Nation briefs 8/30/04

Court-martial begins for al-Qaida-linked guardsman

SEATTLE -- A videotape showing a U.S. soldier willingly sharing military information with federal undercover agents he believed to be al-Qaida members is expected to be among key evidence in his court martial, scheduled to begin today. Spc. Ryan Anderson of the Washington National Guard is charged with five counts of trying to provide the al-Qaida terrorist network with information about U.S. troop strength and tactics, as well as methods for killing American soldiers. On the video, Anderson offers sketches and information about weaknesses in the M1A1 Abrams, the Army's primary battle tank.

Tropical storm slams into coastal S.C.

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. -- Tropical Storm Gaston sloshed ashore in South Carolina Sunday with near hurricane-force wind, spinning sheets of rain that flooded roads as the storm knocked out power to thousands of people. Gaston made landfall near McClellanville, a small fishing village that was brushed by Hurricane Charley earlier this month when it came ashore for a second time after devastating southwest Florida. Gov. Mark Sanford declared a state of emergency Sunday and encouraged residents to stay in their homes so damage-assessment crews and utility and cleanup workers could do their work. As much as 10 inches of rain fell in Charleston County, and a flash flood watch was in effect along some parts of the coast. Hundreds of residents were urged to evacuate ahead of the storm.

New prisoner abuse reports no help for England

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Two reports spreading blame for Iraqi prisoner abuse to military interrogators and as high as the Pentagon would seem to help the defense of Pfc. Lynndie England. But military law experts say claims the 21-year-old Army reservist was following orders won't do much for her as she prepares for round two this week of a pretrial hearing involving photographs showing her smiling at the humiliation of Iraqi detainees.

Mother charged in girl's 1969 murder

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A woman who said she left her 3-year-old daughter behind with relatives after moving from California 35 years ago has been accused in the girl's death. Donna Pulsifer Kent Prentice, 57, was arrested Friday at her home in rural southwest Wisconsin on a homicide warrant and jailed without bail. Two days earlier, authorities in Illinois arrested Michael Kent, who had been Prentice's boyfriend at the time the girl disappeared.

Congress: No guarantee on intelligence reforms

WASHINGTON -- Congressional leaders on Sunday would not guarantee passage of an overhaul of the nation's intelligence agencies by the November election but pledged to try to make it happen. "I think we need to do a serious attempt at it. I would like to pass something by Election Day. I think we need to do it," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. "We just can't let this sit fallow."

Massive effort to secure trains, subways in N.Y.

NEW YORK -- Trash cans are welded shut, armed guards are watching rail yards and thousands of cops are patrolling Penn Station. North America's busiest train station is the epicenter of the city's largest police deployment in memory. Officers will be aboard every one of the more than 1,000 subway and commuter trains that roll daily into the labyrinth of platforms and tunnels beneath Madison Square Garden. Passengers will share platforms with bomb-sniffing dogs and chemical weapons detectors. National Guard members and state troopers will blanket the convention and the nation's largest public transit system, keeping them safe and running smoothly.

-- From wire reports