Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

NEW YORK - The departure of four sitting Democratic senators this year has cast a new — and at times, unflattering — light on the nation's governors and their outsize power to fill Senate vacancies.

DANVILLE, Calif. - Friends and neighbors of the pilot who safely landed a crippled jetliner in New York's Hudson River planned to give him a hero's homecoming on Saturday.

WASHINGTON - Visiting one of his favorite Chicago restaurants in November, Barack Obama was asked by an excited waitress if he wanted the restaurant's special margarita made with the finest ingredients, straight up and shaken at the table.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Health officials say a Brazilian model whose feet and hands were amputated because of an infection has died.

MELBOURNE, Australia - Andy Murray ran off 11 straight games in another dominating performance, overwhelming Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-0, 6-3 Saturday to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama launched a drive on Friday to get his $825 billion economic recovery plan through Congress, predicting lawmakers would resolve differences before a mid-February deadline.

NEW YORK/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drugmaker, is in talks to buy Wyeth, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday, and one source put the possible value of the deal at about $67 billion.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, charged with trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama, said on Friday he will not take part in an impeachment trial that could remove him from office.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats on Friday unveiled their proposal to spend $365 billion to help the sagging U.S. economy, just slightly more than the $358 billion proposed by their counterparts in the House of Representatives.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Gov. David Paterson appointed Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday to fill the Senate seat vacated by newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

KABUL (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition forces killed 15 militants in an operation in eastern Afghanistan overnight, the U.S. military said on Saturday, but a provincial governor said at least 10 civilians were killed in the raid.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank on Saturday said U.S. accusations that it was manipulating the yuan currency were misleading, a day after Beijing cautioned incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to handle their ties with care.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Up to 20,000 U.S. Marines could be deployed in Afghanistan as part of a planned major troop build-up to battle worsening insurgent violence, the top U.S. Marine officer said on Friday.

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - At least three people were killed and 16 injured when high winds sweeping across Spain and southern France brought down part of a sports hall near Barcelona, a regional official said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday he hopes to sign his 825-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan into law in less than a month, expressing confidence the US will emerge more prosperous than ever.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in "stable" condition after doctors completed heart bypass surgery Saturday on the 76-year-old leader, Indian media reported.

DENDERMONDE, Belgium (AFP) - A 20-year-old Belgian man has been charged with killing two infants and a 54-year-old female employee at a child daycare centre and has been remanded in custody, a prosecutor said on Saturday.

ROME (AFP) - Some 700 illegal immigrants broke through the gates of the centre where they were being held on the Italian island of Lampedusa, and started demonstrating in the city streets, the mayor said.

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AFP) - Some 200,000 Gaza children returned to school on Saturday for the first time since Israel's offensive, many having lost family members, their home and their sense of security.

DAKAR (AFP) - Senegal's sole leprosy clinic bears witness to the will of the world's poorest continent to wipe out a disfiguring disease that once struck terror in human hearts and spelt misery and excommunication.