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HOUSTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Houston may have only a single parade this year in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. after years of dueling events to honor the slain civil rights leader.

EXETER, England, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A British travel agency employee has admitted embezzling thousands of pounds to feed an online gambling habit she shared with her ex-boyfriend.

HOUSTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Houston homicide victim placed a cell phone call to a friend saying "They're trying to jack me" just before he was shot.

BOSTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Massachusetts' tough new laws aimed at repeat drunken drivers get even tougher with the new year.

BEIJING, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- China's president, in his New Year's address, promised the country would continue to develop peacefully while helping poor countries advance.

BAGHDAD, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi has been put in charge of Iraq's oil ministry for at least a month.

MIAMI, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A year that shattered Atlantic records for hurricanes ended with the 27th named tropical storm of 2005 spinning in mid-ocean late Saturday.

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A top Justice Department official refused in 2004 to approve key parts of the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program, it was reported.

CANBERRA, Australia, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Australia welcomed 123,424 new immigrants in 2004-2005, the highest number in more than 15 years.

BAGHDAD, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. military death toll in Iraq in 2005 almost matched that of 2004.

MCDONOUGH, Ga., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a homeless Georgia man who was allegedly given $5 to drink a corrosive milkshake.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Illinois expects to miss a federal deadline to create an interactive election database by more than two years.

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- New York City Mayor Bloomberg has made education a priority and to help in that goal he has been raising private sector funds, the New York Times reported.

SACRAMENTO, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is reportedly set to propose a $1 an hour hike in the state's minimum wage.