Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

WASHINGTON - Beaten down and watching their wealth shrink, Americans are burrowing ever deeper — cutting back on spending and spelling more trouble for the sinking economy.

HOUSTON - An aging cruise ship could become temporary housing for Hurricane Ike refugees if Texas officials can navigate through the federal government's paperwork.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years, officials said Friday.

LOS ANGELES - Bravo isn't letting a court battle over "Project Runway" diminish its fashion sense.

PHOENIX - Chris Paul had 20 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds and the New Orleans Hornets held off a rally, then pulled away to beat Phoenix 108-95 Thursday night and spoil the home debut of new Suns coach Terry Porter.

LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan cut interest rates for the first time in seven years on Friday, expecting severe stress in the global economy to persist, while UK banking giant Barclays said it was raising $12 billion in capital.

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six U.S. governors and a group of chief executives on Thursday urged the Bush administration in a letter to aid the embattled auto industry while the White House rebuffed a request for direct support of a merger between GM and Chrysler.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama's lead over Republican rival John McCain held steady at seven points as the race for the White House entered its final four days, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ordered the freezing of Argentine pension fund investments in the United States to satisfy a prior $554 million judgment against the South American country on behalf of holders of its defaulted sovereign debt.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed nine people on Friday in an attack on police in the northwestern Pakistani town of Mardan.

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - Indian authorities suspect that Islamist groups in collusion with separatist militants carried out coordinated bomb blasts in the Assam state that killed 77 people and wounded more than 320.

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Al Qaeda recruits in Afghanistan wept and shouted praise as they watched a propaganda video made by a Guantanamo defendant, a training camp dropout told the U.S. war crimes court on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hailed as an American hero for his role in pulling Iraq back from the brink of all-out civil war, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus takes on an even more challenging job on Friday as the head of U.S. Central Command.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (AFP) - Rebel troops were poised at the gates of Goma Friday as the European Union debated sending troops and humanitarian aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

GUWAHATI, India (AFP) - Indian police interrogated about a dozen people Friday over suspected links to serial bombings in the state of Assam that claimed 76 lives and left hundreds injured.

YAOUNDE (AFP) - Heavily-armed pirates swarmed aboard an oil industry support vessel working off the coast of Cameroon and kidnapped 10 crew members, including six Frenchmen, the French foreign ministry said Friday.

ZIARAT, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani soldiers scrambled to get aid to victims of a powerful earthquake that has killed up to 300 people and left thousands of villagers homeless, officials said on Friday.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AFP) - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican rival John McCain take their White House duel deep into the American heartland on Friday, in a final push for votes ahead of next week's historic election.

PARIS (AFP) - Antarctica, which seemed to have largely escaped the global warming affecting the rest of the planet, is melting too, according to a study.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan on Friday joined a growing list of major central banks in cutting key interest rates to bolster flagging economies amid deepening fears of a global recession.