RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah movement narrowly fended off a strong challenge by Hamas (search) to win local elections Friday, but the Islamic militant group captured the three biggest races in the West Bank (search) and the Gaza Strip, establishing itself as a major political …

The trash collector charged with the 2002 slaying of fashion writer Christa Worthington (search ) did not have a social relationship with her, the district attorney said. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe described the murder as a “crime of opportunity.” Christopher …

SAN FRANCISCO – Golden Gate Bridge (search) officials were reevaluating security after a driver was charged with attempted murder in the shooting of a toll collector. The female toll worker was shot in the neck and chest late Saturday apparently during an attempted robbery, according to San Francisco police. She …

WARSAW, Poland – Poland (search) will withdraw its 1,700 soldiers from Iraq after their U.N. mandate expires at the end of this year, the defense minister said Tuesday, giving the first definitive timetable for ending a deployment that was very unpopular with Polish citizens. Jerzy Szmajdzinski said it would take …

VATICAN CITY – GENERAL INFO — Joseph Ratzinger (search) has been elected pope and has chosen the name Benedict XVI (search). — Joseph Ratzinger was born April 16, 1927. — He is 78 years old and the oldest of the major contenders to be pope. — Ratzinger is German. He …

See you in the No Spin Zone at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET! Tonight … “The O’Reilly Factor” is on… The controversy continues over the Minuteman Project (search) and its volunteers who are helping patrol the U.S. border with Mexico. Now, three volunteers who were patrolling the border for …

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern University suspended its women’s soccer team Monday while the school investigates alleged hazing involving players last year. The school learned of the allegations Monday, athletics director Mark Murphy said in a statement. “If the investigation shows that there has been a violation of Northwestern’s policies, appropriate …

TAMPA, Florida – Two Saudi men were held without bond Sunday after they were arrested for boarding a school bus full of children, authorities said. Mana Saleh Almanajam, 23, and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, 20, were charged with misdemeanor trespassing and were being held at Orient Road Jail after a judge …

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution Tuesday that would accelerate planning for a United Nations peacekeeping force in Sudan’s Darfur region. The resolution, passed unanimously, also threatens “strong and effective measures” — diplomatic language for sanctions — against anyone who stands in the way of a …

WEST NEW YORK, N.J. – Authorities on Thursday were trying to determine whether the body of a young woman found in a trash bin might be that of an 18-year-old Harrington Park woman who went missing after a night of drinking with a friend in Manhattan. The Hudson County Prosecutor’s …