Page 8 - California

California passes anti-caste discrimination bill; supporters on strike

California inched closer to becoming the first US state to ban caste discrimination after a bill to ban the practice passed in the state assembly Soon after the passage of the bill by the California State Assembly on Tuesday, some of its supporters went on a hunger strike demanding Governor Gavin Newsom to sign it into law as soon as possible. If signed into law, California would become the first State in the United States and the first jurisdiction outside India to outlaw discrimination based on caste. Seattle earlier this year became the first US city to outlaw caste discrimination. Completing procedural formalities, the California Senate overwhelmingly passed SB403 Discrimination on the basis of ancestry with 31-5 votes on Tuesday. The landmark anti-caste discrimination bill will now go to Governor Newsom's desk where he will decide whether to sign the bill into law. The legislation revises California's Unruh Civil Rights Act by adding caste as a protected category under ...

Maui confronts challenge of finding those unaccounted for after deadly fire

Two weeks after the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century swept through the Maui community of Lahaina, authorities say more than 800 people remain unaccounted for a staggering number that presents huge challenges for officials who are trying to determine how many of those perished and how many may have made it to safety but haven't checked in. Something similar happened after a wildfire in 2018 that killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise, California. Authorities in Butte County, home to Paradise, ultimately published a list of the missing in the local newspaper, a decision that helped identify scores of people who had made it out alive but were listed as missing. Within a month, the list dropped from 1,300 names to only a dozen. I probably had, at any given time, 10 to 15 detectives who were assigned to nothing but trying to account for people who were unaccounted for, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said in a phone interview. At one point the local editor of ou

Hilary makes landfall along Mexico's Baja, carrying deluge to California

Tropical Storm Hilary made landfall along Mexico's Baja California coast Sunday as concerns mounted over the storm causing what could be deadly flash flooding in the border city of Tijuana, Southern California and places as far north as Idaho that rarely get such heavy rain. Hilary hit the coast in a sparsely populated area about 150 miles (250 kilometers) south of Ensenada. The storm has already caused flooding in places across Mexico's arid peninsula and threatens to unleash torrential rains on mudslide-prone Tijuana, where many improvised houses cling to steep hillsides just south of the U.S. border. Forecasters warned the storm could cause extreme flooding, mudslides and even tornadoes. Parts of the U.S. Southwest could be hit with once-in-a-century rains and there is a good chance Hilary could break all-time records as the wettest known tropical cyclone to douse Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. As of 11 a.m. Pacific time, Hilary was located about 215 miles (340 kilometers) ...

Hilary downgraded again to category 1 hurricane as Mexico braces for impact

Hurricane Hilary roared toward Mexico's Baja California peninsula late Saturday as a downgraded but still dangerous Category 1 hurricane likely to bring catastrophic flooding to the region and cross into the southwestern US as a tropical storm. The National Weather Center in Miami said in the most recent advisory at 9 p.m. that the maximum sustained wind speed is 90 mph and the storm was about 175 miles (281 kilometres) south of Punta Eugenia, Mexico, and 535 miles (855 kilometres) from San Diego, California. Meteorologists warned that despite weakening, the storm remained treacherous. One person drowned Saturday in the Mexican town of Santa Rosalia, on the peninsula's eastern coast, when a vehicle was swept away in an overflowing stream. Rescue workers managed to save four other people, said Edith Aguilar Villavicencio, the mayor of Mulege township. It was not immediately clear whether officials considered the fatality related to the hurricane, but video posted by local officials

Michael Jackson sexual abuse lawsuits revived by Calinfornia appeals court

A California appeals court on Friday revived lawsuits from two men who allege Michael Jackson sexually abused them for years when they were boys. A three-judge panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal found that the lawsuits of Wade Robson and James Safechuck should not have been dismissed by a lower court, and that the men can validly claim that the two Jackson-owned corporations that were named as defendants in the cases had a responsibility to protect them. It's the second time the lawsuits brought by Robson in 2013 and Safechuck the following year have been brought back after dismissal. The two men became more widely known for telling their stories in the 2019 HBO documentary Leaving Neverland. A judge who dismissed the suits in 2021 found that that the corporations, MJJ Productions Inc. and MJJ Ventures Inc., could not be expected to function like the Boy Scouts or a church where a child in their care could expect their protection. Jackson, who died in 2009, was

Evacuations ordered as Northern California fire roars through forest

A wildfire pushed by gusty winds from a thunderstorm raced through national forest land near California's border with Oregon on Tuesday, prompting evacuations in the rural area. The blaze in Siskiyou County, dubbed the Head Fire, was one of at least 15 fires most of them tiny that erupted in the Klamath National Forest as thunderstorms rolling through the area brought lightning and downdrafts that drove the flames through timber and rural lands. In the space of a few hours, the blaze had grown to more than 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers) and spot fires from the main blaze had jumped the Klamath River, according to the US Forest Service. There weren't any immediate reports of injuries or homes burned on Tuesday night. However, the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office issued evacuation orders for several areas, including one south of Hamburg, a riverside community of around 100 people. State Route 96 also was closed. The Head Fire was burning near the site of the McKinney Fir

Firefighting helicopter crashes in Southern California while fighting blaze

A firefighting helicopter crashed in Southern California on Sunday while fighting a blaze in Riverside County, emergency officials said. The helicopter was performing work under contract with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, fire captain and spokesman Richard Cordova said. Sheriff's deputies responded at 7:20 p.m. to an air emergency in the area of Pipeline Road and Apache trail as crews were battling the Broadway fire near Cabazon, according to a post by the Riverside County Sheriff's office on X, formerly known as Twitter. The department is still investigating the crash and whether other aircraft were involved, Cordova said. Details were not immediately available on the number of injuries or fatalities.

