A sixth U.N. mission in NY gets white powder letter

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Russia became the sixth U.N. mission in New York to receive a letter containing white powder, police said on Wednesday after an envelope was found at the diplomatic post on Manhattan's Upper East Side overnight.

The U.N. missions of Austria, France, Britain, Germany and Uzbekistan all received letters containing white powder over the past two days. More than 40 people were decontaminated as a precaution after the letters were found.

The powder in the letters received by the missions of Austria, France and Uzbekistan was identified as flour, a New York Police Department spokesman said. Authorities are still waiting for test results on the powder sent to the missions of Britain, Germany and Russia and investigations are continuing.

U.S. authorities have been on alert for mail with white powder in it since 2001, when envelopes laced with anthrax were sent to media outlets and U.S. lawmakers, killing five people.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by Vicki Allen)