JIM LEHRER: Israel and the Palestinians agreed today to restart peace talks. That word came at the summit hosted by the U.S. in Annapolis, Maryland.
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and Palestinian President Abbas laid out a timetable for negotiations leading to the creation of a Palestinian state. The details were officially announced by President Bush.
GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: We agree to immediately launch good faith, bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception as specified in previous agreements. We agree to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations and shall make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008.
JIM LEHRER: Afterward, Abbas and Olmert shook hands in a good-faith gesture. Abbas pledged that war and terror "belong to the past." Olmert said no subject would be avoided in the talks. We'll have more on this story right after the news summary.
The summit in Annapolis sparked large protests in the Middle East. Some 20,000 Israelis rallied last night against the talks. Today, Palestinian police loyal to President Abbas broke up demonstrations in the West Bank, killing one protester.
But thousands marched peacefully in Gaza City, where Hamas rules. The group's leader insisted it will not lay down arms. Hamas won elections last year, but in June it ousted supporters of Abbas by force and took sole control of Gaza.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq today; that made 35 American deaths so far in November. Separately, U.S. troops fatally shot at least five Iraqi civilians, including a child. The shootings took place at two checkpoints today in Baghdad and yesterday in Beiji. U.S. officials said in both cases vehicles ignored warning shots.
Also today, a suicide bomber attacked a police building just north of Baghdad. Seven Iraqis were killed there.
Some 800 Iraqi refugees returned home from Syria today. They packed belongings and boarded a convoy of buses organized by the Iraqi government. It was part of a flow back into the country, as violence has fallen from earlier levels. More than two million Iraqis fled to neighboring countries during the worst of the killing.
French police struggled today to quell growing violence in the suburbs of Paris; at least 80 officers were injured last night. The police called the violence even worse than the riots of 2005. We have a report from Robert Moore of Independent Television News.
ROBERT MOORE, ITV News Correspondent: The police described the scenes that erupted across these northern suburbs of Paris as "urban guerilla warfare." And overnight, for a second consecutive evening, there were violent clashes.
On one side, thousands of police were mobilized to try and suppress the rioting. On the other side, the alienated youngsters who accused the police of routine harassment and of involvement in the death of two teenagers on Sunday.
Dozens of vehicles were set ablaze, and public buildings ranging from libraries to schools were fire-bombed. Police say they were also fired on by rioters using hunting rifles and handguns.
It all started when a motor bike with two teenagers collided with a police car, killing both youngsters. It was an accident, according to police, but some locals say the police car rammed the young men and then failed to offer assistance. Whatever the truth, it has reignited tension and plunged President Sarkozy into an immediate law-and-order crisis.
The intensity of the rioting here has clearly shocked the French government. This is just one of many police stations and government buildings burned to the ground. And the ominous question is this: Is all of this just the beginning?
Certainly, that's the anxiety. We watched this evening as large numbers of police reinforcements arrived in Villiers-le-Bel, the epicenter of the latest unrest. Earlier there was a march through the town to remember the two teenagers who died. Beneath the surface here is deep anger from an immigrant community that says it is both neglected and widely discriminated against.
JIM LEHRER: As darkness fell this evening, the trouble started again. Rioting also spread to the southern city of Toulouse.
The president of the American Red Cross was forced to resign today. The organization said Mark Everson stepped down after board members learned he had a personal relationship with a woman employee. Everson is married and has two children. He took the Red Cross job last May. He was brought in to help the organization recover from its heavily criticized handling of Hurricane Katrina.
The nation's mayors warned today a surge in home mortgage foreclosures will damage their cities. The U.S. Conference of Mayors said major metropolitan areas could lose billions of dollars. It cited cutbacks in construction, decreased property values, and reduced consumer spending.
The report came as a key index by Standard & Poor's showed home prices fell 4.5 percent in the third quarter from a year ago. It was the sharpest drop since the index began 20 years ago.
Wall Street got a break today, despite concerns about the mortgage meltdown. Stocks rallied after the Persian Gulf state Abu Dhabi invested $7.5 billion in Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank. The markets were also helped by a drop of 3 percent in the price of oil.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 215 points to close at 12,958. The Nasdaq rose more than 39 points to close well above 2,580.
Pro football defensive star Sean Taylor died early today after being shot Sunday night. The Washington Redskins safety was attacked in his home in Miami, apparently by an intruder. It came just eight days after a break-in there. Today, police said they have no suspects and no motive. Sean Taylor was 24 years old.
Vice President Cheney returned to work today, hours after his heartbeat was restored to a normal rhythm. He was sedated last night at a Washington hospital, and doctors administered a small electrical shock to the heart. Cheney has a history of heart problems, including four heart attacks and a quadruple bypass surgery.
