http://news.yahoo.com – NEW YORK – Wall Street hit levels not seen since 2003, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling below the 8,000 mark, as the fate of Detroit's Big Three automakers and the economy disheartened investors. Read more »

http://www.newsvine.com – CAIRO — Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply he does the bidding of whites. Read more »

http://www.money.co.uk – A $125million settlement means consumers will soon be able to read in-copyright books online. In what has been hailed as the start of the digital reading revolution, Google have been given the go-ahead to make in-copyright books available for public download. Readers will soon be able to search, preview and read millions of in-copyright but out-of-print books online using Google Book Search. Read more »

http://abcnews.go.com – The CEOs of the big three automakers flew to the nation's capital yesterday in private luxurious jets to make their case to Washington that the auto industry is running out of cash and needs $25 billion in taxpayer money to avoid bankruptcy. Read more »

http://www.noonehastodietomorrow.com – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank won't disclose details of the $2 trillion in emergency loans of taxpayer funds because doing so would stigmatize banks needing the money. Read more »

http://www.newsvine.com – A mandate for change for President-elect Barack Obama? Sweeping enactment next year of the long-delayed Democratic agenda? A tax hike on those earning more than $250,000 a year, as Obama indicated during the campaign? Read more »

http://www.postchronicle.com – San Diego, Calif. - An earthquake with the magnitude of 4.1 has struck just north of the Palomar Observatory in northern San Diego County. The earthquake, moderate in size and strength, didn't do any significant harm to any structures when it struck this morning 10 miles north of the Palomar Observatory. Read more »

http://www.huliq.com – If anyone is a maverick, it's Mark Cuban. Not only is he the owner of the NBA franchise the Dallas Mavericks, he's a billionaire and Chairman of HDNet, an HDTV cable network. He's also poked his nose into things some think he should stay out of, such as commenting on politics and tech --- and blogging as well, on a blog with Maverick in its name. On Monday, he was charged with insider trading in the shares of Mamma.com by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Read more »