USA
Secretary of State Powell said the US would like the military campaign in Afghanistan to help wrest control of Kabul from the ruling Taliban by winter. In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Powell also would not rule out ongoing military operations during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts in mid-November. He said the Northern Alliance rebels fighting Taliban forces were likely to soon "start moving on Kabul more aggressively."
President Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, reportedly made progress toward a new military strategic framework that would include limited missile defenses. Meeting at the summit of leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shanghai, Putin repeated Russia's opposition to Bush's plans to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile pact but said: "We should react adequately to possible threats in the future." Russia and the US also pledged to prevent nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons from being used for terrorism and to stop funding to those involved.
New traces of anthrax were discovered in a House postal facility a few blocks from the Capitol, bringing to four the number of congressional buildings believed to be tainted - but the first exposure on the House side of the complex. Meanwhile, a capital postal worker became the ninth American to be diagnosed with anthrax. Last week, the bacteria was discovered in a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. The House and other Capitol buildings are closed until tomorrow for decontamination and tests. Anthrax letters have also been linked to three TV networks in New York and The New York Post. (Story, page 1.)
The anthrax strains that surfaced in Florida, New York, and Washington are similar, likely indicating a single source, the White House said. Handwriting on some letters is identical, and more than one of the letters was postmarked in Trenton, N.J., where at least 150 FBI agents swarmed postal routes searching for the mailbox used by the sender.
Philadelphia police were investigating an unclaimed suitcase filled with military-grade plastic explosive left at a center-city bus terminal. The explosive, which lacked a detonation device, was placed in a public locker Sept. 29, rental records showed. The seven pounds of explosives were the same kind used in last year's attack on the USS Cole in Yemen.
Democrat Mark Green will face Republican Michael Bloomberg in the Nov. 6 general election to choose a successor to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R), who is prevented by term limits from running again. On Friday, Democratic rival and Bronx borough President Fernando Ferrer endorsed Green, ending a week of bitter debate over the results of their Oct. 11 runoff.
A British Airways Concorde was to touch down at New York's Kennedy International Airport from London after its first flight to the US since one of the supersonic jets crashed on takeoff outside Paris last year. The accident, involving Air France Concorde killed, 113 people and resulted in an across-the-board suspension of service until an investigation and safety upgrades could be completed and tested. Commercial Concorde flights are to resume Nov. 7.
