Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

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  Petraeus cites violence decline in Iraq AP - 2 hours, 4 minutes ago

  BAGHDAD - Citing a 60 percent decline in violence in Iraq over the last six months, Gen. David Petraeus said Thursday that maintaining security is easier than establishing it and gives him more flexibility in deploying forces.

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  Shuttle set to launch with Europe lab AP - 1 hour, 3 minutes ago

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Near-perfect weather was forecast over Florida for Thursday afternoon, giving NASA confidence that shuttle Atlantis can continue its streak of on-time takeoffs. NASA began fueling the space shuttle at daybreak.

• Swift's best birthday gift? A Grammy nod AP - 22 minutes ago

  LOS ANGELES - Things couldn't get much better for country star Taylor Swift.

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  Sutherland starts his 48-day jail term AP - 1 hour, 5 minutes ago

  LOS ANGELES - Kiefer Sutherland was sentenced Wednesday to 48 days in jail for racking up a second drunken-driving arrest in three years and immediately reported to a city lockup. The star of the Fox TV drama "24" was being processed at the Glendale city jail, said Officer John Balian.

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  Andruw Jones, LA have preliminary deal AP - 1 hour, 6 minutes ago

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Gold Glove center fielder Andruw Jones is set to give the Los Angeles Dodgers the dangerous slugger they sorely need. Now, they hope he bounces back from a miserable season. Jones and the Dodgers reached a preliminary agreement on a $36.2 million, two-year contract late Wednesday as action picked up on the final night of the winter meetings.

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  Nine dead in Nebraska mall shooting Reuters - Thu Dec 6, 12:05 AM ET

  OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) - A 19-year-old man killed eight people and then himself with an assault rifle at a busy mall in Omaha on Wednesday, sending terrified workers and Christmas shoppers scrambling for cover.

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  U.S. commander says al Qaeda still dangerous foe Reuters - 22 minutes ago

  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sunni Islamist al Qaeda militants remain a dangerous foe in Iraq despite a decline in violence, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said on Thursday, a day after the deadliest bombing in Baghdad since September.

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  Bush set to unveil mortgage relief plan Reuters - 19 minutes ago

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush is expected to unveil a plan on Thursday to prevent a wave of home loan foreclosures that has threatened to knock the U.S. economy into recession and rattled investors worldwide.

• One killed in Paris parcel bomb explosion: report Reuters - 26 minutes ago

  PARIS (Reuters) - One person was killed when a booby-trapped package exploded on Thursday in a central Parisian building where French President Nicolas Sarkozy's old law firm is located, a witness told French radio.

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  U.N. hails U.S. Senate climate steps Reuters - Thu Dec 6, 5:16 AM ET

  NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - The United Nations praised on Thursday a step by a U.S. Senate committee to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the world's top carbon emitter even as Washington reaffirmed opposition to caps.

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  Protests as Pakistan opposition argue boycott terms Reuters - 34 minutes ago

  ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani lawyers and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif took to the streets on Thursday to demand President Pervez Musharraf reinstate sacked judges.

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  Gas blast at China coal mine, 96 feared dead: Xinhua Reuters - 1 hour, 40 minutes ago

  BEIJING (Reuters) - Ninety-six Chinese miners were feared dead after a coal mine gas blast in the northern province of Shanxi on Thursday, Xinhua news agency said, the latest in a grim series of colliery disasters.

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  Countdown to zero: mediators prepare Kosovo report Reuters - 59 minutes ago

  PRISTINA, Serbia (Reuters) - A Kosovo TV station has for months displayed a number at the top of screens, counting down the days until mediators report to the United Nations on failed talks on the breakaway Serbian province's future.

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  Teen kills eight in US mall rampage AFP - Thu Dec 6, 3:54 AM ET

  OMAHA, Nebraska (AFP) - A teenager who wanted to die "famous" shot dead eight Christmas shoppers with an assault rifle at an Omaha shopping mall before killing himself.

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  NKorean nuclear declaration must be credible: US envoy AFP - Thu Dec 6, 3:45 AM ET

  BEIJING (AFP) - US envoy Christopher Hill said Thursday that North Korea must make credible declarations about all its nuclear programmes, as doubts emerged over whether a year-end deadline would be met.

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  One dead in parcel bomb explosion in Paris AFP - 7 minutes ago

  PARIS (AFP) - A parcel bomb explosion in central Paris killed a legal secretary and injured five others, investigators said Thursday.

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  Top US general says no 'victory dances' yet in Iraq AFP - 55 minutes ago

  BAGHDAD (AFP) - The top American general in Iraq, David Petraeus, expressed satisfaction on Thursday at the progress made in Iraq but said the military was still far from any victory dance.

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  Australian PM distances himself from big emissions cuts by 2020 AFP - Thu Dec 6, 3:07 AM ET

  BRISBANE, Australia (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Thursday denied his government would support deep carbon emission cuts for developing nations by 2020 aimed at curbing global warming.

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  ECB holds key interest rate steady at 4.00 percent AFP - 48 minutes ago

  FRANKFURT (AFP) - The European Central Bank held its main interest rate steady as expected on Thursday amid rising inflation and slowing economic growth.

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  Bank of England cuts interest rates for first time in two years AFP - 18 minutes ago

  LONDON (AFP) - The Bank of England cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point to 5.50 percent on Thursday, the first reduction in more than two years, and warned of slowing growth due to world financial turmoil.

Most Popular Top Stories

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  Episcopal Church faces possible major defection Reuters - Wed Dec 5, 1:35 PM ET

  CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Episcopal Church faces major tumult this week when an entire California diocese with more than 9,000 members decides whether to secede in an unprecedented protest over gay issues.

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  Mesopotamian sculpture sells for record 57 million dollars AFP - Wed Dec 5, 8:36 PM ET

  NEW YORK (AFP) - A tiny and extremely rare 5,000-year-old white limestone sculpture from ancient Mesopotamia sold for 57.2 million dollars in New York on Wednesday, smashing records for both sculpture and antiquities.

• U.S. warns about bed-wetting drug after two deaths Reuters - Tue Dec 4, 4:00 PM ET

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials alerted the public on Tuesday about the deaths of two patients who were treated with a prescription drug to control bed-wetting.

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  Bush to outline 5-year rate freeze plan: sources Reuters - Wed Dec 5, 3:02 PM ET

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush is expected to outline on Thursday a plan to freeze mortgage rates for five years for many U.S. homeowners facing sharp increases in their monthly payments, industry sources said on Wednesday.

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  Adroit online, Ron Paul backers hit the streets of N.H. The Christian Science Monitor - Tue Dec 4, 3:00 AM ET

  Manchester, N.H. - They're coming from Miami and Seattle, from the "big sky" state of Montana, and from close to home here in New Hampshire. They're coming to help political iconoclast Ron Paul get elected president – many as campaign first-timers who, characteristically independent, may not even feel obliged to tell the Paul camp what exactly they're planning to do on the candidate's behalf.