CHICAGO -- Chicago is poised to end 2004 with its lowest murder rate since 1965, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday. A decrease in killings in some of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods has led to a 25 percent decline in the murder rate through November 2004, vs. the same 11-month period of 2003.

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday he would hold talks with Israel after the Jan. 9 presidential elections.

GAZA -- A 750-member special security unit will be formed to help establish order and the rule of law in the Palestinian territories, a PA official says.