Worcester residents prepare to cut down trees to prevent the further spread of Asian longhorned beetles. There are 4,500 infested trees in a 2-square-mile area of the Greendale and Burncoat neighborhoods, considered the epicenter of the beetle outbreak in Worcester.

This week, homeowners with infested trees will be sent a legal notification, and next week city officials will be available for one-on-one consultations. Meanwhile, infested trees that are on public land will begin to be cut down next week.

Source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/12/09/worcester_braces_for_loss_of_trees/

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Five detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, say they want to confess to conspiracy charges for planning the September 11, 2001, attacks, a Pentagon spokeswoman said Monday.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- the confessed architect of the attacks, who was captured two years later in Pakistan -- and four other alleged co-conspirators asked a military judge if they could withdraw all pending motions and plead guilty, Maj. Gail Crawford said in an e-mail.

It has not been determined whether the defendants, formally charged in June, will face a potential death sentence.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/08/guantanamo.defendants/index.html

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Pakistan has arrested leading militants following the Mumbai attacks but says it will not hand them over to India. His comments came as Pakistan's foreign minister said his country did not want war but was "fully prepared".

Delhi says the Mumbai gunmen are linked to Pakistan, which is under intense Indian and US pressure to take action. Meanwhile, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari says peace talks with India must proceed to "foil the designs of the terrorists".

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7772554.stm

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Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges.

Blagojevich and Harris were accused of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy that included Blagojevich conspiring to sell or trade the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for financial benefits for the governor and his wife. The governor was also accused of obtaining campaign contributions in exchange for other official actions.

Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning.

Source: http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/source-feds-take-gov-blagojevich-into-custody.html