ABC's Oscars TV ratings on Sunday dropped 10% from a year ago.

Berkshire Hathaway adds to possible successors to Warren Buffett.

Carlyle Group buys Japanese auto-parts firm. 

Charlie Sheen circus continues with part 2 of Today Show interview.

CNN is taking Piers Morgan on a roller-coaster ride. 

Dior loses as Natalie Portman severs ties with brand following anti-Semitic remarks by John Galliano.Continue reading...

Grocers on both sides of the Atlantic are stepping up their price wars in the face of rising food costs.

Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, today launched a 200 million-pound ($324 million) campaign to let consumers know that it’s cutting the price of 1,000 everyday items. Shoppers who discover the goods at a cheaper rate at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Asda stores will get vouchers equal to twice the difference.Continue reading...

Royal Wedding fever is heating up, and not just in the UK. Expect the hype over the Super Bowl of weddings to intensify right on up to and through the actual ceremony uniting Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29. The question for all sorts of brands is whether the nuptials will bring with them a cascade of benefits at retail.Continue reading...

Anglo American and Lafarge to form $2.8 billion UK venture.

Apple draws scrutiny from regulators over subscription rules and gets closer to a cheaper iPhone.

CBS gets heat for allegedly sitting on the Lara Logan story.

Campbell Soup lowers outlook.

Citadel Broadcasting ponders selling itself to smaller rival Cumulus.

Daimler unveils BharatBenz brand for India.

Disney head Bob Iger outlines vision for TV's future, while studio arm plots counter offensive against DVD industry woes.

Egypt's new military rulers launch Facebook page, attract 75,000 fans in 24 hours.Continue reading...

GM sells more vehicles in China than in the US for the first time. GM also plans to award a new Chevrolet Camaro convertible to the Super Bowl MVP. 

The Kings Speech leads with a dozen just-announced Oscar nominations.

Adobe survey finds readers engage with iPad ads.

Amazon steps up push into home-delivered groceries.

Apple plans to introduce a service that would let users pay with iPhones.

Bacardi rethinks web strategy.Continue reading...

AOL strikes web-programming deal.

AT&T sees $2.7B charge in the fourth quarter from pension change.

Borders tries to win back publishers' trust.

FedEx takes on UPS with long-range China jets.

Ford wins coveted brand-loyalty award.

Gap to open first store for web-incubated Athleta brand.Continue reading...

With every passing day it seems the future envisioned by the 2006 film Idiocracy becomes more possible. In the not-so-distant future of Idiocracy, retail brand Costco has come to service nearly every human need, even law school.

Brit retail giant Tesco, with its plethora of businesses, seems to be vying with Virgin for that one-brand-fits-all title in the UK. With banking, fashion, fuel, filmmaking, insurance, optical, pharmacy, residential communities and a record label under its vast retail umbrella, Tesco's latest move sees it expand into the pawn business.

In partnership with UK pawn brokerage Ramsdens, Tesco will be offering a gold exchange to pay cash for customers' gilded valuables. Could this be a genius brand leveraging move — or a brand embarrassment in the making?Continue reading...

Abbott recalls millions of diabetes testing strips.

Allied Irish Banks is recapitalized by Irish government.

Apple sees acceleration in sales of its set-top TV boxes.

Beiersdorf rationalizes brand and product portfolio.

Chrysler Financial sale may stoke U.S. auto-industry recovery.

Democrats (via Nancy Pelosi) tap director Steven Spielberg to rebrand party.Continue reading...