Briefly

Chicago high-rise apartment fire kills 2

CHICAGO -- Fire broke out in a high-rise apartment building in Chicago on Friday night, killing at least two people and injuring two others. Two elderly victims were taken to the hospital in critical condition but later died, said fire department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez. The cause of the fire was being investigated. The blaze was put out in less than two hours. The building houses about 1,100 residents in nearly 500 apartments, according to the property manager's Web site.

Youths convicted in Halloween beatings

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Nine black youths were convicted Friday in juvenile court of beating three white women in a racially charged attack on Halloween night. The youths, ranging from 12 to 18 years old, could receive sentences from probation to confinement in juvenile prison until age 25. All were charged with felony assault. The judge found eight of them guilty of hate crimes. Prosecutors said the confrontation began when a crowd of black youths threw objects at the three young white women. Some hurled racial insults and one was heard shouting "I hate whites," authorities said. The group then attacked the victims, knocking them to the ground. The beating stopped when a black man driving by pulled the assailants away and shielded the women with his body, prosecutors said. A 12-year-old girl was acquitted, and two 15-year-old boys face trial later on felony assault charges.

Navy seeks chopper crew after crash

SAN DIEGO -- The Navy is still hoping to find three survivors from Friday's helicopter crash off the Southern California coast. Vessels and aircraft searched for three crew members of a Navy helicopter that crashed during a training flight, one that killed a fourth sailor. The MH-60S Sierra helicopter, based at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado, went down around 4:30 p.m. Friday. It was on a mission off the USS Bonhomme Richard.

-- From wire reports