Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea confirmed Saturday that it was holding two American journalists and accused the women of "illegally intruding" on its territory.

LUANDA, Angola - Pope Benedict XVI appealed to the Catholics of Angola on Saturday to reach out to and convert believers in witchcraft who feel threatened by "spirits" and "evil powers" of sorcery.

JUNEAU, Alaska - It's a subject that can cause nervous snickering, a little uneasiness and even a few bad jokes.

MIAMI - Some 23 years later, Cleveland State still has a knack for first-round shockers in the NCAA tournament.

DAYTON, Ohio - Siena strikes again. Ronald Moore hit a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in the second overtime — from the identical spot he made one at the end of the first OT — as the Saints beat eighth-seeded Ohio State 74-72 on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday U.S. President Barack Obama's offer of better ties was just a "slogan," but pledged Tehran would respond to any real policy shift by Washington.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea reopened a military hotline with the South on Saturday, a day after Washington and Seoul ended annual defense drills Pyongyang had called preparations for an invasion.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The global economy is set to shrink by one to two percent this year, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Saturday, saying the depth of the slowdown was unprecedented since the 1930s Great Depression.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional budget experts on Friday offered a darker economic and budget outlook, which could complicate President Barack Obama's efforts to convince lawmakers to pass his $3.55 trillion budget plan for 2010.

(Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service said on Friday it is closing six of its 80 district offices. In addition, administrative staff positions at district level nationwide are being reduced by 15 percent and nearly 150,000 employees nationwide being given opportunity to take an early retirement.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bernard Madoff lost his bid on Friday to be released from jail until his June sentencing for Wall Street's largest-ever investment fraud.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government will announce as soon as Monday a long-awaited plan to try to get bad assets off the books of banks, a cornerstone of its efforts to tackle the credit crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Soldiers on Friday captured a man Mexico calls a drug kingpin who is accused of attacking a U.S. consulate and killing nine soldiers, in the second major arrest this week in the country's drug war.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday the Islamic republic is ready to reciprocate if US President Barack Obama changes American attitude towards his country.

SEOUL, (AFP) - North Korea on Saturday confirmed that it had detained two American journalists along the border with China earlier this week, amid tensions in the region over Pyongyang's plans for a rocket launch.

ANTANANARIVO (AFP) - Andry Rajoelina promised an end to dictatorship and a new era of good governance in Madagascar Saturday in an inaugural speech capping his internationally-condemned takeover of the island.

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Emirates flight with 225 passengers on board made an emergency landing in the Australian city of Melbourne after the Airbus A340's tail struck the tarmac during take-off, officials said Saturday.

BUDAPEST (AFP) - Hungarian Prime Mininster Ferenc Gyurcsany proposed to step down to allow the formation of a new government in a speech at the congress of his Socialist Party on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama defended his budget plans Saturday, insisting that he remained committed to halving the deficit within four years despite new data showing it was bigger than expected.

BEIJING (AFP) - A recovery in China's economy is not enough to haul the world out of its economic crisis because it is still a developing country, state media cited a leading Chinese economist as saying Saturday.