Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A burst dike at a coal-fired power plant in eastern Tennessee spilled millions more cubic yards of ash than originally estimated, officials said Friday, and residents feared the muck coating their neighborhood was endangering the area's drinking water.

Two hours before the doors were set to open Friday morning, a Miami-area Wal-Mart parking lot was full of cars — and possibility. But in a Christmas shopping season in which many Americans were unwilling to spend, even a packed lot doesn't always translate into holiday cheer for stores.

CHICAGO - Rain and rapidly rising temperatures accompanied by thick fog threatened to cause flooding Saturday in the Midwest after days of Arctic cold, heavy snow and ice.

NEW YORK - With the wind of her family's legacy at her back, Caroline Kennedy says her quest for a Senate seat has been a long time in the making.

BEIJING - Chinese dairy companies that sold melamine-tainted milk are ready to pay compensation to the families of the nearly 300,000 children who became ill or died from drinking contaminated infant formula, a state news agency reported Saturday.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes and combat helicopters pounded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing at least 155 people in the bloodiest day for Palestinians in more than 20 years.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A man who dressed as Santa Claus to kill nine Christmas Eve party guests before taking his own life had been divorced just a week when he unleashed a hail of gunfire and flames that seemed intended for his former wife and in-laws, officials said on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retailers' sales fell as much as 4 percent during the holiday season, as the weak economy and bad weather created one of the worst holiday shopping climates in modern times, according to data released on Thursday by SpendingPulse.

GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of supporters of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto gathered in her home town on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of her assassination.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia has been approached by U.S. authorities about taking some of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba when it closes, a report said on Saturday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan will not act first in any face-off with India but is prepared to defend itself from aggression, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Saturday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese dairy firms that sold baby formula tainted with the industrial chemical melamine will pay compensation to the families of nearly 300,000 children who were killed or sickened as a result, state media reported.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Mexico suspended purchases from 30 U.S. meat plants due to sanitary issues, which sent U.S. cattle and hog prices sharply lower on Friday and prompted speculation the ban was retaliation against a U.S. labeling law.

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israel blitzed Hamas targets in Gaza on Saturday with a wave of air strikes that killed at least 155 people in the besieged enclave in retaliation for ongoing rocket fire, officials said.

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan again said on Saturday that it does not want a war with India, as the international community tried to defuse tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours after Islamabad moved troops to the border.

GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH, Pakistan (AFP) - More than 150,000 grieving Pakistanis thronged the tomb of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto on Saturday, mourning their beloved leader one year after her assassination.

CONAKRY (AFP) - Guinea's new military junta, buoyed by the backing of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, was to launch a charm offensive on Saturday to win international recognition after leading a bloodless coup.

BAGHDAD, Dec 27, 2008 (AFP) - A massive bomb tore through a crowd gathered near a bus station in a Shiite neighbourhood of Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 22 people and wounding 54, security officials said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Christmas retail sales have plunged in the United States, according to a poll, as Japan reported record cuts in production and more signs emerged that Spain has entered a recession.

BEIJING (AFP) - China's foreign debt has increased by more than 18 percent in the first nine months of the year, with short-term debt rising especially fast, according to state media report.