David Guyatt Wrote:Dear Senator Wicker,

Please find enclosed some Ricin for your personal use.

With kind regards

Terrorist (with North Korean accent)

Quote:'Ricin' found in letter to US Senator Roger Wicker

A letter that has tested positive for the lethal toxin ricin or another poisonous substance has been posted to a US senator, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said.


The letter was intended for Roger Wicker, a Republican senator representing Mississippi, Mr Reid said.


It was intercepted at a centre handling post for the Capitol in Washington DC, US media report.


Ricin, extracted from castor beans, is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide.


It can be fatal when inhaled, swallowed or injected, although it is possible to recover from exposure.


'Memphis postmark'
Mr Wicker issued a statement on Tuesday acknowledging the letter.


"This matter is part of an ongoing investigation by the United States Capitol Police and FBI," he said.


"I want to thank our law enforcement officials for their hard work and diligence in keeping those of us who work in the Capitol complex safe."


An official quoted by AP news agency said two tests had shown positive for ricin but the results are not deemed conclusive without further testing.


Ricin


Can be fatal when inhaled, ingested or - most dangerously - injected
One to three castor beans chewed by a child, or just eight seeds chewed by an adult, can be fatal
The toxin is part of the waste produced when castor oil is made
The letter was detected during a routine inspection of mail and did not reach the US Capitol or Senator Wicker's office, a Senate leadership aide was quoted as saying.


Senators were informed of the letter at a closed-door briefing by FBI Director Robert Mueller and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the Boston Marathon bombings, the aide added.


The BBC's Jane Little in Washington says there is a heightened sense of alert in the capital after the attacks in Boston but there is no indication so far of any connection between the two incidents.


It is also not clear why the letter was sent to Senator Wicker.


The Senate's chief security office told Reuters: "The exterior marking on the envelope in this case was not outwardly suspicious, but it was postmarked from Memphis, Tennessee."


All mail sent to members of Congress has been screened off-site since letters laced with anthrax were sent to Capitol Hill in 2001.


In 2004, three Senate office buildings were shut after tests found ricin in letters that had been sent to the Senate majority leader's office.


Ricin was the poison used for the infamous murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in September 1978.


He was waiting at a bus stop near Waterloo Bridge, London, when a stranger jabbed him in the leg with an umbrella.


The umbrella injected a tiny ricin-filled pellet into Mr Markov's leg and he died three days later in hospital.

"...tested positive for the lethal toxin Ricin or another posoinous substance"

That's clear isn't it. Tested positive for something or another, not sure which. Let's just call it Ricin and be done with it.

David Guyatt Wrote:Now it's reported that a 2nd letter containing Ricin - or not Ricin (tick whichever box most suits your circumstances) - has been received by the White House.

Quote:A letter addressed to President Obama containing a suspicious substance was intercepted Tuesday by authorities at a remote White House mail screening facility, according to the Secret Service.

The letter follows the discovery Tuesday of a ricin-laced letter sent to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

Edwin Donovan, deputy assistant director of the U.S. Secret Service, did not identify the substance. However, he said the Secret Service is working closely with the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI.

The substance was detected at a facility run by the Secret Service, Donovan said.

Quote:A suspect was arrested Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombing case and was expected to appear shortly in federal court, the Associated Press reported.

The news agency said U.S. Marshals had taken the suspect to the courthouse in downtown Boston.

The AP report comes as several news sources said investigators have identified images of a suspect seen delivering one of the explosive devices that killed 3 people and injured more than 170 at the finish line of the marathon.

However, there were conflicting reports regarding the arrest, which CNN also reported. Sources tell USA TODAY and several other outlets that no arrest had yet taken place.

CNN's John King quotes the sources as saying that surveillance video from a nearby Lord &Taylor department store was key in the investigation. Television footage also played a role, CNN reports.

"The camera from Lord & Taylor is the best source of video so far," said Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino tells the Boston Globe. "All I know is that they are making progress."

A law enforcement official, who described the investigation as "very active,'' told USA TODAY that authorities have been focusing on a mass of photographic evidence provided by the public and area security cameras. But the source indicated that there mixed views on the value of the analysis so far.

"There is a lot going on," said the official, who is not authorized to comment publicly on the investigation.