Top stories
Mad cow fears prompt Vermont sheep seizure
Four animals from the flock of 234 show signs of a neurological disease that could be mad cow, which is harmful to humans, or scrapie, which isn't.

President warns: I'll veto patients bill
Bush tells cardiologists he wants a bill of rights, but not a Senate bill allowing patients to sue HMOs for up to $5-million.

U.S. expels Russian diplomats
As many as 50 suspected spies may be ordered out of the country.

Bush backs a promotion for Florida's drug czar
The governor presses his brother to make Jim McDonough the nation's drug czar.

Foot-and-mouth hits Netherlands
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Far from being contained, the foot-and-mouth disease that has devastated cattle herds in Britain gained a firm foothold on the European continent, with the Netherlands on Wednesday confirming its first cases.

Park asks foreign guests not to touch zoo animals
TAMPA -- Fearful that foot-and-mouth disease could infect their exotic animals, Busch Gardens officials are asking tourists who recently traveled from countries affected by the virus not to feed or pet their animals.

Butchery method blamed in deaths
LONDON -- An investigation into five deaths from the human form of mad cow disease in the same English village concluded Wednesday that the cause was a traditional local butchery method of slaughter in the 1980s that has since been banned.

National briefs
Wis. boy who nearly froze leaves hospital