Nation digest 03/02/04

Coast Guard gives up search for 18 missing

NORFOLK, Va. -- The Coast Guard gave up the search Monday for 18 crewmen missing after a tanker carrying industrial ethanol exploded and sank off the Virginia coast. At least three other crewmen were killed. The 570-foot Bow Mariner went down Saturday night more than 50 miles east of Chincoteague. The Coast Guard said that the explosion was accidental but that the exact cause was under investigation. Six survivors were plucked from a life raft on Saturday. The Coast Guard searched Saturday night and again on Sunday until nightfall.

Terry Nichols trial under way with jury selection

McALESTER, Okla. -- Jury selection began Monday in the murder trial of Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols after the judge refused to postpone proceedings while the FBI reviews whether investigators suppressed evidence of a wider conspiracy. Nichols, already serving a life sentence on federal charges for his role in the bombing, could get the death penalty if convicted of the state charges. Picking 12 jurors and six alternates is expected to take two weeks.

Snowstorm closes roads in four states

Heavy snow blown by wind up to 45 mph closed hundreds of miles of highways Monday in South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska, shutting down schools and at least one city government. More than a foot of snow had fallen in parts of Wyoming, with 30 inches in the Colorado mountains, and snow drifted onto roads in South Dakota on Monday as fast as plows could clear them.

Anti-bacterial soap no help against common illnesses

PHILADELPHIA -- Anti-bacterial soaps do not deliver the type of protection from common health ailments that consumers expect, according to a study. Researchers at Columbia University gave anti-bacterial cleaning products to 120 New York City families, monitored them for almost a year, and found they experienced about the same number of runny noses, sore throats and fevers as another group that got regular soaps and detergents. The study's lead author, Elaine Larson, said the results would not surprise physicians; the products tested were designed to kill bacteria, not viruses. But that may not be as clear to the average consumer, she said.

Court: Catholic health plan must provide birth control

SAN FRANCISCO -- In a precedent-setting decision, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday that a Roman Catholic charity must offer birth-control coverage to its employees even though the church considers contraception a sin. The 6-1 decision marked the first such ruling by a state's highest court. Experts said the ruling could affect thousands of workers at Catholic hospitals and other church-backed institutions in California and prompt other states to fashion similar laws. California is one of 20 states to require that all company-provided health plans must include contraception coverage if the plans have prescription drug benefits.

Anger linked to higher stroke risk in men

DALLAS -- Hotheaded men who explode with anger seem to be at greater risk of having a stroke or dying, new research shows. Their risk is even greater than men who are simply stressed-out Type A personalities. Angry women, on the other hand, don't run as high a risk of having a stroke or heart problems, according to a study released Monday in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. Men who unleashed their anger were also 20 percent more likely to have died from any cause during the study.

-- From wire reports