Business

Thanks to a steep drop in crude-oil prices, gas costs have fallen below $3 a gallon in parts of Michigan, Missouri and Texas, and are expected to decline in many other states as well. Call it an unexpected bright spot in the global economic crisis. Now that drivers have cut back on trips, shippers are moving fewer goods, and vacationers are staying closer to home, the demand for gasoline, diesel a

Claudia Rendon of Pennsylvania has had a tough year. First, her mother and uncle died, then her father was diagnosed with leukemia. As if that wasn’t enough, she later discovered her son, Alex, was in need of a kidney transplant. Doctors found she was a suitable donor match, so Rendon took time off work to give Alex the kidney he needed. But when she tried to return to her job several weeks later,

Microsoft is set to shell out big bucks - a whopping $8.5 billion - to buy Skype Global, the NY Times is reporting. According to the report, the deal will allow Microsoft to leverage Skype, which last year had 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations, on platforms including Xbox 360, Kinect and Outlook. "Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the

The interior decor at your local Golden Arches leaves a lot to be desired, but that won't be the case for much longer. The fast food giant plans to drop roughly $1 billion to re-decorate its restaurants, replacing red-and-yellow plastic with faux-leather and harsh overhead lighting with something that creates more ambiance.