IMF deems Iraq stable, grants $685 million loan
The International Monetary Fund yesterday approved a new $685 million loan for Iraq, saying the country has stabilized its economy despite continued violent conflict. The loan, the second from the IMF after a $436 million emergency loan in 2004, reflects the lending agency's judgment that Iraq's government is doing its best to revive the war-torn economy.
NYT: NSA Spying Broader Than Bush Admitted
NEW YORK - The National Security Agency has conducted much broader surveillance of e-mails and phone calls — without court orders — than the Bush administration has acknowledged, The New York Times reported on its Web site.
Timid, anti-war celebrities refuse to entertain troops
During world war two American troops away from home for Christmas were entertained by Marlene Dietrich, Bing Crosby and the Marx Brothers. Even in Vietnam Bob Hope was guaranteed to put in an appearance.
Alito Defended Ordering Domestic Wiretaps
WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito defended the right of government officials to order domestic wiretaps for national security when he worked at the Reagan Justice Department, an echo of President Bush's rationale for spying on U.S. residents in the war on terror.
With prayers and candles, tsunami-ravaged nations prepare to remember
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AFP) - Some will light candles after travelling long distances to where loved ones were snatched, others might offer simple prayers. But across nations ravaged by the tsunami, all will remember.
Holiday Travelers to Face Crowded Roads
SEATTLE - This holiday season, expect more brake lights on the highways and more passenger screening at airports. The good news: Your tweezers and nail clippers can fly with you.
4 Men Arrested in Stolen Explosives Case
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Authorities arrested four men and were searching for one more person in connection with the theft of 400 pounds of explosives — enough to flatten a large building — from a storage depot.
Man Jailed for Over a Year With No Lawyer
DALLAS - A man was jailed for more than a year without ever seeing a lawyer as he waited for a repeatedly postponed court hearing, gaining release only after a cellmate told an attorney about the case.
Scientists Find Cache of Dodo Bird Bones
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Scientists said they likely have found a complete skeleton of the long-extinct Dodo bird. The Dodo was native to Mauritius when no humans lived there but its numbers rapidly dwindled after the arrival of Portuguese and Dutch sailors in the 1500s.
9 Families Sue Liver Transplant Program
LOS ANGELES - Nine families whose relatives died while waiting for liver transplants have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against an Orange County hospital that suspended the transplant program last month amid allegations of wrongdoing.
Jim Caldwell Assumes Colts' Reins
INDIANAPOLIS - Jim Caldwell is keeping things in perspective as he takes over as coach of the Indianapolis Colts while Tony Dungy deals with the death of his son.
Mariah Carey Ties Elvis on Singles Chart
NEW YORK - Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us" rose to the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart, putting her in a tie with Elvis Presley for second place among artists with the most No. 1 singles in the rock era.
Shiite Group Willing to Talk With Sunnis
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's leading Shiite religious bloc said Friday it is ready to discuss Sunni Arab participation in a coalition government, while thousands of Sunnis and some secular Shiites demonstrated in the streets claiming election fraud.
Boy Scout Gets Knife Lodged In Brain
An incredible and un-suspecting accident leaves a Utah Boy Scout just inches from death when he was stabbed right between his eyes.
Rumsfeld: U.S. to Reduce Troops in Iraq
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Just days after Iraq's elections, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Friday announced the first of what is likely to be a series of U.S. combat troop drawdowns in Iraq in 2006.
Feds Monitor Muslims Without Warrants; Search For Nukes
WASHINGTON - A classified radiation monitoring program, conducted without warrants on Muslim sites, has targeted private U.S. property in an effort to prevent an al-Qaida attack, federal law enforcement officials confirmed Friday.
White House Issues Tsunami Alert Plan
WASHINGTON - Hoping to protect U.S. shores from being hammered by a tsunami, the White House directed federal agencies Friday to increase earthquake and volcano monitoring systems, deep ocean buoys and other high-tech means of alerting oceanside communities.
