New York  - Major US stock indices closed lower Monday, after the World Bank said it expects the global economy to shrink this year and billionaire Warren Buffett offered another dire assessment about the state of the US economy.

New York  - The United Nations envoy for Afghanistan was in Tehran on Monday to discuss economic cooperation among Central Asian nations and between Iran and Afghanistan, the UN said.

Kai Eide, the top UN representative in Afghanistan, addressed a high-level meeting in Tehran of the 10-nation Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which is an inter-governmental group promoting mutual economic, technical and cultural support in Central Asia.

New York  - Drug maker Merck & Co will merge with rival Schering-Plough Corp in a deal valued at 41.1 billion dollars, the companies announced Monday.

The deal would double the number of medicines under the final stages of development by Merck to 18 and create the second-largest US pharmaceutical firm.

Under the agreement, Schering-Plough shareholders will receive 0.6 shares of Merck and 10.50 dollars for each share, amounting to a total of 23.61 dollars per share.

New York, Mar 9 : American lawyer and former politician Eliot Spitzer has landed in another scandal after a call girl revealed that he got aggressive during their sex role play and almost choked her. Spitzer, 49, had resigned from his post as Governor a year ago after his sexual romp with call girl Ashley Dupre was revealed.

Now a high-end escort named Annie has spoken out about the date that "went a little too far" with the ex-Governor.

New York, Mar 8 : American porn star Sasha Grey has showed that she will not take any criticism, on her sex scenes, laying down.

Grey, 20, received feedback from the Daily Nexus, a student newspaper of the University of California at Santa Barbara, which called her rough sex scenes in porn movies "disturbingly forced".

"Young Sasha''s got some issues," the New York Post quoted the paper as having added.

But the young porn actress, who also appears in Steven Soderbergh''s "The Girlfriend Experience," shot back with an answer of her own.

New York, Mar 8 : American actor Dustin Hoffman has revealed that his one dream before life quits on him is to become a good jazz player.

Hoffman, 71, has been quietly but feverishly studying jazz piano, and he is very serious about it.

"I promised myself that before I kick the bucket, I''d become a decent jazz player," the New York Post quoted him as telling the new issue of Flaunt.

"The guy I''m practicing with says he''ll have me playing in a year.