US News Roundup: Weinstein found guilty of sexual assault; Sanders to be in focus at South Carolina and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Weinstein found guilty of sexual assault, rape, in victory for #MeToo movement

Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sexual assault and rape in a New York court on Monday and taken off to jail in handcuffs, a victory for the #MeToo movement that inspired women to publicly accuse powerful men of misconduct. Once one of Hollywood's most influential producers, Weinstein, 67, was found guilty of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping Jessica Mann, a onetime aspiring actress, in 2013.

Hot Pockets heiress faces sentencing in U.S. college admissions scandal

A California woman whose family's company created the microwavable snack Hot Pockets faces sentencing on Tuesday for paying $300,000 to people who helped her two daughters cheat on college entrance exams and helped one win admission to the University of Southern California as a fake volleyball recruit. Michelle Janavs is set to appear in Boston federal court after admitting to taking part in a vast U.S. college admissions cheating and fraud scheme to help her daughters gain an unfair advantage.

Massive changes to California voting spark fears of Iowa-style primary chaos

As he looks ahead to California's March 3 Democratic primary, Neal Kelley is having sleepless nights. Kelley is the elections chief for Orange County, part of a wave of California counties rolling out sweeping new balloting procedures affecting millions of voters in the nation's most populous state.

Gun control legislation advances in Virginia's legislature

Seven of eight gun control measures being pushed by Virginia's Democratic Governor Ralph Northam made it out of a state Senate committee on Monday, moving just one step away from becoming law. Northam vowed to push through new gun control laws and backed a package of eight bills, including universal background checks, a "red flag" law, restrictions on gun ownership for those convicted of domestic abuse and a limit of handgun sales to one per month for an individual.

Ex-University of Texas tennis coach gets six months prison for admissions scam

The former men's tennis head coach of the University of Texas at Austin was sentenced on Monday to six months in prison after admitting he accepted $100,000 in bribes as part of a vast U.S. college admissions fraud scheme. Michael Center, 55, is the second coach to be sentenced for his role in a high-profile college admissions scandal in which wealthy parents sought to help their children gain admission to universities through bribery and entrance exam cheating.

With $1.5 trillion childcare plan, Sanders floats another big campaign pledge

U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Monday proposed spending $1.5 trillion over 10 years to create a universal child care and early education system, to be funded by taxing the wealthiest Americans. The proposal is the latest by the frontrunner Democratic candidate that would vastly expand America's social welfare system as he seeks the nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November election.

Trump says stock markets will crash if he loses the election

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. stock market will crash if he loses the election this year. During a trip to India, Trump told business leaders stocks will jump higher if he is re-elected, but "if I don't win you're going to see a crash as you've never seen before."

Sanders to be in focus at South Carolina debate as rivals aim to slow his surge

Surging front-runner Bernie Sanders will be in the hot seat at the Democratic debate in South Carolina on Tuesday when his six presidential rivals try to derail his growing momentum before the next big round of nominating contests. Free-spending billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who had a rough debut on the debate stage last week in Nevada, also will be back in the spotlight at the candidates' final encounter before Saturday's South Carolina primary and next week's 14 vital Super Tuesday contests.

Trump 'gag rule' on abortion referral can be enforced, U.S. appeals court rules

A sharply divided federal appeals court on Monday said the Trump administration may enforce a rule labeled by critics as a "gag rule" that could deprive abortion providers of federal funding for family planning. In a 7-4 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling last June by a unanimous three-judge panel to lift injunctions won by California, Oregon, and Washington against the rule, which deprives clinics that provide abortion referrals of Title X family planning funds.

Trump administration seeks $2.5 billion in funds to fight coronavirus

The Trump administration is asking Congress for $2.5 billion to fight the fast-spreading coronavirus, including more than $1 billion for vaccines, the White House said on Monday. With financial markets falling on concerns that the virus will have a significant impact on the global economy, the Trump administration is eager to show it is prepared to combat the virus despite the limited number of cases so far in the United States.