News digest: Oct. 19, 2001

THE DAY'S EVENTS

• An employee at the New York Post has tested positive for cutaneous anthrax. The newspaper said in a statement that the victim is on the support staff for the editorial page editor, and the source of the anthrax is not known.

• Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge said the anthrax spores contained in letters sent to NBC News, Sen. Tom Daschle's office, and the American Media Inc. building in Florida were all of the same strain.

• Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage met with Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations' top official on Afghanistan, about postwar policy in Afghanistan.

• Marking the start of a new phase in the U.S.-led war against terrorism, a small number of U.S. special forces are on the ground in Afghanistan.

• President Bush met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin this morning and said afterward China would support the United States in the fight against terrorism. Jiang cautioned that the U.S.-led strikes in Afghanistan should be aimed at "clearly defined targets" to avoid civilian casualties. Bush is in China to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and to strengthen the international coalition against terrorism.

• Israeli tanks and troops moved into Bethlehem this morning, stepping up pressure on the Palestinians following the shooting death of an Israeli Cabinet minister.

• Thousands of protesters in Jakarta, Indonesia, staged the country's biggest demonstration since the U.S.-led strikes against Afghanistan began almost two weeks ago. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation.

• An CBS News employee in New York and a postal worker in New Jersey have tested positive for anthrax, bringing the nation's total to six this month. The other four people diagnosed with anthrax are two employees of American Media Inc. in Florida, a NBC News employee in New York, and the 7-month-old son of an ABC News employee in New York.