UNITED STATES

Mitt Romney has been declared the winner of the Florida primary, restoring much of the momentum he lost to Newt Gingrich in South Carolina.

Hotel companies and real estate firms are optimistic that U.S. deal transactions will pick up this year despite concerns about Europe's economy and challenges in obtaining debt financing.

Myriad Pictures has picked up international rights to Nobody Walks and will screen the picture for international buyers at the European Film Market next week, the company said Tuesday.

Netflix Inc on Tuesday urged a panel of senators to support legislation that it said would allow the company's U.S. users to share information on Facebook about the TV shows and movies they are watching through Netflix's service.

Japan's Panasonic Corp and South Korea's Samsung Electronics have each decided to propose capital ties with disgraced medical equipment maker Olympus Corp, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Simon Cowell gave his talent show The X Factor a major shake-up, showing the door to host Steve Jones, judge Nicole Scherzinger, and even his old friend Paula Abdul after a lackluster first season on U.S. television.

Federal prosecutors expanded their insider trading case against former Goldman Sachs Group Inc director Rajat Gupta on Tuesday, saying the illegal activity lasted longer and involved more trades than alleged.

It's hardly a huge surprise: those Federal Reserve officials that made careers in the financial sector are much wealthier than their colleagues, according to new disclosures on Tuesday.

Just when Americans have largely forgotten about the Treasury's controversial bailout program, the Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday blamed it for an anticipated $23 billion widening in the government's deficit.

Amazon.com Inc offered a disappointing sales outlook and warned it may lose money in the first quarter, as it continues to splash out on expansion and new ventures. Its shares plummeted.

Apple Inc. just can't lose. After becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world (the market cap is currently at $425.61 billion), Apple followed up by becoming the top PC maker in the world. The achievement is a testament to the company's ability to sell innovative products and to its rabid fan base. Whether Apple is able to remain the top PC maker remains largely dependent on new senior vice president of retail operations John Browett's ability to keep sales strong.

British chart-topper Adele will make her live comeback at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in just under two weeks, after being on vocal rest since throat surgery sidelined the singer late last year.

Co-founders of online U.S. payment service PayPal, now owned by eBay Inc, donated to the Super PAC funding group supporting Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, the group Endorse Liberty disclosed on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama pushed into second-gear at the Washington Auto Show on Tuesday, taking a swipe at potential challenger Mitt Romney as the Republican primaries in Florida were underway.

Liturgy is the sexless hive-geek counterpart to Lana Del Rey, 2011's most polarizing and polarized artist. Her just-dropped album Born to Die, has landed number 1, despite global critical condemnation. The Brooklyn black metallers (Liturgy) generated what seemed a comparable amount of criticism to the manufactured pseudo-pop darling (Del Rey) in 2011. Liturgy sold far fewer albums, proving that artistic merit and integrity do not always win out.

Aftershocks from the magnitude-5.8 earthquake that hit Virginia last summer continue to rattle the state. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that a 3.2 magnitude aftershock hit Louisa, Va. at 6:39 p.m. Monday.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp, which has responsibility for insuring certain benefits under private defined benefit pension plans, said on Tuesday it believes American Airlines will seek to terminate employee pensions in bankruptcy.

Guns N' Roses announced Monday that they will play a series of shows in the U.S. in February (listed below) and they have chosen a date in New York City, nestled right in the middle of New York Fashion Week 2012, as their kick-off.

Feist is ready to take on the world.

Russia continues to sell arms to Syria as the Assad regime cracks down on political upheaval.

Chrysler is profiting from strong Jeep sales and automakers are expected today to announce healthy year-over-year January sales increases in the U.S., with only General Motors Corp. trailing the pack.