Joe Biden to unveil executive order to crack down on law-breaking gun sellers

Merrick Garland, the attorney general, tasked with moving the country ‘as close to universal background checks as possible’

Joe Biden announced Tuesday a new slate of executive actions that are aimed at reducing gun violence and the proliferation of guns that are sold to prohibited people.

The president spoke at a community center in Monterey Park, California, meeting victims’ families and community members devastated by a mass shooting that claimed 11 lives and injured nine other people in January following a large lunar new year festival in the city’s downtown.

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TechScape: How Silicon Valley Bank UK was saved

In this week’s newsletter: While its quick slip into financial hardship has left American bankers reeling, its UK division is surprisingly fine. But the tech sector isn’t out of trouble yet

Last week, if you had heard of Silicon Valley Bank UK, you probably worked in tech. The bank had only been spun out in to a separate entity last summer, after its few thousand corporate customers pushed it over a regulatory threshold, and while SVB had grown to almost hold £10bn of deposits, with £5.5bn of outstanding loans, it was very much a specialist player.

The bank’s selling point was that it understood the needs of the “innovation economy”, something that high street banks frequently failed to acknowledge. A startup might have zero revenue, yet hold £5m in the bank and have 10 employees, a profile fundamentally different from a typical small business. As a result, trying to get something as simple as a corporate credit card could be a surprising hassle, and when SVB arrived on the UK scene, it was enthusiastically adopted by founders and venture capitalists alike.

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More ‘atmospheric river’ storms to sweep across California after days of rain and floods

Since Christmas the state has faced an exceptionally wet winter after being plagued far more by drought in recent years

Californians are bracing for the arrival of another “atmospheric river” storm on Monday after a weekend of heavy rainfall and flooding forced thousands to evacuate, washed out roads and knocked out power.

Rains are expected to ramp up on Monday night, and “impact increasingly sensitive portions of central California that were hit hard by the rainfall on Friday and early Saturday”, according to the national weather prediction center.

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Another ‘atmospheric river’ threatens to hit California as state reels from storms

Storm expected to hit Monday after weekend of destruction and flooding left thousands without power and two people dead

Another “atmospheric river” storm was expected to hit California on Monday, after thousands of residents were left without power following a weekend of heavy rainfall, powerful floods and deadly destruction.

Atmospheric rivers, streams of moisture that transport water vapor from the tropics following evaporation of warm water in the Pacific, are often accompanied by powerful winds and destructive flooding.

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Yellen rejects Silicon Valley Bank bailout as regulators auction assets

US treasury secretary says Biden administration is working closely with regulators to help depositors as fears of banking crisis rise

The US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, said on Sunday there would be no bailout for Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed this week, raising fears of a crisis, but also said the Biden administration was working with regulators to help depositors hit by the fall of SVB.

Yellen said conditions did not match the 2008 financial crisis, when the collapse of large institutions threatened to bring down the global financial system. She also sought to calm fears the $23tn US banking system could be affected by the fall of a regional bank.

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At least eight dead after boat capsizes in Pacific off San Diego

Search continues for seven more people after small craft suspected to have been carrying 15 migrants overturned off Black’s Beach

At least eight people were killed when two suspected smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach and one capsized, authorities said. Crews were searching on Sunday for an estimated seven additional victims.

A woman on one of the panga-style boats called 911 late on Saturday to report that the other vessel overturned in waves off Black’s Beach, US coast guard petty officer Richard Brahm said.

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‘Poster child for nimbyism’: California sues city over lack of affordable housing

State officials launch lawsuit against wealthy city of Huntington Beach to force it to build new homes

California officials are suing Huntington Beach, a wealthy coastal city lambasted by the state’s governor as the “poster child for nimbyism”, in an attempt to force it to build more affordable housing.

Defiant Huntington Beach officials have filed their own lawsuit in response, pledging to fight any attempt by the state to “urbanize” their affluent, majority-white community.

