Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lankan air force jets and helicopters bombed a series of rebel targets in the north and northeast, the military said Saturday, as soldiers pressed deeper into Tamil Tiger territory a day after capturing the insurgents' de facto capital.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregon is among a growing number of states exploring ways to tax drivers based on the number of miles they drive instead of how much gas they use, even going so far as to install GPS monitoring devices in 300 vehicles. The idea first emerged nearly 10 years ago as Oregon lawmakers worried that fuel-efficient cars such as gas-electric hybrids could pose a threat to road upkeep, which is paid for largely with gasoline taxes.

FORT WORTH, Texas - A jail in northern Texas has been closed and its nearly 60 inmates transferred as authorities investigate what they call dangerous conditions for jailers and those behind bars — including cells that locked from the inside or contained recliners. Five inmates had already been moved from the Montague County jail to one in a nearby county this month after an FBI raid, said Jack McGaughey, district attorney for Montague, Clay and Archer counties.

BISMARCK, N.D. - Police get calls about drunken drivers all the time, but rarely do they come from the alleged offender. A 17-year-old girl in Bismarck called 911 on New Year's Eve "to report herself driving under the influence," police Lt. Randy Ziegler said. "I've never heard of such a thing happening, and neither has anyone here."

NEW ORLEANS - While confetti rained down from the Louisiana Superdome roof, jubilant Utah players and coaches held aloft the Sugar Bowl trophy and proclaimed themselves the No. 1 team in the land.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces bombed the Gaza Strip from the air and sea on Saturday, killing a senior Hamas commander, and desperate residents of the Palestinian enclave sheltered in their homes as the offensive entered a second week.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers will pack greater clout when the new Congress convenes on Tuesday but they face enormous expectations from voters as they grapple with two wars, a financial crisis and record budget deficits.

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Everyone caught up in the scandal of accused Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff wants to know where the money is.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday said the struggling U.S. economy could face more challenges and urged lawmakers to act quickly on recovery proposals even as some Republicans expressed concerns about plans for a huge stimulus package.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC on Friday received an initial $4 billion emergency loan from the U.S. government, two days after the government completed a parallel payout to its larger rival General Motors Corp.

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Governors of five U.S. states urged the federal government to provide $1 trillion in aid to the country's 50 states to help pay for education, welfare and infrastructure as states struggle with steep budget deficits amid a deepening recession.

KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian gas flows to four European Union countries were below normal levels on Saturday after Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine in a pricing dispute, and there were no talks in sight to resolve the dispute.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia has rejected all U.S. requests so far to resettle detainees from Guantanamo Bay, the most recent being on Friday night, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Saturday.

ACCRA (AFP) - Opposition leader John Atta-Mills won Ghana's presidential election, officials said Saturday, after a closely fought political battle in the West African nation.

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli air strikes claimed a Hamas military commander and destroyed a Gaza school on Saturday as an assault on Gaza which has so far killed more than 440 Palestinians entered its second week.

COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lankan troops advanced Saturday on the military headquarters of the Tamil Tigers, a day after capturing the rebels' de facto political capital in the north of the island.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US president-elect Barack Obama Saturday unveiled a broad proposal to boost job growth and the troubled American economy, a top priority for the incoming administration.

SHILLONG, India (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday he hoped Pakistan would show "better sense" and move against the groups India blames for last year's Mumbai attacks.

PRAGUE (AFP) - The deputy head of Russia's Gazprom, Alexander Medvedev, accused Ukraine Saturday of stealing 35 million cubic metres of Russian gas a day intended for Europe, saying Kiev would have to pay for it.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese megabanks Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Financial appear to have experienced a group net loss in the three months to December due to a plunging stock market, a major daily reported Saturday.