Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Under fire for opposing gay marriage, influential evangelical pastor Rick Warren said Saturday that he loves Muslims, people of other religions, Republicans and Democrats, and he also loves "gays and straights."

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania - The deposed president of the desert-encircled African nation of Mauritania was set free Sunday after 4 1/2 months under house arrest.

MUMBAI, India - A Hindu priest chanted prayers and a Muslim cleric read from the Quran as the Trident Hotel at the Oberoi complex reopened amid tight security Sunday, three weeks after it was targeted in a militant rampage.

LOS ANGELES - "This song is dedicated to Debbie Harry," flinty-eyed Lisa Hsuan purrs into a microphone on the red-lit stage of Hyperion Tavern. It's a cozy dive where patrons drink Coke and beer from bottles and a fading chandelier dangles overhead.

IRVING, Texas - Dallas Cowboys fans and Hall of Famers came early and stayed late, making sure they savored every bit of the 313th and last game at Texas Stadium. The Baltimore Ravens will remember it fondly, too.

HALABJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Hundreds of Iraqi minority Kurds demanded on Sunday the execution of a Saddam-era official known as 'Chemical Ali' for the killing of 5,000 Kurds in a 1988 gas attack.

KABUL (Reuters) - The United States is aiming to send 20,000 to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by the beginning of next summer, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Saturday.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada will follow the United States by providing C$4 billion ($3.3 billion) in emergency loans to the Canadian arms of Detroit's ailing automakers to keep them operating while they restructure their businesses, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Saturday.

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

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A multi-faith prayer ceremony marked the reopening on Sunday of Mumbai's Trident hotel, one of the sites of last month's terror attacks, with scanners and roses greeting guests as they made their way into the gleaming lobby.

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Japan, Germany and Canada pledged new measures on Saturday to confront a financial crisis that has toppled banks, endangered the global auto industry and now played a part in the demise of Belgium's government.

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.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Arthur Spiegelman, one of Reuters' finest writers and longest-serving correspondents, died at home in Los Angeles on Saturday. He was 68.

MUMBAI (AFP) - Two luxury hotels that were stormed by Islamist militants have re-opened in Mumbai, less than a month after devastating attacks that rocked India's financial and entertainment capital.

LONDON (AFP) - Britain marked the 20th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing Sunday, recalling the night a US-bound jet was blown up over a quiet Scottish town, killing 270 people.

ATHENS (AFP) - Clashes between youths and police continued into the night Sunday around Athens Polytechnic in the district where a teenager was killed by a policeman two weeks ago sparking nationwide unrest.

SYDNEY (AFP) - A gravely injured French sailor plucked from his yacht in the Southern Ocean by the Australian navy would have died at sea without help, the doctor first aboard his vessel said on Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President-elect Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress hope to have an economic stimulus package as big as 850 billion dollars ready when the White House changes hands on January 20, putting the economy at the top of the agenda.

NEW YORK, Dec 21, 2008 (AFP) - When Bernard Madoff allegedly admitted that his investment company was a "big lie," few realized just how big -- and even now, as reports of damage spread, no one is quite sure.

MOHALI, India (AFP) - Kevin Pietersen smashed his 15th Test century to lead England's fightback after India threatened to run away with the second Test here on Sunday.