State California Financial News

WSJ’s Personal Finance team presents a series on how to fix your financial life in 2024. Last in our series: tackling the tricky subject of food budgets. If you’re wondering where your food spending is going each month, look in your trash can. After putting a roof over our heads and getting around town, food is the biggest expense in our monthly budgets.

Before the year is over, a lucky someone could win the estimated life-altering US$760 million (over C$1 billion) Powerball jackpot.

Google has agreed to settle a major lawsuit. This lawsuit accused the Alphabet company of secretly monitoring the online activities of countless individuals. These individuals believed they were browsing the internet in private.

Fox News real estate contributor Katrina Campins breaks down the housing market on ‘Cavuto: Coast to Coast.’

Mint. On 31 October, several individuals, including Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Aam Aadmi Party politician Raghav Chadha, were sent a threat notification by Apple that suggested government hackers had attempted to hack their iPhones.

Alex Garland upcoming action epic "Civil War’’, depicting a near-future United States in turmoil, actually runs for a confirmed 109 minutes, not the inaccurately listed 3 hours and 15 minutes. A24 has clarified this to Variety. Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jesse Plemons, and Nick Offerman lead the cast in a film immersing audiences in the intensity of a fresh American civil conflict. The trailer picks with glimpses of widespread destruction and news announcements declaring the secession of «19 states.”

General Motors (NYSE:GM) has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco, aiming to reclaim over $100 million. The lawsuit alleges that the tax bill imposed on GM was inaccurately calculated, attributing this miscalculation to the improper use of its Cruise self-driving car unit in the calculations.

Meadow Walker and Louis Thornton-Allan have jointly decided to end their marriage, as announced in a social media statement on Wednesday. In her message, Paul Walker's daughter expressed gratitude for three years of marriage, emphasizing the amicable nature of their separation. The couple requests privacy while expressing mutual love, respect, and ongoing support for each other.

Elon Musk vehemently criticized recent media coverage surrounding an incident involving a factory robot at a Tesla facility in Austin. Musk's response was prompted by reports resurfacing about a 2021 incident where an engineer was allegedly injured by a Kuka robot arm during software updates. Musk lambasted the media for linking this incident to Tesla's humanoid Optimus robots, stressing that the coverage misrepresented the nature of the accident. The incident, previously covered by outlets like the Daily Mail and The Information, detailed how an engineer working on software updates became ensnared by a factory robot, resulting in injuries. Witnesses reported the engineer being pinned and bleeding until another worker intervened by activating the emergency stop button.

Powerball drawing on Wednesday night which happened to be the penultimate drawing in 2023 didn't yield a jackpot winner, setting the stage for the potential end of the year with an almost $800 million prize in the final drawing. The winning numbers were 4, 11, 38, 51, 68, along with the red Powerball 5, and the Power Play option was 3X. Although the estimated $685 million jackpot remained unclaimed, a fortunate Texan secured $2 million by matching all five white balls and the Power Play.

“That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson has been sent to a California state prison to serve his sentence for two rape convictions.

Here is a look at what the case means for consumers and what is next for Apple.

By Greg Bensinger

By Blake Brittain

Tom Smothers, half of the iconic Smothers Brothers duo and co-host of a groundbreaking and socially conscious television show, passed away at the age of 86. The National Comedy Center, speaking on behalf of his family, confirmed his death on Tuesday at his residence in Santa Rosa, California, following a battle with cancer. In a statement released on Wednesday, Dick Smothers, Tom's brother and the other half of the beloved comedy duo, expressed gratitude for a lifetime spent together both on and off stage for over 60 years. He described Tom not only as a cherished older brother but also as a unique and invaluable creative partner. The statement reflected on their relationship, likening it to a good marriage where mutual love and respect deepened over time.

Does your year-end bonus look smaller than expected?

Apple is filing an emergency motion asking a court to let it keep selling two of its most popular watches until a final decision on its broader appeal in a patent dispute is decided

Sports betting has spread rapidly across U.S. states in the past five years

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European shares were marginally higher on Wednesday as robust China data lifted miners, while an overnight Wall Street rally amid persisting optimism the Federal Reserve could begin cutting rates as early as next March helped tech stocks rise. By 0814 GMT, the pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.1% at 477.83 points following an over 0.4% gain across major Wall Street indexes overnight. Basic resources was amongst the top gainers, rising 0.4% as most base metal and iron ore prices advanced after data showed manufacturing activity in top consumer China improved last month, while energy advanced 0.6%. The technology sector, which houses Europe's major chipmakers, jumped 0.7%, in line with their rising Wall Street counterparts. Keeping a lid on gains, telecoms and insurers fell 0.4% each. Volumes are expected to be light as traders return from an extended Christmas break with only a few trading days left in 2023. Bayer rose 1.7% after the German drugs-to-pesticides group said it has won a trial in a lawsuit brought by a California man who said he developed cancer from exposure to its Roundup weedkiller.

Who's Harry Potter?," explores a groundbreaking technique that allows large language models to selectively forget information. Microsoft researchers Mark Russinovich and Ronen Eldan demonstrated that AI models can be modified to erase knowledge of the Harry Potter books—characters, plots, and all—while maintaining their overall decision-making and analytical abilities. The choice of Harry Potter was deliberate, as the series is universally familiar, making it easy for researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of the technique.