Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra, who once made so much money as a financial adviser he bought Wayne Gretzky's Ventura County mega-mansion, was taken into custody Monday after being sentenced to three years in state prison for a scheme to lease cars using fraudulent paperwork. The former Mets and Phillies outfielder tried to take back a no contest plea before sentencing, but the judge rejected his request. Dykstra's fall from wealth has been chronicled over the last few years. He's 49, grew...

A prominent Chinese political activist imprisoned for sedition was released Sunday at the end of his more than three-year sentence, his wife said, though his freedom could be limited by continued surveillance. A major figure in China's dissident community, Hu Jia advocated a broad range of civil liberties before he was imprisoned in 2008. His 3 1/2-year prison sentence was set to end Sunday. He returned home before dawn, Hu's wife Zeng Jinyan said in an online message. "Safe, very happy. Needs...