Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

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  Fed chief assessing economy's health AP - Wed Feb 27, 4:08 AM ET

  WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is giving Congress a fresh assessment of the country's economic health, which has been pummeled by a housing bust, a credit crunch and soaring energy prices.

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  Oil hits record $102 as dollar tumbles AP - 1 hour, 2 minutes ago

  SINGAPORE - Oil prices broke through a new intraday high of $102 a barrel Wednesday as a slide in the U.S. dollar prompted investors to pump more money into energy futures as a hedge against inflation.

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  Michael Jackson's Neverland auction set AP - 1 hour, 3 minutes ago

  LOS ANGELES - Want Michael Jackson's merry-go-round? How about his locomotive, or his curtains? Those items and more could hit the auction block next month as the pop star's Neverland Ranch will be put up for public sale unless he pays the more than $24 million he still owes on the property, according to a Tuesday court filing.

• Ore. mayor poses in underwear, loses job AP - 1 hour, 3 minutes ago

  ARLINGTON, Ore. - The mayor of an Oregon town who once stripped to her underwear and posed on a fire truck has been stripped of her office.

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  Sports execs to talk steroids in D.C. AP - 46 minutes ago

  WASHINGTON - The commissioners of the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, the union leaders for those leagues, and other sports officials head to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a House subcommittee hearing on steroids.

• Obama and Clinton clash in testy debate Reuters - Wed Feb 27, 12:35 AM ET

  CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton clashed sharply in a high-stakes one-on-one debate on Tuesday, accusing each other of falsely portraying their stances on health care, trade and other issues.

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  EU fines Microsoft record $1.35 billion Reuters - 30 minutes ago

  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission fined Microsoft a record 899 million euros ($1.35 billion) on Wednesday for defying sanctions imposed on the software giant for antitrust violations, far exceeding the original penalty.

• Help hard to get for troubled home owners Reuters - 37 minutes ago

  DETROIT (Reuters) - As the housing crisis deepens, major lenders say they will help borrowers avoid foreclosure, but nonprofit groups and others say their actions are not living up to their promises.

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  Patched up U.S. embassy reopens in Belgrade Reuters - 26 minutes ago

  BELGRADE (Reuters) - The United States embassy in Belgrade reopened on Wednesday, its windows cracked and facade blackened from a fire that Serbs started last week in protest against U.S. support for Kosovo's independence.

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  Rice hints at movement on North Korea nuclear issue Reuters - 49 minutes ago

  TOKYO (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday hinted at progress toward ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions and left a senior aide in Beijing to discuss the matter with Chinese officials.

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  Kidnapped U.S. aid worker, Afghan driver feared dead Reuters - Wed Feb 27, 5:37 AM ET

  KABUL (Reuters) - An American woman aid worker and her local driver who were abducted in Afghanistan may have been killed, foreign groups said.

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  New York Phil gets muted reaction in North Korea media Reuters - Wed Feb 27, 3:51 AM ET

  PYONGYANG (Reuters) - The unprecedented concert of the New York Philharmonic made the world's front pages on Wednesday, but in North Korea merited only brief mention in the main communist daily.

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  Musharraf's rivals vow to banish army from politics Reuters - 1 hour, 32 minutes ago

  ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani opposition parties which inflicted a crushing defeat on President Pervez Musharraf's allies in last week's election vowed on Wednesday to banish the military from politics.

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  Turkey steps up Iraq onslaught as US calls for quick pull-out AFP - 1 hour, 4 minutes ago

  ANKARA (AFP) - Turkish forces stepped up their offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, as the United States warned Wednesday that the incursion should not last more than "a week or two."

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  Obama parries Clinton offensive at crunch debate AFP - 1 hour, 59 minutes ago

  CLEVELAND, Ohio, Feb 27, 2008 (AFP) - Democrat Hillary Clinton threw some sharp jabs at White House rival Barack Obama in their final debate before crucial primaries, but Obama parried the blows to score some hits of his own.

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  EU hits Microsoft with record 899 million euro antitrust fine AFP - 1 hour, 42 minutes ago

  BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU competition regulators dealt a new blow to Microsoft on Wednesday, fining the US software giant a record 899 million euros for defying a landmark 2004 antitrust ruling.

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  Kenyan opposition calls off protests AFP - 1 hour, 15 minutes ago

  NAIROBI (AFP) - Kenya's opposition leader on Wednesday called off planned protests after mediator Kofi Annan pushed the country's feuding leaders to resolve deadlocked political crisis talks.

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  Thai officials say Thaksin to return from exile Thursday AFP - Wed Feb 27, 4:47 AM ET

  BANGKOK (AFP) - Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra plans to return to Thailand on Thursday for the first time since the military toppled his government in a bloodless coup 17 months ago, officials said.

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  Dollar dives to record euro low; oil and gold score record highs AFP - 1 hour, 27 minutes ago

  LONDON (AFP) - The dollar plunged Wednesday to another record euro low thanks to a stream of negative US data, while the tumbling greenback helped crude oil and gold prices hit historic highs, analysts said.

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  Crude oil prices set record high 102.08 dollars per barrel AFP - 27 minutes ago

  LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices rocketed Wednesday to a record high above 102 dollars, with speculative trade energised by the sliding US dollar and jitters before OPEC's crude production meeting next week, analysts said.

Most Popular Top Stories

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  Bargain hunters may toss a lifeline to housing Reuters - Mon Feb 25, 8:11 AM ET

  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The distressed housing market should get a lift this spring as bargain prices lure prospective buyers out of hibernation, but tighter lending means no one should expect the boom days to return any time soon.

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  Killer robots pose latest militant threat: expert Reuters - Tue Feb 26, 7:33 PM ET

  LONDON (Reuters) - Killer robots could become the weapon of choice for militants, a British expert said on Wednesday.

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  Clinton battling to hold Ohio as primary nears Reuters - Tue Feb 26, 10:55 AM ET

  CINCINNATI, Ohio (Reuters) - With a week to go before Ohio's pivotal nominating contest, Hillary Clinton was fighting to hold onto a dwindling lead as rival Barack Obama worked to undercut her support, particularly among working class voters.

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  McCain retracts comment he could lose on Iraq Reuters - Mon Feb 25, 9:15 PM ET

  CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner John McCain on Monday retracted his earlier statement he would lose the November election if he did not convince Americans they were winning the war in Iraq.

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  Army aims to cut Iraq tours in summer: general Reuters - Tue Feb 26, 3:17 PM ET

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army aims to cut the length of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan this summer, its top general said on Tuesday, as commanders seek to reduce severe war strains on the force.