First anthrax mail attack outside the US
October 19, 2001
In New Jersey, a postal worker was diagnosed with anthrax of the skin. He is thought to have been exposed to the disease while sorting out letters containing the bacteria which were sent to Democratic senator Tom Daschle and NBC anchor Tom Brokaw.
Following anthrax contamination at NBC and ABC, an employee at America's third largest broadcaster, CBS, has tested positive for skin anthrax.
All three major TV networks in New York have now become sites of the anthrax infection. The Capitol Hill complex in Washington is still closed, and will stay so until Tuesday.
The FBI announced a one million dollar reward for information leading to the capture of those behind the recent anthrax attacks.
The US post office has also decided to send mail to every American household - 147 million addresses - explaining how to deal with suspicious packages.
The first anthrax mail attacks outside the US were confirmed on Thursday. The Kenyan government said four people had been exposed to the bacteria after handling a letter posted from America. The letter was posted from the US city Atlanta and was sent to an ordinary citizen.
US law enforcement officials have said there is still no evidence linking the anthrax scares with foreign terrorists, although nothing has been ruled out.
Mounting concern about the US cases has left countries all over the world on the alert after numerous hoaxes. Public buildings have been temporarily evacuated as a result, including the Israeli parliament and other official buildings in Europe, Africa and New Zealand.
In the US, the demand in nasal swabs has surged and doctors have been told not to prescribe the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin, used to treat anthrax, without proper medical reasons. The pharmaceutical company Bayer said it would treble production of the drug.
Ground troops deployed in Afghanistan
A Pentagon official said on Thursday that a small contingent of US special forces are operating on the ground in Afghanistan. More such troops are likely to be deployed soon. Their tasks would include reconnaissance and the selection of bombing targets.
At a press conference on Thursday, U-S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declined specific comment on the use of ground troops in Afghanistan, but he did say that they would play a key role in tracking down and capturing terrorist leaders. Rumsfeld said that the US air strikes were destroying the al Quaida network, but he also added that warplanes "can't crawl around on the ground and find people."
As the U-S bombing campaign enters its thirteenth day, air strikes remain the centrepiece of the US strategy. Warplanes flew over the Afghan capital Kabul again on Friday. Bombing was also reported in the city of Kandahar.
Pentagon officials rejected Taliban claims that large numbers of civilians had been killed or injured in the bombing. They said the attacks were focused on military targets, usually outside towns and cities.
Israeli Palestinian conflict escalates after assasination
Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers entered the West Bank town of Bethlehem early on Friday as violence escalated on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The incursion came in response to Palestinian attacks around the Israeli settlement of Gilo.
One day after the assasination of Israel's tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi, a new wave of violence has been unleashed. Just a day after his murder three Palestinians including a Fatah militant on Israel's most-wanted list were killed by a car bomb in the West Bank. Eyewitnesses say at least four Palestinians were wounded in a gunbattle in Bethlehem. Late on Thursday, Palestinians fired on a passing car near Jericho carrying a group of Israelis. One passenger was killed and two others injured.
The United States has said it's up to Israel and the Palestinians to decide who has jurisdiction over the killers of cabinet minister Rayavam Zeevi, who was shot on Wednesday.
The radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, PFLP, has claimed responsibility for the killing, saying it was aimed at avenging Israel's assassination of PFLP leader Abu-Ali Mustafa in August.
His shooting on Wednesday came as diplomatic moves towards pressuring the Israelis and Palestinians toward a deal seemed to be bearing fruit. Any illusion that peace could be near has been shattered.
In responce to the latest violence, Israel has broken off contact with the Palestinian Authority. The army has been placed on alert and Palestinan areas were again sealed off. The Israeli government has demanded the extradition of PFLP leaders for trial.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said everything had changed with the death of the tourist minister. He blamed the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, for the assassination. "Arafat has sole responsibility. In the past he has ordered terror attacks and he continues to do so. And he has never come down hard against the terrorists," he said.
US and China have "common understanding"
President Bush met with his Chinese counterpart, Chinese President Jiang Zemin at the Asia-Pacific summit in Shanghai on Thursday. Bush praised what he called the Chinese president's firm support in the US-led war on terrorism, saying the two countries had a "common understanding" of the threat posed by international terrorism.
Bush said China had agreed to share intelligence and join efforts to cut off funding sources for terrorist groups. Zemin emphasized the need to maintain close bilateral relations to help secure stability in the world. China is worried about Islamic separatists in its far western provinces.
Bush spoke to the Chinese President in advance of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Shanghai. It is the first time he has travelled overseas since the terrorist attacks on New York in September. It is also the first time he has met his Chinese counterpart face to face.
The meeting cements a significant improvement in relations between the two countries. The common fight against terrorism seems set to improve US-Chinese relations, damaged by a row over a US spy plane earlier this year. Only eight months ago, when Bush came into office, the President called China a strategic competitor. Now he appears to regard it as a valuable ally.
EU summit on security
European Union leaders will try to close ranks behind U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan at an informal summit in the Belgian city of Ghent on Friday. However, the EU's solidarity pledge for the United States, follwing the New York terrorist attacks, is showing first cracks.
High on the agenda of today's summit is the EU's own anti-terrorism drive. Echoing the words of other European heads of state, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said on Thursday that the terrorism threat is a crucial test for EU policy.
Security at the meeting sites was tight in the run-up to the summit. Police and explosives experts searched the summit venue and Ghent's Saint-Peter's abbey for suspicious materials. Authorities expect up to 40,000 anti-war and anti-globalisation protesters in Ghent during the one-day summit.