UNITED STATES

The union government has told refiners to reduce Iranian oil imports and find alternatives as New Delhi may not seek a waiver that would protect buyers of Tehran's oil from a fresh round of U.S. sanctions, two industry sources said on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s powerful army generals warned of “very serious ramifications” and “grievous consequences”.

The New Hampshire Primary of 2012 is over and the results are in. With 95 percent of the vote counted, Mitt Romney came in first with 39 percent.

Stock index futures dipped on Wednesday, a day after major indexes hit a five-month high, with pressure on the euro testing the recent view that the U.S. market was decoupling from Europe.

Romney won a significant victory in New Hampshire Tuesday, carrying the open primary and becoming the first Republican to win both New Hampshire and Iowa in the primaries since 1976. But more remarkable than Romney's 2012 win is whose votes gave him the victory: Romney supporters crossed every demographic, from age brackets to ideological concerns.

Samsung unveiled its big screened device - the Galaxy Note - in September. With a huge 5.3-inch display, the Galaxy Note is considered to be neither a phone nor a tablet but a happy combination of both.

Sarah Burke, a Canadian freestyle skier and four-time Winter X Games champion, was in a coma and in critical condition, on Tuesday night, after a serious training accident in Park City, Utah.

Luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd, owned by German automotive giant BMW AG , said its U.S. sales could overtake China this year, revving up the British company for record global revenue in 2012, its chief executive said.

Strong demand from China and India as well as short covering Wednesday extended a gold price rally that has lifted the yellow metal six percent since the end of last month.

In the wake of the New Hampshire primary victory, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is on course to become the first Mormon to secure nomination as the Republican presidential candidate.

Barclays Capital reiterated its belief that China is a big growth opportunity for Apple Inc. and could be bigger than even the U.S., within a few years.

U.S. wholesale baker Hostess Brands Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Manhattan on Wednesday, just months after emerging from a similar process last year, after failing to reach an agreement with workers on pension and health benefits.

The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic measure of how near the human species is to self-destruction, probably as a result of nuclear weapons programs or climate change, was adjusted, on Jan. 9, to five minutes to midnight - or doomsday!

Gold hit a four-week high and broke above a key resistance on Wednesday, defying a stronger dollar, as the festering euro zone debt crisis lured investors to its safety and signs of strong demand from the world's top two consumers also supported.

Alaska Snow Storm: Blizzards Hit Town, Highway; Shovel Shortage Worsens [PHOTOS, VIDEO]

Filmmakers Woody Allen, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, Alexander Payne and France's Michel Hazanavicius were nominated for Directors Guild film awards Monday -- a honor that is often a key indicator of Oscar success.

The New York state's financial regulator is probing several large banks, including Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc, on whether they overcharged customers on force-place insurance, a source familiar with the matter said.

If the first week in January 2012 tells us anything about the investment year ahead, it's to be skeptical about black and white thinking.

The Doomsday Clock, a clock face used as a symbol of imminent apocalypse, has been moved one minute closer to midnight because of inadequate progress on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and continuing inaction on climate change.

Las Vegas -- The Jersey Shore's Snooki showed off her new 98-pound frame at the 2012 International CES on Tuesday afternoon.

Last week U.S. lawmakers had asked the State Department to investigate whether Huawei Technologies Co. has violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. In an exclusive interview with IB Times, Behnam Dayanim, partner and co-chair of the Litigation and Regulatory Group at Axinn Veltrop and Harkrider LLP, has talked about the broader implications of this probe.