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TARPON SPRINGS -- Here at the end of a beaten brick road, beneath a canopy of live oaks and date palms is Spring Bayou, the center of the annual Orthodox Christian rite that has earned this small seaside town the name "Epiphany City." Year after year, tens of thousands of visitors descend upon Tarpon Springs for Epiphany, which begins today. It's a multiday festival of Greek folk culture and Orthodox ceremonies in honor of the baptism of Jesus Christ and the revelation of the Holy Trinity. Friday morning, onlookers from Tampa, Atlanta, Ontario and New York will funnel into the...

Jet fuel truck stolen from airport Theft of 2,000 gallons raises security concerns Greenville, Kentucky 08/27/05 By Ryan Garrett Messenger-Inquirer GREENVILLE -- A truck carrying 2,000 gallons of jet fuel was stolen Thursday evening or Friday morning from the Muhlenberg County Airport, authorities said. The Greenville Police Department still had few leads Friday evening, but officers did not think the theft was terrorist-related. The department did, however, contact the Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and other agencies as a precaution. "We've talked to them," Detective Jonathan DeArmond said Friday. "They're following...

Bartow, Florida Probation in Baby Killing A retarded woman gets 10 years in the beating death of her month-old infant. BARTOW -- A retarded woman once deemed unfit to stand trial was sentenced to 10 years' probation Friday for beating her infant to death two years ago. As part of a deal with prosecutors, Brandylon Nicole Gilbert, 21, pleaded no contest to manslaughter. Originally, a grand jury indicted the Babson Park woman for first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. Her lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Howardene Garrett, said her client was competent to make the deal with prosecutors. Two years ago,...

DEBARY -- Volusia County Council member Bill Long confirmed Thursday that he was beaten in his home earlier in the week by a close friend he would not identify. Long, who lives alone, refused to offer details on the incident Thursday and even asked deputies who responded to the 911 call at his house early Monday not to file a report, leaving a shroud of mystery around the incident. "County Council member or not, what takes place in the privacy of my own home is my own business," Long said Thursday.

Dear Fellow Freepers, I have a dear friend that is a client of mine. She informed me just now, that her 27 year old granddaughter is in surgery right now in Little Rock, AR. She has had stomach cancer and now they have found a brain tumor. She has requested prayer. Please pray for God’s will to be done. If it be His will, may she receive a miracle in healing, and if it be His will that she is not healed, that the family will find comfort and be drawn closer to Him. In Jesus Name, DocRock

Customs officials will strike for 24 hours from midnight tonight and their union says the action will disrupt international airports and close international seaports throughout Australia. The 4,800 customs officials vowed to walk off the job after a breakdown in negotiations between their union and management over pay and staffing earlier this week. The Community and Public Sector Union, which represents staff, said the agency has made no attempt to contact them with a better pay offer. "We've made it clear we are open to any new offer but they have not contacted us," CPSU spokesman Evan Hall said today....

Four people were killed inside Chile's embassy in Costa Rica after the policeman in charge of security at the building took seven people hostage, the government said. "When we went in a few minutes ago, we found four people dead," said Costa Rican Security Minister Rogelio Ramos, who said the hostage-taker was one of the dead. Ramos earlier identified the hostage-taker as Orlando Jimenez, a Costa Rican police officer who has been part of the embassy's security detail for several years.

A group claiming to be the European wing of al-Qaeda threatened Australia with attacks if they did not pull troops out of Iraq. The statement signed by "Islamic Tawhid Group, the al Qaeda organisation, Europe" and posted on a website said it would attack both countries with "columns of rigged cars" if their demands were not met. "Australian people, if your government refuses to withdraw and respond to us we will shake the ground beneath your feet as we did in Indonesia and columns of rigged cars will not stop," it said. The statement also warned Italy to comply with...

Conspiracy theories about how the kidnapped American died in Iraq are flying around the world. Richard Neville explores the explanations. Iraq in flames, Washington an object of disgust. What to do? At this pivotal moment, CNN and Fox News are tipped off to a clip of an American citizen being beheaded. The victim is a 26-year-old idealist from Pennsylvania, Nick Berg. Despite the perpetrators being masked, the vile deed is deemed the work of al-Qaeda. The clip was first "discovered" on an Islamic website in Malaysia. Its Arabic title reads "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American". al-Zarqawi is a...

United States Democrat John Kerry promised that, if elected president of the United States, he would pull virtually all American combat troops out of Iraq - away from the "death zone" - by the end of his first term. In an interview yesterday with AP reporters and editors, he also criticised President George W Bush for damaging relations with allies. There is so much strain in those relationships now, he said, that only a new president can repair them.