£29.5 billion

In concerns and situations that are important to me (£29.5 billion), I’ll try to be organised and sensible. For other things which don't matter (such as Il76, Shvilizade something or even the ongoing… Net neutrality debate), I won't be bothered at all. Of course this won't please a friends or partners who were hoping I'd take some affairs (sic) more seriously. I know my priorities and won't to be persuaded differently. How can I be not impulsive and to not say things that are normally unacceptable or offensive? (See my notes about Pfizer and Wyeth). Anything which I don't consider important either gets my cursory interest or no attention at all. Others who feel differently can make their own choices on how they allocate their time. No matter how educated and brilliant I can be, I keep be stupid enough to think for you with my heart.

Merck to buy Schering-Plough for £29.5 billion

Mon Mar 9, 2009 12:04pm GMT Merck & Co said on Monday that it would acquire Schering-Plough for $41.1 billion (29.5 billion pounds), uniting the makers of cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin in the second megadeal for Big Pharma in weeks. The two New Jersey-based drugmakers, which announced significant job cuts last fall, have been striving to become more efficient amid setbacks to Vytorin and Zetia, whose combined fourth-quarter sales slumped 26 percent. The transaction, which offers a premium of 34 percent for Schering-Plough shareholders based on Friday's closing price, will double the number of potential medicines Merck has in late-stage development, bringing the total to 18. It will also diversify Merck's portfolio of medicines to include cardiovascular, respiratory, oncology, neuroscience, infectious disease and immunology. Schering-Plough shares were up 18.8 percent at $20.95 before the market opened, while Merck fell 5.6 percent to $21.48. But the huge deal failed to spark any rally in the broader market. The Merck/Schering-Plough marriage follows on the heels of Pfizer's $68 billion purchase of Wyeth, another New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company. It finally consummates a deal that has been speculated upon for years, given the marketing partnerships and cost savings opportunities between Merck and Schering-Plough. Merck sees cost savings of about $3.5 billion annually beyond 2011 from the deal. The combined 2008 revenues of the two companies totalled $47 billion, and Merck believes it will maintain its current credit ratings.

2 Russians, 2 Ukrainians dead in Il-76 air crash in Uganda – embassy

14:11MOSCOW, March 9 (RIA Novosti) - Two Russians and two Ukrainians died in an Il-76 air crash near Uganda's capital Kampala, an advisor to Russia's ambassador to Uganda said on the phone Monday. "The aircraft crew comprised Russian nationals - the commander and a second pilot, as well as Ukrainian nationals - the flight engineer and the navigator. They all died," Ruslan Madiyev said. He said there were 11 people on board, including three high-ranking officers from Burundi. The Il-76 owned by the Aerolift airline with cargos for Somalia-based Ugandan peacekeepers fell down for unknown reasons into Lake Victoria and sunk soon after departing from Entebbe International Airport on Monday. Madiyev said Russian Ambassador Sergei Shishkin and military attache Alexei Yegorkin are in the airport finding out the details of the crash. A total of 3,500 servicemen from Uganda and Burundi making part of the African Union contingent are based in Somalia.

Georgian ex-ambassador to Russia beaten in resort 09.03.09 13:02  Georgia, Tbilisi, March 9 /Trend News / Georgian ex-Embassador to Russia Erosi Kitsmarishvili accused high-ranking Georgian Interior official Irakli Kodua's family of insulting holidaymakers at a ski resort this weekend. "I informed officials shortly after the incident, but there was no reaction," Kitsmarishvili's statement to the Public Prosecutor read. Kitsmarishvili called for the appropriate actions to be taken.  Kodua is an employee of the Special Operations Department. Earlier he received information compromising late businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili who was accused of preparing an armed coup in the country.

U.S. lobbyists angle for influence in Europe's Net neutrality debate

Sunday, March 8, 2009 BERLIN: As European lawmakers debate how to keep access to the Internet free and equal - so-called network neutrality - they are being bombarded, not unsurprisingly, by lobbyists. But the corporate envoys roaming the halls of Brussels, trying to make their case, more often than not do not represent the Continent's myriad telecommunications and Internet companies, but rather those from the United States. In the meantime, the lobbying focus has shifted temporarily to Belgium, where European lawmakers are closer to making a decision. Two committees are expected to vote on the legislation March 31, before a final vote by the full Parliament on April 22. The plan would also need to be approved by EU telecommunications ministers.

More than 30 U.S. companies like Pfizer, Microsoft, McDonald's, Philip Morris, Westinghouse and Kraft Foods employ lobbyists in Brussels, according to the European Parliament. But most of the time, lobbying by foreign entities tends to be discreet.

Not true, according to a response letter circulated among lawmakers by Yahoo; eBay; Skype, which is eBay's Internet phone unit; Google; and YouTube, which is owned by Google. The Internet companies offered lawmakers amendments that would give EU regulators the power to investigate and penalize operators for anticompetitive network management.

"Keeping the Internet open is about allowing innovation and ensuring an ecosystem where new ideas can succeed and new business models can flourish on their own merits," the letter stated.