■ United States
RU-486 under investigation
Two more women have died after taking the abortion pill RU-486, but officials do not know if the drug played a role in their deaths, US regulators said on Friday. "At this time we are investigating all circumstances associated with these cases and are not able to confirm the causes of death," the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an advisory to the public. Four previously reported deaths were linked to complications from a bacterial infection that developed after the women took the abortion pill, which is sold by privately held Danco Laboratories. The FDA has not attributed those deaths to the drug but is continuing an investigation.
■ United States
Adams delayed in airport
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was delayed at a Washington-area airport on Friday for a secondary security screening, a Homeland Security Department official said. Adams had been scheduled to fly from Washington's Reagan National Airport to Buffalo, New York, for St. Patrick's Day appearances with Democratic Representative Brian Higgins of New York, but was unable to make the trip because of the airport delay, said Teresa Kennedy, a spokeswoman for the congressman. Earlier on Friday, Adams, along with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and other Irish leaders, attended a meeting at the White House with President George W. Bush.
■ Israel
Bird flu detected
The country detected its first cases of H5N1 bird flu on Friday, saying the virus had killed thousands of turkeys and chickens on two farms. Authorities treated four people in hospital amid fears they had the virus, but Israeli media reported late on Friday that the health ministry said none of the four poultry workers were suffering from bird flu. Three people who worked in poultry coops at farms where the virus was discovered were admitted to isolation units at Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba. A fourth worker at a farm about 70km further north was admitted to hospital in Ashkelon. Two farms were confirmed to have infected poultry. Tests were being carried out on another two farms where H5N1 is suspected.
■ Serbia
Milosevic virus found
A global computer security firm warned yesterday it has been tracking a malicious program that involves spam e-mails claiming to have evidence that Slobodan Milosevic was murdered. SophosLabs, a network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, urged computer users worldwide not to open e-mails with subject lines such as "Slobodan Milosevic was killed." Experts said the e-mails contain a Trojan horse program that attempts to lower the security level on infected computers.
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