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California drenched as new atmospheric river brings thunderstorms and winds

Several flood advisories issued as Governor Gavin Newsom declares states of emergency in 21 counties

There is no end in sight for California’s brutally wet winter as yet another atmospheric river storm collided with the state on Friday, bringing torrential downpours, thunderstorms and wind. The National Weather Service issued a slew of flash flood warnings and watches for already inundated areas from the San Francisco Bay, to the central coast and the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, with more stormy weather expected through the weekend.

Snow-covered mountain towns in the Sierra Nevada foothills braced for another round of heavy precipitation. So much snow has fallen across the ranges that residents are still struggling to dig out days after earlier storms; now, warmer rains are threatening more damage to towns and buildings by adding more weight to snow-heavy roofs that could cause them to crumple.

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California declares state of emergency as subtropical storm moves over state

Governor has 21 counties under emergency orders while 16m people in the state are under flood watch warnings

An impending atmospheric river and rapidly melting snow has put communities across California on high alert for flash flooding, mudslides and rockslides as the subtropical storm surge moves over the state. Rivers and streams could also quickly rise beyond capacity and breach, the National Weather Service warned. Overall, some 16 million people are under flood watch warnings.

The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has declared a state of emergency for 21 counties, including some mountain communities still digging themselves out from the snow. “The state is working around the clock with local partners to deploy life-saving equipment and first responders to communities across California,” Newsom said on Wednesday evening. “With more dangerous storms on the horizon, we’ll continue to mobilise every available resource to protect Californians.”

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California governor halts $54m contract with Walgreens: ‘We’re done’

After pharmacy giant pledged not to dispense abortion medicine in states that restrict its use, Gavin Newsom cancels agreement

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday withdrew a $54m contract with Walgreens after the pharmacy giant indicated it would not sell an abortion pill by mail in some conservative-led states.

Newsom ordered state officials to not renew a contract with Walgreens to purchase specialty pharmacy prescription drugs for California’s prison healthcare system, including antiviral and antifungal drugs and medication used for congestive heart failure. Walgreens has received about $54m from the contract, which expires 30 April.

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Atmospheric river comes for California as experts warn it ‘could get really ugly’

A combination of flash flooding, gusty winds and rain could bring more woes for state still recovering from heavy snowstorm

A fresh atmospheric river is expected to bring more weather chaos to California even as the state is still digging itself out from massive amounts of snow that left mountain communities buried for weeks.

Northern and central California are set to receive most of the rain this weekend, which forecasters have warned could cause flash flooding as warm rain hits the state’s almost record snowpack. The state will see moderate to heavy rain, flooding, gusty winds and heavy snow in high elevations through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

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Beloved California mountain lion P-22 laid to rest in tribal burial

Mountain lion or cougar, who made his home in Los Angeles’s Griffith Park, was put down in December after illness and injury

Tribal leaders, scientists and conservation advocates buried southern California’s most famous mountain lion Saturday in the mountains where the big cat once roamed.

After making his home in the urban Griffith Park – home of the Hollywood sign – for the past decade, P-22 became a symbol for California’s endangered mountain lions and their decreasing genetic diversity. The mountain lion’s name comes from being the 22nd puma in a National Park Service study.

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California cuts ties with Walgreens after company limits access to abortion pills

Gavin Newsom said in a statement the state will not do business with any company that ‘puts women’s lives at risk’

California will not do business with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, Gavin Newsom, the state’s governor, said in a tweet on Monday, days after the pharmacy chain said it will not dispense abortion pills in some Republican states.

The state refuses to do business with Walgreens or “any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk”, the Democrat said.

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Weather tracker: back-to-back winter storms in California

More than a dozen counties declare state of emergency after heavy snowfalls, avalanches and freezing conditions

Back-to-back winter storms in California this week have brought strong winds and blizzard, and freeze warnings, causing a state of emergency to be declared across more than a dozen counties.

