Nation digest 05/11/04

Attorneys ordered to keep defendant awake

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- An Army sergeant accused in a deadly grenade attack on his fellow soldiers fell asleep twice Monday during a pretrial hearing, causing an annoyed military judge to order government attorneys to deal with the man's sleep disorder. Sgt. Hasan Akbar, 32, is charged with attacking a group of fellow 101st Airborne Division soldiers and others in Kuwait during the opening days of the Iraq war. Two people were killed and 14 were wounded. Akbar's attorneys argued that the judge should order the government to provide treatment to their client for sleep apnea, a condition that causes sufferers to periodically stop breathing while asleep and can often make people drowsy in a quiet or monotonous environment.

Six-year sentence for last fugitive member of SLA

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The last fugitive member of the Symbionese Liberation Army to be brought to justice was sentenced Monday to six years in prison for the shotgun slaying of a bank customer during a 1975 holdup. James Kilgore, 56, who evaded authorities for more than two decades before his November 2002 arrest in South Africa, was the last of five SLA members sentenced for murdering Myrna Opsahl, 42. The housewife and mother of four was killed as she deposited a church collection at Crocker National Bank.

Seven killed in Maine while trying to pass car

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine -- A rented SUV was speeding at more than 90 mph when it clipped a car it was trying to pass and veered out of control, killing seven people inside, including four young children, authorities said. The Ford Explorer went airborne, slammed into trees in the median of Interstate 95 and landed on its roof. The crash was the deadliest on a Maine public road since 1958.

Court reinstates lawsuit against FBI in mob case

BOSTON -- A federal appeals court Monday reinstated a lawsuit against the U.S. government that blames the FBI's corrupt relationship with two mob informants for a man's murder. The lawsuit filed by the family of John McIntyre accuses the FBI of contributing to McIntyre's death by giving James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi free rein to commit crimes while they were informing on the Mafia. McIntyre disappeared in 1984 after giving information about the Bulger gang's crimes to the FBI. His body was found in a grave in Boston in 2000. The lawsuit was dismissed last year by a judge who said it was filed too late. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision, saying the family could not have known about the FBI's role until much later.

White House to impose sanctions on Syria

WASHINGTON -- President Bush will order economic sanctions against Syria this week for supporting terrorism and not doing enough to prevent militant fighters from entering neighboring Iraq, congressional and administration sources said Monday. The sanctions, which the White House will impose as early as today, are being ordered because the administration believes Syria has aggravated tensions in the Middle East by supporting militant groups. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa spoke of a "unanimous Arab decision" to condemn the sanctions, which would be reflected in a final resolution from a meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers underway in Cairo, Egypt.

Woman has sextuplets in Pennsylvania hospital

HERSHEY, Pa. -- A woman gave birth to sextuplets Monday morning, and both the mother and babies were doing well, hospital officials said. Kate Gosselin, 29, delivered her three sons and three daughters in her 30th week of pregnancy. The babies were delivered by Caesarean section at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, hospital officials said. "I'd just like to thank the Lord," said Jonathan Gosselin, 27, the babies' father. "It was truly an amazing thing." Sextuplets are rare. Hospital officials said that as of March 15, only 138 documented sets had been born worldwide. Kate Gosselin had been taking a fertility drug to conceive, her husband said.

-- From wire reports