Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government has increasingly relied on food-safety inspections performed by states, where budgets for inspections in many cases have remained stagnant and where overburdened officials are trained less than their federal counterparts and perform skimpier reviews, an Associated Press investigation has found.

NEW YORK - Amazon.com Inc. is releasing a slimmer version of its Kindle electronic reading device, but it still costs $359 — making it unclear how mainstream even an improved Kindle can be during a brutal recession.

NEW YORK - The champion chow chow came from China, the smooth-coated Dachshund arrived from South Africa. The best Saluki, well, he started out long ago in a test tube. Dogs take all sorts of paths to reach the Westminster Kennel Club event. On Tuesday night, we'll see which one leads to best in show.

HEALESVILLE, Australia - The koala moved gingerly on scorched paws, crossing the blackened landscape as the fire patrol passed.

NEW YORK - Alex Rodriguez's reputation is in tatters, his credibility shredded. Having admitted that he, too, cheated in baseball's steroids era, the New York Yankees star must go about rebuilding his image in the eyes of teammates, opponents and fans.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will lay out a rescue plan on Tuesday that will rely on public and private funds to take $500 billion of bad assets off banks' books, sources said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh from his first White House news conference, President Barack Obama hits the road on Tuesday to rally support for a huge economic stimulus plan among Americans hit by the deepening recession.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israelis voted on Tuesday in a tight election race, with right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu bidding to oust the centrist party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The recession-bound U.S. economy is still expected to resume growing in the second half of this year, but at an even slower pace than previously thought as consumers spend cautiously, the Blue Chip survey of 52 economists said on Tuesday.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police combed through a blackened landscape searching for clues in the hunt for possible arsonists on Tuesday as the death toll from the nation's worst bushfires looked likely to top 200.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president said on Tuesday Tehran was ready for talks with the United States but demanded a fundamental change in U.S. policy, in his most measured remarks to America since President Barack Obama took office.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Monday moved a step closer toward approving President Barack Obama's plan to jolt the U.S. economy out of recession with government spending and tax breaks, setting up a vote to pass the $838 billion emergency package on Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Federal judges on Monday tentatively ordered California to release tens of thousands of inmates, up to a third of all prisoners, in the next three years to stop dangerous overcrowding.

HEALESVILLE, Australia (AFP) - Firefighters are battling to save Australian communities threatened by searing waves of wildfire that have already claimed 181 lives, a toll that is expected to rise.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel voted Tuesday in a tight race between hawkish former premier Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, with the far-right set for major gains on the back of the Gaza war.

TEHRAN, (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Iranians chanting anti-US slogans took to streets of Tehran on Tuesday for a mass rally marking 30 years since the Islamic revolution toppled the US-backed shah.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - First-time mothers who give birth after the age of 35 are more than twice as likely as younger mums to suffer postpartum psychosis that could involve a danger to the newborn child, a Swedish study showed on Tuesday.

LONDON (AFP) - The former heads of banks bailed out by the British state amid the credit crunch gave unreserved apologies Tuesday for their conduct, and agreed changes to the bonus system were needed.

GENEVA (AFP) - Swiss bank UBS on Tuesday posted an annual loss of 17 billion dollars (13 billion euros) in 2008, the largest in Swiss corporate history, and announced 2,000 new job cuts.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate was set to vote Tuesday on a massive economic stimulus bill President Barack Obama has warned is needed to avoid economic "catastrophe."