Democrat from New Jersey was found guilty in July on 16 charges including bribery and fraud

The Democratic former US senator Bob Menendez was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday to 11 years in prison over his 2024 conviction for taking bribes, including receiving gold bars in exchange for doing favors for Egypt and for New Jersey businessmen.

Last year he also became the first former senator to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent.

Residents say patchwork network of public and private alert systems failed to warn them about extent of wildfires

Los Angeles county officials on Tuesday approved an outside review of how alerts functioned when fire ravaged the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods earlier this month.

After the wind-driven wildfires broke out on 7 January, evacuation orders for some neighborhoods – including the part of Altadena where the majority of deaths occurred – came long after houses were reported to be on fire.

As Rihanna sits out of view of court cameras, A$AP Relli speaks about moment Rocky allegedly fired gun at him

Rihanna has made her first appearance at the Los Angeles trial of her partner, the rapper A$AP Rocky.

The singer-superstar on Wednesday morning sat out of view of the courtroom’s cameras, next to Rocky’s mother and sister in the downtown Los Angeles criminal courthouse. Security brought her into the courtroom surreptitiously to avoid crowds.

Rocky has been standing trial on two felony charges that he fired a handgun at a former friend, known by the name A$AP Relli, who testified on Wednesday about the moment Rocky allegedly fired a gun at him on a Hollywood street in 2021.

“I was hit. I was hit. Or I was grazed. I didn’t have a hole or nothing,” Relli told jurors.

Relli, born Terell Ephron, said he grabbed one of their mutual friends who was with Rocky after the first shot was fired and stood behind him for protection. He said he did not see Rocky fire the second shot, and Rocky ran away moments later.