Nation & World

GAZA CITY (AP) – A rally of more than 250,000 Fatah supporters ended in mayhem Monday, with Hamas police opening fire and protesters hurling rocks or running for cover. Seven civilians were killed and dozens were wounded in the violence between Palestinian factions. […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Producers took out full-page ads in Monday’s trade papers to present their side of the story in the strike by Hollywood writers.

In ads in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, studios emphasized that writers already get paid when TV episodes and films are downloaded from Internet stores such as Apple Inc. […]

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. (AP) – A fire at a vacation house where college students went to take advantage of the last good beach weather may have started on a deck, an official said Monday, as two campuses waited to find out the names of the seven dead.

The home erupted into a storm of fire and smoke Sunday morning in Ocean Isle Beach, N. […]

TRENTON (AP) – A Rowan University student died early Sunday, just hours after he was beaten during a campus robbery, university and law enforcement officials said.

Donald Farrell, 19, of Boonton, died at Cooper University Hospital, where he had been taken after Saturday night’s attack, Rowan spokesman Joe Cardona said. […]

WASHINGTON (AP) – The State Department promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month’s deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press (AP) has learned.

The immunity deal has delayed a criminal inquiry into the Sept. […]

JERUSALEM (AP) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice opened an intense round of Mideast shuttle diplomacy Sunday, struggling to bring Israelis and Palestinians close enough to make a planned U.S.-hosted peace conference worthwhile.

The two sides are at bitter odds over an outline of a peace agreement that would be presented at next month’s conference, and Rice sought to lower expectations her mission would finalize preparations for the gathering. […]

LAS VEGAS (AP) – A second co-defendant in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery case said Monday that he will plead guilty to a reduced charge and testify against Simpson and four others in the alleged hotel room theft of sports collectibles from two memorabilia dealers. […]

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – High school English teacher Shirley Katz insists she needs to take her pistol with her to work because she fears her ex-husband could show up and try to harm her.

But Katz’s district has barred teachers from bringing guns to school, so she is challenging the ban as unlawful, since Oregon is among states that allow people with a permit to carry concealed weapons into public buildings. […]

BAGHDAD (AP) – Iraqi authorities want the U.S. government to sever all contracts in Iraq with Blackwater USA within six months and pay $8 million in compensation to each of the families of 17 people killed when the firm’s guards sprayed a traffic circle with heavy machine gun fire last month. […]

CRANDON, Wis. (AP) – An off-duty sheriff’s deputy killed six young people when he fired 30 rounds of ammunition after he burst into a home where friends had gathered, investigators said Monday.

Tyler Peterson, 20, who later died after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement officers, had been in a relationship with one of the victims, authorities said at a news conference. […]

MOSCOW (AP) – President Vladimir Putin, in a surprise announcement, opened the door Monday to becoming Russia’s prime minister and retaining power when his presidential term ends next year.

The popular Putin is barred from seeking a third consecutive term in the March presidential election, but has strongly indicated he would seek to keep a hand on Russia’s reins after he steps down. […]

BAGHDAD (AP) – The number of American troops and Iraqi civilians killed in the war fell in September to levels not seen in more than a year. The U.S. military said the lower count was at least partly a result of new strategies and the 30,000 additional U.S. […]

DETROIT (AP) – In the end, the first nationwide strike against General Motors Corp. (GW) in 37 years came because the United Auto Workers (UAW) want something that GM will find difficult to promise: job security.

UAW officials said the 73,000 UAW members who work at about 80 U. […]

NEW YORK (AP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad questioned the official version of the Sept. 11 attacks and defended the right to cast doubt on the Holocaust in a tense appearance Monday at Columbia University, whose president accused the hard-line leader of behaving like “a petty and cruel dictator. […]