Calling the recent anthrax cases "a second wave of terrorist attacks" on the US, President George W. Bush yesterday praised Americans for their calm and vowed to share credible information.
His message came a day after another case was found in New York, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said an editor at the New York Post newspaper had become the 17th person in the US infected with the rare anthrax bacteria.
With his administration under fire for sending mixed messages and being slow to protect postal workers after anthrax-laced letters were discovered, Bush devoted his weekly radio address to laying out the facts so far.
"As we learn more about these anthrax attacks, the government will share the confirmed and credible information we have with you," Bush said. "I'm proud of our citizens' calm and reasoned response to this ongoing terrorist attack."
Anthrax-tainted letters were mailed to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, NBC News in New York and the New York Post newspaper, and four people have died -- two Washington postal workers, a photo editor in Florida and a hospital storeroom clerk in New York.
Bush said there was no precedent for the biological attack and praised health officials for acting quickly to distribute antibiotics to those who may have been exposed and swiftly testing post offices and other sites for anthrax spores.
"We are working to protect people based on the best information available," he said.
But criticism has mounted over the administration's handling of the anthrax scare after the deadly bacteria were discovered in the letter to Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat.
While congressional aides and some lawmakers were tested and treated for possible anthrax exposure almost immediately, authorities waited nearly a week to start testing postal workers at the Brentwood facility, which processes mail for the US Capitol and other Washington areas.
Originally experts said they believed anthrax spores could not escape from sealed envelopes, but Bush said yesterday, "Now we know differently ... anthrax apparently can be transferred from one letter to another or from a letter to mail sorting equipment."
FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Friday investigators were moving very aggressively to find out who was behind the 17 confirmed cases of anthrax in the past month.
"We are pursuing more than 1,000 leads, including more than 100 that have taken us overseas. We have conducted more than 2,000 interviews to date in that investigation," he said.
The thrust of the investigation was focused on Trenton, New Jersey, where three anthrax-tainted letters were mailed.
"Despite speculation about the possible source of the anthrax and the motive for the attacks, nothing yet has been ruled out and we continue to follow the evidence wherever it may lead," Mueller said.
Pakistan's government, meanwhile, appeared in confusion yesterday about reported anthrax attacks, with President Pervez Musharraf confirming two incidents but seemingly unaware an official statement had already expressed doubts.
"I'm told there was exposure but no infection -- two confirmed exposures," Musharraf said.
"Let me tell you, with so many problems we don't consider it such a serious problem as it is considered maybe in the United States. I haven't gone into the details," he said at a brief news conference called to discuss Afghan refugee policy.
He had turned for guidance to chief government spokesman Major-General Rashid Qureshi, who was repeating his comments from Friday in which he also said there were two reports of anthrax exposure.
Qureshi again said one of the confirmed cases was the Daily Jang -- contradicting a formal government statement issued on Friday night expressing scepticism about an anthrax attack on the Karachi-based Urdu-language newspaper.
The government statement had said previous reports of anthrax attacks had proved to be hoaxes.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique