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The economy shrank at a pace of 3.8 percent in the final three months of last year, the worst performance in more than two decades. At the White House, President Barack Obama took note as he was launching a task force to focus on helping the middle class.

With excessive heat advisories in effect across the U.S., here's how to avoid heat-related illnesses.

President Obama will soon have the chance to appoint a new justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the court's term.

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday with a witness who warned the Bush administration against harsh interrogation techniques. Former FBI agent Ali Soufan interrogated Abu Zubaydah. He called the harsh methods ineffective.

President-elect Barack Obama is said to have chosen Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan to serve as education secretary. Duncan has run the country's third-biggest school district for the past seven years. He has focused on improving struggling schools, closing those that fail and getting better teachers.

The Senate has voted 94-2 to confirm Hillary Clinton as secretary of State. Clinton was expected to be confirmed Tuesday, but Texas Sen. John Cornyn raised objections, citing foreign contributions to Bill Clinton's foundation.

President Barack Obama is freezing all pending federal rules changes left by the Bush administration. He also froze salaries for White House staffers who make more than $100,000 a year. And because of some bungled wording during Tuesday's swearing-in ceremony, Chief Justice John Roberts re-administered the oath to Obama Wednesday.

The impeachment trial of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich begins Monday in the state Senate. Instead of going to the state capital to defend himself against charges that he has abused the power of his office, Blagojevich will be making the rounds to TV studios in New York. He's trying to salvage what's left of his flagging political career.

Idalia came ashore along the Florida Gulf Coast as a major hurricane — the first to hit the region since the 1800s. A major storm surge and electricity outages are complicating rescue efforts.

Actors in period garb are the usual denizens of the Strawbery Banke Museum campus in Portsmouth, N.H., which spans 250 years of history. To make ends meet, the museum has lured more modern dwellers.