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Update CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades. Some of the 7th Cavalry’s equip ment was damaged in the attack, the official said. The unit is part of the Army force driving on Baghdad. Some elements of the force are farther north, near Karbala, with only the Medina armored division of the Republican Guard between them and Baghdad. Muslim clerics in Iran warned against military threats to shrines in Iraq. An Najaf is the burial place of Imam Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. Details of the situation inside the southern city of Basra, Iraq’s second-largest, also were sketchy. British journalists reported that residents were staging an upris ing against pro-Saddam forces and that Iraqi troops were firing mor tars at them. British forces staged a raid on a suburb of the city, captured a se nior leader of the ruling Baath party and killed 20 of his body guards. “He’s sitting there in his little room thinking he’s having a good morning and whap, we’re in, whap, we’re out,” boasted Col. Chris Vernon, a British Army spokesman. l lie iidqih denied all of it. “The situation is stable,” Information Minister Mohammed ai-sannai said in an interview with Al-Jazeera, an Arab satellite television net work. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and others have warned of a possible human itarian crisis in Basra. The International Red Cross said during the day that it had be gun repairs at a war-damaged wa ter-pumping station serving the city. Annan told Bush’s national se curity adviser, Condoleezza Rice, the United States is legally re sponsible for providing humani tarian aid to Iraqis in areas con trolled by coalition forces. The United Nations cannot pro vide humanitarian assistance un til security conditions allow the safe return of U.N. staff, Annan told Rice. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer blamed Saddam for slowing the flow of guuus uy plac ing mines near Umm Qasr. Thus far in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Americans said they had taken nearly 4,000 Iraqi prisoners. There was no accurate death toll among Iraqi troops or civilians. American losses ran to 20 dead and 14 captured or missing. The remains of the first two to die were flown overnight to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Twenty British troops had also died, including two killed Monday by friendly fire.The U.S. Central Command, which oversees the war, announced the capture of an Iraqi military hospital used as a military staging area. Officials said Marines confis “The situation is stable.” MOHAMMED AL-SAHHAF IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER AFTER BRITISH RAID NEAR BAATH, IRAQ cated more than 200 weapons and stockpiles of ammunition and more than 3,000 chemical suits with masks, as well as Iraqi mili tary uniforms. The Marines also found a T-55 tank on the com pound. Secretary of State State Colin Powell predicted that the coalition eventually will find weapons of mass destruction, saying “there will come a time, when the enemy has been defeated, to make a more thorough search.” Elements of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division were about 50 miles from Baghdad and hit Republican Guard units defend ing the Iraqi capital with an all night artillery barrage. Thousands of other troops has tened — as much as the sand storms would allow — to join them for the coming battle against Saddam’s seat of power. But some helicopters were grounded by the weather, and combat aircraft taking off from the USS Harry Truman returned a few hours later without dropping bombs on their targets. « USC to research health disparities with Kellogg Grant BY JESSICA FOSTER THE GAMECOCK USC’s Arnold School of Public Health will team up with the state’s historically black colleges and universities as recipients of a Kellogg grant to research and remedy health disparities among African Americans and other groups. The five-year, $2.75-million grant will enable researchers at USC’s Arnold School of Puhlic Health to collaborate with fac ulty of similar interests at Allen University, Benedict College, Claflin University, Morris College, South Carolina State University and Voorhees College in an effort to discover the causes for the dispropor tionate number of diseases among blacks in South Carolina. Saundra Glover, a USC pub lic health researcher, will over see the'grant. She'said diseases such as cancer, HIV and AIDS, cardiovascular disease, hyper tension, stroke, obesity and Type II diabetes are all dispro portionately reflected in the mi nority population of South Carolina as well as the nation. The Kellogg Grant is designed to reduce these disparities through research. USC President Andrew Sorensen said this type of partnership is un precedented in this state. “This is an historic step for health care in South Carolina,” ♦ GRANT, SEE PAGE 6 STATE House, committee approves bus bill COLUMBIA (AP) — The House Education Committee approved a bill Tuesday that would clarify laws to protect students getting on or off school buses. The bill would require buses to pick up and unload students only on the right side of roads that have two or more lanes traveling in each direction. That way. students would not have to cross the highway. If the bus driver sees students crossing the highway, the school could penalize the students. “One of the intents of this law is to simplify things, to pro tect these kids, to assure us they will be getting off on the right side of the highway,” said Highway Patrol Capt. George Blackwell. The bill also clarifies cur rent laws to let drivers know when they should stop for bus es. Most people think they do not have to stop on a four-lane road without a median because of the way the current law is written, said Donald Tudor, transporta tion director for the Education Department. NATION Turkey in line for more than $8 billion WASHINGTON (AP) - Turkey is providing minimal help to the United States in the war against Iraq, and Israel is on the sidelines. But if Congress goes along with President Bush’s request, Turkey will get $1 billion that it can use to acquire loans of $8 billion or more. And Israel will get $1 billion in special military aid, and an other $9 billion in guaranteed loans. It’s all part of a plan to help countries impacted by the war with Iraq. Israel, for instance, its economy in the doldrums, has had to take expensive pre cautions to guard against rock et attacks. Overall, Bush is asking Congress for about $5 billion, including $35.8 million to build a new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, $187 million to the State Department itself, and $770 million to counter terror ism in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines and Colombia. Afghanistan, alone, would get $400 million. WORLD Fears grow about fatal mystery illness HONGKONG (AP) - Adding to fears that a deadly flu-like illness is being spread by air travelers, Hong Kong officials said Tuesday nine tourists apparently came down with the deadly disease af ter another passenger infected them on a flight to Beijing. The World Health Organization insisted air travel is safe but said its scientists are investigating each case to make sure the disease is not spread through ventilation. In recent weeks severe acute respiratory syndrpme, or SARS, has spread beyond hospitals, where dozens of health care workers became infected, to schools, with at least four closed for several days, and now to air travelers. Hong Kong officials said the nine tourists became sick after a mainland Chinese man with SARS infected them on a March 15 Air China flight to Beijing. If SARS can be more easily spread through the air — rather than by close contact with in fected people who cough or sneeze — it could force travel and other restrictions to contain the disease. use BRIEFS Student awarded Truman scholarship A USC student has been named a 2003 Harry S. Truman scholar, making her the only student from a South Carolina school to win the prestigious $30,000 scholarship. Lara Bratcher, a third-year anthropology student, said she found out she won the award at a McNair Scholarship dinner when USC president Andrew Sorensen announced unexpect edly that she had been selected. “I was very excited and couldn’t talk for a few minutes,” she said. The $30,000 award will go to ward Bratcher’s medical-school education, and will also allow her to spend a week in Missouri in May with the other 74 Truman Scholars during the Truman Scholarship leadership week. Next summer, Bratcher will Bratcher also have an in ternship with “some sort of government agen cy that reflects my interests,” she said. Bratcher said the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs helped her through the application process. A com mittee looked through her ap plication and gave feedback on how she could make it better. “They are a wonderful re source, and they will help you step by step,” she said. Bratcher said that students thinking about applying for na tional scholarships shouldn’t be intimidated by the drawn-out ap plication process. “Please apply; even if you don’t get the actual scholarships, it will help so much with applications for grad school,” she said. Critical Mass begins again this Friday After months of bad weather, USC’s Critical Mass will start up again this Friday at 5:30 p.m. on the Horseshoe. Critical Mass is an event in which bicyclists ride to raise awareness of bicycling and let drivers know that bicycling is “a valid means of transportation,” said Katie McClendon, Student Government safety director. 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