Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

NEW YORK - Stock futures are lower Monday as a $41 billion deal between drugmakers Merck and Schering-Plough does little to jolt investors out of their pessimistic mood.

SEATTLE - A single check box deep in the guts of the next version of Windows is giving Microsoft Corp. watchers a peek at how the software maker plans to keep European antitrust regulators from marring a crucial software launch.

SILVER SPRING, Md. - Montgomery County police say 16 people were arrested after a fight broke out during a concert held to promote nonviolence and to remember a Silver Spring teen killed last year.

LOS ANGELES - "Watchmen" clocked in with $55.7 million in ticket sales to claim the top spot at the box office, making director Zack Snyder's comic book adaptation about a team of twisted superheros the biggest opening of 2009 so far.

TAMPA, Fla. - At last, Alex Rodriguez has a plan for his hip injury. The New York Yankees slugger is scheduled for surgery Monday that will sideline him for six to nine weeks — and that's not all. He'll need a second operation after the season, assuming he can play all the way through.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc said on Monday that it would acquire Schering-Plough Corp for $41.1 billion, uniting the makers of cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin in the second megadeal for Big Pharma in weeks.

(Reuters) - American International Group Inc had warned of turmoil around the globe if the government allowed the insurer to fail when it appealed to U.S. regulators for its latest rescue, Bloomberg said citing an AIG presentation dated February 26.

BRUSSELS/TOKYO (Reuters) - The European Union is set to back an International Monetary Fund call for $500 billion to fight the global financial crisis, a document showed on Monday as Japan posted its first current account deficit in 13 years.

KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's proposal to reach out to moderate Taliban will fail to end the Afghan insurgency as it is inflexible Taliban leaders who are orchestrating the war, not moderates, analysts said.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has test-fired a new air-to-surface missile, Iranian media reported Sunday, in the Islamic Republic's latest display of its military capability.

YEONPYEONG, South Korea (Reuters) - North Korea on Monday said it had put its armed forces on full combat readiness in response to the start of annual military exercises by U.S. and South Korean troops, raising tension on the divided peninsula.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett said on Monday the U.S. economy had "fallen off a cliff" but would eventually recover, although a rebound could kindle inflation worse than that experienced in the late 1970s.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Top executives of leading U.S., Japanese and European banks will meet in London this month to discuss regulation and other issues key to the future of the financial system, two industry sources said.

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea put its military on full combat alert as US and South Korean troops began a major joint exercise on Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama will on Monday wipe out another contentious aspect of his predecessor George W. Bush's legacy by removing curbs on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

BELFAST (AFP) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday visited a Northern Ireland army barracks where the first soldiers to be killed in 12 years were gunned down, as leaders tried to gauge the threat to peace.

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - A man dubbed the "Swiss Gigolo" pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of cheating and blackmailing a string of super-rich lovers, including Germany's richest woman, out of millions of euros.

HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai sought to dispel speculation Monday over the cause of the car crash that killed his wife, saying her death was a tragic accident.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US pharmaceutical giants Merck and Schering-Plough announced their merger early Monday in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at 41.1 billion dollars.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan on Monday announced a record current account deficit, the first such shortfall in 13 years, as the global downturn chokes exports and sends the economy sliding deeper into recession.