Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

KABUL - Ninety-five Afghan children are among the 140 people said to have died in a recent U.S.-Taliban battle in western Afghanistan, according to a list drawn up by Afghan officials, a lawmaker said Wednesday. The U.S. military disputed the claim.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Suspected Taliban militants stormed a depot in northwest Pakistan that handles supplied for NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan on Wednesday and torched eight trucks, police said.

LOS ANGELES - The King of the Cowboys has left the ballroom. After weeks of less-than-stellar scores, rodeo champ Ty Murray was eliminated from "Dancing With the Stars." The 39-year-old bull rider came into Tuesday's semifinal results show in last place with 48 points out of 60.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - An office worker cleaning a fridge full of rotten food created a smell so noxious that it sent seven co-workers to the hospital and made many others ill.

BOSTON - The Magic lost their touch in a series some of their players believe should already be over. The Celtics keep finding theirs just in time. The defending NBA champions wiped out a 10-point deficit in the last five minutes and won Game 5 92-88 on Tuesday night for a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. If the Celtics lose Game 6 in Orlando on Thursday, they will host Game 7 on Sunday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission fined Intel Corp a record 1.06 billion euros ($1.45 billion) on Wednesday and ordered it to halt illegal rebates and other practices used to squeeze out rival AMD.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - Pope Benedict visited the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Wednesday to hammer home his calls for an independent Palestinian state and the lifting of Israel's embargo on Gaza.

(Reuters) - The Obama administration has commenced discussions on an initiative to change compensation practices in the financial-services industry, even at companies that were not recipients of federal bailout money, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. foreclosure activity in April jumped 32 percent from a year ago to a record high, and should mount because temporary freezes on foreclosures ended in March, RealtyTrac said on Wednesday.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's case against U.S.-born journalist Roxana Saberi was based on her acquiring a confidential government report on the U.S. invasion of Iraq, one of her defense lawyers said on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's month-long general election ended on Wednesday with one exit poll suggesting that the ruling Congress-led coalition was ahead of the opposition Hindu-nationalist alliance.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's army chief ordered his men on Wednesday to ensure civilian casualties are kept to a minimum, even if that meant danger for them, in an offensive against Taliban militants in the Swat valley.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The United States is at risk of losing its triple-A credit rating unless it starts putting its finances in order, a former head of the agency in charge of fiscal accountability said in the Financial Times on Wednesday.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday called for a Palestinian homeland, urged youths to shun "terrorism" and prayed for an end to the Gaza embargo on his first trip to the occupied West Bank.

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - Germany took John Demjanjuk into custody Tuesday after his deportation from the US and prepared to try him on charges he assisted in the killing of 29,000 Jews in a Nazi death camp.

COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels accused government forces of killing at least 47 civilians Tuesday in an artillery and mortar attack on a hospital, a charge fiercely denied by the island's military.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani commandos dropped into a Taliban stronghold in Swat valley Tuesday, stepping up a punishing offensive against militants that has now displaced more than half a million people.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass outside of Jerusalem's Old City on Tuesday after two days in Israel spent navigating the currents of the region's conflicts and appealing for reconciliation.

GENEVA (AFP) - The global number of swine flu cases on Tuesday soared past 5,000, world health authorities said as the virus spread to three more countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US trade deficit increased in March for the first time in seven months as exports sank to a 2004 low amid the global economic crisis crippling trade, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday.