NATION IN BRIEF

N.C. Beach House Fire Kills Seven Students

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. -- An early morning fire Sunday ravaged a beach house occupied by more than a dozen college students, killing seven and sending several more to a hospital.

Mayor Debbie Smith said the six people hospitalized were treated and released, including one survivor who jumped from the burning home and into a waterway.

Officials at the University of South Carolina said six of the students who died were from the school, in Columbia, S.C.; the seventh attended Clemson University. The six who survived were also from USC. The private home was being used by the owner's daughter and some of her friends, Smith said.

The fire appears to have affected two Greek organizations at the university -- the Delta Delta Delta sorority and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, said USC Dean of Students Dennis Pruitt.

Only about 500 people live year-round in Ocean Isle Beach, at the far southern end of the state, but the town has several thousand rental and vacation homes and condos.

Station Has Solar Panel Problem

CAPE CANAVERAL -- Spacewalking astronauts discovered what appear to be metal shavings inside a joint that is needed to turn a set of solar power panels. The rotary joint, 10 feet in diameter, has experienced intermittent vibrations and power spikes for nearly two months. The joint controls solar panel wings on the side of the space station to make sure they are facing the sun. It will remain immobile as much as possible until the problem is solved, said Michael T. Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager. That will cut the amount of power the station can produce.

Iowa Democrats Move Up Caucus

DES MOINES -- Iowa Democrats voted to move their leadoff precinct caucuses to Jan. 3, the same date Republicans picked this month, letting both parties continue the tradition of meeting on the same night. The state's precinct caucuses had been scheduled for Jan. 14, but the parties decided to move them up under pressure from other states rushing to the beginning of the primary calendar.