NEW YORK

Free agent cornerback and former Washington Redskin LaRon Landry reportedly signed a one-year, $4 million contract Monday with the New York Jets, and it's a move applauded by Jets fans on Twitter.

A military unit from Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's best and last friend, has arrived in Syria, Russian media reported Monday.

Privately held Zayo Group LLC agreed to buy rival AboveNet Inc, a provider of broadband connections to big companies and carriers, for about $2.2 billion to tap into the galloping demand for fast data services.

Although there is no known specific threat against New York City, the NYPD has taken the precaution of stepping up coverage of Jewish neighborhoods and institutions in the city, said a spokesman.

Asma al-Assad, the 38-year-old wife of Syrian regime leader Bashir al-Assad and a former investment banker, will likely join 114 other Syrians on a list of sanctioned individuals by the European Union, freezing her assets to preventing shopping, travel and other commerce in foreign countries; meanwhile, reports emerge of Assad's emails to friends where she boasts of the power of the Syrian regime, and that she is the real dictator.

Facebook will pay just a 1.1 percent fee to underwriters of its initial public offering, according to a source with knowledge of the company's plans, doling out a much slimmer than typical payout.

Oprah Winfrey, the talk show host and tastemaker maven, has sold her full-floor penthouse at 207 East 57th Street in Manhattan for $7.9 million.

Other than that, there are few surprises.

At the height of the boom, commercial banks and investors gorged themselves on real estate, building unsustainable towers of debt that finally collapsed in 2008. But with the housing market improving, they may soon return for second helpings.

Scholastic is publishing a biography of Jeremy Lin.

QuestBack, a fast-growing Norwegian developer of feedback software, is making a play for the U.S. market by opening an office and beefing up local personnel.

Beyonce and Blue Ivy Carter have been seen all over New York City together, but Beyonce has kept Blue's face shielded from the paparazzi.

Rosie O'Donnell's talk show on Oprah Winfrey's network, OWN, was cancelled on Friday citing low ratings, but rumors of backstage tension may have contributed to the decision as well.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) will chair a Congressional hearing next month to examine the effect closing of several refineries serving the East Coast has on gas prices.

Nearly 8,500 researchers petitioned to boycott Elsevier, the world's largest scientific journal publisher, over business practices they say exemplifies everything wrong with the current publication system. Timothy Gowers, a mathematician from Cambridge University, called for the boycott on his blog in January over Elsevier's high subscription price, high profit margins and subscription bundles.

Two days after New York police officers arrested dozens of protesters while breaking up an Occupy Wall Street rally, city council members joined Occupy members in Zuccotti Park to condemn the NYPD's heavy handed tactics.

NHL scoring has dropped in each season since the lockout thanks to a return of interference and obstruction.

The fall in gold prices has prompted one or more central banks to buy as much as four tonnes of bullion in recent weeks, according to an industry source and a Financial Times report on Friday.

Beyoncé will return to the stage for the first time since giving birth to her daughter Blue Ivy Carter. The 'Girls Run the World' singer will perform 3 concerts over Memorial Day weekend at the Ovation Hall at Revel Resorts in New Jersey.

Things seem to be going well for the couple.

Weeks of eye crossing preparation and practice goes in to each episode.