CALIFORNIA

PriceSmart Inc. announced in its fourth-quarter earnings report Wednesday that its profit fell from the same period last year, as higher revenues were not enough to outweigh higher costs of business.

The holiday album is Bieber's third number one album in Billboard 200 history.

California law enforcement officials told TMZ that rapper Heavy D weighed 344 pounds at the time of his unexpected passing. TMZ reported that an associated of Heavy D's said the rapper had pneumonia as well.

The conflict between California's legalization of marijuana and a federal crackdown intensified this week, as lawyers acting on behalf of dispensaries and medical marijuana patients sought to halt government enforcement they said was unconstitutional.

NASA officials filmed a former doomsday asteroid in what is one of shortest movies of all time: just six frames long.

Lionsgate Entertainment narrowed its fiscal second quarter net loss year-over-year to $24.6 million as gains from its sale of Maple Pictures and EPIX earnings helped offset underperformance in films.

Occupy Denver has elected a three-year-old dog named Shelby as its official leader.

Shares of Cisco Systems shares fell 2.6 percent in early Wednesday trading to $17.84 as nervous investors await the first-quarter earnings announcement scheduled after the close.

Fifty-eight percent of Mississippi voters rejected the so-called Personhood Amendment on Tuesday.

Barclays Capital believes that iCloud could be Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) most important new service since the launch of iTunes in 2003.

Chipmaker Nvidia Corp, rushing to stake out more territory in tablets and smartphones, said its new Tegra 3 processor delivers up to three times the graphics performance of its predecessor and uses 61 percent less power.

Mississippi voters rejected a ballot initiative Tuesday to declare that a human life begins at conception. The measure would have effectively banned abortions in the state and legally challenged abortion rights nationwide as it conflicts with the Supreme Court 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortions.

Putting animal rights over fashion and its own vibrant shopping scene, West Hollywood's leaders gave final approval on Tuesday to a first-in-the-nation ban on the sale of fur clothing within city limits.

A black asteroid as big as an aircraft carrier zoomed past Earth on Tuesday, delighting astronomers who trained telescopes on the ancient body in hopes of learning more about its composition and origin.

A UC San Diego study shows autistic children have an average of 67 percent more brain cells, with significantly heavier brains than their normally developing peers. The excess of brain cells in the prefrontal cortex suggest autism begins in the womb, not (as previously imagined) in infancy or toddlerhood. Extra brain cells cause autistic kids to have too much of a good thing.

Improved job growth and positive leasing fundamentals point to continued recovery in the office and industrial sectors, but buyers continue to focus on major cities over tertiary markets, according to a webcast on Tuesday from commercial real estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap.

Prince Harry was reportedly warned off fornication with small town American girls by Mayor Ron Henry of Gila Bend, Ariz. Mayor Henry denies such outlandish claims.

Now that the two biggest U.S. booksellers are solidly in the tablet market, investors and consumers can reach two solid conclusions: Apple’s market share will decrease and prices will start falling.

Tuesday's elections will decide the positions of the city's next mayor, district attorney and sheriff and give citizens the opportunity to vote on several ballot initiatives. Polls opened at 7 A.M. and will close at 8 P.M. this evening; voters can look up their polling places here.

Asteroid 2005 YU55 is scheduled to make its closest approach to Earth today at 3:28 p.m. PST (6:28 p.m. EST/1128 UTC).

Brett Ratner may have been a bold, unconventional choice to produce the 84th Academy Awards, but the bad boy director is stoking controversy among Academy members who worry he might not be the best choice to shepherd the cherished, historic and fairly conservative property.