Jury convicts Nichols in Oklahoma City bombing

Jury convicts Nichols inOklahoma City bombing
McALESTER, Okla. -- A state jury took just five hours to find Terry Nichols guilty of 161 counts of murder for the bombing that destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building -- charges for which he could be sentenced to death.
A juror wiped tears from her eyes as the verdicts were read by Judge Steven Taylor, and several others appeared to have been crying. Prosecutors beamed as survivors and victims' relatives hugged and congratulated them.
"After nine years, the families who lost loved ones finally have justice," said a tearful Diane Leonard, whose husband, Secret Service agent Donald R. Leonard, died in the bombing.
Nichols, who sat stone-faced in court Wednesday, was also convicted of first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson in the bombing. The terrorist attack, which killed 168 people, was then the deadliest on American soil.
Jurors will now decide whether Nichols is sentenced to life in prison or death by lethal injection. The penalty phase is expected to begin Tuesday and last about three weeks.
"It will be another trial in and of itself," Taylor told jurors before he sent them home for the Memorial Day weekend.
Sudanese government,rebels talk with mediators
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Mediators consulted with the Sudanese government and southern rebels today to plan the final phase of talks on ending Africa's longest-running war, after the adversaries signed agreements that pave the way for a comprehensive deal.
The warring parties signed three protocols late Wednesday on power-sharing and the administration of three disputed areas in central Sudan, clearing up the last remaining political issues needed for a final peace accord.
The signing took place in Naivasha, 60 miles west of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. The accord is unrelated to fighting in the Darfur region of western Sudan, where fighting between the government and rebels have raised fears of ethnic cleansing.
All that remains for the two sides to work out are procedural matters to end the 21-year civil conflict in which more than 2 million people have perished, mainly through war-induced famine.
Nuclear trade deal
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- One day after announcing that Brazil was negotiating the export of uranium and nuclear technologies to China, the Brazilian government Wednesday tried to calm fears raised by the potential accord.
"Brazil has not made any decision," Eduardo Campos, Brazil's science and technology minister, told the state news agency Agencia Brasil on Wednesday during a state visit to China.
In a news release later Wednesday, Campos tried to distance Brazil from declarations a day earlier that Brazil and China would negotiate the sale of nonprocessed uranium to supply 11 new nuclear reactors in China. Profits from the export of uranium, officials had said, would be used to jump-start the flagging nuclear program in Brazil, Latin America's largest nation.
Brazil's nuclear programs could lead to the creation of another supply source for the nuclear ambitions of other developing nations. Brazil has already been under fire for refusing to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency into a planned facility for enriching uranium.
N.M. wildfire grows
CAPITAN, N.M. -- A lightning-sparked wildfire in rural south-central New Mexico's Capitan Mountains continued to burn out of control early today.
The blaze grew to 25,000 acres and has burned a dozen cabins -- mostly summer homes -- and several outbuildings.
Firefighters on Wednesday constructed lines along the northern perimeter of the fire in preparation for burnout operations to begin Friday, said fire information officer Jackie Denk.
Lighter winds, overcast conditions and higher humidity aided firefighters Wednesday. However, the rugged terrain has made it impossible to put firefighters in front of the fire, which has been burning since May 15, Denk said.
Thunderstorms -- packing erratic winds, dry lightning and very little rain -- were forecast for today.
Bush administration losesbattle over assisted suicide
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The state's landmark right-to-die law has survived a second challenge in federal court by the Bush administration, and supporters hope that means the 10-year battle over the law has finally been settled.
In a 2-1 ruling Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco said Attorney General John Ashcroft cannot try to undermine Oregon's Death With Dignity Act by prohibiting doctors from prescribing lethal doses of federally controlled drugs.
Ashcroft's aim "interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide," Circuit Judge Richard Tallman said. He said Ashcroft's threat to take action "far exceeds the scope of his authority under federal law."
The act, which allows terminally ill patients with less than six months to live to request a lethal dose of drugs, has been approved twice by Oregon voters and has now survived two federal appeals court challenges.
Wives over 40 more likelyto seek divorce, study says
NEW YORK -- Two-thirds of divorces after age 40 are initiated by wives, debunking the myth of an older man divorcing his wife for a younger woman, a new survey shows.
"That obviously happens, but mostly it's women who are asking for the divorce," said Steve Slon, editor of AARP the Magazine, on Tuesday. The magazine will publish the results today in its July-August issue.
"The Divorce Experience: A Study of Divorce at Midlife and Beyond" surveyed 1,147 people ages 40 to 79 who had divorced in their 40s, 50s or 60s. The questionnaire survey, completed in December, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Combined dispatches