Page 7 - California

California firefighters continue to battle wildfires east of San Francisco

California firefighters expected to gain ground on Sunday on a wind-driven wildfire that scorched thousands of acres 97 kilometres east of San Francisco, burned down a home and forced residents to flee the area near the central California city of Tracy. The fire erupted on Saturday afternoon in the grassy hills managed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of the country's key centres for nuclear weapons science and technology. The cause was under investigation. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the research centre was not under immediate threat from the blaze, dubbed the Corral Fire, which had devoured some 52 square kilometres by Sunday afternoon and was 30 per cent contained. Thousands of people in the area, including parts of the city of Tracy with a population of 1,00,000, were ordered to leave for evacuation centres. Tracy is about 112 kilometres south of California's capital in Sacramento. CalFire Battalion Chief Josh Silveira said o

California court considers law treating Uber, Lyft drivers as contractors

Uber, Lyft and other app-based services spent more than $200 million on a campaign to pass Prop 22 and have said that without it, the increased costs could force them to stop doing business

Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after Columbia University calls police

Officers took protesters into custody late Tuesday after Columbia University called in police to end the pro-Palestinian occupation on the New York campus. The scene unfolded shortly after 9 p.m. as police, wearing helmets and carrying zip ties and riot shields, massed at the Ivy League university's entrance. Officers breached Hamilton Hall, an administration building on campus, to clear out the structure. The demonstrators had occupied Hamilton Hall more than 12 hours earlier, spreading their reach from an encampment elsewhere on the grounds that's been there for nearly two weeks. Shortly before officers entered the campus, the New York Police Department received a notice from Columbia authorising officers to take action, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorised to discuss details of the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The NYPD's move came hours after the department's brass said officers wouldn't enter Columbia's ..

California celebrates Mahavir Jayanti, launches digital detox campaign

An eminent Jain community leader has launched a digital detox campaign from the California State Assembly, which witnessed the first-ever Mahavir Jayanti celebrations. The celebration at the State Assembly in Sacramento on Monday marked the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir and highlighted the importance of peace, compassion, nonviolence, and love, a media release said on Thursday. Jain spiritual leader Lokesh Muni flew in from India to attend the event along with leaders of the Federation of Jain Associations in North America or JAINA, Prem Jain, its past president and Biren Shah, its director. The birth anniversary of Lord Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankar of Jainism, is being organised in the dignified atmosphere of the California State Assembly, that too in the glorious presence of California State Senator and Assemblyman," Lokesh Muni said. "The philosophy of Lord Mahavira is very significant and relevant. It is relevant today as it was useful in the past. Solutions to many global

Explained: How the AI that drives ChatGPT will move into physical world

Like chatbots and image generators, this robotics technology learns its skills by analysing enormous amounts of digital data

Indian-origin family found dead with gunshot wounds in California apartment

Last week, a 41-year-old Indian-origin man, identified as Vivek Taneja died in the United States, days after suffering life-threatening injuries as a result of an assault in downtown Washington

Elon Musk must testify in SEC Twitter purchase probe, rules federal court

The court ruled the evidence gathered is relevant and material to the SEC's investigation and the testimony required of Musk is not unduly burdensome, a court filing Saturday said

NYSE-listed Belden invests Rs 100 crore in innovation hub in Bengaluru

The Bengaluru centre holds significance as this is the first such centre in India, following the successful launch of CICs in Stuttgart, Germany; Santa Clara, California; Shanghai, China; and Chicago

Juniper shares climb 23% as Hewlett Packard Enterprise nears $13 bn deal

Juniper has a market value of about $9.6 billion as last close of $30.22. The company's shares were trading at $37.25 on Tuesday, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise's stock fell nearly 8%

Netflix beats shareholder lawsuit over account-sharing disclosures

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar ruled on Friday that the lawsuit included no evidence that the company was aware of the extent of the problem for as long as the investors alleged

Massive vehicle pileup on California highway leaves 2 dead, 9 injured

A crash involving dozens of vehicles along a foggy stretch of California's Interstate 5 in southern California has left two people dead and nine others injured. The pileup involving 35 cars happened around 7:30 am Saturday west of Bakersfield, according to authorities. Kern County Fire Department spokesman Jim Calhoun told reporters that visibility was roughly 10 feet when crews arrived to the chaotic scene. The crash, spread over about half a mile (0.80 kilometers), involved 17 passenger vehicles and 18 big rigs. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene and nine others were hospitalized with minor injuries, authorities said. It was pretty chaotic when I first pulled up at the scene, it was compressed natural gas, saddle tanks on the side of some the big rigs that were ruptured, so a lot of the bystanders that weren't injured were trying to help people and were in a plume of natural gas so we had to deal with that first and get everyone evacuated from that area, Calhoun told ...