US: Massive fire burning across California, Nevada causes fire whirls

The fire, dubbed the York Fire, which is California's largest fire of the year, has consumed 80,000 acres of land as of Tuesday morning

Southern California firefighters battle 3 wildfires amid hot, dry weather

Firefighters were battling three separate brush fires in blistering heat and low humidity in sparsely populated, hilly areas southeast of Los Angeles. Nearly 1,000 homes were under evacuation orders, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or property loss, according to officials from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire. The fires were all within 40 miles (65 kilometers) of each other in Riverside County, where temperatures in some areas spiked into the triple digits. "Heat is definitely a concern out there," said April Newman of the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department, adding that the blazes were burning through dense, dry brush in rugged terrain. Two of the fires had mostly stopped spreading. The third, though, grew to about 11 square miles (28 square kilometers) by Saturday afternoon, Cal Fire said in a social media post. Hundreds of firefighters were dispatched, along with firefighting helicopters and airplanes. Californi

Six killed as small plane crashes in field near Southern California airport

Six people were killed when a small plane crashed and burst into flames in a field near a Southern California airport, authorities said. The crash of the Cessna C550 business jet occurred around 4:15 am on Saturday in Murrieta, about 80 miles (130 kilometres) southeast of Los Angeles, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the flames, which had engulfed the plane and charred about an acre of vegetation just north of French Valley Airport, said the Riverside County Fire Department. All six people on board died at the scene, the Riverside County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. The victims were not immediately identified. The plane had departed from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, the FAA said. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. It was the second fatal crash this week at the small county-owned airport in Murrieta, home to about 1,12,000 residents. A man was

Disneyland to put 1,500 collectables up for auction later in July

Fans who agree Disneyland is indeed the happiest place on Earth will soon be able to take home more than a souvenir. A passionate collector has brought Disney magic to a sprawling 30,000-square-foot (2,800-square-meter) building in Burbank, California, where fans can hear birds chirping in the Enchanted Tiki Room section or giggle at the animated ghosts from the Haunted Mansion ride as they preview more than 1,500 items up for auction later this month. Joel Magee has been building his collection of more than 6,000 items including costumes, rare posters, and life-size vehicles from rides like Dumbo and Peter Pan for 30 years, and he's finally ready to share some of it with the public. I'm one of those guys go big or go home. And if you don't have the biggest, then it ain't the best, Magee told The Associated Press in a recent interview, as fans milled about the exhibit. Magee's is the largest individually owned Disneyland/Disney Park collection in the world. It's really kind of .

Shooting at California teen's birthday party leaves 1 dead, 6 wounded

A shooting at a birthday party killed an 18-year-old woman and injured six others in Northern California early Sunday, police said. The Antioch Police Department responded to multiple 911 calls about a shooting just before 1 a.m., the department said in a statement. Multiple shots were fired after some people arrived uninvited at a birthday party for a 19-year-old man at a home in the city about 45 miles (72 km) northeast of San Francisco. Victims and a large crowd were found by officers outside the home, police said. The 18-year-old woman was transported to an area hospital, where she died, police said. The victims who suffered non-life-threatening injuries included an 18-year-old man and a 19-year-old man, two 19-year-old women and two 20-year-old women. Some of the victims transported themselves to area hospitals after a panic where attendees ... fled in multiple directions and into the neighbourhood, police said. The Antioch police said a suspect or suspects fled the scene b

1 dead, 4 injured in shooting incident in California's Sunnyvale city

At least one person was killed and four others were injured following a shooting incident in California's Sunnyvale city, police said.

Earthquake of 5.6-magnitude jolts Northern California, no damage reported

An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale struck off the Northern California coast, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Google co-founders see biggest gain since Feb 2021 as AI boost lifts stock

Google will start experimenting with a more conversational search engine and has made its AI-powered chatbot available more broadly, the Mountain View, California-based company said

Apple to open first online shop in Vietnam in push to emerging market

The opening on May 18 comes just weeks after the Cupertino, California-based company opened its first Apple stores in India - Mumbai and Delhi

California State Senate passes brings law banning caste discrimination

In a historic move, the California State Senate on Thursday passed a legislation that would ban caste-based discrimination in the State. Passed by 34-1 vote, the bill SB 403, would make California the first US state to add caste as a protected category in its anti-discrimination laws. Promoters of the bill, being led by non-profit Equality Lab, said that a similar bill is being introduced in the State House of Representatives, before it can be sent to the Governor to be signed into a law. Introduced by California Senator Aisha Wahab, SB 403 adds caste as a protected category to an existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which provides that all people in the state of California are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments. SB 403 provides explicit protections to those who have been systemically harmed due to caste bias and prejudice. It also provides firm legal consequences for those seeking to ..

Google halts 80-acre San Jose campus due to economic slowdown: Report

Google has no plans to revive the project in the near future

Indian-origin Sikh Raji Brar named to California Univ Board of Trustees

"There is a light inside Raji that she shares with our entire community through her many acts of kindness and tireless commitment to public service," CSUB President

IIT Kanpur signs MOU with Univ of California for collaborative research

The IIT Kanpur and the Univ of California will also provide opportunities for their researchers to collaborate on significant research projects as part of this joint venture