Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistani troops killed three militants in an operation to secure the major supply route to U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday.

NEW YORK - Investigators may get a clue Wednesday into how much money might be available for victims in the Bernard Madoff scandal.

NEW YORK - Wall Street is edging higher following a government report showing claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week.

LOS ANGELES - "SpongeBob SquarePants" may be getting squeezed off of Time Warner Cable.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Charles Barkley was arrested on suspicion of drinking and driving early Wednesday morning.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Many investors said good riddance on Wednesday to one of the worst years on record and prayed that government rescue plans will pull the global economy out of its fierce tailspin later in the new year.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday said the time was not right for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stepped up preparations for a possible ground offensive after Hamas's long-range rockets hit another major population center.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits slumped 94,000 last week, government data on Wednesday showed, but seasonal factors were likely behind this unexpectedly large decline with the labor market remaining very soft.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich defied fellow Democrats by appointing a successor on Tuesday to fill Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat -- the seat the governor is charged with trying to sell to the highest bidder.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani investigators have unearthed substantive links between the gunmen who attacked Mumbai in November and a banned Pakistani Islamist militant group, the Wall Street Journal reported.

(Reuters) - Federal prosecutors investigating Bernard Madoff's $50 billion fraud are starting to look into the role played by offshore fund operations, the New York Times reported.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Against a backdrop of economic gloom and the frail health of former leader Fidel Castro, Cuba will mark on Thursday the 50th anniversary of the revolution that turned the island into a communist state and Cold War hot spot at the doorstep of the United States.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Online sales for the holiday period up to December 23 fell 3 percent from the same period last year, marking the first decline in online spending since comScore Inc started tracking online sales in 2001.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - The Israeli security cabinet has rejected international proposals for a truce in its offensive on Hamas in Gaza, a senior government official told AFP on Wednesday.

MADRID (AFP) - A car bomb exploded outside the headquarters of the Basque broadcasting network in the city of Bilbao Wednesday, minutes after the area was evacuated following a warning call in the name of the separatist group ETA, police said.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Gas giant Gazprom warned Wednesday that Russian gas supply to western Europe was in "danger" of disruption and accused Ukraine of blackmail, as another New Year's Eve energy dispute went down to the wire.

DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh ex-premier Sheikh Hasina Wajed hailed Wednesday her landslide election victory as a vote against "misrule" and urged her bitter rival, who has alleged rampant vote-rigging, to accept the result.

SYDNEY (AFP) - A record crowd of up to 1.5 million people kicked off global New Year celebrations with a fireworks extravaganza over Sydney's iconic harbour and Opera House Thursday.

LONDON (AFP) - World stocks on Wednesday brought down the curtain on a miserable year with modest gains but 2008 will be remembered for key markets shedding half their worth as the global economy endured a disastrous slowdown.

MIAMI, Florida (AFP) - Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat cooled off Cleveland, downing the Cavaliers 104-95 in a National Basketball Association contest.