News digest: Oct. 9, 2001

The day's events | Losses

THE DAY'S EVENTS

• Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the airstrikes against Afghanistan have been successful enough in damaging Afghan air defenses that U.S.-led forces can safely carry out attacks day and night.

• Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more than 80 percent of targets in Afghanistan have been damaged or destroyed in the airstrikes that began on Sunday.

• President Bush named new advisers to help fight terrorism on U.S. soil and to protect American computer networks. Retired Army Gen. Wayne Downing will serve as deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism; Richard Clarke will be special adviser for cyberspace security.

• Vice President Dick Cheney is spending his third day at an undisclosed, secure location. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer called the move a security precaution.

• The second round of U.S.-led airstrikes began last night and continued into daylight this morning. Targets in Afghanistan included military airfields, aircraft, air-defense sites, and terrorist training camps. The Pentagon said all of its planes have returned safely.

• Four United Nations workers were killed near Kabul, Afghanistan, in last night's attacks. The United Nations said the workers were part of a U.N.-affiliated mine-clearing agency.

• A Taliban official said Osama bin Laden and supreme Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar were alive and still in Afghanistan.

• The U.S. military continued food drops in Afghanistan today, with a second load of more than 35,000 packets of food and medicine.

• Federal officials are investigating the cause of two anthrax cases in Florida. One man died and one man was discovered to have anthrax in his nose. Both men worked for American Media Inc., where hundreds of co-workers are now being tested for the disease.

• Violent anti-American protests were staged Monday in several Pakistani cities near the border with Afghanistan. The worst violence occurred in the southwestern city of Quetta, where at least one person was killed.

• The Federal Aviation Administration announced it would limit carry-on luggage to one bag and one purse or briefcase per passenger. The restriction is designed to give security screeners more time to examine bags and passengers.