Storm dumps snow on Midwest, bitter cold to follow DES MOINES, Iowa - A gigantic storm dumped more than a foot of snow across much of the Midwest and New England as it marched eastward Wednesday, creating blizzard conditions, burying cars under huge drifts and providing ammunition for a massive campus snowball fight in Wisconsin. Merck buying Schering-Plough in a $41.1B deal TRENTON, N.J. - Merck & Co. is buying Schering-Plough Corp. for $41.1 billion in a deal that gives Merck key new businesses, access to a promising pipeline of new products and the chance to further cut costs, including eliminating about 16,000 jobs. Mass layoffs of 50 or more workers surge in 2008 WASHINGTON - The number of layoffs involving 50 or more workers jumped by one-third last year, and the pace of large job cuts appears to have quickened in the first month of 2009.
|