CALIFORNIA

The Los Angeles Police Department is searching the Hollywood Hills for evidence Wednesday, after a severed head in a bag was found Tuesday afternoon.

Detectives investigating a decapitated human head found by hikers in the hills below the famed Hollywood sign discovered a pair of severed hands nearby on Wednesday, a Los Angeles police spokesman said.

Chipmaker stocks rose on Wednesday, helped by upbeat earnings forecasts by Linear Technology Corp and Xilinx Inc.

Chipmaker Xilinx Inc expects fourth quarter results at the mid-point of analysts' expectations, allaying investor concerns that the slowdown in the semiconductor market would continue into the new year.

Chipmaker Xilinx Inc expects fourth quarter results at the mid-point of analysts' expectations, allaying investor concerns that the slowdown in the semiconductor market would continue into the new year.

Net income for the fourth quarter more rose more than fourfold to $1.98 billion, with per-share earnings of $1.51, in part due to Microsoft's Skype purchase. Revenue for the fourth quarter was $3.38 billion, up 35 percent from 2010.

U.S. prosecutors charged seven people, described as a circle of friends who formed a criminal club, with running a $62 million insider trading scheme - the latest salvo in a years-long probe of suspicious trading at hedge funds.

Sundance Film Festival 2012 kicks off on Thursday at Park City Utah, where independent film makers will be given the opportunity to shine in front of vast, open-minded and artistic audiences.

Digerati spearheaded by online sites including Wikipedia, Google and Reddit launched global opposition to two bills in the U.S. Congress they believe would threaten Internet commerce and creativity.

Eighty members of Congress support SOPA and PIPA, including 42 Democrats and 37 Republicans.

A robust holiday shopping season could lead to strong earnings for EBay, the online auction giant.

Several prominent liberals have co-sponsored both SOPA and PIPA, while several conservative lawmakers -- including Michelle Bachmann, Paul Ryan and Rand Paul -- have opposed it.

A total of 14.8 million passengers went on cruises in 2010, an increase of 10.3 percent over the prior year,

Perry released an acoustic version of the single on Tuesday.

Young Lee, Pinkberry founder, was arrested on Wednesday at Los Angeles airport on a warrant for beating a homeless man in Los Angeles last summer.

Shares of Google, the No. 1 search engine, fell $4.53 to $624.13 in early Wednesday trading after the European Competition Commissioner said he might bring a complaint against it by March 31.

Looks like E&J Gallo wines and Constellation Brands Inc, which produces Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, will be buying more than a round this spring for lot of wine drinkers.

American actress Michelle Williams, the winner of the 2012 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), spoke to GQ magazine, about her relationship with one-time fiancée Heath Ledger. Williams also spoke about Ledger's death, in 2008, and how it affected her acting career.

Home sales in Southern California jumped in December from November helped by demand from investors but slipped from their year-earlier level as many other buyers remained on the sidelines, a DataQuick report said on Tuesday.

Netflix's stock has suffered a much-publicized nosedive in recent months, and now a group of shareholders is hitting the subscription service with a class action suit.

Porn stars in Los Angeles will be legally required to wear condoms during film shoots after the city council voted on Tuesday to mandate their use, despite a threat by skin flick producers to leave town over the requirement.