IBT Staff Reporter

French silicon company Soitec SA said it will invest more than $150 million in a manufacturing facility in California to produce concentrator photovoltaic modules (CPV) for the U.S. renewable-energy market.

Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings made its second foray into solar energy in as many weeks, saying on Friday it will buy a 49 percent stake in an Arizona power plant from NRG Energy Inc.

The search is over for the most-Googled names in 2011: The most popular and fastest-rising terms include Rebecca Black, Ryan Dunn and Casey Anthony.

Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis will join U.S. television network CBS as a cultural correspondent to provide coverage of cultural and educational topics, CBS said on Thursday.

The fierce debate over anti-piracy legislation currently rocking Capitol Hill is pitting Hollywood against Silicon Valley, and has left some wondering if the latest effort to crack down on illegal downloads will be shot down over free speech concerns.

The official site for The Amazing Spider-Man has crawled onto the Web, shedding light on the plot of Marc Webb's reboot.

Reese Witherspoon will star in Devil's Knot, Atom Egoyan's movie about the West Memphis Three, one of the film's producers told TheWrap on Thursday.

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Fitch Ratings on Friday warned it may downgrade France and six other euro zone countries as it believes that a comprehensive solution to the region's debt crisis is technically and politically beyond reach.

The most powerful group at Google Inc used to be known simply as The OC, short for operating committee. Now, it goes by a more telling name: L Team, short for Larry's Team.

AT&T also has 900,000 phones with controversial software installed.

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc is famous for relying on low-cost Asian manufacturers to both source and assemble its popular gadgets, but the consumer device giant recently started receiving a critical component in its iPad and iPhones from closer to home - Texas.

Europe's debt crisis threatens to throw a strengthening economy off track, but more monetary accommodation from the U.S. Federal Reserve is not the answer, a top Fed official known for his hawkish views on inflation said on Friday.

Six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were sued by U.S. regulators on charges of misleading investors about the mortgage finance companies' exposure to risky home loans in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

This is fourth in TheWrap's series of studio report cards.

Stocks were little changed in volatile trading on Friday as a warning by Fitch it may cut ratings on some European nations offset gains in growth-related shares.

David Cross wants to see Alvin and the Chipmunks buried 6 feet underground.

On a Thursday night when ratings were down overall, Fox's The X Factor tied a Big Bang Theory repeat and Person of Interest on CBS. CBS took an overall victory, according to preliminary numbers.

Been wondering where you can hock that spare cow you have sitting around? Look no further than the Silver Dollar Pawn & Jewelry Center in Alexandria, La., the setting for the History Channel's spin-off of its most popular series, Pawn Stars.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival, which has already announced awards for a number of contenders deemed likely to land Oscar nominations, has now decided to honor an actor who's been inexplicably passed over by most voters so far.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the major record labels have reached a tentative agreement on a new, three-year sound recording contract, the union said Thursday.

By revealing the digital tricks behind the blue-skinned Na'vi, Fox is expecting to start seeing lots of green this holiday season.

Beehived Rehab chanteuse Amy Winehouse, who died in July, will be honored with a special tribute on the upcoming VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul.

Emily Post notwithstanding, there's probably no gracious way to projectile vomit in your host's living room. And it says something about the darkly funny antics of Carnage that said puking probably doesn't constitute the most socially awkward moment.

Funeral arrangements have been set for movie marketing pioneer Joseph Farrell and will be private, his publicist said Thursday.

Sorry, fans of inspirational home-renovation stories: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is coming to an end.

After two wretched weekends at the box office, sequels to Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and the Chipmunks Mission: Impossible are riding in to rescue the domestic movie business.

It's nerve-wracking to act alongside George Clooney -- and he knows it.

Mandate Pictures has optioned The Young, The Hot, And The Bothered, a coming-of-age comedy from 25-year-old writer Leah Rachel, the studio said Thursday.