Print run increased for Obama memoir
Former President Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land” sold more than 1.7 million copies in North America in its first week, roughly equal to the combined first week sales of memoirs by his two immediate predecessors and among the highest ever for a nonfiction book.
Crown announced Tuesday that it had increased its initial print run from 3.4 million copies to 4.3 million. Sales also include audio and digital books.
George W. Bush’s “Decision Points” sold 775,000 copies its first week, and Bill Clinton’s “My Life” topped 1 million in eight days. The two presidential memoirs have now each sold between 3.5 and 4 million copies, totals that Obama’s book should easily surpass.
Calif. approved unemployment claims for at least 35,000 inmates
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s system for paying unemployment benefits is so dysfunctional that the state approved more than $140 million for at least 35,000 prisoners, prosecutors said Tuesday, detailing a scheme that resulted in payouts in the names of well-known convicted murderers like Scott Peterson and Cary Stayner. From March to August, California has put $140 million on debit cards and mailed them to addresses associated with the inmates, according to Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert. At least 158 claims were approved for 133 death row inmates, resulting in more than $420,000 in benefits. The list includes Peterson, who was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing his pregnant wife following a trial that riveted the nation. Others included Stayner, convicted of killing four people in Yosemite National Park in 1999;
Canadians must wait for vaccine, prime minister says
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday Canada will have to wait for a vaccine because the very first ones that roll off assembly lines are likely to be given to citizens of the country they are made in. Trudeau noted Canada does not have vaccine-production facilities. The United States, the United Kingdom and Germany do. Trudeau said it is understandable that an American pharmaceutical company will distribute first in the U.S. before distributing internationally. Trudeau said Canadians won’t have to wait for everyone in the U.S. to be vaccinated before Canada gets doses.