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BOSTON – There’s an old joke about holiday fruitcakes, which holds that there really are only a few of them, and that they keep being shipped as a gift from one person to the next, never eaten by anyone. If you substitute “holiday spending tips” for “fruitcake,” that joke probably …

WASHINGTON – Breaking a tradition of openness that began in 1816, the Bush administration has without explanation withheld the names and work locations of about 900,000 of its civilian workers, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday. “Citizens have a right to know who is working for the government,” said Adina …

This is a partial transcript from “The O’Reilly Factor,” November 30, 2005, that has been edited for clarity. Watch “The O’Reilly Factor” weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the “Radio Factor!” BILL O’REILLY, HOST: In the “Religion Under Siege” segment tonight: We’ve been reporting, as …

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI decried what he called the mistaken idea that leading a virtuous life was “boring” as he marked Thursday’s 40th anniversary of the end of Vatican Council II, which sparked modernizing reforms in the 2,000-year-old Roman Catholic Church. Among those who were eager participants at …

OCALA, Fla. – A judge has rejected a plea deal in which a former teacher would have avoided prison time for having sex with a 14-year-old student, prosecutors said. Under an agreement reached last month, Debra Lafave, 25, would have been sentenced to three years of house arrest and seven …

This is a partial transcript from “The O’Reilly Factor,” December 9, 2005, that has been edited for clarity. Watch “The O’Reilly Factor” weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the “Radio Factor!” BILL O’REILLY, HOST: In the “Back of the Book” segment tonight. We wrap up …

BURBANK, Calif. – A convicted sex offender who worked as a production assistant at Nickelodeon Animation Studios was arrested on suspicion of molesting a boy at the studio, police said. Ezell Channel, 36, was arrested Thursday at the studio’s parking lot and charged with two felonies. The mother of the …

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – Britain’s first gay couple to win legal recognition under a new British civil partnership law drove past protesters Monday to make their vows inside Belfast City Hall. Grainne Close of Northern Ireland and her American partner, Shannon Sickels, walked hand-in-hand from a black taxi for a …

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The U.S. Embassy in Malaysia closed indefinitely Friday following an unspecified security threat. Embassy spokeswoman Kathryn Taylor said the threat was specific to the embassy and “not to American interests in Malaysia in general.” Taylor declined to elaborate but said the embassy hoped to reopen on …

BURBANK, Calif. – Dick Clark, who suffered a stroke last December, won’t be in a wheelchair when he appears on ABC’s “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” says co-host Ryan Seacrest. It will be the 76-year-old Clark’s first TV appearance since his stroke, which forced him to bow out of last year’s …