USA
A worker in CBS News anchor Dan Rather's office tested positive for the external form of anthrax, the same form that earlier infected an aide to NBC's Tom Brokaw. The CBS employee is being treated and is expected to recover, authorities said. The news came as six Capitol buildings in Washington were closed for testing after 31 Senate workers tested positive for exposure to - but not infection from - the bacteria. The House chamber is closed through Tuesday as a precaution, although the Senate remained in session under tight security. (Related stories, pages 1, 2; related opinion, page 11.)
The FBI, meanwhile, said it is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons responsible for mailing anthrax to at least three states. Five people have been diagnosed with anthrax symptoms nationwide, and 40 others have tested positive for exposure to it.
The Three Mile Island power plant near Harrisburg, Pa., went on high alert after receiving what officials called a "credible threat." Authorities also shut down two nearby airports, and dispatched military aircraft to protect the facility, the scene 21 years ago of the US's worst nuclear accident. The FBI and state police gave no details about the nature of the threat.
Three of four Osama bin Laden followers convicted in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were sentenced to life in prison without parole in a US District Court in New York. Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, Wadih El-Hage, and Mohamed Rashed Al-'Owhali were convicted in May of helping to plan and implement the bombings. All faced a possible death penalty, but jury members couldn't agree on that sentence.
NASA's top administrator, Daniel Goldin, announced he will step down Nov. 17 after 10 years. The longest-serving head of the space agency will leave with a record of 160 successful space missions, 11 failures - including two Mars missions - and the building of the International Space Station, now permanently occupied. Goldin said he wants to spend more time with his family.
The remains of three people have been removed so far from the wreckage of the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru, which accidentally was rammed by a US submarine off Hawaii in February during a rapid-surfacing drill. Six more men and boys aboard the vessel at the time are still missing. The ship was raised from the 2,000-foot-deep waters where it sank and towed to shallower water a mile off Oahu. Ultimately, it will be towed back to sea to sink.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits climbed last week by a seasonally adjusted 6,000 - to 490,000, the Labor Department reported. The more stable four-week moving average jumped to 491,250 last week, the highest level since April 1991, when the US was emerging from its last recession. More than 200,000 layoffs, many in the travel and tourism industries, have been announced since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (Related story, page 2.)
