UPI NewsTrack TopNews

Three U.S. troops killed near Baghdad

ERBIL, Iraq, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Violence increased in Iraq Wednesday, with three U.S. troops dying in a bomb blast, and four civilians killed in the north, CNN reported.

The soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb struck their convoy on a highway near Samarra, some 60 miles north of Baghdad, U.S. Central Command said. The soldiers were members of Task Force Ironhorse, but no further details were released.

In Baghdad, a civilian bus exploded driving over a bomb, killing the driver and wounding two passengers, an Iraqi police official said. The blast occurred in a tunnel of a highway that leads to the city's western part.

In the northern city of Erbil, a large explosion happened around 11:30 a.m. local time outside the interior ministry of the autonomous Kurdish government established in the city after the Persian Gulf War, according to the U.S. military.

The London Telegraph reported four people were killed, including a suicide driver in a bomb-laden truck, and at least 20 were injured.

More countries shun U.S. beef

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- International barriers to beef from the United States increased Wednesday after the first suspected case of mad cow disease was found.

Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Australia were the first to ban imports of beef, joined soon after by Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, Mexico and Israel.

A single, Holstein cow tested positive for mad cow disease on a farm near Yakima, Wash.

USDA secretary Ann Veneman said Tuesday it was too early to call the test results an isolated incident, although she stressed there is no indication of a larger problem with the U.S. beef supply.

Shares in hamburger giant McDonald's Corp.fell by about 5 percent on the New York stock exchange, although the company said its supply chain was not linked to the suspected "mad cow" disease case.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke said in a statement the results were "presumptive," and that scientific confirmation of the presence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was due in three to five days from a testing center in England.

Bush to tackle illegal workers

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush plans changes next year in immigration policy to allow more foreign workers to enter the country legally and easily.

The Washington Post, quoting unidentified Republican officials and lobbyists, said Wednesday the plan being developed would also help some of the estimated 8 million illegal aliens in the country regularize their immigration status.

The new policy, however, would not include a general amnesty for illegal aliens, which Bush has said he firmly opposes.

Independent confirmation of the report was not immediately available.

The newspaper said the plan could feature a Labor Department Web-based registry where employers could advertise jobs. U.S. workers would get first crack, followed by immigrant workers who would apply for a special temporary worker visa.

The plan, if it came to fruition, would be the biggest change in immigration policy since President Ronald Reagan in 1986 gave amnesty to millions of illegals.

White House faulted on Iraq uranium claim

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Suspect information that Iraq tried to get uranium from Africa was used by the White House to gain new support for using force against Iraq.

The now-discredited information came from British intelligence sources and was used by President George W. Bush in his State of the Union speech.

The Washington Post Wednesday, quoting unidentified sources, said the finding was made by the president's Intelligence Advisory Board, which he had asked to investigate how the information found its way into his January remarks before Congress.

The panel, headed by former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, found no deliberate effort to fabricate the story, a source told the newspaper, but the administration was so keen to garner new support it disregarded intelligence community warnings the information was dubious.

The person responsible has not been discovered.

Bush had warned Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programs threatened regional and world security.