Briefly

UNITED STATES

Storm cuts more than 330,000 from power

Torrential downpours and damaging winds left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power in California late on Sunday as the area braced for the next onslaught of severe weather. More than 330,000 homes and businesses were reported to be without power in California early on Sunday night. At least six people have died in the severe weather since New Year's weekend.

PAKISTAN

Country seeks help with $16b flood fund

Pakistan and the United Nations are set to hold a major conference in Geneva on Monday aimed at marshaling support to rebuild the country after devastating floods in September in what is expected to be a major test case for who pays for climate disasters. The reconstruction work, estimated at around $16.3 billion, to rebuild millions of homes and roads is just beginning.

ITALY

Man pleads guilty to manuscript scam

An Italian man admitted on Friday to stealing more than 1,000 unpublished manuscripts, including from distinguished authors. Filippo Bernardini, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, federal prosecutors in New York announced. Bernardini, who worked in London for the publisher Simon & Schuster, impersonated agents and publishers over email to obtain novels and other works from writers and their representatives. The scam had been known in literary circles for several years, with Margaret Atwood and Sally Rooney among the novelists reportedly targeted.

Xinhua - Agencies