CALIFORNIA

New York-based fashion house Liz Claiborne Inc. has announced its decision to change the organization's name to Fifth & Pacific companies, to ensure closer ties on the three in-house lucrative lifestyle brands - kate spade, Juicy Couture and Lucky Brand.

Yahoo named PayPal President Scott Thompson as its chief executive on Wednesday, hoping the well-regarded Internet technology and e-commerce expert will replicate his success at eBay Inc and turn around the struggling company.

Google's patent portfolio just got stronger. The software corporation managed to acquire over 200 patents from IBM Corp.

Blackstone Group LP will conclude fundraising for its latest buyout fund in January, raising just over $16 billion, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in a 4-year process challenged by the global financial crisis.

The Anonymous hacktivist collective dropped its #OpHiroshima bomb on New Year's Eve, and despite its success in pulling off a large-scale, wide-reaching document dump, the event has received very little coverage by the mainstream media.

Mainland China and 21 other countries will finally launch sales for Apple's most advanced smartphone, the iPhone 4S, on Friday, Jan. 13. The phone will be available in black and white and will sell at the same prices as in the U.S.

Nevertheless, Netflix shares are down significantly from the 52-week high of $304.79.

John Reeves, a Navy pilot and the roommate of fellow aviator David Reis, killed himself and three others, including Reis, his sister Karen, and a 31-year-old man named Matthew Saturley, in a multi-murder suicide. The New Year's Day killings, which occurred in Reis' Coronado, Calif. condo, have shocked local residents. Police have given no motive for Reeves' actions.

After receiving tepid reviews for his first book of fictional short stories, actor James Franco has sold his debut novel to Amazon Publishing, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The settlement will require AT&T to pay at least $215 million to TiVo by June 2018, $51 million of which must be paid upfront.

Youthful offenders are subject to a litany of abuses, including sexual assault, from their fellow inmates and from corrections officers.

Shares of imaging pioneer Eastman Kodak plunged nearly 30 percent Wednesday after a report from the Wall Street Journal the company might seek to file for bankruptcy “in coming weeks.”

Obama's true secret was revealed on Wednesday - that he is a space travelling chrononaut who worked with the head of DARPA to teleport to Mars on several occasions when he was 19-years old.

Now that Scott Thomson, 53, has been elected as Yahoo’s new CEO as well as a director, here are a couple of items the technology savvy accountant needs to take care of fast:

The San Diego Sheriff's Department is planning an announcement today in the deaths of four people, including two Navy pilots, on New Year's Day in in their Coronado, Calif. condo. Before any updates have been announced, however, sources have already leaked information about a possible motive and the identity of the gunman.

Yahoo elected Scott Thompson, president of PayPal, as its new CEO, four months after ousting Carol Bartz as CEO and hiring investment bankers for a turnaround.

Are Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling taking their relationship to the next level? The rumors continue to swirl after the stunning actress was spotted on a movie date with Gosling and his mom.

Hip-hop artists sing about it, a famous housewife sells it and the wine world is abuzz about Moscato, a sweet, lightly fizzy drink that is the biggest thing to hit the wine business since White Zinfandel.

Mexico drug violence killed more than 12,000 people in 2011.

Demand for loans to buy homes and refinance mortgages slid in the final week of 2011, even as mortgage rates dipped, an industry group said on Wednesday.

Shervin Lalezary, the 30-year-old Los Angeles County reserve sheriff's deputy who captured arsonist Harry Burkhart, made his capture as a volunteer who earns just one dollar a year for his services, according to reports.