State/Nation briefs

The state's 19,000 lottery outlets will transmit messages from the Amber Alert system. Launched in California last summer, the system provides detailed information about kidnapped children and their abductors that is quickly distributed to news outlets and electronic highway signs statewide.

"In 75 percent of the abductions, the child's life is lost within three hours of the abduction," Davis said.

The lottery screens came into use quickly, as authorities sought help Thursday in finding Lindsey Ryan, 14, of Jones, Mich. Lindsey is believed to have been taken Saturday by 56-year-old convicted murderer Terry Drake. Witnesses reported seeing them Wednesday in Grass Valley, about 60 miles east of Sacramento.

Sirhan Sirhan denied parole for 12th time

CORCORAN, Calif. -- The convicted killer of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was denied parole Thursday for the 12th time since the 1968 assassination.

Sirhan Sirhan was not present during the hearing at Corcoran State Prison.

Since blurting out at trial that he killed Kennedy "premeditatedly with 20 years of malice aforethought," Sirhan has repeatedly claimed that he remembers nothing about the incident. Sirhan's attorney, Lawrence Teeter, repeated that claim during Thursday's hearing.

Air Force Secretary reports 54 alleged cases of rape, assault

WASHINGTON -- Air Force Secretary James Roche said Thursday that the service needs to move quickly to fix a climate that has led to at least 54 alleged cases of rape and sexual assault at the Air Force Academy.

"We have cadets who have misused power, that have done things we cannot tolerate," Roche said. "We have to deal with a climate that has allowed this to happen."

Investigators who spent two weeks at the academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., identified 54 cases and met with at least six alleged victims, although there are probably many more who will not come forward, Roche said.

Judge says Saudi Arabia and king owe $216 million to sheik's estranged wife

LOS ANGELES -- The kingdom of Saudi Arabia and King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz must pay a $216 million judgment to settle the lingering legal dispute over the decades-old split of a colorful, high-living Saudi sheik and his estranged wife, a judge ruled Thursday.

Last summer, the court entered a $270 million judgment, which included interest, against Fahd's brother Sheik Mohammed Al Fassi. Superior Court Judge Paul Gutman on Thursday included the king and kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the judgment. Al Fassi died in December in Egypt of an infected hernia. He was 50.

"In our quest for justice, we are hoping to collect on this judgment, which is long overdue," said celebrity attorney Marvin Mitchelson, who represents Sheika Dena Al Fassi. She was awarded $81.5 million of the sheik's fortune in 1983 and the amount has swelled through accrued interest.

American Taliban attacked in prison

VICTORVILLE, Calif. -- John Walker Lindh, imprisoned for helping the Taliban in Afghanistan, was tackled and beat by an obscenity-yelling inmate at a federal prison here, his attorney said Thursday.

"Our understanding is that the inmate tackled John and began hitting him while screaming obscenities before running off. The incident lasted several seconds. Prison officials later apprehended the inmate," attorney Tony West said in a statement issued from his office in San Francisco.

The attack occurred Monday as Lindh was preparing for an evening prayer, West said.<