Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

TOKYO - Sony is slashing 8,000 jobs, or 4 percent of its global work force, aiming to cut costs by $1.1 billion a year as an economic downturn and a stronger yen batter profits at the Japanese electronics maker.

ATHENS, Greece - Hundreds of teenage protesters pelted police with rocks and scuffled with officers in front of Parliament Tuesday before the funeral of a 15-year-old boy whose shooting by police set off three days of rioting across Greece.

SAN FRANCISCO - Some same-sex marriage supporters are urging people to "call in gay" Wednesday to show how much the country relies on gays and lesbians, but others question whether it's wise to encourage skipping work given the nation's economic distress.

SAN FRANCISCO - MySpace.com is teaming up with Internet search leader Google Inc. in a campaign to extend MySpace's reach and counter the expansion of their common rival Facebook Inc.

LAS VEGAS - The only big money that changed hands during the first day at the winter meetings was in the sprawling casino. No teams made gambles on players as club officials and executives settled into the Bellagio Hotel & Casino. There was just one trade, with the Detroit Tigers acquiring catcher Gerald Laird from the Rangers in a deal that sent right-handed pitching prospects Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo to Texas.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The fate of the U.S. auto industry and millions of jobs are on the line as major players work out details on Tuesday of a plan to extend emergency loans to the Big Three automakers in exchange for tougher oversight.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp said it will cut 16,000 jobs, curb investment and pull out of businesses to save $1.1 billion a year as the financial crisis ravages demand for its electronics products.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Documents show that top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were warned years ago that the firms were offering mortgages that could pose a long-term danger to the companies, borrowers and the industry, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

(Reuters) - Federal regulators are preparing a rescue plan to shore up the finances of some large credit unions, using billions of dollars in new government borrowings, the Wall Street Journal reported.

HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) - Japan sank further into recession in the third quarter and Europe produced horrific economic indicators that showed a global downturn is deepening.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Hundreds of protestors clashed with police outside Greece's parliament on Tuesday and socialist opposition leader George Papandreou called for elections to end four days of riots.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has arrested militants following several raids to show its intent to hunt down anyone who was behind the attack on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed at least 171 people, President Asif Ali Zardari said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military in Iraq is not obliged to obey an Iraqi court order to release a freelance photographer working for Reuters news agency and will hold him into 2009, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

ATHENS (AFP) - Police and students clashed outside the Greek parliament Tuesday despite an appeal for calm by the president for the funeral of the 15-year-old boy whose killing by police set off nationwide riots.

ROME (AFP) - Some 40 million more people have been plunged into chronic hunger this year because of the global food crisis, taking the estimated number to more than 960 million, the head of the UN food agency said on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan said on Tuesday that it will not hand over any suspects in the Mumbai bombings to India and warned that while it wanted peace with its neighbour, it was ready for war if New Delhi decided to attack.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia on Tuesday was burying its first Orthodox patriarch of post-Soviet times, in a epic funeral ceremony that ushers in a new era for a Church now closely tied to the Kremlin.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU governments and the European Parliament agreed Tuesday on a bill obliging Europe to use renewable sources for 20 percent of its energy needs by 2020, negotiators told AFP.

PARIS (AFP) - The OECD warned Tuesday that the US faced more economic pain before any recovery late next year as data showed Japan and Britain slipping even deeper into recession than previously feared.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrats in Congress proposed a 15-billion-dollar bailout package for the troubled US auto industry after granting concessions to the White House, which had yet to sign off on the compromise amid tough negotiations.