Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

WASHINGTON - No strollers near the U.S. Capitol. No tents on the National Mall. None of that Silly String on the parade route.

NEW YORK - One of the nation's leading educational philanthropies announced that it would close in the coming months, brought down by the alleged financial fraud orchestrated by Bernard Madoff.

SEATTLE - Using a trained dog to sniff for poop and petri dishes attached to long poles, scientists are analyzing killer whales' scat and breath samples in the hopes of solving the mystery of Puget Sound's dwindling orca population.

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles police are investigating a burglary at Paris Hilton's home they say left her bedroom ransacked and about $2 million in jewelry missing.

Dock Ellis, who infamously claimed he pitched a no-hitter for Pittsburgh under the influence of LSD and later fiercely spoke out against drug and alcohol addiction, died Friday. He was 63.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush bailed out automakers on Friday with $17.4 billion in emergency loans as he sought to stave off a collapse that would have cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Retailers prepared to open their doors early on Saturday in a final, frenzied push to save holiday sales, with the added disruption of a winter storm hitting the country's Midwest and Northeast.

TOKYO/LONDON (Reuters) - Japan approved on Saturday an extra 4.79 trillion yen ($54 billion) budget to confront a financial crisis that has toppled banks, wrecked world growth and now played a part in the demise of Belgium's government.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama underscored on Saturday his intent to push initiatives on climate change by naming John Holdren, an energy and climate specialist, as the new White House science adviser.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament voted on Saturday to reject a draft law that allows troops from Britain, Australia and several other countries to remain beyond the end of this year, Iraqi parliamentarians said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A blast of snow and freezing rain knocked out power, threatened wheat crops and could ruin the last shopping weekend before Christmas as a storm moved from the U.S. upper Midwest to the country's Northeast on Friday.

BINDURA, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe is expected to get the green light from his ZANU-PF party on Saturday to form a government in the next week with or without the opposition, party officials said.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said on Friday he had done nothing wrong and would not resign in the wake of charges he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US president-elect Barack Obama on Saturday signaled climate change and genetic research will be among his top priorities when he takes office as he named four key members of his administration.

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli forces killed one Palestinian and wounded three others in an air raid on the Gaza Strip on Saturday, a day after the end of a shaky six-month truce, medical sources and witnesses said.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq on Saturday freed 24 security personnel arrested this week on suspicion of aiding terrorism, amid claims their detention was orchestrated by supporters of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian warship has rescued a French yachtsman badly injured in the remote Southern Ocean during a solo round-the-world race, race organisers said on Saturday.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned that any attempt to destabilize Russia would be firmly dealt with as the country marked its national day on Saturday by honouring the security services.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US automakers mulled painful reforms on Saturday after President George W. Bush unveiled a 13.4 billion dollar rescue loan for the struggling industry, but demanded tough reforms in return in a move aimed at staving off a new economic calamity.

TOKYO (AFP) - The Japanese cabinet has approved a 4.8 trillion yen (54 billion dollar) second extra budget to finance a massive stimulus package, according to government officials.