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MORNIE, Sudan – A U.S. aid chief got a firsthand look at the anger among Darfur’s beleaguered population Friday, when residents of a refugee camp beat up a government worker who tried to stop them from complaining to the visiting diplomat. U.S. Agency for International Development (search) Administrator Andrew Natsios …

WASHINGTON – President Bush’s religious faith is “mainstream America” and no different from previous presidents, the director of his Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives said Friday. “The president’s faith has been misunderstood,” said the White House aide, Jim Towey. “I don’t see him as any different from his predecessors, …

The list of 23 fellows announced by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Each will receive $500,000 over five years: — Angela Belcher, 37, Cambridge, Mass. An associate professor of materials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Belcher’s research opens new paths for controlling inorganic …

WCMH-TV in Ohio reports that an elementary school there has banned celebrations of Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day, in part because some of the students don’t participate in such holidays because of personal beliefs. The kiddies at Glendening Elementary School in Groveport will no longer be able to play dress-up, …

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran (search)on Sunday denounced as “illegal” demands from the U.N. atomic watchdog agency that it freeze all work on uranium enrichment — technology that can be used for nuclear weapons. Hasan Rowhani (search), Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, also said his country would limit its cooperation with theInternational …

VENICE, Italy – John Travolta (search)stretched his acting range as a drunk in “A Love Song for Bobby Long” on Thursday whileDenzel Washington (search)battled brainwashing in “The Manchurian Candidate” during the second day of theVenice Film Festival (search). Other big screenings included two of the 21 films in competition for …

This is a partial transcript from “The O’Reilly Factor,”May17, 2004 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’REILLYHOST:In the “Unresolved Problems” segment tonight, according to the Defense Department, there were about 1900 …

KARBALA, Iraq – American AC-130 gunships and tanks battled militiamen near shrines in this Shiite holy city Friday, and fighting was heavy in two other towns south of Baghdad. More than 450 Iraqis were released from the notorious Abu Ghraib (search)jail — some emerging with fresh claims of abuse. On …

WASHINGTON – Amtrak (search)and commuter rail passengers at one suburban station will have to walk through an explosives detection machine and have their bags screened in a new security experiment designed to frustrate terrorists. TheTransportation Security Administration (search)was beginning a pilot project Tuesday at a rail stop in a Maryland …

DAYTON, Ohio – It could be the ride of a lifetime for someone willing to pay $10,000. For that price, this summer’s Dayton Air Show will offer one ride aboard an F-104 Starfighter, an interceptor aircraft from the Cold War years that can fly at twice the speed of sound. …