WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Washington Post included the following items on its front page on Dec. 4. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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The Treasury Department is strongly considering a plan to intervene directly in the mortgage industry to dramatically force down rates and stimulate the moribund housing market, according to sources.

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Capital One plans to announce that it will buy Chevy Chase Bank, a landmark Washington financial firm with branches throughout the region, according to sources.

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President-elect Barack Obama's incoming administration has begun to draw on the high tech organizational tools that helped get him elected to lay the groundwork for an attempt to restructure the U.S. health-care system.

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A Virginia businessman has purchased a $1 million inaugural ball package in order to host disadvantaged people, terminally ill patients and others down on their luck.

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Death squads working for Mexican drug cartels are not only murdering the cartel's rivals, but increasingly the victims are being tortured and mutilated. Thirty-seven people were killed in the border city of Tijuana over the weekend, including three police officers who were decapitated and found with their badges stuffed in their mouths.

--- (Reporting by Diane Bartz)

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