US Domestic News Roundup: Donald Trump's company sentenced to pay $1.61 million penalty for tax fraud; Weekend brings more rain, snow to storm-hit California and more

Biden ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides, the White House said in a statement. Biden's counsel finds five more classified pages at president's Delaware home U.S. President Joe Biden's counsel said on Saturday that five additional pages with classified markings were discovered at the president's Wilmington, Delaware, home on Thursday, and they were immediately handed to Justice Department officials.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Donald Trump's company sentenced to pay $1.61 million penalty for tax fraud

A New York judge on Friday sentenced Donald Trump's namesake real estate company to pay a $1.61 million criminal penalty after it was convicted of scheming to defraud tax authorities for 15 years. Justice Juan Merchan of the Manhattan criminal court imposed the sentence, the maximum possible under state law, after jurors found two Trump Organization affiliates guilty of 17 criminal charges last month.

Weekend brings more rain, snow to storm-hit California

A new weather system packing rain, snow and strong winds moved into storm-lashed California on Saturday, the latest in a parade of atmospheric rivers that have wreaked havoc across the state in recent weeks. While next week should bring some respite, the first of two systems expected to hit California over the U.S. holiday weekend pushed onshore on Saturday, unleashing more heavy rain, the National Weather Service said.

Biden declares emergency for Alabama due to tornadoes

U.S. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Alabama on early Sunday after at least nine people died in tornadoes that destroyed homes and knocked out power to tens of thousands in the U.S. Southeast this week. Biden ordered federal aid to supplement regional recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes on Jan. 12, a White House statement said.

Analysis-U.S. House Republicans favor message over substance in early legislation

Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives wasted no time this week using their new majority to pass political messaging bills that appeal to conservative voters on hot-button issues, but often involved more hyperbole than substance. After a historic struggle to elect Kevin McCarthy as their speaker, House Republicans used their first legislative week to pass bills on taxes, abortion and energy security that have little to no chance of getting through the Democratic-controlled Senate or being signed into law by Democratic President Joe Biden.

Ticket for $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot sold in rural Maine town

A single winning ticket for a Mega Millions lottery jackpot of at least $1.35 billion, the second-largest jackpot in U.S. history, was sold in Maine, lottery organizers said on Saturday. "Congratulations to the Maine State Lottery, which has just won its first-ever Mega Millions jackpot," Ohio Lottery director Pat McDonald, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement. "It's the fourth billion-dollar jackpot in Mega Millions history."

Biden declares emergency for California due to winter storms

U.S. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for California on Saturday, as storms have pounded the Golden State since Dec. 26, killing at least 19 people and bringing floods, power outages, mudslides, evacuations and road closures. Biden ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides, the White House said in a statement.

Biden's counsel finds five more classified pages at president's Delaware home

U.S. President Joe Biden's counsel said on Saturday that five additional pages with classified markings were discovered at the president's Wilmington, Delaware, home on Thursday, and they were immediately handed to Justice Department officials. Biden's special counsel, Richard Sauber, said he traveled to Biden's Wilmington home on Thursday to facilitate the handover to the Justice Department of a document with classified markings that was found there earlier.

Stabbing of Indiana student was racially motivated, university says

An Indiana woman was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery for repeatedly stabbing in the head an 18-year-old student of Indiana University, an attack the university said was racially motivated. Last week's assault on a public transport bus and the suspect, 56-year-old Billie Davis, were reported to authorities by a witness on the bus, police have said. Media, citing court documents, have said she was stabbed because she was Asian.

Biden documents bungle seen as political black eye before 2024 launch

This week's revelations that U.S. President Joe Biden stored classified documents in his Delaware home from his time as vice president has caused a political headache for him and the Democratic party, just as he approaches a difficult re-election bid. Biden began 2023 buoyed by unexpectedly strong midterm election results for Democrats. Since then inflation has fallen, and the opposition Republican Party appeared in such public disarray that it took days to elect a speaker of the House of Representatives.

President Biden to give sermon at Martin Luther King's church in Atlanta

President Joe Biden will become the first sitting American president to speak at a Sunday service at Martin Luther King Jr.'s church in Atlanta as he seeks to bolster support among African Americans ahead of an expected run for re-election in 2024. Marking the national holiday celebrating the slain civil rights leader, Biden will deliver a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church at the invitation of its pastor, Democratic U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia.

(With inputs from agencies.)