US govt condemns vandalism of Shri Swaminarayan Temple in California

We strongly condemn the defacing of SMVS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir at Newark, California with anti-India graffiti, the Consulate posted on X

California approves new rules for turning wastewater into drinking water

When a toilet is flushed in California, the water can end up in a lot of places: An ice skating rink near Disneyland, ski slopes around Lake Tahoe, farmland in the Central Valley. And coming soon kitchen faucets. California regulators on Tuesday approved new rules to let water agencies recycle wastewater and put it right back into the pipes that carry drinking water to homes, schools and businesses. It's a big step for a state that has struggled for decades to secure reliable sources of drinking water for its more than 39 million residents. And it signals a shift in public opinion on a subject that as recently as two decades ago prompted backlash that scuttled similar projects. Since then, California has been through multiple extreme droughts, including the most recent one that scientists say was the driest three-year period on record and left the state's reservoirs at dangerously low levels. Water is so precious in California. It is important that we use it more than once, said

Broadcom to cut almost 1,300 VMware jobs in California after takeover

Broadcom, whose other operations include making chips used by companies including Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, will report earnings next week

Union min Piyush Goyal visits Tesla's manufacturing facility in California

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has visited the manufacturing facility of US-based electric vehicle major Tesla at Fremont, California and said that the company would be doubling its auto components imports from India. The minister is in the US on a four-day visit. The world's largest electric car producer Tesla Inc's chief Elon Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June in New York and after the meeting Musk had said that he planned to visit India in 2024. "Visited @Tesla's state of the art manufacturing facility at Fremont, California. Extremely delighted to see talented Indian engineers and finance professionals working at Senior positions and contributing to Tesla's remarkable journey to transform mobility. "Also proud to see the growing importance of auto component suppliers from India in the Tesla EV supply chain. It is on its way to double its components imports from India. Missed Mr @ElonMusk's magnetic presence and I wish him a speedy recovery," Goyal said on

California officials confirm two cases of dengue, a rare illness in US

Two people in Southern California have come down with dengue fever without travelling outside the United States, where the mosquito-borne illness is rare, health officials said. A Pasadena resident was confirmed to have dengue last month but is recovering, officials said. This is the first confirmed case of dengue in California not associated with travel and is instead an extremely rare case of local transmission in the continental United States, the Pasadena Public Health Department announced. The case remains under investigation, but it appears that someone became infected with the dengue virus, returned home and was bitten by a mosquito that passed it on to the local resident, according to Pasadena health officials. On Wednesday, Long Beach officials announced another domestically contracted dengue case and said that person has recovered. Both cities' health departments said the risk of exposure to others was low. Dengue is caused by several related viruses and is spread throu

Firefighters make progress in California wildfire, but homes threatened

Firefighters on Wednesday made inroads in containing a Southern California wildfire, but officials said many homes and other buildings remain threatened by the blaze that at one point saw thousands of people under orders to evacuate. The Highland Fire in rural Riverside County southeast of Los Angeles was only mildly active as Santa Ana winds that pushed it through brushy hills eased and fire crews had it 20% contained by Wednesday night, said Rob Roseen, a fire spokesperson. "It was favourable conditions for firefighters" but humidity remained low and rugged terrain made the work challenging for the approximately 1,200 firefighters, Roseen said. The size of the blaze remained unchanged at just under 4 square miles (10 square kilometers). One firefighter was injured but was in stable condition, Roseen said. He didn't have details. Gusty, dry Santa Ana winds were blowing Monday when the fire erupted near rural Aguanga in Riverside County about 53 miles (85 kilometers) north of San

Southern California wildfire prompts evacuation order for thousands

A wildfire fuelled by gusty Santa Ana winds ripped through rural land southeast of Los Angeles on Monday, forcing about 4,000 people from their homes, fire authorities said. The so-called Highland Fire erupted at about 12:45 p.m. in dry, brushy hills near the unincorporated Riverside County hamlet of Aguanga. As of late Monday night, it had spread over about 5 square kilometres of land, fire spokesman Jeff LaRusso said. About 1,300 homes and 4,000 residents were under evacuation orders, he said. The fire had destroyed three buildings and damaged six others but it wasn't clear whether any were homes. The region is sparsely populated but there are horse ranches and a large mobile home site, LaRusso said. No injuries were reported. Winds of 32 to 40 kph with some higher gusts drove the flames and embers through grass and brush that were dried out by recent winds and low humidity so that it was "almost like kindling" for the blaze, LaRusso said. The winds were expected to ease somew

California Guv meets with China's leader Xi amid warm welcome in Beijing

California Gov. Gavin Newsom had a surprise meeting with China's leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday after being warmly welcomed by other senior leaders in a display of friendliness that stands in sharp contrast to the dialogue between the United States and China in recent years. The governor is on a weeklong tour of China where he will push for climate cooperation. Newsom's trip as governor, once considered routine, is drawing attention as it comes after years of heightening tensions between the US and China. I'm here in expectation, as you suggest, of turning the page, of renewing our friendship and reengaging (on) foundational and fundamental issues that will determine our collective faith in the future, Newsom said in brief opening remarks ahead of his meeting with Wang Yi, China's top diplomat earlier in the day. Though Newsom is here to push a climate cooperation agenda, Chinese officials took the opportunity in welcome speeches ahead of the closed-door meetings to talk

OpenAI claims that tool to detect AI-generated images is 99% accurate

Murati spoke alongside OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, as both executives attended the Wall Street Journal's Tech Live conference in Laguna Beach, California