Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

NEW YORK - Investors are set for a big sell-off on Wall Street Friday as many corporate earnings reports are falling short of estimates and the British economy has been officially declared in recession. Stock futures pointed to a sharply lower opening.

WASHINGTON - The Senate appeared close to agreement late Thursday on a bill to delay next month's planned transition from analog to digital television broadcasting to June 12 — setting the stage for a vote early next week.

NEW YORK - On Inauguration Day — one of the highest traffic days ever for the Internet — CNN came out on top.

WASHINGTON - The classical music played for millions of people watching President Barack Obama's inauguration was not the live performance it appeared to be.

MELBOURNE, Australia - Ana Ivanovic's hopes of a return trip to the Australian Open final fell apart in a barrage of mistakes Friday as Russia's Alisa Kleybanova ousted the 2008 runner-up with a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory in the third round.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Gov. David Paterson has picked Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the New York Times reported Friday, citing a person who had spoken to the governor.

BOSTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co reported a 44 percent drop in quarterly profit on weakness at GE Capital and its lighting and appliance units, as the U.S. conglomerate and economic bellwether closed out one of the toughest years in its 117-year history.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's pick for treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, won Senate Finance Committee backing on Thursday, and the chamber's majority leader said he expected the full Senate to confirm him.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain went into recession at the end of last year for the first time since 1991, with the economy contracting at its fastest pace in nearly 30 years.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives committees on Thursday backed a raft of tax cuts and spending programs as part of the $825 billion package to boost the ailing economy, despite Republican complaints that their proposals were not getting a fair hearing.

TASHKENT (Reuters) - Russia welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to review policy in Afghanistan and is ready to cooperate, including on supply routes for NATO forces, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for the world's first study of human embryonic stem cell therapy, Geron Corp said on Friday.

MILAN (Reuters) - A warning of unprecedented staff cuts at Toyota, the world's biggest auto maker, and word of a possible first quarter loss by Volkswagen piled fresh pressure on struggling car manufacturers on Friday.

KINSHASA (AFP) - Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda was under arrest Friday in neighbouring Rwanda awaiting extradition on war crimes charges after his erstwhile Tutsi allies turned against him.

LONDON, Jan 23, 2009 (AFP) - Britain is in recession for the first time since 1991, official data showed Friday, triggering a plea from Prime Minister Gordon Brown for renewed international help to tackle the financial crisis.

DENDERMONDE, Belgium (AFP) - Two children and an adult were killed on Friday when a man armed with a knife went on a rampage through a child day-care centre northwest of Brussels, a local prosecutor said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama has picked two high-powered peacemakers for the Middle East as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan, in yet another swift break with Bush administration policy.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US biotech firm Geron Corp. announced on Friday it had been cleared to carry out the first human trials using embryonic stem cells, testing the therapy on patients paralysed by spinal-cord injury.

LONDON (AFP) - European and Asian stock markets slumped Friday after sharp losses on Wall Street overnight and as Britain officially joined a growing list of rich nations in recession.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama added an intelligence-style economic briefing to his daily agenda as his new administration promised action to shore up crisis-hit banks and homeowners.