Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

NEW YORK - It's the earnings, stupid. Optimism that the fortunes of financial companies like Citigroup were improving sparked a four-week rally beginning March 10 that drove the Standard & Poor's 500 index up 25 percent.

PARKLAND, Fla. - At the height of the U.S. housing boom, when building materials were in short supply, American construction companies used millions of pounds of Chinese-made drywall because it was abundant and cheap.

WASHINGTON - Marian Anderson couldn't sing at Constitution Hall or even a local high school because of the color of her skin. So the opera singer performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in April 1939 and sang "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."

SALT LAKE CITY - University of Utah officials say a computer virus has infected more than 700 campus computers, including those at the school's three hospitals.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Kenny Perry took one last look at the leaderboard behind the 18th green at Augusta National. This was no time to relish his position at the top with Angel Cabrera, rather to consider what lies ahead. "You will definitely see something on the back nine," Perry said Saturday. "That's where it's all going to happen." Now this is the Masters everyone wanted to see.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will try to establish a cooperative new relationship with Latin America this week, but U.S. resistance to change on highly symbolic issues like Cuba and immigration could undercut the effort, analysts said.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - U.S. warships tracked a boatload of gunmen holding a U.S. ship's captain hostage off the Somali coast on Sunday and unidentified military helicopters flew over the pirate lair of Haradheere.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president expressed openness for talks with the United States but again dismissed demands to halt nuclear work the West fears is aimed at making bombs, in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency on Sunday to quell political unrest and vowed to take tough action against protesters after they forced cancellation of an Asia summit.

SEOUL (Reuters) - Six world powers have agreed to a draft U.N. Security Council statement condemning North Korea's rocket launch but analysts in Asia said on Sunday its call for tougher sanctions against Pyongyang may be symbolic at best.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday telephoned Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since he became Israel's prime minister and said they should both advance peace efforts, Israeli officials said.

L'AQUILA, Italy (Reuters) - Thousands of people made homeless by Italy's deadliest earthquake in 30 years celebrated a somber Easter on Sunday, huddling for mass at makeshift chapels set up in tent cities and emergency shelters.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS will announce more job cuts soon, with staff in Switzerland and departments like marketing to be hit hard, newspapers reported on Sunday.

BANGKOK (AFP) - Tanks and armoured vehicles rumbled across Bangkok on Sunday as Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva cracked down on protesters leading the most serious challenge yet to his four-month rule.

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday comforted Italians mourning the nearly 300 dead from last week's earthquake in central Abruzzo in an Easter address to tens of thousands in St Peter's Square.

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Somali elders on Sunday launched a new bid to free an American held hostage for days on a lifeboat after his pirate captors fired on a US navy vessel and defied attempts to have them arrested.

LIMA (AFP) - Leftist rebels in Peru have staged one of their deadliest attacks in years, killing 13 soldiers in an ambush of a military patrol in the country's remote southeast.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Six major powers have agreed a draft statement calling for new sanctions against North Korea over its long-range rocket launch that is expected to be adopted by the full UN Security Council Monday, diplomats said.

TOKYO (AFP) - Toyota Motor, the world's biggest automaker, is expected to suffer a second consecutive annual loss because of the global economic slump and a stronger yen, Japan's Nikkei daily reported.

PARIS (AFP) - Steel is on edge and the global industry is cutting back hard, hanging on for either a budget blast from China, new credit for vast Middle Eastern building schemes or resurrection of the US auto industry.