Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

SHIJIAZHUANG, China - A Chinese court condemned two men to death and handed a life term to a dairy boss Thursday for their roles in the country's contaminated milk scandal, which ignited public anger and accusations of cover-ups.

LOS ANGELES - Cleaner air over the past two decades has added nearly five months to average life expectancy in the United States, according to a federally funded study. Researchers said it is the first study to show that reducing air pollution translates into longer lives.

U.S. consumers may have stayed home this holiday season, but no matter for Apple, which managed to turn a profit in the last quarter as people elsewhere stocked up on iPods, Macbooks and other goodies.

CHICAGO - The company that made Beanie Babies a top toy craze is hoping for another winner with dolls named "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia."

MELBOURNE, Australia - Venus Williams was knocked out of the Australian Open on Thursday, losing 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to 46th-ranked Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of slain President John F. Kennedy, on Thursday withdrew her bid to fill the U.S. Senate seat for New York vacated by Hillary Clinton.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is ready to issue orders on Thursday to close Guantanamo prison and overhaul the treatment of terrorism suspects, in a swift move to restore a U.S. image hurt by charges of torture.

BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) - China's economy slowed sharply in the fourth quarter and Japan's central bank said it would slide into two years of deflation as Asia's largest economies buckled under the strain of the global financial crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to issue an order on Thursday to close Guantanamo prison after a busy first full day in office that saw him meet his economic advisers and war council and plunge into Israeli-Palestinian peace diplomacy.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - After battering Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel now hopes to push through a prisoner swap to retrieve a soldier held by the Palestinians since 2006, Israeli officials said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An $825 billion economic stimulus package sought by Democrats cleared a key hurdle on Wednesday as a House of Representatives panel approved major portions of the spending initiatives in the plan that President Barack Obama wants enacted by mid-February.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The economic crisis is hitting men much harder than women in the workplace, largely because male-dominated industries like construction and transportation are bearing the brunt of job losses, figures show.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will lay out a comprehensive plan in the next few weeks to attack the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Timothy Geithner, his nominee to head the U.S. Treasury, said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama was to sign Thursday a series of executive orders to close the Guantanamo "war on terror" prison, end harsh interrogation tactics and shutter secret prisons, marking a dramatic reversal of policy from his predecessor.

BEIJING (AFP) - A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced two men to death and gave stiff jail terms to 19 others over a milk scandal that led to widespread poisoning of babies in China and dairy recalls around the world.

GAZA CITY (AFP) - The United Nations urged Israel on Wednesday to reopen Gaza crossings as senior officials assessed war damage and the Jewish state warned it would strike again if Hamas rearms through smuggling tunnels.

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Intelligence agents on Thursday interrogated a senior Saudi Al-Qaeda suspect who was captured in a joint Pakistani-CIA raid and allegedly plotted the 2005 attacks that killed 52 people in London.

BEVERLY HILLS, California (AFP) - The Bollywood rags-to-riches movie "Slumdog Millionaire" could fight for Oscars' best picture against the Batman hit "Dark Knight" when nominees for the 81st Academy Awards are revealed Thursday.

BEIJING (AFP) - Grim economic news from China and upheaval for banks in Europe showed the global financial crisis hitting ever harder on Thursday, though stock markets rebounded after two days of losses.

TOKYO (AFP) - Toyota has dethroned Detroit rival General Motors as the world's top automaker, but there were no celebrations Thursday at the crisis-hit Japanese giant, which is bracing for its first-ever loss.