A student pulled a gun from his backpack and opened fire at a Southern California high school Thursday, killing two students and wounding three others before shooting himself in the head on his 16th birthday, authorities said.

The attacker was hospitalized in critical condition, officials said, and investigators offered no immediate motive.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California regulators opened a formal investigation Wednesday into preemptive power outages that blacked out large parts of the state in October, drawing strong rebukes from public officials and residents who said the shut-offs were too broad and poorly executed.

The unanimous vote by the California Public Utilities Commission followed testimony from a handful of people who pleaded with the panel for leadership at a time of increased danger from fire and other natural disasters.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The first death occurred in late August, two days before classes began, when an incoming freshman was struck by a car while walking on a freeway near the University of Southern California.

In the more than 2 months since, eight other USC students have died — three by suicide, others by unknown means. The string of fatalities has left students and faculty at the prestigious university shaken and struggling for answers.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Manafort’s former son-in-law has been sentenced in Los Angeles to nine years in prison for pulling a series of schemes totaling more than $13 million, including one that bilked $3 million from actor Dustin Hoffman.

U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. ordered Jeffrey Yohai to pay $6.7 million in restitution on Friday for the schemes, some of which were carried out while he was released on bond for similar crimes.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Authorities are trying to determine if anyone helped two inmates who escaped from a California jail, traveled hundreds of miles and crossed into Mexico before being captured trying to walk back into the United States.

Jonathan Salazar, 20, and Santos Fonseca, 21, were arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at a port of entry in San Ysidro — the nation’s largest border crossing — early Wednesday, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Capt. John Thornburg said.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Salvadoran woman seeking asylum in the United States spends her days holed up in her cousin’s cramped slum house just across the border in Mexico — too scared to leave after receiving a savage beating from two men three weeks ago while she was strolling home from a convenience store.

The assault came after she spent four months in captivity in Mexico, kidnapped into prostitution during her journey toward the U.S.

CHICO, Calif. (AP) — Amber Blood got to Chico on Nov. 8, 2018, wearing pink slacks and her favorite white peacoat. It was all she had left.

Blood was among tens of thousands forced to flee as a wildfire roared through Paradise and nearby communities in Northern California, killing 85 people and destroying roughly 19,000 buildings.

Nothing burned in Chico, the closest big city. And within hours, another city had moved in — filling up hotels, living in trailers, sleeping on friends’ couches and buying up every available home, apartment and spare room.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Saudi government, frustrated by growing criticism of its leaders and policies on social media, recruited two Twitter employees to gather confidential personal information on thousands of accounts that included prominent opponents, prosecutors alleged Wednesday.

ORINDA, Calif. (AP) — Airbnb’s CEO said the company was taking actions against unauthorized parties in the wake of a deadly shooting at a Halloween party held at an Airbnb rental home in California.

In a series of tweets, Brian Chesky said Saturday the San Francisco-based company is expanding manual screening of “high risk” reservations and will remove guests who fail to comply with policies banning parties at Airbnb rental homes.

He also said the company is forming a “rapid response team” when complaints of unauthorized parties come in.