Palisades Tahoe ski resort in the Sierra Nevada mountain range received 3.6 metres (12 feet) of snow over the week, with 66 centimetres falling in a single day on Tuesday. This brings its cumulative total to 12.8 metres for this season, making it the snowiest since 1970.

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Unprecedented snowfall on US west coast is ‘once-in-a-generation’ event

California governor declares state of emergency in 13 counties while Portland, Oregon, sees second snowiest day in history

The west coast of the US, from Oregon to the mountains of California and the golf courses of Phoenix, has received nearly unprecedented levels of snowfall this week in what officials are calling a “once-in-a-generation” event.

The mountainous regions of California have received so much snowfall – more than 40ft of snow since the start of the season – that entire towns have shut down as they are virtually cut off from the rest of the state. The governor has declared a state of emergency in 13 counties due to the unusual snowfall.

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California pounded by snowfall as storms shutter national parks

Storms push snow depths to near record levels in Sierra Nevada mountains, as brutal weather stretches across western US

California saw little reprieve on Thursday as severe winter weather continues to hammer the state, setting the stage for record breaking snow accumulation across the Sierra Nevada mountains. Heavy snowfall is choking off entry and exits from tourist towns, closing popular national parks, piling snow as high as rooftops, causing dangerous travel conditions and leaving thousands without power, with more snow on the way.

California’s famous Yosemite national park has been closed indefinitely, citing concerns about dangerous travel in and out of the park, while further south, Joshua Tree national park also closed down due to “inclement weather”. Photos on social media showcased popular cabins and campgrounds buried in white. Locals in Tahoe, who began referring to last month as “februburied”, are bracing for more whiteout conditions as a series of winter storms pushed snow levels this season past 12ft – the highest they have been in decades.

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DNA used to identify California mother whose body was found 27 years ago

Amanda Deza’s remains were found in canal in 1995 and remained unknown until daughter’s DNA was used to identify them

On a spring day in 1995, a group of recyclers scavenging along a northern California canal made a grim discovery – the remains of a woman bound and gagged inside a partly submerged refrigerator.

Authorities believed the body, described as being that of a woman between 29 and 41 years old with strawberry blond hair, had been underwater for several months. For the next three decades, the case would stump homicide investigators in San Joaquin county, east of the San Francisco Bay Area, some of whom spent their entire careers trying to identify the woman.

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California man sets world record after visiting Disneyland for 2,995 days

Jeff Reitz started visiting the theme park in Anaheim in 2012, when he was unemployed, as an excuse to leave his house and exercise

There are Disney adults – who are obsessed with the animation giant’s products despite being grownups – and then there’s Jeff Reitz.

Reitz’s fascination with Disney drove him to visit the company’s world-famous theme park in Anaheim, California, daily for eight years, three months and 13 days.

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‘Strongest snowstorm in years’ leaves Californians delighted and frozen

The Hollywood sign was dusted in white as arctic air blew across the state, triggering blizzard warnings for the first time since 1989

Swaths of the Golden State were doused in white this week as a historic storm cast much of the US in a bitter chill – and forecasters say there’s more frosty weather in store.

The snowstorm hovering over the southern part of California could end up becoming one for the record books as typically balmy areas brace for a barrage of more blizzard conditions and blustery winds. Across the state this week, the snowline has already crept far downslope from its winter territory atop high-elevation peaks, dusting foothills and valleys closer to the coast, and even some beaches.

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Nearly a million across US without power as wild winter storm hits

Firefighter killed in Michigan by power line, while 13 million people under winter weather advisories across the country

Nearly a million people across the US were without power on Thursday afternoon as a powerful winter storm brought bitter cold, stirred up gusty winds and pounded several states with blizzard conditions from coast to coast.

Michigan bore the brunt of power outages on Thursday with more than 820,000 homes and businesses left cold into the evening, as the state faced one of the worst ice storms seen in decades. DTE, one of the largest power providers in the state, reported “extreme amounts of damage” to power infrastructure after ice roughly three-quarters of an inch thick accumulated in some areas.

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