PASSENGERS EVACUATED

Passengers evacuated
JUNEAU, Alaska -- A riverboat-style cruise ship ran aground off the Alaska coast early Monday, forcing an evacuation of more than 200 passengers before it could move again with a Coast Guard escort. All passengers were evacuated from the Empress of the North by 7 a.m. and returned to Juneau aboard a ferry. One person was taken to a hospital for observation, a city employee said. Passengers said they were jolted awake when the ship hit the rocks in a remote part of a southeast Alaska archipelago in the middle of the night. They were ordered to don lifejackets and gather in the ballroom, where a singer and piano player entertained them with songs including "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" as they waited for rescue.
President orders newair pollution regulations
WASHINGTON -- President Bush, prodded by a Supreme Court ruling, said Monday his administration will decide how to regulate pollution from new motor vehicles by the time he leaves office. Bush signed an executive order directing federal agencies to craft regulations that will "cut gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles." He ordered the agencies -- the departments of Transportation, Agriculture and Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency -- to have the rules in place by the end of 2008. The announcement came as gasoline prices hit a new record. The average national price of a gallon of gas reached 3.07 on Monday, above the previous peak of 3.06 set soon after Hurricane Katrina hit at the end of August 2005. "When it comes to energy and the environment, the American people expect common sense and they expect action," the president said in a Rose Garden appearance before reporters.
Video shows attackon 91-year-old man
DETROIT -- A 22-year-old man repeatedly punched a 91-year-old man in the head during a carjacking outside a convenience store, and a group of bystanders did nothing to stop him, police said. Store surveillance video shows each blow Leonard Sims took to the side of his face in last week's attack. The footage also shows a group of people standing a few feet away who either didn't see the attack or chose not to get involved. "You can't really tell what they were focusing on," Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County prosecutor's office, said Monday. At least one witness reported the attack, Miller said. Sims was treated at a hospital and released. He was outside his car in the store parking lot about 8:30 p.m. when a man walked up and asked for a light for his cigarette, according to the prosecutor's office. The man then punched Sims at least a half-dozen times in the side of his head while Sims held onto the car door. The video also shows the man using the door to knock Sims to the ground before taking the keys and driving off in the 2005 Chevy Malibu. Police arrested the man Thursday after a foot chase in Warren, just north of Detroit.
Palestinian official resigns
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- The top Palestinian security official quit in exasperation Monday after a second day of firefights among Palestinian factions left four more people dead, including a truck driver delivering bread. Residents frightened by the upsurge in violence holed up in their homes, leaving Gaza City's streets largely deserted while rival security forces took up positions on rooftops and hundreds of gunmen in black ski masks put up checkpoints and stopped cars. Eight people were killed and 70 wounded Sunday and Monday. The 2-month-old Hamas-Fatah unity government struggled to prevent Gaza from again descending into chaos, reaching an agreement with warring factions for a truce late Monday, the second such agreement in as many days, government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said.
Associated Press