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Meta strikes deal with Zuckerberg to help him foot billionaire tax bill

22 October 2026 at 11:10

Chief executive agrees to remain in California for eight years even if the state brings in a one-off wealth tax

Meta has struck a deal with Mark Zuckerberg to help him foot a possible California wealth tax targeting billionaires.

The social media company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp revealed on Wednesday night that the arrangement would keep its chief executive living in California, where Meta’s headquarters are located.

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© Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

© Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

© Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Thousands of California public employees begin strike over contract

21 October 2026 at 19:37

SEIU Local 1000, representing nurses and teachers, pushing for higher wages, telework and affordable healthcare

Thousands of California state workers began a sweeping one-day strike on Wednesday, with workers set to rally outside government buildings in several cities, as tensions boiled over lapsed contract negotiations with Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration.

SEIU Local 1000, a union that represents roughly 100,000 public employees, including nurses and teachers, has been pushing for higher wages, flexible telework and affordable healthcare.

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© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

Great white shark leaps from water and photobombs California beachgoers

20 October 2026 at 17:45

Videos show shark launching several feet from water as a group of friends pose for photos along Marina state beach

A great white shark put on a spectacular display for California beachgoers over the weekend, leaping from the water off Marina state beach and photobombing visitors.

Videos circulating online show a great white shark launching several feet out of the water in the background as a group of friends pose for photos along the beach.

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© Photograph: WaterFrame/Alamy

© Photograph: WaterFrame/Alamy

© Photograph: WaterFrame/Alamy

Trendy LA neighborhood’s war over wild coyote erupts after child attacked

20 October 2026 at 17:00

Coyote euthanized after reportedly roaming Atwater Village comfortably for months and attacking one-year-old boy

One Los Angeles neighborhood has been at war over a wild coyote, and over the weekend it all came to a head.

For months, the animal had been roaming the trendy Atwater Village, showing up in broad daylight, sleeping in back yards and approaching residents. At least one person had reportedly fed the coyote and others affectionately nicknamed it Wiley. But some residents feared the creature had become dangerously too cozy.

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© Photograph: Natural History Library/Alamy

© Photograph: Natural History Library/Alamy

© Photograph: Natural History Library/Alamy

California to receive $6m settlement after 23andMe data breach

19 October 2026 at 22:34

Millions of customers’ genetic and personal information exposed in 2023, including more than 855,000 Californians

California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, on Monday announced the state will receive a $6m settlement payment in 23andMe’s bankruptcy, resolving California’s legal claims related to a 2023 data breach that exposed 6.9 million customers’ ⁠genetic and other ⁠personal information.

California had ​unsuccessfully tried to block the $305m sale of 23andMe assets to TTAM Research Institute, a non-profit controlled by the 23andMe ⁠co-founder Anne Wojcicki. The state had argued that the bankruptcy sale violated California’s Genetic Information Privacy Act, and it had said ⁠consumers did not give express consent to the sale.

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© Photograph: JHVEPhoto/Alamy

© Photograph: JHVEPhoto/Alamy

© Photograph: JHVEPhoto/Alamy

Oregon man who killed school shooter reportedly took part in military drills with Iraq veterans

19 October 2026 at 22:33

New details emerge about Kaylub Giamanco, who went on to elementary school campus and shot Bend suspect dead

New details are emerging about the parent who fatally shot the 16-year-old shooter who killed three children and a teacher in Oregon last week.

In a 2018 Facebook post, Kaylub Giamanco, the 36-year-old carpenter who shot and killed the shooter, said he had gone through “military shooting drills” with veterans who fought in Iraq.

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© Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

© Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

© Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

DoJ charges 28 green card holders in California over alleged voter fraud

Crackdown marks latest escalation in the Trump justice department’s push to target alleged noncitizen voting

The US Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against 28 green card holders in California accused of fraudulently registering to vote and casting illegal ballots.

The crackdown marks another escalation in the federal government’s ongoing efforts against alleged noncitizen voting, efforts that Democrats and voting rights groups say are part of a strategy by the Trump administration to sow doubt in the results of the upcoming midterm elections.

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© Photograph: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

ICE agents broke US citizen’s arm as they detained him in California, officials say

19 October 2026 at 14:28

Ricardo Gonzalez was injured and taken to hospital after confrontation in Long Beach, according to officials

Federal immigration agents broke the arm of a US citizen in what a Democratic congressman said was a “brutal attack” during a confrontation with protesters in California.

Video of Saturday’s encounter in Long Beach shows Ricardo Gonzalez, identified as a former city employee, handcuffed and face down in a gutter, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers kneeling on his back.

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© Photograph: Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

© Photograph: Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

© Photograph: Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Times’s investigation adds more intrigue to infamous OJ Simpson case

19 October 2026 at 00:35

Report reveals that a shady mobster-turned-informant may have been involved in helping cover up murder

An in-depth investigation by the New York Times is raising further questions about the high-profile OJ Simpson case, in which the former football player was accused in the 1990s of killing his ex-wife – and whether a shady mobster-turned-informant may have been involved in helping cover up the murder.

The Times’s investigation revealed that California prosecutors were unable to fully investigate whether Simpson, who was accused but not convicted of his ex-wife’s murder, may have had an accomplice at the scene of the crime.

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

Six homes burned and two firefighters injured in fast-moving California wildfire

17 October 2026 at 19:10

About 6,000 homes under evacuation, affecting 16,000 residents in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano

At least six homes burned and two firefighters were injured after a fast-moving wildfire blazed through parts of southern California on Friday.

Two firefighters were taken to the hospital with heat-related injuries from the Norte fire, officials said.

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© Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP

© Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP

© Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP

Inside the long, bitter fight over one man’s quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California

A modern-day prospector promised rural Imperial thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenue – but his plan has set off a firestorm of resistance

Sebastian Rucci zoomed in on a map in late 2024, looking closely at a large block of brown earth. The barren plot sandwiched between sprawling alfalfa fields and sleepy desert suburbs was exactly what he’d been searching for – the perfect place to realize his dream of building the largest artificial intelligence datacenter in California.

The dusty expanse wasn’t an obvious location. It was in the Sonoran desert, just north of the Mexican border, where temperatures regularly rose past 100F (37.8C). Water was scarce in the once-booming agricultural area, which gets its supply from the beleaguered Colorado River. And then, there was the city of Imperial – population 22,000 – to win over. As controversial datacenter projects have sprung up across the US, residents were naturally skeptical of a new, energy-guzzling neighbor.

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© Photograph: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

© Photograph: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

© Photograph: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

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