Washington, D.C.

Financing approved for chemical weapons vaccines

Lawmakers who experienced the dangers of anthrax firsthand sent President Bush legislation Wednesday to give private companies $5.6 billion in incentives to develop antidotes to biological and chemical weapons.

“This is the largest first responder program ever enacted in American history,” Homeland Security Committee chairman Christopher Cox, R-Calif., said before the House voted 414-2 to pass the measure.

For the next 10 years, the act would give the pharmaceutical industry the financial guarantees it says it needs to research and produce vaccines and antidotes for bioterror agents.

Afghanistan

NATO troops duped into helping U.S. vigilantes

Three American vigilantes tricked NATO peacekeepers into helping with illegal raids, the security force said Wednesday, getting them to send explosives experts and bomb-sniffing dogs to check buildings in Kabul where they had detained suspects.

A spokesman said the men, led by former U.S. soldier Jonathan Idema, seemed authentic.

“Their credibility was such that with their uniforms, their approach, our people believed they were what they said they were,” said Cdr. Chris Henderson, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force. “It was a mistake.”

It remained unclear if the three men had been picking up innocent Afghans of if they were trailing genuine militants plotting violence.

Washington, D.C.

AOL, Yahoo, MSN to integrate messaging

America Online Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are teaming up to link their separate instant messaging services for use in the workplace, the first major step by the industry leaders to enable computer users to communicate with one another no matter which of the three systems they use.

In an announcement planned for today, the triumvirate will outline a new partnership aimed at spurring greater use of instant messaging at work by tearing down the electronic walls that keep the respective networks separate. To use the new system, companies will have to license new Microsoft network software for use as a hub.