Officials say Qaeda chiefs at work again

American intelligence and counterterrorism officials say Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, have reestablished significant control over the worldwide terror network, The New York Times reported today. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Times there is mounting evidence that the two leaders have in the past year established a network of training camps in the tribal regions of Pakistan along the mountainous Afghan border, including an operations hub in North Waziristan. The officials, saying that they needed to protect their intelligence sources , did not provide evidence for their assessments, which are at odds with recent statements by the Bush administration concerning Al Qaeda's leadership .

Russia

ST. PETERSBURG -- An explosion hit a McDonald's restaurant in the city center yesterday, injuring at least six people, officials said. The explosion blew out windows at the restaurant and partially destroyed the ceiling, said Irina Andriyanova, spokeswoman for the Emergency Situations Ministry. Ekho Moskvy radio, citing eyewitnesses, said the blast went off in the handbag of a restaurant patron. Officials did not say whether they believed the explosion was related to terrorism or a criminal act. (AP)

MOSCOW -- Russian officials traced dead poultry in several suburban Moscow districts to a single market yesterday as specialists reported new outbreaks and tightened quarantines following confirmation of the presence of the H5N1 bird flu strain. The presence of H5N1, confirmed by tests late Saturday, was the first such outbreak to be recorded so close to the Russian capital. Authorities traced the birds that died in four separate incidences to a market located just outside the Moscow city limits, said Alexei Alexeyenko, spokesman for the federal agricultural oversight agency Rosselkhoznadzor. The market was closed Saturday, and specialists were trying to determine the original source for the birds on sale there, he said. (AP)

Israel

JERUSALEM -- Israel's police commander resigned yesterday after a government commission said he ignored ties between senior officers and underworld figures and failed to ensure a thorough investigation into the 1999 killing of a suspected crime boss. The resignation of Moshe Karadi was the latest in a series of public scandals and controversies involving Israel's top leadership -- including rape allegations against the president and questions over the prime minister's role in a bank sale. (AP)

Libya

TRIPLOLI -- Five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya for infecting hundreds of children with the virus that causes AIDS have appealed their convictions, their attorney said yesterday. Othman Bizanti said he lodged the appeal Saturday at the court where they had been tried for deliberately infecting more than 400 children with HIV at a hospital in Benghazi. Fifty-two of the infected children have died of AIDS. The nurses and one Palestinian doctor have been incarcerated since 1999. (AP)