Associated Press

Five U.S. Marines were slightly injured last Wednesday when their truck went off a Southern California highway, authorities said.

A Los Angeles man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining $9 million in loans from COVID-relief programs, some of which he transferred to his stock trading accounts and used for gambling trips to Las Vegas, federal prosecutors said.

The U.S. government will spend $470 million to learn more about long COVID-19, its causes and potential treatments. The National Institutes of Health announced the plans Wednesday with a grant awarded to New York University and a goal of enrolling up to 40,000 adults and children nationwide. The effort, dubbed RECOVER, will involve researchers at more than 30 U.S. institutions.

An ominous four-word message issued by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign on the morning of Aug. 5 served as the shock Democrats needed to take seriously a recall election that could remove him from office: “This recall is close.”

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles told Congress in forceful testimony Wednesday that federal law enforcement and gymnastics officials turned a “blind eye” to USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse of her and hundreds of other women.