9 killed in Israel suicide bombings
TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A pair of suicide bombings ripped through two sites in Israel Tuesday leaving at least nine dead and dozens injured.
The first blast occurred at a bus stop near Israel's Zerifin army base. Eight people died, including the bomber, and at least 15 were injured, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The second blast struck a Jerusalem cafe packed with young people. Forty people were injured, but there was no immediate report on the number of deaths.
The Camp Zerifin bombing was the first terrorist attack since Israel's failed assassination of top Hamas leaders in Gaza on Saturday.
Defense officials indicated there would be an Israeli retaliation for the bombing.
The 5:55 p.m. bombing occurred as the sidewalk was filled with soldiers returning home and people returning from or en route to a nearby hospital.
The explosion wounded at least 15 and the Jerusalem Post said while emergency workers converged on the scene, police snipers were positioned on a nearby bridge in case a second bomber might try a "second wave" attack.
About five hours later, an estimated 40 people were injured in the bombing at a popular cafe in Jerusalem's German colony.
Police said a suicide bomber apparently entered Cafe Hillel and blew himself up. The cafe was packed with young people at the time.
Several people were killed, police said, but provided no figures. Maj. Gen. Mikki Levy, Jerusalem's police commander, would only say "there are many casualties."
Sept. 11th airline lawsuits can proceed
NEW YORK, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A federal judge ruled lawsuits against U.S. airlines and New York's Port authority for liability in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks can proceed, WABC reported.
The 49-page ruling issued Tuesday stems from suits filed by 70 of those injured and representatives of those who died in the terrorist attacks.
The defendants argued the suits should be dismissed because they had no duty to anticipate and guard against deliberate and suicidal aircraft crashes and because any alleged negligence on their part was not the cause of the deaths and injuries.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled, however, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the World Trade Center property, "has not shown that it will prove its defense of governmental immunity as to negligence allegations made by WTC occupants."
The complaints also alleged Boeing should have designed its cockpit door to prevent hijackers from invading the cockpit.
Bush money request draws Senatorial fire
WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- President Bush's request for billions of additional dollars for the military in Iraq is drawing fire from some senators, including at least one Republican.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz appeared Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, warning unless Congress quickly approves the request, "a powerful signal will go out to the terrorists and their allies that defeat in Iraq will be theirs."
The New York Times said his remarks were praised by committee chairman, Sen. John Warner, R-Va. But the committee's ranking Democrat, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, called the $87 billion "a bitter pill for the American people to swallow," since some of the money may have to be taken from domestic needs.
Levin said the amount requested represents a fifth of all monies to be spent next year on programs such as education, housing and veterans affairs.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., was also critical, saying the Bush administration had done "a miserable job of planning the post-Saddam Iraq."
Said Hagel during an interview Tuesday with the CBS Early Show: "They treated many in the Congress, most of the Congress, like a nuisance."
Osama bin Laden search zeroes in
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The hunt for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden has been narrowed to a 40-square-mile area in Pakistan, ABC News reported Tuesday.
Authorities are casting a net around the towns of Angoor Ada and Wana in southern Waziristan, an area with a strong al-Qaida support base.
Authorities told ABC News there is new information from electronic intercepts and intelligence on the ground that shows bin Laden is very much alive, somewhere in the rugged terrain of Waziristan.
Local sources there said al-Qaida has affiliates in different cities from Wana to Karachi, responsible for transporting al-Qaida members and sending messages by camel, enabling bin Laden to avoid U.S. spy planes and satellites overhead.
Four FBI and CIA agents are stationed with Pakistani troops to relay U.S. intelligence information but even the Pakistanis have a hard time operating in the region.
