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Associated Press The message flickered into Cindy Fleenor’s living room each night: Be faithful in how you live and how you give, the television preachers said, and God will shower you with material riches. And so the 53-year-old accountant from the Tampa, Fla., area pledged $500 a year to Joyce Meyer, the evangelist whose frank…

Associated Press Rawalpindi, Pakistan – Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack. Her death threw the campaign for critical Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos and stoked fears of mass protests and violence across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism. At least 20 others…

Associated Press Los Angeles – A Jewish group said Wednesday it accepts Will Smith’s explanation that he never praised Adolf Hitler in remarks the star says were misinterpreted. “We welcome and accept Will Smith’s statement that Hitler was a ‘vicious killer’ and that he did not mean for his remarks about the Nazi leader to…

Associated Press Columbia, S.C. – Two black South Carolina ministers listed by Barack Obama’s campaign as endorsing his White House bid say they did no such thing, and at least two others affirmed their support only after being contacted by campaign workers when questions were raised about their endorsements. Earlier this month, Obama’s campaign released…

Associated Press Rexburg, Idaho – After selling houses in this Mormon college town for two decades, Ted Whyte knows what some of his customers want: a home near the new Mormon temple. Towering Mormon temples like the one soon to open in Rexburg – where 92 percent of Rexburg’s 31,000 residents are members of the…

KATMANDU, Nepal, Dec. 25 – A steel footbridge collapsed under the weight of hundreds of people in remote western Nepal on Tuesday, sending scores plunging 30 meters (100 feet) into the icy Himalayan waters below. At least 15 people were killed and more than 100 missing and feared dead, officials said. Troops were being rushed…

The Miami Herald Miami – Maisie McNaught’s first encounter with Kwanzaa pretty much embodied its seven principles in one go: More than 20 years ago, as a new mother looking to forge family traditions, she discovered a book on the African-inspired holiday at a black-owned bookstore. She joined forces with six other families to host…

Associated Press Bethlehem, West Bank – Gloom was banished from Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem for the first time in years on Monday as Christian pilgrims from all over the world flocked here to celebrate Jesus’ birth in an atmosphere of renewed tranquility. After Israeli-Palestinian fighting erupted in 2000, most of the people milling around Manger…

Associated Press Baghdad – Fear still pervades life in Iraq despite a recent reduction in violence, the spiritual leader of Iraq’s Catholics said Monday, making a Christmas appeal for refugees who have fled the country to return nonetheless. The U.S. military has said there has been a 60 percent reduction in violence since June, and…

Associated Press Mecca, Saudi Arabia – Despite five days of exhaustion and hardships, Muslim pilgrims were saddened to see the annual hajj wind down to a close Friday, ending what for many is a spiritual high point of their lives. “Bidding farewell is hard,” said Afaf al-Nuweihi, her voice choking with emotion. “I wish I…

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