anthrax

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Packages With White Powder Sent to 8 Fed Buildings

Initial tests show substance likely calcium carbonate

(Newser) - Envelopes with white powder were found yesterday in eight federal buildings in seven different cities across Washington, Idaho and Utah, prompting the evacuation of an IRS building and a US attorney's office. The FBI is investigating whether the incidents were linked. "It is obviously disruptive and taken seriously,"...

FBI Closes Anthrax Case
 FBI Closes Anthrax Case 
UPDATED

FBI Closes Anthrax Case

Bruce Ivins acted alone; critics still not buying it

(Newser) - Wrapping one of its most vexing investigations, the FBI yesterday concluded that Army scientist Bruce Ivins acted alone in the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five and unnerved a nation reeling from the 9/11 attacks. But the findings rang hollow for critics. "The evidence the FBI produced would not,...

FBI to Close 2001 Anthrax Case
 FBI to Close 2001 Anthrax Case 

FBI to Close 2001 Anthrax Case

Bruce Ivins acted alone, they conclude

(Newser) - The FBI will formally end its investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks, sources tell NPR . They will conclude that army scientist Bruce Ivins sent the tainted letters, which killed five and sickened 17 others, and that he worked alone. Victims have already been notified, and the Department of Justice will...

Suspicious Powder Sent to 3 NY Consulates

Hazmat teams clear French, Austrian, Uzbek missions

(Newser) - The FBI is seeking a suspect with an apparent grudge against the French, Austrians, and Uzbeks after envelopes containing a suspicious white powder arrived at the three nations' New York diplomatic missions yesterday. Hazardous material units were sent to the consulates and decontaminated dozens of employees. No traces of anthrax...

US Fears al-Qaeda Bioattack From Mexico

(Newser) - US counterterrorism officials are worried that al-Qaeda may mount a biological attack from Mexico and could even seek to collaborate with domestic terrorists, the Washington Times reports. The fears are bolstered by a February video from Kuwait al-Qaeda recruiter Abdullah al-Nafisi. In the video, Nafisi boasted that anthrax “carried...

Line by Line: Some Obama Budget Cuts
 Line by Line: Some 
 Obama Budget Cuts 
ANALYSIS

Line by Line: Some Obama Budget Cuts

(Newser) - President Obama said today proposed budget cuts are “not a criticism of” federal workers. Still, they take a toll, from defense to education. The Washington Post takes a look at what’s being trimmed:
  • Anthrax vaccine research: The administration says the goals of the program have been met, and
...

Flu Carries Lessons for Bioterror Fight
 Flu Carries Lessons 
 for Bioterror Fight 

OPINION

Flu Carries Lessons for Bioterror Fight

(Newser) - The H1N1 flu outbreak spotlights a public-health infrastructure ill suited to respond to a pandemic or its close cousin, a bioterror attack, D.A. Henderson writes for Newsweek. We must “sharpen our health-care response. Rapid diagnosis and response are critical,” he writes. The “interconnected world we live...

Powder Mailed to Journal, Dershowitz Is Harmless

(Newser) - White powder mailed to executives of the Wall Street Journal and to Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz is harmless, authorities say. Authorities have no suspects or motive, but the Journal notes that Dershowitz wrote an essay for the paper earlier this month defending Israel's assault on Gaza. The Journal got a...

White Powder Sent to Wall Street Journal

More than a dozen NYC-based executives get envelopes with Tenn. postmark

(Newser) - The Wall Street Journal received more than a dozen envelopes filled with an unidentified white powder today, addressed to various New York-based executives at the newspaper. Police and hazardous-materials crews are investigating, according to a spokesman, and the floor used by paper execs and editorial-page employees has been evacuated. All...

Packages Sent to National Guard Prove Harmless

Anti-war CDs among the contents of deliveries to facilities in 36 states

(Newser) - Suspicious packages sent to National Guard and Reserve sites in 36 states turned out to be harmless expressions of First Amendment rights, federal officials say. Though initial reports suggested they contained white power, anti-war CDs were the featured delivery, the AP reports. The FBI says the packages—some postmarked from...

