Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has acknowledged Vatican mistakes over a Holocaust-denying bishop and his efforts to reach out to ultraconservatives, saying in a highly unusual critical review that he was saddened that even Catholics attacked him with open hostility.

WASILLA, Alaska - Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin, the teenage daughter of Gov. Sarah Palin, have broken off their engagement, he said Wednesday, about 2 1/2 months after the couple had a baby.

GENEVA - Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Thursday it has agreed to buy California-based Genentech for $46.8 billion in a takeover described as the largest in Swiss corporate history.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - Joaquin Phoenix appears to be getting into the act of being a petulant hip-hop star.

NEW YORK - Robert Morris and Portland State have become the 13th and 14th teams to receive automatic berths in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Both teams needed a bucket in the closing seconds to win their respective tourneys.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bernard Madoff, accused of running the biggest fraud in Wall Street history, is expected to plead guilty on Thursday in what is shaping up to be a courtroom drama featuring denunciations by investors and a renewed push by prosecutors to jail him immediately.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. unemployment will approach 10 percent as the country endures its worst recession since World War Two, leaving more than 13 million Americans jobless, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing next week to ask key justice officials and regulators what they need to prosecute wrongdoers in the financial crisis, the chairman of the committee said on Thursday.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG has struck a deal with Genentech Inc to acquire all outstanding shares in the U.S. biotech group for $46.8 billion, or $95 a share, the Swiss drugmaker said on Thursday.

KARACHI (Reuters) - Hundreds of black-suited Pakistani lawyers and flag-waving opposition activists launched a cross-country protest on Thursday, as the year-old civilian coalition government scrambled for ways to avert a showdown.

WINNENDEN, Germany (Reuters) - German authorities are looking into whether to press charges against the gun-collecting father of the teenager who went on a shooting rampage at his former school on Wednesday, killing 15 people.

BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) - The world economy could shrink 1-2 percent this year, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said, as industrial output in global growth engine China grew at its slowest rate on record.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A Baghdad court sentenced an Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush to three years in prison on Thursday, a verdict critics said was politically motivated.

KARACHI (AFP) - Pakistan police baton-charged activists and manhandled dozens into vans in Karachi Thursday, as thousands defied the government in a mass protest that has thrown the country into crisis.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The Iraqi journalist who shot to fame for hurling his shoes at former US president George W. Bush was jailed for three years on Thursday, stirring outrage from his family and supporters.

WINNENDEN, Germany (AFP) - Flags flew at half mast across Germany on Thursday as the numbed nation mourned the 15 mainly female victims of a teenage gunman in a picturesque town.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff arrived at court on Thursday where he was expected to plead guilty to running one of the largest financial frauds in history.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan reported its worst economic showing in 35 years Thursday and China, Australia and Germany unveiled further bleak data, piling pressure on top finance ministers about to meet for anti-crisis talks.

BASEL, Switzerland (AFP) - Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Thursday it has sealed a friendly deal to take full control of its US biotechnology unit Genentech after increasing the offer price to 95 dollars a share.

MANCHESTER (AFP) - Police are investigating an alleged assault by Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho on a supporter after their Champions League defeat here at Old Trafford, a spokeswoman said Thursday.