Osama's Niece Poses in Racy Photo Shoot
NEW YORK - Osama bin Laden's niece, in an interview with GQ magazine in which she appears scantily clad, says she has nothing in common with the al-Qaida leader and simply wants acceptance by Americans.
More Current & Breaking News>>
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Christmas story told by starlight
Bradenton Herald
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.' -Matthew 2:1-2
James Dungy's death a suicide; funeral to be public
WFTS
TAMPA - Former Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy and his wife, grieving over the death of their 18-year-old son, James, left Tampa on Friday to spend the Christmas holiday with family in Indianapolis. But the Dungys will return here early next week to bury James Dungy, long a fixture on the sidelines at Bucs games, in a service open to the public.
Authorities: Body Is Fla. Crash Victim's
Yahoo! News/AP
MIAMI - A boater discovered the last missing victim of a fatal seaplane crash floating in the Atlantic Ocean, nine miles from where the plane went down, authorities said.
 Seaman Ryan Paquette, of the U.S. Navy, finds a quiet moment away from the television cameras to share a kiss with his fiancé, Melody Estes, during a Florida Navy Moms event at the site of the statue imitating the famous Life magazine cover Friday in Sarasota. (Bradenton Herald)
Gunman Killed After Taking 2 Hostages
Lakeland Ledger
LAKELAND - Rae and Carolyn Croft have a car alarm, a noisy parrot and their own cool heads to thank for their lives. The couple was held hostage early Friday by a gunman who repeatedly threatened to take his own life as well as theirs. About 1:30 a.m., 21year-old Eric Cousins burst into the Crofts' home at 920 Oakhill St. He was brandishing a loaded .22 caliber revolver.
Comfort and joy
St. Petersburg Times
ST. PETERSBURG - Never in her wildest dreams did Jennifer Dwan imagine she would celebrate Christmas at a Ronald McDonald House. The 32-year-old Clermont resident had planned to spend the early weeks of December decorating her home and shopping with her husband, John. By now, she expected to be baking cookies with her two young daughters, Samantha and Katie.
Hate crime home repaired in time for Christmas
WTSP
RIVERVIEW - Almost a month after someone destroyed her brand new home and furniture, Trina Odom and her sister are back to see the finished project.
Pinellas Park teacher accused of swiping students' intimates
WFTS
CLEARWATER - A Pinellas Park High School English teacher is in jail, charged with several counts of child porn. Jason Hooper was arrested Friday morning at his Clearwater home.
Fire ruins the holidays in 7 apartments
St. Petersburg Times
TAMPA - For Tameshia Roberson, Christmas ended three days before it started. The University of South Florida senior, a biomedical sciences major, came home to a smoked out apartment Thursday shortly before 8 p.m.
Five killed in vehicle crash north of Okeechobee
WFTS
WEST PALM BEACH - A mother, her three children and another driver were killed when their vehicles collided south of Yeehaw Junction, authorities said.
Stranger turns couple's night into nightmare
St. Petersburg Times
LARGO - In a neighborhood not her own, the troubled woman randomly chose a mobile home early Friday morning, entered through an unlocked door, grabbed a kitchen knife and walked to the bedroom, sheriff's officials said.
State Beefs Up Security Of Personnel Data System After Complaint
WFTV
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The security of the state's new privately operated personnel system is being beefed up after a complaint that confidential information on Gov. Jeb Bush, other top officials and law enforcement officers had been compromised.
"Band Aid Bandit" strikes again
WTSP
HUDSON - Detectives say the so-called "Band Aid Bandit" has struck again. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office says he and another suspect robbed a Wachovia bank Thursday morning in Hudson. They were both armed.
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Recent Tampa Bay & Florida News Headlines:
Accused Serial Rapist Had Help Escaping
Yahoo! News/AP
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More intensive airport searches on the way
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Mrs. Claus insult hits Santa close to home
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