California

Schwarzenegger refuses governor’s debate challenge

Gov. Gray Davis went after Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first attack ad Friday and challenged him to a debate “right here, right now,” accusing the actor of distorting his record. The Schwarzenegger campaign declined.

The governor’s first on-air counterpunch against Schwarzenegger, and the debate challenge, were the most direct confrontations Davis has made during the campaign leading up to the Oct. 7 recall election.

They suggested Davis views Schwarzenegger, who on Monday began airing an ad accusing the governor of “mismanaging” California, as a chief obstacle to getting voters to reject the recall, while the unprecedented campaign increasingly shapes into a traditional choice between two candidates.

Jerusalem

Two Israelis, attacker killed in Jewish New Year shooting

A Palestinian gunman Friday broke into a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and opened fire in a home where a family was marking the Jewish New Year, killing a man and a toddler and shattering Israel’s efforts to maintain calm over the holiday.

The attacker was shot and killed by soldiers guarding the settlement, said Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman. Two other Israelis also were wounded in the attack on Negahot, near the West Bank city of Hebron, he said.

Israel has accused Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of encouraging terror attacks, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview published Friday he was determined to “remove” Arafat one day, even at the risk of harming him.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday’s attack. In the past three years of fighting, Palestinians have repeatedly attacked Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Washington, D.C.

Tractor protester convicted

The tobacco farmer whose protest this past March on the National Mall caused massive gridlock in the capital was convicted Friday of two federal felony charges.

Dwight Watson, 50, of Whitakers, N.C., was convicted of making a false threat to detonate explosives and of destroying federal property. Each count could carry a prison sentence of as long as 10 years.

The jury deliberated barely one hour before reaching its decision.

New York

Afghan president believes al-Qaida network wiped out

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who believes Osama bin Laden is hiding in the rugged mountain peaks that border Pakistan, said Friday that the al-Qaida terrorist network in his country had been wiped out.

But Karzai warned that unless the world steps up its aid and sends more troops, Islamic radicals could regain control in Afghanistan and stage more terror attacks in the West. He called on the United States to press Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on religious leaders helping Taliban fighters stage attacks across the border.

A recent U.S. intelligence report, however, suggests that al-Qaida is still active in Afghanistan.