Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau - Soldiers assassinated the president of Guinea-Bissau in his palace Monday hours after a bomb blast killed his rival, but the military insisted no coup was taking place in the West African nation.

CHICAGO - In a stunning improvement in children's health, far fewer kids have high lead levels than 20 years ago, new government research reports — a testament to aggressive efforts to get lead out of paint, water and soil.

LOS ANGELES - "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" locked up $16.5 million in ticket sales to claim the top spot at the box office for a second straight weekend, beating out "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience."

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Coast Guard received no distress signal from a fishing boat that disappeared off Florida's Gulf Coast while carrying two NFL players and two former college players.

NEW YORK - Alex Rodriguez packed up and headed off to the World Baseball Classic, hoping he was done answering steroids questions for a while.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American International Group Inc posted a $61.7 billion fourth-quarter loss -- the biggest quarterly loss in corporate history -- after reaching a revised rescue deal with the U.S. government that wards off for now the prospect of crippling credit rating downgrades.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A big snowstorm blanketed the eastern United States on Monday, prompting the federal government to delay the opening of its offices as up to a foot of snow canceled flights and snarled commutes.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean generals met the U.S.-led U.N. military command in South Korea for the first time in about seven years on Monday after Pyongyang warned at the weekend "arrogant" acts by U.S. troops could spark a war.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's targets for cutting the budget deficit remain in reach, a top aide said on Sunday, despite an alarmingly steep U.S. economic decline that could throw off revenue collections.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took a hard line against the Islamist Hamas group on Monday and said $900 million in U.S. aid for the Palestinians was part of a broader bid for Arab-Israeli peace.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO warned on Monday that an early presidential election in Afghanistan would have implications for security and said it would be in a better position to protect the poll if it were held in August.

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The global financial crisis is the worst economic downturn in living memory and some new European Union members have been hit particularly hard, EU officials said on Monday.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Monday dismissed as propaganda a statement by the U.S. military chief of staff that Tehran was believed to have enough nuclear material to make a bomb.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AFP) - International donors meeting in Egypt on Monday are expected to pledge billions of dollars in aid to help rebuild the war-battered Gaza Strip and revitalise the Palestinian economy.

BISSAU (AFP) - Guinea-Bissau soldiers gunned down veteran president Joao Bernardo Vieira as he fled his home Monday following turmoil in which the army chief was killed in a bomb explosion, military officials said.

DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh on Monday hunted for 1,000 fugitive soldiers accused of butchering their senior officers in a mutiny which left 150 people dead or missing and raised fears for the new civilian government.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US insurance giant AIG on Monday reported a net loss of 61.7 billion dollars (49 billion euros) in the fourth quarter of 2008, bringing total losses for the year to nearly 100 billion dollars.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A massive snowstorm ravaged the eastern United States early Monday, snapping power lines, closing schools and snarling the morning commute amid freezing temperatures from the deep South to Maine.

LONDON (AFP) - Asian and European banking titan HSBC revealed on Monday that it needs nearly 18 billion dollars of new capital to withstand the financial crisis and announced 6,100 US job cuts after a profits collapse.

LONDON (AFP) - The London stock market struck its lowest level for almost six years on Monday as it reacted to more bleak news from the financial sector.