Oklahoma

Nichols murder case awaits jury’s verdict

Closing arguments in the state murder trial of Terry Nichols wrapped up Tuesday, with defense lawyers contending the case was largely circumstantial and based on bad science.

“They’re not searching for the truth,” lawyer Brian Hermanson said of the prosecution. “They’re trying to make a case.

“The state can’t just suggest things and expect you to take the leap,” Hermanson told the jury.

Nichols, 49, is charged with 161 counts of first-degree murder for his role in the 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City’s Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which killed 168 people. He is already serving a federal life sentence for the deaths of eight government agents. State prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Nichols for the others killed in the attack and for the death of one victim’s fetus.

The jury was to begin deliberating today.

Chicago

Study: Aspirin may cut risk of breast cancer

Aspirin, the wonder drug that can help prevent heart attacks and strokes, also appears to reduce women’s chances of developing the most common type of breast cancer, a study found.

The authors of the study said that the findings were tantalizing but that more research was needed before doctors can recommend that women take aspirin to ward off breast cancer.

The study appears in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association and was led by researcher Mary Beth Terry and Dr. Alfred Neugut of Columbia University.

Previous studies reached conflicting conclusions on whether there is a link between aspirin and breast cancer. This is the first study to examine whether aspirin might influence the growth of specific types of tumors, said Dr. Raymond DuBois, director of cancer prevention at Vanderbilt University’s Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

Google spoofers link Kerry to ‘waffles’

With the presidential election approaching, computer geeks on a mission are having fun playing spoofs on search engine Google.

The top result on Google from typing in “waffles” was Democratic candidate John Kerry’s official campaign site on Monday.

The phrase appears nowhere on Kerry’s site. But conservative bloggers skewed the search engine results by posting the phrase on their own Web pages and linking it to the Kerry site, in a technique called Google-bombing.

It appears to have been started by a 23-year-old first-year Pennsylvania law student Ken Jacobsen, who scattered the word “waffles” throughout his blog, Esoteric Diatribe, back in April — all linking to Kerry’s site. Other allies did the same on their home pages.

Kenya

Sudanese rebels to sign peace deal

Moving to end a 21-year civil war, Sudan’s government and rebels agreed on issues Tuesday that had prevented a final peace deal, officials said.

The parties in Naivasha still have to agree on the details of a comprehensive cease-fire before the war, which has led to the deaths of more than 2 million people, could be declared over.

Then it could take months to determine whether the diplomatic solution will translate to peace on the ground.

The agreement is not expected to have a direct impact on a separate rebellion in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Negotiators plan to sign three protocols clearing the outstanding issues today, officials in this Kenyan town said.

Rebel spokesman Samson Kwaje described the agreements as “very, very significant.”