NATION NEWS BRIEFS

CALIFORNIA / Halloween party shooting hurts 9

A gunman suspected of taking part in a Halloween party shooting that injured nine people in downtown Oakland is being sought by police, authorities said Sunday. Hundreds of people fled a ballroom when shots were fired early Sunday, an employee told the Oakland Tribune. A wounded man is believed to have been the target, Oakland police said. Most of the injured were women aged 18 to 29. None of the injuries appeared to be life threatening, police said.

NEW YORK / Odor report diverts flight from Kennedy

A Vision Airlines flight from Kennedy Airport was diverted Sunday to Baltimore Washington International Airport after a report of odor in the cabin. Airline spokesman Bryan Glazer says Flight RBY-6401 out of Kennedy made a precautionary landing in Baltimore. An airport spokesman says the flight carrying 154 passengers landed without incident about 5:20 p.m. Sunday. No one was hurt. Glazer says the aircraft was inspected and allowed to depart for its destination. It was not immediately known where it was bound. Georgia-based Vision Airlines was founded in 1994. The small airline attracted attention in July when one of its jets was chartered to transport a group of Russian sleeper agents to Vienna as part of the largest spy swap since the Cold War.

NATIONWIDE / Gitmo child soldier gets 8 years

A former teenage al-Qaida fighter was sentenced Sunday to 8 years in custody under a plea agreement unsealed after a military sentencing jury said he should serve 40 years for war crimes. Omar Khadr, the Canadian son of a major al-Qaida figure, was captured at age 15 in Afghanistan in 2002 after a four-hour firefight. Khadr pleaded guilty Oct. 25 to five war crimes including murder for throwing a grenade that mortally wounded a U.S. Special Forces medic, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer.

NATIONWIDE / Apple sues Motorola over patents

Apple is suing Motorola, alleging infringing on smart phone patents. Apple Inc. said in a federal court filing in Wisconsin on Friday that Motorola's Droid, Cliq, BackFlip and other phones violate its patents related to the iPhone's touch screen and user interface. Apple wants Motorola to stop using the patents and seeks unspecified damages. The suit comes after Motorola sued Apple earlier this month over patent infringement.

NEW JERSEY / Charges in Rutgers suicide denied

Lawyers are disputing charges against two former Rutgers University freshmen accused of webcasting a male classmate having sex with a man. Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei were charged with invasion of privacy over a Sept. 19 video. Tyler Clementi jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge days later. But defense lawyers told The Star-Ledger that the webcam stream was viewed only on a single computer and did not show the men having sex. Prosecutors are considering whether to charge Ravi and Wei with a hate crime.