Latest updates on US mail bomb scare

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03:25

· Multiple mail bombs intercepted in the US
· High-profile Democrats including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton targeted
· Man arrested in connection with suspicious packages

From Washington to New York to Florida to Los Angeles,‍ the authorities have intercepted pipe bombs mailed to several prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as a CNN bureau.

Here's what we know so far:

Updated at 23:05 BJT on Friday

The US authorities have arrested a man in Florida in connection with suspected explosives sent in packages to top Democrats, former senior officials and prominent critics of President Donald Trump, Reuters reported, citing a Justice Department spokesperson.

Updated at 21:35 BJT on Friday

The US authorities found two more suspicious packages on Friday, with the latest ones delivered to James Clapper, former director of National Intelligence, and to CNN, the cable network reported.

"This is definitely domestic terrorism, no question about it in my mind," Clapper said on CNN.

Updated at 21:00 BJT on Friday

An eleventh suspicious package has been found in Florida that was addressed to Democratic US Senator Cory Booker, according to the FBI.

Screenshot of FBI's official Twitter

CNN also reported that New York City police were investigating a separate suspicious package at a postal facility, triggering evacuation of the building.

Updated at 9:59 a.m. BJT on Friday

The Time Warner Center in New York City has been given the all-clear after the building was evacuated on Thursday night due to the discovery of suspicious packages on the third floor.

"The report of a suspicious package at the Time Warner Building has been investigated by NYPD officers and has been deemed SAFE, no hazardous items found," NYPD confirmed on Twitter.

Read more: All clear after Time Warner Center 'suspicious package' threat

Updated at 8:17 a.m. BJT on Friday

A bomb squad is examining a mail distribution center near Miami where authorities believe several packages containing pipe bombs were processed, CNN reported on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Time Warner Center in New York City has also been evacuated due to the discovery of a suspicious package, CBS News reported.

Updated at 7:30 a.m. BJT on Friday

The investigation is focusing on leads in Florida, reported Reuters, citing a federal law enforcement source on Thursday.

Read more: Design for bombs sent to Trump critics comes from the Internet: source

All the suspicious packages were believed to have gone through the US Postal System at some point, the source said.

The authorities have turned their attention toward southern Florida, believing that a number of the explosive devices were mailed from the area, the New York Times also reported, saying it had spoken to two people familiar with the matter.

But the investigators have not confirmed these reports.

CGTN Photo

Read more: Who were the targets of suspicious packages in the US?

Updated at 8:30 p.m. BJT

Police intercepted the ninth suspicious package at a mail facility in New Castle County, Delaware on Thursday, CBS News reported.

The mail was addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden, the report said.

Updated at 7:10 p.m. BJT

The NYPD confirmed they are responding to reports of a suspicious package in a non-residential building in Tribeca, a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.

According to an AP report, the bomb squad has removed the package from the building.

Updated at 6:21 p.m. BJT

The New York police are investigating a suspicious package at a non-residential building in Tribeca, a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, CNN reported.

The package was found at a New York restaurant and was addressed to actor Robert De Niro, who also owns that restaurant.

Robert De Niro has been an outspoken critic of US President Donald Trump.

The package is believed to be similar to the one addressed to the CNN on Wednesday.

Updated at 10:30 a.m. BJT

US federal investigators are trying to track down a suspicious package they believe was addressed to former US Vice President Joe Biden, according to a federal official.

CNN reported that the package is considered suspicious as it is similar to the bombs sent to others that have been discovered.

Updated at 9:30 a.m. BJT

A package addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters appears similar to bombs sent to prominent Democrats in New York and Washington, DC, and has been intercepted at a Los Angeles mail facility, reported AP, citing a law enforcement official.

The exterior of one of the suspicious packages sent to multiple locations in the US, appears in this handout photo provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 24, 2018. /Reuters Photo

The package has similar markings and characteristics to five others that had been discovered this week, according to the reports.

It wasn't immediately clear if it was related to the others.

Updated at 9:09 a.m. BJT

"This clearly is an act of terror attempting to undermine our free press and leaders of this country through acts of violence," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at an afternoon news conference.

A member of the New York Police Department checks a vehicle with a bomb sniffing canine outside the Time Warner Center after a suspicious package was found inside the CNN Headquarters in Manhattan, New York, US, October 24, 2018. /Reuters Photo

What happened?

It came two weeks before the Nov. 6 political election that will decide whether Democrats can take majorities now held by President Donald Trump's Republicans in Congress.

The Time Warner Center in New York City, which houses a CNN bureau, was evacuated due to reports of a suspicious package on Wednesday.

This is the fourth such incident involving suspicious packages, following cases involving the homes of the Clintons in Westchester, NY, President Barack Obama in Washington, DC, and the Bedford residence of billionaire George Soros.

Earlier, the US Secret Service intercepted two suspicious packages sent to the home of Hillary Clinton in a New York City suburb and the residence of former US President Barack Obama in Washington, DC.

The explosive device addressed to the Clintons was found late Tuesday by a technician who screens mail for the former US secretary of state, according to a report by the New York Times.

A similar device was also sent to the residence of former President Obama in Washington, DC, on Wednesday morning.

US Secret Service statement

The cases came two days after a pipe bomb was found near a home owned by billionaire George Soros in New York.

No group has so far claimed responsibility and the motive of sending such devices remains unclear.

What are the reactions?

President Donald Trump issued a rare call for unity.

01:13

"In these times, we have to unify, we have to come together, and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America," Trump said at the White House.

"We're extremely angry, upset and unhappy about what we witnessed this morning, and we will get to the bottom of it," Trump said.

However, in a joint statement, top Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said the president's words "ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence."

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