Australian sentenced in terrorism conviction

Australian sentencedin terrorism conviction
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- A U.S. military tribunal sentenced an Australian to nine months in prison Friday after he pleaded guilty to supporting terrorism -- in the first conviction at a U.S. war-crimes trial since World War II. A panel of military officers had recommended a term of seven years, but a section of the plea agreement that had been kept secret from the panel capped the sentence at nine months for David Hicks, who has been held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay for more than five years. Under the plea deal, the confessed Taliban-allied gunman will be allowed to serve his sentence in an Australian prison, but must remain silent about any alleged abuse while in custody.
Gonzales 'fights for truth'
WASHINGTON -- Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Friday he is "fighting for the truth" at the Justice Department even as lawmakers expressed concern they haven't gotten it from him about the firings of eight federal prosecutors. For weeks, Gonzales has been dogged by demands for his own resignation due to shifting stories on how involved he was in planning the dismissals. He still hasn't explained himself to Capitol Hill -- despite orders to do so by President Bush and crumbling support among Republican lawmakers. "I believe in truth and accountability, and every step that I've taken is consistent with that principle," Gonzales said when questioned at a Boston event about preventing child sex abuse. "At the end of the day, I know what I did. And I know that the motivations for the decisions that I made were not based upon improper reasons."
Homeless vet hospitalizedafter attack by three boys
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A homeless Army veteran was recovering in a hospital Friday after two 10-year-old boys and a teenager were accused of attacking him on a street and smashing a concrete block into his face. The three boys were in custody on aggravated battery allegations and face a hearing next week to determine if they should remain in juvenile detention.
Airline evicts coughing girl
HONOLULU -- A 16-year-old girl who caught a cold during a school trip to New York was kicked off her flight home because she was coughing. Rachel Collier was removed from the Continental Airlines plane as it was about to leave Newark, N.J., for Honolulu earlier this week. She had fallen asleep after boarding the plane with about three dozen classmates and woke up coughing and gasping for breath as it was about to take off. "Everyone was looking at me," she said. "I couldn't talk because I lost my voice coughing so much. I was panicking." The flight attendants gave her water, and a doctor on the flight said she would be OK to make the 10-hour flight. But the captain returned the aircraft to the gate to drop off the girl and one of her teachers. Rachel said she started crying when the captain told her to leave.
Constipation drug pulled
WASHINGTON -- Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis AG will stop selling a drug to relieve constipation after it was linked to a higher chance of heart attack, stroke and worsening chest pain that can become a heart attack, federal health officials said Friday. Novartis agreed to withdraw Zelnorm at the FDA's request, the agency said in a public health advisory. Zelnorm is a prescription medication approved for short-term treatment of women with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and for patients younger than 65 with chronic constipation, the FDA said. Doctors who prescribe Zelnorm should work with their patients and transition them to other therapies as appropriate, the FDA added.
Associated Press
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