WASHINGTON

9/11 ‘ABLE DANGER’ WHISTLE-BLOWER GOES PUBLIC

An Army intelligence reserve officer went public Monday with his charges that a computer team he worked with linked the apparent mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks to a Brooklyn terror cell a year or more before the strikes. In interviews with Fox News and the New York Times, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer complained that Pentagon lawyers nixed efforts to share the finding with the FBI. He also repeated his allegation that the commission set up to investigate the attacks on America was told twice about the early identification of the terror planner, Mohamed Atta, by the “Able Danger” data-mining unit, but disregarded the information. Colonel Shaffer, who spoke anonymously for earlier press accounts, said omitting mention of the classified project from the commission’s report was akin to omitting the role of the Japanese in a report investigating the attack on Pearl Harbor. The commission said in a recent statement that its staff learned about the claim regarding Atta during the final stage of the inquiry and determined that it was not “historically significant.” The Defense Department is looking into the allegations, a spokesman said.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

WEST

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TERRORISM PROBE YIELDS THIRD ARREST

LOS ANGELES – A Pakistani national has been arrested in a terrorism investigation into a possible plot to attack the Israeli Consulate, California National Guard facilities, and other targets, officials said yesterday. Hammad Riaz Samana, 21, was taken into custody on August 2 and has been detained in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. His arrest came after investigators discovered a potential target list at the home of Levar Haney Washington, who has been implicated in a series of gas station robberies in Los Angeles County, according to a law enforcement official who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the investigation. The list included three National Guard facilities in the Los Angeles area, as well as the Israeli Consulate and a couple of synagogues. Mr. Washington, 25, was arrested July 5 for investigation of robbery. Also arrested was Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges in Torrance Superior Court. It was unclear what connection, if any, Mr. Samana had to Messrs. Washington and Patterson. Cathy Viray, an FBI spokeswoman, declined to comment, saying the investigation by federal and local agencies was ongoing. It was not immediately known whether Mr. Samana had retained legal counsel.

– Associated Press

NATIONWIDE

COMPUTER WORM ATTACKS MICROSOFT USERS

A computer virus targeting Microsoft Corporation’s Windows software shut down machines at Time Warner Incorporated’s CNN and Walt Disney Company’s ABC network. A CNN spokeswoman, Laurie Goldberg, confirmed computer failures in Atlanta and New York and said she wasn’t sure which worm caused the damage. ABC computers on the East and West coasts were affected, spokesman Jeff Schneider said today. He also couldn’t identify the worm or virus. The Zotob computer worm has been spreading since Sunday and affects machines running Windows 2003, 2000, and XP, according to anti-virus software maker Symantec Corporation. Symantec rates variants of Zotob as a “3” on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the worst. Microsoft Windows runs almost 95% of the world’s personal computers. “It’s the most severe event we’re seeing this year,” said David Cole, who heads Symantec’s security response product. CNN computers in New York and Atlanta were hit at about 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and forced the network to alter its programming schedule. “The Situation Room” show hosted by Wolf Blitzer ran for 90 minutes until 6:30 p.m. New York time, taking half an hour from “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” Ms. Goldberg said. “Things are now back on schedule.” Computers at the New York Times Company, the third-largest newspaper publisher, were also hit. “Our computers are fine at the moment,” said a spokeswoman for the company, Catherine Mathis. “We don’t expect it to affect production of the paper.”

– Bloomberg News

SOUTH

VIRGINIA LAPTOP SALE TURNS INTO A STAMPEDE

RICHMOND, Va. – A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede yesterday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair, and nearly driven over. One woman went so far as to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line. “This is total, total chaos,” said Latoya Jones, 19, who lost one of her flip-flops in the ordeal and later limped around on the sizzling blacktop with one foot bare. An estimated 5,500 people turned out at the Richmond International Raceway in hopes of getting their hands on one of the four-year-old Apple iBooks. The Henrico County school system was selling 1,000 of the computers to county residents. New iBooks cost between $999 and $1,299. Officials opened the gates at 7 a.m., but some already had been waiting since 1:30 a.m. When the gates opened, it became a terrifying mob scene. People threw themselves forward, screaming and pushing each other. A little girl’s stroller was crushed in the stampede. Witnesses said an elderly man was thrown to the pavement, and someone in a car tried to drive his way through the crowd. Seventeen people suffered minor injuries, with four requiring hospital treatment, Henrico County Battalion Chief Steve Wood said. There were no arrests and the iBooks sold out by 1 p.m.

– Associated Press

HEALTH

HOSPITALS MAKE HEART PATIENTS WAIT LONGER ON NIGHTS, WEEKENDS

CHICAGO – A new study finds that heart attack sufferers who go to hospitals on nights and weekends wait longer for an artery-clearing angioplasty than patients during regular hours, increasing their risk of dying. After-hours patients waited an average of one hour and 56 minutes for what is considered the best treatment for heart attacks in most cases, compared with 95 minutes for patients during regular business hours. Current guidelines recommend patients wait no longer than 90 minutes from the time they enter the emergency room. Four out of 10 patients waited more than two hours for a balloon angioplasty, according to the study of 68,000 patients published in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association. Delays raised the risk that patients would die by about 7%. Since two-thirds of heart attack patients showed up at hospitals on nights and weekends, the study suggests that hospitals must find better ways to more quickly bring after-hours staff into cardiac catherization labs, where the angioplasties are performed, said study co-author Dr. Harlan Krumholz of Yale University School of Medicine. “We need to ensure there are systems in place to get patients the best care possible, no matter when they show up,” he said. The wait was less for after-hours patients receiving another common heart attack treatment – medication for dissolving blood clots. They waited on average only a minute longer than patients who arrived during normal hours.

– Associated Press