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Police in London have arrested six men of North African origin after finding traces of the deadly poison, ricin, at a North London address. As NPR's Richard Harris reports, ricin is lethal, relatively easy to manufacture, and is on the list of potential bioweapons that terrorists might employ.

A study suggests offenders who kill white victims in Maryland are more likely to be sentenced to death than those who kill non-whites. Departing Gov. Parris Glendening imposed a moratorium on the death penalty pending the study's outcome. Lisa Nurnberger of member station WAMU reports.

Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA) prepares to deliver his annual State of the State address. He's expected to address a California budget deficit estimated at $35 billion. NPR's Richard Gonzales reports.

The Freedom to Vote Act would have made Election Day a national holiday and set national standards for early voting, among other things.

NPR's Lynn Neary talks with Jody Steinauer, founder of Medical Students For Choice, an organization seeking to reform medical school curricula to include training in abortion. She says only 46 percent of medical schools provide abortion training, despite a requirement to do so to receive accreditation. Steinauer is currently doing a fellowship in OB/GYN and Internal Medicine at U.C.S.F. and San Francisco General Hospital.

It's been a year since the priest abuse scandal broke in the Roman Catholic church, and for some of the hundreds of victims in the Boston area this has been one of the most painful of their lives. Others say that seeking justice and talking about what happened to them has marked the first steps toward healing. NPR's Tovia Smith spoke with some of these victims.

Alan Cheuse reviews Dancer, a fictionalized biography of Rudolf Nureyev by Colum McCann. Dancer is published by Metropolitan Books.

Mexico is asking the World Court at The Hague to stop the United States from executing 51 Mexican citizens. Mexico argues the United States has violated international rules by not informing Mexican detainees of their right to assistance from the Mexican consulate. The United States disagrees, and says Mexico is infringing on its justice system by questioning the use of capital punishment. NPR's Gerry Hadden reports.

NPR's Julie Rovner reports that with Republican control of the federal government, abortion opponents are looking forward to several victories this year. The first issue expected to pass both houses and to be signed into law is a ban on late abortions, which abortion opponents call "partial-birth" abortions. Other issues that will be debated include proposed laws to protect fetuses injured during violent crimes against pregnant women; a law barring adults from taking adolescents across state lines for abortions; and a law that would make it easier for hospitals and providers to decline to offer abortion services.

With U.S. troops closing in on his position in Tora Bora, Afghanistan in 2001, Osama bin Laden used a simple trick to escape. That's according to a report in the Washington Post, which says bin Laden passed the satellite phone the Americans were tracking to one of his guards. The guard then led U.S. troops one way while bin Laden went another. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Washington Post correspondent Peter Finn in Casablanca, Morocco.