High Court Won't Hear Hatfill Suit
High Court Won't Hear Hatfill Suit

High Court Won't Hear Hatfill Suit

NY Times off the hook for columns on 2001 anthrax attacks

(Newser) - The US Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of Steven Hatfill’s defamation suit against the New York Times, Bloomberg reports. Hatfill, who was once suspected of masterminding the 2001 anthrax attacks, has long maintained that the paper's coverage—specifically, columns by Nicholas Kristof—damaged his reputation. But lower...

Mutant Anthrax Cells Led, Slowly, to Ivins

FBI probe required inventing new type of forensic science

(Newser) - The anthrax poisoning case against Bruce Ivins won't be made in court, but it is compelling, the FBI says. Although the late Army scientist's lawyer dismisses the case as “heaps of innuendo,” federal records reveal a far-reaching, exhaustive investigation that required newly invented technology and depended on mutant...

Times Hit by White Powder Scare

Letter addressed to editorial editor

(Newser) - A New York Times employee found white powder inside an envelope earlier today, prompting police to evacuate that floor, close the office lobby, and ask three workers to bag their clothing and shower, the paper's City Room reports. The letter was addressed to editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal. The newspaper...

Letter Threats Prompt Okla., Denver Banks to Evacuate

(Newser) - Several Chase banks in Detroit and Oklahoma were evacuated today after receiving threatening letters containing white powder, the Detroit Post reports. The letters "basically indicated that the person who opened the letter was going to die" because of "an action the bank may have taken," ...

Senate Grills FBI on Anthrax, Ivins

Lawmakers raise doubts that suspect acted alone

(Newser) - Senators cast strong doubts today on the FBI's conclusion that Bruce Ivins acted alone in the 2001 anthrax scare, reports the Washington Post, with many demanding a more public vetting of the investigation into America’s largest bioterror attack. "There are others out there who should be charged...

FBI Tries to Dispel Anthrax Probe Doubts

But acknowledges 'spore on a grassy knoll' sentiment

(Newser) - The FBI revealed unprecedented details about its investigation of army scientist Bruce Ivins yesterday in a move to counter skepticism in the scientific community. The agency laid out how it brought together top scientists from the public and private sector to trace samples of the deadly anthrax of 2001 to...

FBI Missed Anthrax Clues
 FBI Missed Anthrax Clues

FBI Missed Anthrax Clues

Investigators were fixated on wrong suspect

(Newser) - The FBI's obsessive focus on the wrong anthrax suspect caused the agency to miss some important clues pointing to Bruce Ivins, the Los Angeles Times reports. Records of key-card swipes show that Ivins, who killed himself last month before being charged, spent hours in a "hot suite" with access...

Case Against Ivins Looking Thin
 Case Against Ivins Looking Thin
glossies

Case Against Ivins Looking Thin

FBI evidence full of holes and contradictions

(Newser) - The FBI's case against alleged anthrax killer Bruce Ivins is full of gaps and contradictions, Newsweek reports. Ivins is said to have sent anthrax to NBC's Tom Brokaw—but was retaliating against a reporter at ABC. He also passed a polygraph in the probe and had no anthrax in his...

Anthrax Security Gap: 'Worse Than McDonald's'

Background checks failed to reveal scientist's mental illness

(Newser) - The case of anthrax suspect Bruce Ivins has raised fears about security protecting Americans from the world's deadliest germs, the Washington Post reports. The scientist thought to be behind the deadly 2001 attacks had serious mental health problems and expressed homicidal thoughts to his frightened therapist—but his supervisors at...

Emails Reveal Anthrax Scientist's Delusions

'Split personality' Ivins was being 'eaten alive inside'

(Newser) - Dozens of emails released by the FBI reveal that scientist Bruce Ivins was losing his grip on reality long before the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, the New York Times reports.  The Army scientist and anthrax suspect, who committed suicide last month, wrote to a colleague in 2000 that he...

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