The crisis
The anthrax scare escalated. Two postal workers in a Washington mail facility died while many more were hospitalized. Part of the Hart Senate Office Building was closed. A State Department mail handler was hospitalized with the disease and the bacterium was found in mail handling facilities for the CIA and Supreme Court. An estimated 10,000 people are now taking anti-anthrax medicine.
Bayer reached a deal with the U.S. government to provide Cipro at a low price
Swiss Re, the largest insurer of the World Trade Center, sued the buildings' managers to limit its to $3.5 billion.
Donald H. Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, again warned that the war will be long and cast doubt on the possibility of finding Osama bin Laden quickly.
Congress approved and President Bush signed a package of anti-terrorist measures that increase law enforcement powers.
U.S. bombers began hitting Taliban positions near Northern Alliance troops who dismissed the strikes as ineffective. . .
Abdul Haq, an Afghan opposition leader, was captured and killed by the Taliban after slipping into Afghanistan to rally opposition forces.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf warned the United States not to bomb during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but Rumsfeld suggested that military actions would not be dictated by the religious calendar.. New York swore in 300 new firefighters to help fill the ranks left open after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The flow of opium from Afghanistan, which had been on the decline, began to increase as the war effort escalated.
The World
The Irish Republican Army agreed to dismantle its arsenal of weapons, keeping the Northern Ireland peace process alive
Israel said its troops will withdraw from several West Bank cities, including Bethlehem after deadly violence came to the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
Bombings by guerrilla and paramilitary groups in Colombia killed 29 people including five children.
Digna Ochoa, one of Mexico's most prominent human rights lawyers, was shot to death.
Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and President Bush agreed to alter the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, freeing the U.S. to test an anti-missile system. The U.S. then postponed tests that might have violated the treaty.
Ukraine's defense minister resigned after admitting that his military was responsible for the destruction of the Russian airliner that was hit by an errant missile over the Black Sea on Oct. 4.
